Bet With Coral on the Grand National 2021 - Offers & Bonuses

Welcome back to my omnibus compendium of Arizona’s upcoming general-election races in the style of my 2018 summaries. This update should cover most of the post-primary changes to my rankings, although I may put out one final update a couple of days before the election if the D-R difference in early vote totals is just abnormally high in some swing districts, or less high than I expected when writing this update. I’ll also be shifting any outstanding “tossup” ratings, as most other amateur election pundits do.
Arizona’s a really interesting state (I may be a hair biased), since it not only is home to 2-3 swing House seats and a high-profile Senate race, but also tenuous majorities in both state houses that could – theoretically – neuter Ducey’s trifecta this fall. And counties have their races this year as well, so I’ve highlighted some of the fireworks ongoing in Maricopa.
And this is before factoring in the fact that our state is a COVID-19 hotspot, with an unpopular Republican Governor doing almost nothing to stop it.
If you’re interested about which district you live in, check https://azredistricting.org/districtlocato. If you want to get involved with your local Democratic party, find your legislative district on the previous link (NOT CD), and then search for your LD’s name at this link. Feel free to attend meetings, they’re a great way to get involved with candidates and like-minded individuals.
If you wish to donate to a “clean elections” candidate (mentioned in the post as “clean”), you will have to live in that candidate’s legislative district to give qualifying $5 contributions (check here if anyone needs it in your area), but they are allowed to accept a limited amount of “seed money” from people outside of the district. The three CorpComm candidates can take $5’s statewide.
If you do not want to vote at the polls, you will need to request an early ballot using the website of your county’s recorder prior to October 23rd. Example links for Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal. Others available if needed.
Race ratings for listed races will be listed as Safe/Likely/Leans/Tilts (alternatively Solid instead of Safe if my mind blanks).
If you have any questions about nonpartisan races or propositions, which races are the most contested, and how to get involved with other Democrats in Arizona, feel free to PM me.
All fundraising numbers here are as of 10/15/2020 (“Q3”).
District stats are listed for the race that involved the top Democratic vote-getter in the past two midterm cycles plus the last two presidential races, taken from Daily Kos’s legislative sheet – Clinton’16, Obama’12, Sinema’18, and Garcia’14 (not his 2018 run).
Part 1: Statewide and Congressional Races
Part 2: Maricopa County Races
Update 1: Congressional and County Rating Updates
Part 3: Legislative Districts 1-10
Part 4: Legislative Districts 11-20
Part 5: Legislative Districts 21-30, Additional Updates
AZ Judicial Candidates Breakdown (not mine)
Incomplete (i.e. no bad candidates are on this list, but some good ones aren't) pro-Public Education Endorsements for School Boards - also not mine.
ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN SOLELY IN MY CAPACITY AS A VOTER IN ARIZONA, AND NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF ANY ORGANIZATIONS I WORK/ED FOR OR AM/WAS A MEMBER OF. THIS POST IS IN NO WAY ENDORSED BY THE ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC PARTY OR ANY SUB-ORGANIZATION THEREOF, OR ANY FILED CANDIDATE.
Several districts (incl. LD1, LD5, LD12, LD15, LD16, LD18, and LD23) either have newly-filed write-in candidates or primary candidates who have qualified for the general election who weren’t on the ballot when I last wrote ratings, but none of these write-in candidates stand any solid chance of winning, so I won’t bother updating any relevant ratings from “Uncontested” to “Safe/Solid”. Likewise, assume any other district not listed in ratings changes here has the same rating it did in August.
Candidate changes are going to be listed in descending size of office (Statewide->Congressional->County->Legislative), so y’all can probably tell whom I’m going to start off with…
US Senate
Since my late-spring writeup on the Senate race (where I had it at Leans Dem.), the Martha McSally ($12.2M COH) campaign has gone all guns blazing on TV to try and ding Mark Kelly’s ($18.8M COH) favorability numbers, in an attempt to pull herself up towards at least Trump’s levels in the polls - but has seen little success. Kelly’s meteoric ascent into a double-digit lead was successfully stymied, but McSally has been unable to escape from a 6 to 10-point quagmire for these past few months.
