
Paddy Power has been around since 1988, starting life in Dublin. They're part of Flutter Entertainment (the same group behind Betfair and FanDuel) and fully regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
They have hundreds of betting shops across the UK and Ireland, but we're using the online version.
Paddy Power's welcome bonus typically returns around £20 in winnings, and possibly more. You put £5 into Paddy Power and place one qualifying bet (costs roughly 25p). They give you 4 x £10 free bets to use as Bet Builders, Accumulators, or Multiples.
You need about £20 total across your accounts, but none of that money is spent. It just moves between your accounts to cover both sides of the qualifying bet.
It takes about 35 minutes of actual work, spread over a couple of days. Unlike standard free bets, these can't be perfectly matched on the exchange. The £20 estimate is what they typically return when you place sensible Bet Builders or accas.
When you place a bet on Paddy Power, you also place an opposite bet on Smarkets to cancel it out. If Paddy Power's bet wins, Smarkets needs to pay the difference, and the £15.00 is there to cover that worst case.
You won't lose this money. It just needs to be in your Smarkets account while the bet settles. After the match, the unused balance is yours again.
Your qualifying bet earns you the free bets. By matching it on the exchange, you keep the loss tiny, typically 10-30p. In return, you get £40 worth of free bets to use as Bet Builders, Accumulators, or Multiples.
Don’t worry about finding the right match yourself. Tap ‘Find my qualifying bet’ below and we’ll scan upcoming fixtures, do the maths, and give you exact stakes and direct links to place both bets.
Done? Tick off each step above to see your total.
18+. Gambling can be addictive. If you feel you may have a problem, visit BeGambleAware.org. Matched betting involves placing bets with real money. While the mathematical approach minimises risk, losses can occur if instructions are not followed exactly.