Matched Betting in Germany – Use DoppelWetten

1. Can you briefly introduce yourself and DoppelWetten (when & how did you start with what vision & ambition)?

• First of all, a big thank you to Global Extra Money for the review and interview. I have been a huge fan of your site for a long time.
  My name is Rasmus and I am the founder and Managing Director of DoppelWetten. The idea of DoppelWetten started back in 2016. I was living in London at the time and had been doing matched betting for years but was planning to move to Germany. I planned to continue matched betting in Germany and was looking for German matched betting sites but I couldn’t find any.
  I then toyed with the idea of starting a forum where matched bettors in Germany could come together and share offers and ideas. That idea then grew along with the ambition of introducing matched betting to Germany. I had earned money from matched betting month after month and was set on creating the first German matched betting site that could offer the tools, guides, and services to help others do the same.
  We have decided to have the site in both English and German, which will certainly benefit expats and non-German speakers living in Germany.

2. Please give us the snapshot of the regulatory framework of sports betting, designated authority, bookmaker licensing & available bookmakers numbers, etc. in Germany, Austria & Switzerland respectively?

• There is a *huge number of bookmakers available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
  At DoppelWetten, we have specific guides to over 100 different sign-up offers and we still continue to find new bookmakers to include.
  However, the online sports betting scene is in constant change and it is therefore important to always check the terms and conditions. Some bookmakers merge, others simply vanish, and then some change from which country they will accept new customers.
  To offer the best possible guidance to our members we constantly monitor and check sign-up offers and the terms and conditions of the bookmakers. Because our guides and lists of regular offers are continuously updated, our members save a lot of time.
  The regulatory framework in Germany has been in a transitional phase for years – almost a decade. The reason for this is an ongoing dispute between Germany and the EU. Germany was attempting to implement restrictions, which the EU believed was against the EU regulations of free movement of goods and services.
  It does look like we will soon get some clarity, as a new German State Treaty of Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag) is rumored to be implemented from January 2021. I think it will be good to get some clarity for both punters and bookmakers. We have seen bookmakers stop accepting German customers due to this uncertainty and I believe this is also the reason why the big betting exchanges do not offer their services here. Once we have the new treaty in place, I hope we will see the betting exchanges accepting German customers again.
  As far as Austria and Switzerland are concerned, not all of the bookmakers listed on our site are available in those two countries, but those available exclusively in Austria and/or Switzerland are of course also included. We have added the flags of the countries in which the bookmaker is available. This makes it easy to identify whether a specific bookmaker is available in e.g. Austria.
  People living in Austria or Switzerland have two great advantages. Firstly, there is no betting tax and secondly, they still have direct access to the big betting exchanges.
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• *GEM Note: Check online bookies DoppelWetten list in each country. 

3. Can you explain the specific tax imposed on the individual’s winnings (or any other tax levied if any) in each country?

• Most bookmakers in Germany apply a 5% betting tax, which is either deducted from any amount won, or from the stake when the bet is placed. However, while many bookmakers apply this tax there are also some bookmakers that do not apply the betting tax at all, so any tax payable is paid by those bookmakers.
  In Austria & Switzerland, there is no added tax on sports bets.
  We have of course accounted for such a tax in our matched betting tools.

4. Could you describe the matched betting market status & future prospects in the DACH region?

• Compared to the UK, matched betting in Germany is still a largely unknown phenomenon. However, I believe this is slowly changing as people start realizing how much money they can actually make with matched betting.
  The sign-up offers in the DACH region are very good if you compare them to the UK. Most bookmakers offer a sign-up bonus rather than a free bet and the standard bonus is €100 although many bookmakers have bonuses that are much higher.
  Matched betting has always been and will always be a cat and mouse game between the people doing matched betting and the bookmakers that aim to restrict profitable accounts.
  All in all, I am very positive about the future prospects of matched betting in the DACH region and actually in Europe as such. 

5. You may want to highlight the key benefits of your service & core competencies over your competition if any.

• The key benefit you get from signing up to DoppelWetten is, of course, the ability to regularly earn money from matched betting. On our site, we often mention that you can earn around €500 a month.
  We are actually being a bit modest there because, from the earnings reported by our members, the average income is closer to €750 per month. But nonetheless, we have decided to stick with the €500 as that is a realistic target for everyone.
  There are two areas that really set us apart from similar services.
  The first area is our excellent customer service. Everything we do is with our members in mind. In fact, we have just increased our staff to ensure even better and faster customer service.
  If you have never placed a bet before, matched betting can all be a bit scary and overwhelming. We really put emphasis on guiding people through the process of matched betting and giving them the confidence to continue on their own.
  To ensure people are off to a good start we have developed a number of free trial lessons, which will take the trial members through setting everything up, placing a trial matched bet and lastly placing a real matched bet. That way the trial members get to test everything for free and on top of that earn a bit of money.
  We even offer one-to-one Skype training sessions to our members, in which they are taken through the process of using our tools and placing bets step by step with screen-sharing.
  We also have a very popular Telegram channel, where all our reload offers are posted as soon as they appear in our Forum, to make sure our members get notifications immediately on their mobiles, wherever they are.
  The second area that sets us apart is our focus on creating earning opportunities for our members. We offer more ways to make money than other services.
  Here is what I mean by that:
  • We have guides to more sign up offers
  • We find and post more reload offers
  • We have more matched betting tools, which ensure profit from a wider range of reload offers
  • We have created strategic partnerships with services that complement matched betting and we have more in the pipeline.
  By focusing on customer service and increasing the ways our members can earn money we are able to cater both for someone who is brand new to matched betting and also the very experienced members.