The debate is over, Biden is leading in state polls, COVID cases are starting to pick up again, and the fall breezes will soon start to blow. A deficit the likes of which McSally is facing could have been manageable around the time of the primary but is a far harder problem to escape with less than 3 weeks to the election with most fund3amentals going against her.
hunter15991 rating: Likely Kelly (was Leans Kelly)
Congressional District 2 (Sinema+11.4, Clinton+4.9, Douglas+0.72, Romney+1.57)
Not exactly sure why I kept this at Likely Kirkpatrick after the ratings change - Ann Kirkpatrick ($838.6K COH) has run a great campaign, and nary a peep has been heard about her opponent Brandon Martin’s ($100.1K COH) efforts. Ann will walk this one in.
hunter15991 rating: Solid Kirkpatrick (was Likely Kirkpatrick)
Congressional District 6 (McSally+3.41, Trump+9.97, Douglas+6.04, Romney+20.7)
Since shifting this race to Tilts R back in May, a lot has happened in CD6. Hiral Tipirneni ($1.5M COH) has set record after record in fundraising, rapidly outpacing the incumbent David Schweikert ($546K COH) – who to his credit has rebounded from outright negative fundraising quarters earlier in the cycle. Schweikert has also faced an escalation in his House Ethics Committee problems, being unanimously reprimanded by the committee on 11 ethics count violations. Recent polls of the district have ranged from an OHPI Schweikert+3 poll to a Hiral internal showing her up 4.
What I think will ultimately giving Hiral the edge in this seat – outside of her obscenely large war chest – is the relative state of the downballot parties on the ground and various state legislative races that overlap with CD6. In multiple legislative districts that once made up the rock-ribbed base of suburban voters Schweikert counted on for support there are now either ongoing fractures in local GOP legislative slates (23 and 28) or have an operation hobbled by a contentious GOP primary (15). On the flip side, Democrats are on the offensive in these districts, with (at least in my view) some of the most experienced and talented local organizers at work in the area. Downballot polls of the area indicate a groundswell of Democratic support that make me bearish on undecideds breaking for Schweikert in the final days.
It’ll be close, but I think the third time will be the charm for Dr. Tipirneni.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Tipirneni (was Tilts Schweikert)
Maricopa County Attorney
I had the primary for this race at “Tilts” in favor of the victor, Julie Gunnigle ($55.4K). That may have been quite a bit conservative, as Gunnigle ended up winning that primary by 37 points, demonstrating the campaigning aptitude that had her overperform relative to the mean legislative candidate in her 2018 HD-15 run on a far larger, countywide scale. Gunnigle faces incumbent County Attorney Allister Adel ($139K) in the general election, and while she’s significantly outmatched in terms of direct war chests, Gunnigle can count on substantial support from outside criminal justice reform organizations and other such groups. A poll back in late August had the race in a dead heat, and I think Gunnigle is in good position to pick up the undecideds. In recent debates she has come off as charismatic and smart on her feet, in stark contrast to an Adel who sometimes came across as inebriated, was routinely snippy, and often reached near-Trumpian levels of indignation when pressed on her record as a prosecutor (including two controversial decisions to not charge officers in the shootings of Antonio Arce and Dion Johnson by police).
And judging by the County Attorney’s very hasty attempts to patch over failings at the department with “reforms” announced right around the Democratic primary for the seat, Adel must be seeing the heat in her own internals. The moves made by her at the office reek of urgency, of the panic of a dinosaur trying to outrun the meteor’s shockwave.
She’s right to be afraid.
hunter15991 rating: Leans Gunnigle (was Tossup)
Maricopa County Assessor
This is a rare race where I’ll end up making a change in the GOP’s favor, as bizarre as that sounds. Democrat Aaron Connor ($16.3K COH) has run a perfectly fine race in his own right, but now faces interim Assessor Eddie Cook ($1.6K), and not perennial bipartisan failson Rodney Glassman - on whose my initial rating was predicated. This race rating is adjusted towards what I think the generic row ballot will be for Maricopa County – a very slight Dem. lead, in Connor’s case possibly assisted by any lingering fallout from the Paul Petersen international baby trafficking scandal (albeit not enough to move it out of Tilts).
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Connor (was Leans Connor)
Maricopa County Recorder
In the County Recorder race, incumbent Adrian Fontes ($45.5K COH) faces a spirited challenge from Republican attorney Stephen Richer ($156.2K COH), whose sole claim to fame is an “audit” he ran at the behest of the Maricopa County Republican Party to look into Fontes’ handling of the 2018 midterm elections.
