Gambling Arbitrage

Arbitrage or Scalping put simply is the action of betting on both sides of a game at different sports books to guarantee a profit no matter the outcome of the game. Arbitrage is not a new concept by any means. For arbitrage bettors, if the probability sums to less than 100%, we have an arbitrage betting opportunity. However, in the OddsMatcher, the arb rating refers to how much of your stake will be returned. A value greater than 100% indicates an arbitrage betting opportunity.

In today’s lesson, we will be discussing arbitrage betting and matched betting.

Sports betting has been around for quite some time now that most experienced bettors have found a way to make money sports betting without incurring much risk on their end.

Some may say that these betting strategies come with no risk at all.

How are they able to do that? Let’s find out.

• No Risk Bets 101: Arbitrage Betting
• No Risk Bets Guide: Matched Betting
• Can You Make A Living From Matched Betting?

No Risk Bets 101: Arbitrage Betting

What is Arbitrage Betting?

Arbitrage betting is a sports betting strategy where you place bets on all possible outcomes of a single event at odds that will guarantee a profit.

Since you’re betting on both sides of a single event, whoever wins the game or competition, you’re guaranteed to win one of your bets.

Arbitrage bets are also known as sure bets or just simply arbs.

In today’s betting market, the competition among bookmakers is very competitive that their odds differ for most of the ongoing sporting events to attract more customers.

With arbitrage betting, sports bettors are taking advantage of the difference in the odds being offered by sportsbooks.

It’s an easy way to make sure money with no risk.

Is Arbitrage Betting Legal?

Arbitrage betting is perfectly legal as long as gambling is also considered legal in your area.

The fact that different bookmakers will offer different betting odds for the same event is not the fault of any sports bettors.

Unfortunately, some bookmakers are not very excited about these so-called arbers. These are people who do arbitrage betting. Some arbers reported that they’re account got closed without any valid explanation from their bookmakers.

Why do bookmakers close accounts suspected of arbitrage betting?

Because bookmakers lose money to arbers.

Most bookmakers claim that they do not ban those who do arbitrage betting. But that’s not entirely true, so make sure to be careful with your betting transactions. Make it look normal or unsuspicious as much as you can.

How To Find The Games To Arbitrage Bet On

So how do arbitrage bettors place their bets?

It’s simple, they sign up to a handful of sportsbooks or bookmakers, and find a sporting event that at least two bookmakers have different point of views on.

The easiest way to do arbitrage betting is to place a bet on sports that only has two certain outcomes like basketball, American football, ice hockey, or tennis.

Arbitrage betting may be quite hard to do when betting on soccer as there are three possible outcomes for each soccer match.

For example, there is a game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are home and are favored to win the money line at -130 while the odds for a Heat win is at +110. Those odds are available at your first sportsbook.

Now, as you shop for the better odds, you came across a second sportsbook where the Heat are the team favored at -115, while the Lakers are underdogs for +105.

To win a guaranteed profit, you, as a smart sports bettor, will place a bet where the Lakers are considered underdogs, which is at your second sportsbook.

Let’s say you placed a thousand dollar bet for a Lakers win, you’ll win $1050 if they emerge victors against the Heat. Since the Heat are the underdogs on your first sportsbook, you place the same amount of bet, and if they do win, you’ll get $1100.

If the Lakers win, you’ll win $50. For a Heat win, you’ll profit $100. Regardless of who wins the game, you’re going to make money and that is what arbitrage betting is all about.

How Much Can You Make Arbitrage Betting?

Since you already know that arbitrage betting is legal in your area and you know how to do it, you may be asking how much can you make out of it.

Arbers with a huge capital can easily make hundreds of dollars out of a single game, but not everyone is blessed with such a bankroll.

For starters, odd differences will not be that significant in most games. Most sporting events or arbitrage opportunities return less than 1.2% of your investment.

You’ll be lucky to find a 3% return arbitrage betting. That is highly dependent if you’re able to find a sporting event that two bookmakers see very differently.

If you’re starting capital is low, don’t expect to make a hundred dollar any time soon.

Arbitrage betting in theory is an easy way to make money with no risk, but it’s not for everyone.

