Surely the odds have to be the same for a back bet and a lay bet to cancel each other out?

Spot on. Best news of all, is that we find all those events where the odds are the same or better for you. We haven't hidden this information away. It's all free and right here. Look under the Matched Betting tab above. Here you will find a "List of Bookmakers" offering you what is effectively free cash. Alternatively there is another section at the bottom of the page "Bookmaker Offers". Click on one and each bookie is reviewed giving you the inside knowledge about their current offer.

The Cash Matters star rating out of 5 stars, takes into account the value of the free bet offer, the ease of use of the site, the quantity of markets and quality of the odds on offer - a general summing up.

Other information includes if the Free Bet is SR (Stake Returned) or SNR (Stake Not Returned). Most Free Bets are SNR which means you will only get the profit part of the bet back and not the free bet stake amount. All this means is that for the SNR free bet, you dont bet on the low odds favourite - the odds have to be a little higher, usually no less than 5 or 6 decimal. If you are used to seeing fractional odds eg 2/1, 10/1 or evens etc - don't worry. Every bookie has the option to show odds as fractions or decimals. Switch to decimals, where as an example Evens fractional = 2 decimal.

Partner Friendly - a tick here means that the offer is open to new customers regardless of their address. Not partner friendly means the offer is open to 1 household, 1 computer, 1 I.P address etc.  PF offers are great value as all the adults living in your house can take advantage.

Below the bookie summary is where the magic starts! Here you will find an oddsmatcher for football games (football has been chosen, because as the worlds most popular spectator sport, there are always readily available markets). In the example below you will see the date/time of the event, the teams involved and the bookie odds as compared with either Betfair or Betdaq. The rating is a percentage which compares the two sets of odds. The best deals are found at the top of the page. Anything with a rating of close to 100% means £50 free bets can be bought for just a few pence. Much over 100% and the free bet is available to you with a small profit too

Now to step 4.

Example screenshot