Of course, because up is down and left is right in this world, Richer is running on a position of depoliticizing the County Recorder’s office, accusing Fontes of getting too political, what with his attempts to do hideous Communist things like “helping more people vote by mail”. The MCR’s attack dog may put on a pretty face, but thanks to Trump’s inherent politicization of elections I would wager nominal swing voters would be less than convinced by a Republican clerk or recorder running on depoliticizing elections. And Fontes and the county Democratic party have proven able to get that message out in the past – Fontes got more votes than Clinton did despite being far down the ballot, and ultimately outperformed her by a few%. His current strategy of just being very visible in operations of the 2020 election seems to be working quite well.
Richer’s big challenge in this race will be to try to paint what by all accounts was a successful 2018 midterm, 2020 presidential preference election (as COVID was hitting), and 2020 primary as somehow mismanaged or rigged. For independent swing voters who may have been doubting Fontes’s abilities in 2016, those 3 elections are probably more than enough proof of his abilities, and Richer’s talking points far too Trumpy for their tastes. With Biden polling in the mid-single digits in the county that’s not a good position for a GOP candidate to take.
Richer’s backup talking points aren’t that decent either – attacking Fontes for being “unprofessional” over Fontes’s deployment of the “F-bomb” at a prospective candidate in 2016. What was an unsavory incident is being stretched to great extent by Richer in these attacks and looks desperate.
I think Adrian retains his seat but do consider sending him some cash. That’s a sizable deficit.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Fontes (was Tossup)
Maricopa County Treasurer
This is another race where I got the GOP candidate wrong in the pre-primary rankings, as incumbent Royce Flora ended up getting defeated by outgoing State Rep. John Allen ($3.1K), who will now face former AZ National Guard Chief Warrant Officer and retired Daniel Craig impersonator Dan Toporek ($12.1K COH). Toporek has a decent (albeit small in the big picture) cash advantage over Allen, and in general has a better bio than the former House Majority Leader who commented that teachers get second jobs to buy boats during debate on a teacher certification deregulation bill, which is typically Not a Smart Thing To Do in a state with an ongoing teacher pay crisis.
There’s little that would differentiate this race from the baseline county row ballot, but Royce Flora has been oddly confrontational towards fellow Republicans after his primary loss, causing a bit of a stink. He recently filed a bar complaint against Allister Adel, and sent out a Property Tax Statement to county property owners that ended with a ranty paragraph telling them to complain to Sen. Venden “Vince” Leach (R, SD-11) if they found the letter intrusive, as he had mandated the sending of it in a recent bill (Leach, as much of a leech as he is, may have actually been in the right in writing that bill, but that’s a story for another time). The letter had mixed reception, but the Treasurer’s Office did get at least a bit of flak from it.
Flora’s drawing a lot of negative attention to the Treasurer’s office at just the wrong time…and something tells me he knows it.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Toporek (was Leans Flora)
Maricopa County Supervisor District 3
One of two competitive supervisorial districts this cycle (if Dems take both they’ll flip the board), this district features incumbent Supervisor Bill Gates ($104.1B COH $150.2K COH) going up against activist Whitney Walker ($38.3K COH). Walker’s fundraising has significantly improved since the last time I wrote about this race, and she has picked up her campaigning. I believe given other downballot trends in the legislative districts her supervisorial district encompasses that she’ll be able to pull out the win this November.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Walker (was Tossup)
Legislative District 6 (McSally+1.72, Trump+10.39, Douglas+0.92, Romney+13.36)
In LD6 the curse of Wendy Rogers ($186.9K COH) struck again, knocking Sen. Sylvia Allen out of the race in the GOP primary. This made her few friends in the local Republican Party, and chain emails were abound after the primary telling people that Rogers was a liberal plant from Tempe (she does in fact actually live in Tempe, but is an Oathkeeper-y nutjob). Rep. Walter Blackman ($27.1K COH) even said that he wouldn’t campaign with her, which is going to swing the needle in this super-swingy district. While Rep. Brenda Barton ($40.3K COH) hasn’t thrown out the same gauntlet, Blackman is the more politically connected representative in the district, and the absence of his support will be at least slightly perturbing for Rogers.
On the Democratic side, Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans ($266.5K COH) is running for House, and 2018 HD-6 nominee Felicia French($233.5K COH) faces Rogers in the Senate matchup. Both French and Evans have been raising astronomical sums of money, and in general are very well prepared to operate in the last few weeks of the race. What’s more, Blackman, Rogers, and Barton have been targeted by a grand total of $1.35 million in negative outside PAC spending – about 4x as much as the Democratic nominees have faced.