Great discipline should still be followed when you practice this betting strategy.

In the good old days, it was possible to earn a livelihood by arbing, but it’s much more difficult to find arbitrage opportunities because of how sharp the lines are set nowadays.

No Risk Arbitrage Betting Strategy To Follow

If you decide to do arbitrage betting, you should have accounts with multiple bookmakers to reduce the risk of your account being suspended or closed down.

After that, subscribe or install an application that can notify you whenever a sporting event’s odds change significantly. Calculate how much you want to place for the said event for either team for you to make a reasonable profit.

If you’re fast enough to take advantage of an odds difference between two sportsbooks, then all you have to do is wait for one of your bookmakers to pay you after the game is concluded.

Arbitrage betting is not rocket science.

If you see an odd difference that can make you money, then it’s a great idea to grab it while it’s there. Do it as fast as you can for you not to miss out.

No Risk Bets Guide: Matched Betting

Another good no risk betting method to follow is matched betting. This betting strategy allows a sports bettor to make money out of the free bets offered by several online bookmakers.

What is Matched Betting?

Matched betting started in the early 2000s, at the same time that online bookmakers started appearing on the Internet. Since then hundreds of bookmakers opened online and made the industry very competitive.

For that reason, online bookmakers decided to offer more promotions to attract more customers.

This type of promotion is given to those who sign up for a new account.

Sign up bonus is automatically credited to your account if you’re eligible for it. It’s free money once you meet the requirement for the bonus.

Since matched betting is done by placing wagers on all outcomes of the game, there are zero risks involved.

That is why matched betting is considered to be one of the easiest ways to make money online.

Is Matched Betting Legal?

Matched betting is 100% legal, and you won’t be jailed doing it as long as gambling is allowed in your country or area.

Bookmakers would not say if they will ban players who do match betting.

Since this practice is done by signing up with different bookmakers and betting exchanges to take advantage of their promotions, we don’t think they will ban you from doing just that.

Matched betting is not illegal to do since you’re only placing bets on two different outcomes of a certain game. This eliminates the risk involved in gambling.

You’re not stealing from anyone, instead taking advantage of an opportunity to profit using this hedging strategy.

How To Do Matched Betting?

So how can you get started matched betting?

First, you have to sign up with at least one bookmaker and one betting exchange that offers sign up bonuses to new customers.

Most of these bookmakers andexchanges require you to put some real money in before they give you your bonuses. You just need to follow their instructions on how you can cash in to start matched betting.

Afterward, you just need to familiarize yourself with their platform until you’re ready to place your first bet and start matched betting online.

Let’s say there is a tennis match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open championship, and Nadal is slightly favored.

You can back Djokovic on your bookmaker, and lay a bet on Djokovic on your betting exchange. By doing so, whatever the result of the match, you are guaranteed to make a profit.

Another example is a game between Liverpool and Manchester City. Liverpool is the slight favorite to win. You want to do matched betting for this game but there are three outcomes for the game unlike tennis: Liverpool win, Manchester City Win, and draw.

You may consider placing a bet for Manchester City and then lay Manchester City on the betting exchange that you have a free bet.

Once the soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City is over, you can take your profit since you have a bet on all three outcomes of the game whether it is a Liverpool victory, Manchester City win, or a draw.

If you’re wondering why you’re able to win even if there is a draw. It’s because when you lay a bet you are betting on two outcomes: Manchester City win and draw.

“Back” Bet

To back means to place a bet for something to happen. This is similar to the bets you place with your sportsbook or your bookmaker. The bookmaker gives the odd. If you think that is favorable for you, you place a back bet with them.

“Lay” Bet

To lay means to place a bet for something not to happen. This is the type of bet you place on the betting exchange. For laying bets, you are the one who will be giving the odds, and you’ll be waiting for a fellow sports bettor to accept your odds.

Matched Betting or Arbitrage Betting: Which one is better?

Matched betting is considered as a form of arbitrage betting because you are also placing bets on all possible outcomes of a sports event.

The noticeable difference is that for arbitrage betting, you’re looking for a difference in odds that will require to do a lot of line shopping to find the right arbitrage opportunities. While in matched betting you utilize free bets to guarantee a profit.

