Some of my slightly more harebrained money-making schemes have included attempting to sell one of my kidneys on ebay, and trying to start a crack den in the University Library. However, this time I thought I should avoid anything too controversial or illegal. So I’ve been gambling.

Unfortunately, since I started a week ago, I’ve become quite addicted; you know this is the case when you refuse to go out with your friends until you’ve found out the result of Nuneaton vs Stalybridge. Betting on big matches is boring - anyone can do that. But when Keiran Walmsley scuffs the ball into an empty goal in the last minute of play, that’s when you get a real sense of existential fulfilment. This hasn’t actually happened, but I’m banking on Kieran coming up with the goods tonight. There are quite a few less common sports you can waste you money on - I’ve become quite attached to Handball (the Danish Haandboldligaen women’s version, of course). The slightly amusingly named Slagelse DT are my tip for this season- Irina Poltoratskaya is a bit of a legend apparently.
Of course the problem is, that if you know jack-all about these sports, then you tend waste your dosh. I had been resorting to that age-old, tried-and-tested method of eeny meeny miney mo. But then I discovered a way that guarantees that you make money. Stay with me here - I’m not advocating a pyramid scheme, though if people want to send me cheques that would be nice. What actually happens with a lot of gambling sites is that to encourage new customers, they offer a free bet of anything up to £50 when you place a bet of that amount with them. Great, but you still might lose your original bet as well as your free one. This is where the clever bit comes in. As well as bookmakers, there are several companies called sporting exchanges.

These differ because instead of placing bets, you can act as the bookmaker yourself - you can “lay” money against the occurrence of a certain outcome. Effectively, this means that you can bet on a certain outcome with your free £50 bet at the bookmaker, and then bet against that happening with another £50 at the exchange. The exchange take a small commission, but the end result is you’re guaranteed to come out with about £97, whatever the result. Effectively you have made £47. Most bookmakers offer free bets for new customers, so all you need to do is open accounts with several of them, and see the cash rolling in. Unless you’re a muppet like me, and end up betting on the wrong thing. Anyway, it’s time to check the result of that grudge match - SK Aarhus v Slagelse DT.

With super-casinos dominating the headlines, Joe Powell and Oscar Brodkin explore the extent of  Cambridge's betting culture

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