While Art Babbott ($56K COH) - an independent candidate for house who’s an incumbent County Supervisor – complicates House projections, I ultimately think Mayor Evans will be able to pull out the win. With fewer wildcards involved the French/Rogers bout is easier to predict - and given Wendy’s lifelong curse of botching races in swing districts I think it’s now more likely Felicia makes that 0-5 record 0-6.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Evans, Leans French (was Tilts Evans, Tilts French)
Legislative District 11 (McSally+9.93, Trump+13.9, Douglas+16.7, Romney+19.3)
LD11, typically a safe Republican seat, has seen a surprising influx of outside cash and endorsements in support of the Democratic House and Senate nominees – Felipe Perez ($53.2K COH) and JoAnna Mendoza ($82.8K COH). Not only are the two nominees seeing a spike in donations over the course of the last couple of quarters, incumbent legislators Sen. Venden “Vince” Leach ($118.8K COH) and Rep. Mark Finchem ($37.6K COH) have face an above average amount of negative PAC spending against them (and only a fraction of the amount in response to support them). Their fellow Rep. Bret Roberts ($31.7K COH) is a bet less controversial, and probably will coast to re-election. Both Leach and Finchem are also favorites, but with Democrats currently leading early ballot returns and flooding the district with cash, there are outside chances for both Democratic nominees to pull off the win.
hunter15991 rating: Likely Leach, Solid Roberts, Likely Finchem (was Solid Leach, Solid Roberts, Likely Finchem)
Legislative District 17 (Sinema+3.53, Trump+4.09, Douglas+3.12, Romney+14.16)
I don’t want to wax too poetic about this seat, but the absolute onslaught of outside negative funding against Sen. J.D. Mesnard ($185.8K COH), Rep. Jeff Weninger ($154K COH), and Liz Harris ($57.6K COH) – just over $1.1M in total – has left Rep. Jennifer Pawlik ($145.2K COH) and AJ Kurdoglu ($210.8K COH) in better shape than they were earlier in the election. While Republicans in the district still have a narrow lead in combined slate fundraising, Democratic candidates will probably be carried over the line by the deluge of outside spending.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Pawlik, Tilts Kurdoglu (was Tossup House, Tilts Mesnard)
Legislative District 21 (McSally+4.09, Trump+15.18, Douglas+6.1, Romney+17.4)
LD21 is one of the seats where the ratings update is less due to any recent news (IE involvement in this seat has been more or less a wash, maybe providing a very narrow Democratic gain) and more just resolution of an outstanding “tossup” rating. Democratic nominee Kathy Knecht ($131.7K COH) has posted great finance reports these last two quarters, but her war chest is a bit less impressive when it has to be compared to the consolidated funds of Beverly Pingerelli ($18.7K COH), Rep. Kevin Payne ($47.1K COH), and Sen. Rick Gray ($87.4K COH) – who can fundraise for the anti-Knecht cause since he doesn’t have an opponent of his own.
Still, Knecht has an incredibly strong biography and past elected experience in the district, including a win against Pingerelli in a school board race in 2014. I think she’ll be able to narrowly pull out the win again this year.
hunter15991 rating: Tilts Knecht (was Tossup)
Legislative District 23 (McSally+9.69, Trump+13.33, Douglas+9.36, Romney+26.94)
This is one of the districts where Democrats could see significant gains, even relevant to 2018. Eric Kurland($131.9K COH), the 2018 House nominee, is running again for this seat, this time with Seth Blattman ($41.1K COH) as his Senate running mate. With IE’s avoiding this district in favor of getting involved in places like 21 and 23, it’s going to be harder for the Republican candidates in the district – Rep. John Kavanagh ($37.1K), Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita ($13.4 K COH), and Joseph Chaplik ($32.2K COH) – to reach fiscal parity with the Democratic candidates.
And GOP infighting in this seat will only make things worse for local Republicans. With 45% of Kavanagh voters refusing to vote for Chaplik in a poll that had Kurland leading Chaplik by 6, the problems for conservatives in this district are all but clear. Kurland has been more than happy to help exacerbate these issues for Chaplik, participating in several “bipartisan discussions” with GOP write-in candidate Joe Romack, whom Chaplik is suing.