To answer the question, which one is better, we’re going to say it’s matched betting.

Matched betting is simpler to do since you just need to look for promotions. These promotions are offered by most betting exchanges and bookmakers. Once you’re qualified, all you have to do is deposit a part of your bankroll and wait for them to credit your sign up bonus.

As opposed to arbitrage betting where you have to look for varying odds between dozens of bookmakers.

If you’re looking for a way to make easy money, matched betting is the better option.

Can You Make A Living From Matched Betting?

Some sports bettors doing matched betting claim to make thousands of dollars doing matched betting. These are the people who invested a lot of their time looking for opportunities to do matched betting, and made this betting method their full-time job.

For casual sports bettors, don’t worry, as you can also make money matched betting.

You just have to find promotions from bookmakers and betting exchanges that you can make use of to do no risk matched betting. The amount that you can make here ranges from a meager ten-dollar up to hundreds of dollars.

The money that you can make doing matched betting highly depends on how many promotional offers you can find and qualify for.

Matched Betting in the US

US matched betting is fairly new. You can only do matched betting in the United States if you live on one of the states that online gambling or betting is not considered illegal.

To give you further details on this, let’s take a look at the table below.

The good news is since more states are allowing online sports betting, some US states may follow suit and allow its residents to do no risk matched betting as well. Just hang tight and you can start matched betting in the US soon.

Here’s an update on where other US states stand on sports betting.

Best Online Betting Sites for US Residents

We’ve reviewed a handful of betting sites who serve US customers and we were able to identify these two companies as the best sites to place your bets with if you’re in the US.

Sports Gambling Arbitrage

Matched Betting in the UK

There are more tools and websites available for those matched betting in the UK compared to thosebetting in the US.

UK citizens have been seeing a lot of ads about matched betting in many of their media outlets there. This makes it easier for them to look for matched betting offers and promotions.

The gambling laws and regulations in the UK and most of Europe are more liberal compared to some US states. Most countries in Europe can easily do matched betting at the comforts of their own home.

Best Online Betting Sites for UK Residents

Matched Betting in the AU

Matched betting in Australia is legal and allowed by their government.

We encouraged bettors to sign up with multiple bookmakers to take advantage of these promotions and offers. Doing so makes it easier for them to make money matched betting.

Some bookmakers also allow residents from NZ or New Zealand to participate and engage with matched betting.

Best Online Betting Sites for AU Residents

No Risk Bets – Final Thoughts

Matched betting and arbitrage betting are both no risk betting strategies you can do to make money online.

Arbitrage betting is great for those with thousands of dollars that they can use for betting. For the reason that having more betting money means more winnings for arbers.

For casual bettors or sports betting beginners, no risk matched betting is the easiest way to build up your bankroll.

If you can find lots of promotional offers from bookmakers and betting exchanges, and qualify for them. You can start making money matched betting right away.

Remember to always keep track of your bets, so that you can easily know where your money is. Having multiple bookmakers can sometimes make tracking your money difficult for some sports bettors.

Also, gamble only what you can afford. Simply doing that will help you avoid trouble.

Good luck!

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I hope you liked my latest article on how to get started with Arbitrage Betting. I have recently released my free Arbitrage Guide I found out I still haven’t got through the important Arbitrage Betting risks. As an arber you will need to understand what can go wrong in a sports arbitrage, what are your potential risks and how can you manage the consequences. In this article I present you the three main Arbitrage Betting risks when placing a sure bet and what to do about them.

Arbitrage Betting Risk 1: Line moving/disappearing before closing the arb

I start with one of the main Arbitrage Betting risks. You have to remember that like every other market, the sports betting market is dynamic. Meaning that when you find a combination of odds forming an arbitrage you cannot know how long these odds will remain the same. In fact you can be sure they will move at some point. What is more, since the market participants tend to clear market inefficiencies (such as arbitrage) at the moment they arise, you should expect the odds to drift in an unfavorable direction in a very short period of time.