6. How much initial fund do people need to start and how much money can they expect to earn by using your service?

• We do recommend that people start with €300-500. The reason for that is that most sign-up offers are the kind where the bookmaker will give you a 100% bonus up to €100.
  You can of course also deposit €30 and get €30 in bonus but that means you are missing out on €70.
  As mentioned, it is realistic for anyone to earn €500 per month but our members are on average earning around €750 per month. 

7. Can you elaborate on how active your forum is?

• We have a group of very active and experienced members and there are some very interesting discussions going on regarding strategy and how to increase earnings from a specific offer.
  The result of this discussion has on several occasions led to a new guide about how to tackle a reload offer, which we then put up for everyone to benefit from.
  Besides, as part of the focus on customer service, we want to give everyone a good experience in the forum and do our best for new members to feel included in the forum.

8. Obviously, the biggest issue in this industry is the bookmaker’s account restriction, can you share the situation in the DACH region?

• Agree that account restrictions is a big issue.
  Since most bookmakers are international companies, the situation is much the same in the DACH region as it is in the UK.
  We try our best to inform people of this topic and have guides that offer tips on how to reduce the risk of gubbing.
  In fact, we have a very extensive guide on the way, which will contain even more information and more methods to reduce the risk. 

9. What are your future challenges or any ongoing projects to add to your service?

• First of all, I hope we will get clarity on the regulatory front soon. This regulatory vacuum that has lasted for years is not good for anyone and especially when it scares the bookmakers and betting exchanges away.
  I really hope that the big four betting exchanges, Betfair (suggest use of Betfair Alternatives), Smarkets, Matchbook and Betdaq, will once again offer their services to everyone in the DACH region.
  Secondly, we are constantly looking for new ways to provide value to our members. We have new exciting cooperation that I hope we can soon reveal.
  We are also working on increasing the number of bookmakers in our Oddsmatcher and looking to develop a number of new tools.
  Lastly, we also want to improve the user experience when using our site. We are looking to provide a more personal experience, which would allow our members more freedom to set things up the way they want it to be.

10. Which English speaker can benefit from the DACH region matched betting & your service?

• Good question.
  Doppelwetten.com is both in English and German and our customer service offer help and advice in English as well. In addition, most bookmaker sites are available in English. So, you don’t have to worry about any language barriers.
  Before listing who can benefit from our service, I wanted to highlight an exciting trend that I recently learned about.
  The trend is that people actually move to Germany for a short period of time to do matched betting. Due to the very generous signup offers, you can really earn a lot of money in a short period of time and at the same time, you get the experience of living / traveling abroad. Just to give you an idea of the earning potential, the sign-up offers on our list have a combined value (in free bets and bonuses) of nearly €7000. It is almost like a working holiday. I really think this is an interesting option for people that are in between jobs, people that are able to work online from anywhere, students, and people taking annual leave or even sabbatical from their regular job.
  Here is a list of different groups that certainly can benefit from our service.
  • Returning DACH nationals.
  • Expats living in the DACH region
  • Students that study in any of the DACH countries
  • People using VPN
  • People living in mainland Europe but outside of the DACH region. They can easily use our guides and tools but they do have to find the offers themselves. However, many bookmakers have similar offers across their national sites e.g. the lucrative Bet365 in-play offer is also available here as the €50 in-play offer.
  Just a comment regarding the VPN option. As long as you can pass the KYC requirements, which are similar to those in the UK i.e. proof of ID and address, then this is possible to do from the UK.

11. If you would like to add any other points, please do so.

• Maybe just a quick summary.
  Although we have seen some challenges in the German market, e.g. uncertain regulatory changes and betting exchanges leaving, I see a bright future for matched betting in Germany.
  If any of your readers are looking to do matched betting in the DACH region then choosing a service like DoppelWetten, with our focus on customer service and increased earning potential, is definitely the right choice.
  Lastly, I just want to once again thank Global Extra Money for this opportunity and I am looking forward to seeing what is next for you.
  Thank you.