If you told me the home legislative district of Joe Arpaio and David Schweikert would flip back in 2016, I’d have laughed out loud. But now the sky is all but falling for the AZ-GOP.
hunter15991 rating: Solid Kavanagh, Leans Kurland, Leans Ugenti-Rita (was Tossup House, Likely Ugenti-Rita)
Legislative District 28 (McSally+9.69, Trump+13.33, Douglas+9.36, Romney+26.94)
In LD28, Sen. Kate Brophy McGee ($280.3K COH) is in a situation akin to Knecht in LD21, having to fundraise against 3 active Democratic candidates without any help on her end. In this case, GOP House candidates Jana Jackson ($14.1K COH) and Kenneth Bowers ($3.80 COH) have been lagging sizably in their fundraising behind Rep. Kelli Butler ($102K COH) and Rep. Aaron Lieberman ($120.8K COH) who instead are able to direct those funds towards Christine Porter Marsh ($276.3K COH) and her quest to oust McGee.
McGee’s financial advantage at the start of the race has been whittled away, and now McGee is down ~$200K in the final weeks of the race and has a decent hole to dig herself out of, judging by Democratic internals.
The Susan Collins of Arizona is running out of time. And that’s one thing her mound of money can’t buy.
hunter15991 rating: Leans Marsh (was Tilts Marsh)
And that’s that! I’ve passed on Phoenix Council writeups since those races are a bit more bizarre this year since they now must be run concurrently to the Presidential election. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on those races on Election Night if I’m sober enough. This probably will be my last update for the cycle, but I may have one more depending on how early vote returns look like around Halloween.
Thanks so much for reading!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
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So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
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Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
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Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
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Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
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6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
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Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
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1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
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2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
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3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
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4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
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5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
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6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at. This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
Cheltenham Schedule
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Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
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Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
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Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
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13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
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Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
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13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
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Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
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Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
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Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
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Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
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Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
​
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section. It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

The Braves built the nicest stadium in Florida’s Spring Training Baseball. Period. I’ve been to many parks and the Braves is head above heels better than the rest. Great seating, affordable food and drinks, a two story team store that will suck your wallet dry, and amazing weather will be worth any defrost trip you need to take. Here are some pointers for folks who want to make the trip!
Places to stay:
On a budget: Get an AirBnB around town. They’re everywhere and pretty affordable. If you do not mind a drive, you can go anywhere from Sarasota to Punta Gorda and find one within a 30 minute drive of the stadium. You’re best bets are the cities of North Port, Venice, and Englewood for close proximity.
Vacation money: Get a hotel in Venice. North Port actually does not have a single decent hotel until Summer 2020. Zero. Crazy, right? 75,000 people and we have zero hotels. So look at Priceline for a decent hotel with the closest new hotels being at 75 and Jacaranda Road. If you have a good budget, look at the Wyvern in Punta Gorda. It’s a little bit of a drive, but it’s affordable, is on the harbor, and has an awesome rooftop bar.
Money to burn: Get a beach house either on Boca Grande or Manasota Key. Our beaches are great, not crowded, and sparkling clean!
Things to do:
Other Baseball Teams: The Rays Spring Training is only about 10 miles away from the new Braves stadium and worth checking out. Within a quick drive are the Twins, Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, and Tigers (I’m probably missing some…). All the stadiums are fun and unique and if you get there early with kids, the players will all sign autographs and talk with you!
Breweries: Sarasota has some of the best breweries in the state, especially J-Dubs and my favorite, Calusa Brewing. Make it to those if you like beer. Off the Wagon brewing is close to the stadium and is decent but has great food. The rest are really hit or miss depending on what you get. Fort Myers has some great breweries as well.
Theme Parks: You are about 2 hours from Disney/Sea World/Universal. Just because the Braves are not at Disney, does not mean you can’t make a day of it!
The Everglades: Support National Parks, see gators, meet ‘interesting’ locals. It’s a blast and about a 2 hour drive. Everglade City is a neat place to stop and make sure you get the cole-slaw at the Camillo Street Grill. It’ll change your life.
Fishing: Charlotte Harbor and the intercoastal waterways are the richest fishing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve had days where I could not throw my lure in before I’ve had a bite. If you have money, charter a boat. If you don’t, El-Jobean Bridge is a good spot.
The Beach: Go at sunset. Watch sunset. Fall in love with whomever you’re with.
Nightlife: Punta Gorda: Hands down favorite nightlife in the state is Punta Gorda. It’s a city that was wiped out in Hurricane Charlie but was rebuilt better than ever. There are a ton of bars down there and all of them are super unique. Celtic Ray is an Irish Pub with great live music. The sunset on the roof bar of the Wyvern or TT’s Tiki hut is fantastic. Peace River Beer Company is pretty good. The Ice House is an English Pub in an old ice house and is worth checking out. CJ’s is a dive that is cheap, friendly, and opened way too late.
