What Is An Unmatched Or Partially Matched Bet?

Jack Taylor

31 Oct 2018

Updated: 9 Feb 2023

Unmatched and/or partially matched bets is something that all Matched Bettors have to deal with at some point in their Matched Betting journey. It can be worrying when it first happens but it is something that can be sorted out quite quickly and easily.

Here the definitions of the individual terms:

  • A matched bet is when all your lay is taken by the exchange and you are all done with that bet.
  • An unmatched bet means that the price you wanted to bet at has gone and your lay wasn't taken.
  • A partially matched bet is when only some of your lay was taken before the lay price changed, leaving part of it matched and part of it unmatched.

When we do a particular bookmaker offer we are always looking to both “back” and “lay”.

This is how we guarantee ourselves a profitable overall outcome, by having both sides of the bet covered. Once the back bet has been taken by the bookmaker, we place our lay bet at the exchange.

Unmatched Bets

On the exchange the amount of money available for your lay stake is shown underneath the price. This amount is known as liquidity.  In the example below, if you wanted to lay AC Milan at 1.92 then you can do so up to a stake of £17. If you wanted to lay them for more you would need to use the 1.93 price.

Sometimes though there can be enough money in the market when you select your bet but then that money is quickly taken by someone and your bet comes up as unmatched as there is no longer any money available at that price.

This is nothing to worry about though and is easily fixed. You simply click to cancel the unmatched bet on the exchange and then enter the new lay price into your Matched Betting Calculator and lay at the current odds.

Partially Matched Bets

A partially matched bet is slightly harder to fix but again shouldn’t cause you any unnecessary worry.

This occurs when part of your lay gets taken at the price you wanted but the rest is unmatched. This might be because there was not enough money in the market originally for your lay at the price you wanted. Alternatively someone else may have taken some of the money at that price, meaning only some of yours was taken.

This is how you fix a partially matched bet:

  1. Cancel the unmatched part of the bet (as mentioned above).
  2. Open up our Fixabet Calculator. Select “Part Lay” mode.
  3. Enter the back stake and back odds first. Then enter the current lay odds and the lay commission.
  4. Enter the lay bets that you have already had matched(the part lays).
  5. The Fixabet Calculator then shows you the exact amount you need to lay at the current lay odds and the total profit/loss for your position. Then enter the new lay stake on the exchange.

The best way to avoid having unmatched or partially matched bets is to check that there is plenty of money in the market before you choose that particular selection, ideally at least double the amount.

So, if you need £25 for your lay stake then I would make sure there is at least £50 ready at the exchange at that price.

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Remember, matched betting isn't gambling (visit sites such as bettingsites.ltd.uk for that). Gambling relies on an element of chance. In matched betting the outcome of the event is not important, it's about taking the right steps to secure the profit from the free bet amount.