Venice: Venice is a great downtown for a less ‘bar-hoppy’ kind of night. There are solid dining choices for a reasonable price. The two bars I’d recommend more than all others are the Venice Pub, Daiquiri Deck (which is an overpriced tourist spot, but fun when visiting) and Bike and Brew. The one activity that is secretly great in Venice is bicycle riding on the Florida Legacy Trail which runs all the way up to Sarasota. It’s flat, designed for bikes alone, and has nice shade the whole ride.
Sarasota: Downtown Sarasota is pretty neat. Not as familiar with it so I won’t go pretending.
Cape Coral: Great Downtown. It’s a drive. A long drive. But it’s worth it. Nice Guy’s Pint’s and Pies is a great place to start and wander from there.
Fort Myers: DO NOT GO HERE! It’s all owned by one guy who makes themed restaurants and charges way too much. There are a few good places here, but it’s not really worth it.
Port Charlotte: There is no downtown, per say, but there are a few really good places. Prime is a top notch steak house that is surprisingly affordable (I took a family of 5 and myself out for $120 with a tip). Pioneer’s Pizza is really good as is the Thai Noodle. There is the Golden Crust which has delectable curry goat if you’re into that sort of thing.
North Port: OK, this is where we are really lacking. There are two good sports bars and that’s about it: Buffalo Wild Wings (It’s a chain, I know, but the one here is good and cheap) and Buffalo Wings and Rings. There is a late night place called Linksters...stay away...nothing good happens there. There is Buco Lupo Pizza which is decent as well. And new for 2020, we have a Waffle House. Atlanta is coming in hard here. If you are looking for some fun, look at Escaped Rooms Unlocked or the Axe Haus (Both of which should have decent groupons).
Englewood Beach: There are a couple of good places to check out here with good music. Pay for parking, but worth checking out if you have an extra night.
Two spots to check out: Blind Pass Beach-If you like beaches and you don’t like people, come here. There is a trail going North off the parking lot and at the end of it (Less than a quarter mile), you’ll be all alone. It’s nice. Don’t bring glass, but do bring fishing gear.
Edgewater Church- If church is your thing, I have to recommend mine for a Sunday Visit. Fed 10,000+ people last year, gave away 1,200+ bikes to folks, special needs respite care, etc. Super chill and I’m not saying God will favor the Braves if you pray for it, but it can’t hurt, right?
Final notes: Don’t dress up for anything. No one in SWFL dressed up, even for funerals. Straight shorts and T-Shirts to everything. While there is not as much fun as Disney in North Port, it’s very much worth the trip. The stadium is looking awesome so far, the people are super nice down here, and if you’re willing to drive a little while you’re down here, there are tons of fun things to do. Plus everything down here is CHEAP so that’s way better and nicer than Disney.
If you are looking at flying in, check out Allegiant Air and fly into Punta Gorda. I just got to Wisconsin and back for $187 round trip.
Finally, I’m at work today, so feel free to ask questions and I will be more than excited to talk about my city! Go Braves!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
​
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
​
​
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
​
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
​
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
​
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
​
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
​
​
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
​
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
​
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
​
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
​
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
​
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
​
​
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
​
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
​
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
​
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
​
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
​
Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
​
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at. This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section. It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
​
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
​
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
​
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
​
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at. This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section. It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
​
Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
​
​
Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
​
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
​
With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
​
If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
​
​
6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
​
Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
​
​
1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
​
​
2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
​
​
3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
​
​
4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
​
​
5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
​
​
6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
​
​
What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
​
​
Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
​
​
Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
​
​
Cheltenham Schedule
​
Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
​
Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
​
Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
​
Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
​
​
Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
​
​
Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
​
Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
​
Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
​
Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
​
Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
​
​
Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
​
Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
​
The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!

With Cheltenham Festival coming up, I thought I’d put together a comprehensive guide and overview for what is THE most profitable time for matched bettors.
​
So whether you have been doing matched betting for a while or you’re completely new to the concept, with a bit of luck this post should be interesting/useful.
​
Just a quick disclaimer. Throughout this guide I will be referencing Heads&Heads, however, this is not a promotional piece. The advice below can be used and applied to whichever service you happen to be with. There will be an offer at the bottom of this guide. Ignore it if you are not interested, I won’t be offended – the important thing is we all smash Cheltenham while it is still so profitable.
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Firstly, why exactly is this such a profitable time for Matched Bettors? Well, simply put, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the world’s biggest horse racing events. As such, all the bookmakers will be falling over themselves to ensure punters place their bets with them rather than their competitors.
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Why Cheltenham is a Big Deal
Cheltenham Festival is one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers with projections of around £500 million to be placed in bets over the 4 days of racing. There are a total of 28 races to bet on giving an average of around £17,850,000 bet on each race. Punters at the Festival and around the country betting online jump on early ante-post markets and last minute bets. The rise of mobile betting in recently years has given bookmakers a new way to connect with customers and now it’s easier than ever to place a bet wherever you are.
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With so much money involved in betting on races at Cheltenham, bookies fight for customers in the run-up and during the festival. One way bookies entice customers to bet with them over a competitor is to run special promotions for the races. These can be in the form of free bet offers, money back specials, extra places, best odds guaranteed and more. Punters looking for the best value in their bets should take advantage of these enhanced offers while they are around as they can result in increased returns and minimised losses. All of this plays into the hands of matched bettors like us, who can take advantage of the value without incurring risk.
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If you are holding back on completing welcome offers before Cheltenham, then you should know that several bookmakers run enhanced offers throughout Cheltenham. Some of the more popular ones being Betfair, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
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6 Steps For Tackling Cheltenham
With all the offers and potential profit flying around it can become a little overwhelming. The best place to start is by simply practicing the basics - and that is our first of six steps for getting ready to tackle Cheltenham.
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Note: I will update this post with the key offers closer to the time.
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1. Practice Makes Perfect
When it comes to matched betting you can never get enough practice! You may think you understand every reload strategy there is. However, when the offers come as quickly as they do during Cheltenham, practice can be the difference between getting into breaking the £1,000 profit mark and missing out.
So, make sure that you have familiarised yourself with and practiced the popular horse racing offers before Cheltenham. These include 2nd to SP Fav, 2nd place refund, 4/1 winner, fallers insurance. Simply doing a Saturday’s worth of horse racing reload offers will tick a lot of these boxes.
If you would like to understand the concept a little more, we recommend going to the Training Section of Heads&Heads and looking at the guides under the sub-heading, ‘Offer Strategies’.
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2. Be Organised
This can be best summed up as - make sure that your money is where it needs to be before the end of the weekend prior to Cheltenham (7th & 8th March).
Additionally, try to have completed the majority of the welcome offers for the major bookmakers. The key bookmaker to have ready is Bet365 – their Horse racing offer during the festival is massively profitable.
Set up a separate PayPal for faster withdrawals.
If you've not got a massive exchange balance, then on this rare occasion we recommend boosting its size using your own funds. Of course, because you’re matched betting the only risk is the tiny qualifying loss per offer, which you should be used to by now. The last thing you want is to be missing out on offers and not making the most of the available profit.
Try to get some bets on the night before if the odds matches are strong. Know which offers are available on which races and know what offers you want to go for on each race.
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3. Go Easy Early
Do easy low stake reloads (Free bet on a loss, 2nd place, 2nd to SP favourite, etc) the night before if possible or early morning. The Exchanges will have a lot of liquidity, even hours before the races – meaning that you will not need to worry about unmatched bets when laying.
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4. Odds Boosts & VIP
Look out for the boosts and make a note to check the Heads&Heads forums facebook group hourly for any updates on potential boosts. These will come thick and fast, but if you are quick, you can create some pretty incredible profit margins.
Additionally, make sure you check your email over the 4 days. There will be plenty of bookmakers handing out ‘tailored’ offers to their VIP members. VIP has a loose definition in the eyes of the bookmaker, so you’re likely to get a lot more of these than you think and they are often very lucrative.
If you want Heads&Heads to check a VIP offer before you attempt it, just post on the forum or message us on Live Chat.
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5. Enjoy It
Sounds cliché but don’t let it stress you out. Making money is great but taking the week off work and then running yourself into the ground all week isn't worth it. Matched betting is a side earner – something to enjoy and be done in your spare time to earn you some extra cash. It should not feel like a job.
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6. A Small Exchange Balance Is No Excuse!
Is it worth taking part with a really small bank like £500'ish?
Even if you just did the offers that guaranteed a profit, you’d still make around £250 and this would not require a massive exchange balance. So yes, it is absolutely still worth it.
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What If I Am Gubbed by Most Bookmakers?
This is a very common question and not an unreasonable one either. After all it is incredibly frustrating to have your account with a bookie gubbed. This is even worse when a huge event like Cheltenham is coming up.
Honestly, it will restrict your ability to make money, but it is still possible to make a profit from Cheltenham.
Extra place strategies are worth looking at (on Heads&Heads Training). This is made possible because Extra place betting doesn’t rely on you using free offers. So, if the bookie has only restricted your use of free offers then this is your best option. Furthermore, if you are restricted from getting reload offers by a bookmaker, you should still be able to take advantage of odds boosts. So, keep an eye out for these on the Heads&Heads Forum.
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Anything I Should Be Looking Out For?
One issue to be aware of is that of the smaller bookmakers offering very generous odds. If an offer looks too good to be true then you should be careful. This was particularly true a couple of years ago, when a lot of smaller bookies offered really good odds and then refused to pay out people’s winnings.
This problem is unlikely to occur again (happened in 2017), with bookmakers under the spotlight by legislators like never before. In addition, if you have an account with the bookmaker prior to Cheltenham starting, then you’ll be slightly more trusted by the bookie and thus they will honour your pay-out.
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Should You Book Time Off Work?
Are you planning to take time off work during Cheltenham? This could be a great idea. As well as watching the races on TV, you can stay up to date with all of the offers during the day. However, we want to stress that taking time off work is by no means 'required' to make money during this week.
That said, speed will be key for so many of the opportunities during the festival. You may only have a small amount of time to place your bet or lose the opportunity. Being at home will, of course, make this a lot easier.
However, not everyone can take all 4 days off. So which days should you prioritise?
Simple answer really. The first day – Tuesday (10th March).
The reason for this is that the first day sees more offers available than any other single day. The bookies tend to start off strong and tail off towards the end.
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Cheltenham Schedule
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Day 1 (Tuesday 10th March 2020)
13:30 -The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase
14:50 -The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
15:30 - The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
16:10 - The Mares’ Hurdle
16:50 - The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase
17:30 - The National Hunt Challenge Cup
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Day 2 (Wednesday 11th March 2020)
13:30 - The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
14:10 - The RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase
14:50 - The Coral Cup
15:30 - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
16:50 - The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
17:30 - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
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Day 3 (Thursday 12th March 2020)
13:30 - The Marsh Novices’ Chase
14:10 - The Pertemps Network Final
14:50 - The Ryanair Chase
15:30 - The Stayers’ Hurdle
16:10 - The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate
16:50 - Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
17:30 - The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
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Day 4 (Friday 13th March 2020)
13:30 - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
14:10 - The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle
14:50 - The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
15:30 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup
16:10 - The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup
16:50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
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Our Predictions
Now, predictions may seem a bit useless as we are matched betting. However, knowing who the experts favour to win can help you pick a horse. So, for example, if an offer was triggered if your horse lost, you'd want to be sure you were avoiding those favoured to do well. So, use the below to help inform some of your decisions when completing Cheltenham reload offers.
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Epatante
Epatante has caught the eye of punters during the early betting for the Champion Hurdle and, at the time of writing, rates as one of the strongest race favourites of the week. We likely have not seen the best of this horse.
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Benie Des Dieux
Benie Des Dieux is quoted for a few Cheltenham races this spring but traders at major bookmakers are confident she will run in the Mares Hurdle. If she does, bookies expect her to win the race with a bit to spare.
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Envoi Allen
Envoi Allen is priced as the standout horse in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and traders believe he will take all the beating. A loss here will rate as one of the biggest upsets of the week. He won each of his first seven starts.
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Defi Du Seuil
Defi Du Seuil can be found quoted in the Champion Chase antepost betting and the early money has been promising. He has won 13 of his first 18 and those stats aren’t to be taken lightly, certainly not by backers.
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Tiger Roll
Tiger Roll is a fans favourite but have we already seen the best of Tiger Roll? As it stands Tiger Roll is the antepost favourite to win the Cross Country Chase and is a short price at that.
Every Cheltenham offer will be posted on the Reload section (on Heads&Heads). It is also worth keeping up to date with the Cheltenham Forum thread (on Heads&Heads) – here the best offers of the day will be discussed.
If you are interested in giving matched betting a go or Heads&Heads a go I’ve posted a discount code below. As I mentioned at the start of the guide, you can either use it or not. The main thing for me will be people find one or two useful bits of info in this guide.
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Discount:
£2 for 60 days of Premium membership to Heads&Heads.
Discount code: BUILDUP
Click the link to have the code automatically applied:
https://headsandheads.co.uk/sign-up?discount=BUILDUP
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Timetable template for Cheltenham: https://headsandheads.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Cheltenham+Timetable+-+template.xlsx
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The most important thing is to get involved!
Best of luck and happy profit hunting!