The good news is that since the betting markets are not as efficient and fast-paced as, say, the financial markets, those opportunities will not disappear immediately. Normally an arbitrage opportunity between a soft and a sharp bookmaker would last a minute or two which gives you enough time to take advantage of it.

However, this is not always the case. It might happen that while you are placing the one leg of the arb, the other one has already drifted. It could be either because you were too slow, or because your arbitrage software is delivering your arbs with a delay, or because the arb was simply too short-lived, in which case there is not much you can do about it.

When this drift happens you will find yourself exposed to the outcome of the event in the bookmaker where you already placed the bet. You won’t be able to turn this bet into an arbitrage anymore since the odds on the other side have dropped. What are you supposed to do?

Solution

First, to prevent this situation from occurring you should always place your bet at the soft book first. The soft bookmakers will mess up the coefficients much more often than the sharps leading to a higher risk of a negative drift there. This is not to say the same cannot happen at the sharp books. You can face the same problem there, but in my experience quite less often. Moreover, the soft books can limit your account at any time without a warning, which does not happen at the sharps and represents additional risk. Therefore, always bet at the soft book first.

Arbitrage Online Gambling

And second, once the situation has occurred, the most reasonable thing for you to do will be to cover your exposure, as fast as possible, at the highest odds available at the market. This is sometimes referred within the community as a “negative arb” (which is incorrect since a losing trade cannot be an arbitrage per definition, but anyway). In this way you will incur a sure loss. As bad as it sounds, this sure loss will only be a few percentage points the size of the potential loss you would incur if the game goes the wrong way.

This is an important point. You might be tempted to leave your position open instead of hedging it and see what happens. However, in the arbing circles it is often said that arbing and betting are two fundamentally different activities. As an arber you are not supposed to bet and to expose yourself to any risk regarding the outcome of an event. Betting is not part of the philosophy of arbing and at least at the beginning you should try to avoid it where possible.

Arbitrage Betting Risk 2: Your bet in an arbitrage pair was voided after the event has finished due to a “palpable error”

For most people who have just gotten into Arbitrage Betting and have no background in professional betting this issue comes initially as a surprise. Sometimes when a book messes up the odds (happens at sharp books too, by the way), the offered odds are deemed a “palpable error” by the bookmaker, your bet is cancelled and your winnings taken away.

A bookmaker will normally claim a palpable error when the odds they have offered were “obviously wrong” due to a human error. Now, the definition of “obviously wrong” is obviously unclear, but in general when you see an arb of a very high percentage (say, 10+% whereas the average arb will bring you only 1-2%), chances are high that you have a palpable error.

Solution

That is one of the more unpleasant Arbitrage Betting risks but also an easy one to avoid. Always check whether or not the bookmaker is offering the same odds for another, objectively less likely outcome. For example, you get an arbitrage with an AH+2 bet at 1.95, but you notice AH+1 is offered at 1.95 as well. This makes no sense and is probably a palpable error.

Furthermore, as written above, if the arb percentage is unusually high, the chances are higher that it will be deemed an error. In that case you can decide whether it is worth it to take a risk, bit for a beginner I would just advice to abstain from those at least until you get some feeling for the market.

Unfortunately there is no strict rule as to whether the bookie will claim an error and void the bet or not. Even when you take these precautions it will still sometimes happen that your bet is being voided for no reason. You find it out after the event and there is nothing you can do about it. This is part of the life of every arber and every now and then you will lose some money from this. But don’t stress too much over it, it does not happen that often and especially if you follow the steps outlined above it shouldn’t affect your arbing bank all that much.

Gambling Arbitrage Calculator

Arbitrage Betting Risk 3: Different betting rules; voiding a bet due to cancellation of an event, weather conditions, player injury, etc.

In the rare case (not so rare after you place a couple of thousands of arbs) when an event is rescheduled or cancelled mid-play for whatever reason, often different bookmakers will have different rules regarding whether the bets on the event shall be settled or voided. For example in a tennis match one bookmaker might require the match to come to an end in order to settle bets while other might settle after the game has passed only the first set. This might have the unfortunate effect for you of losing both sides of the arb.

The same situation might occur when the bookmakers simply have different betting rules for certain sport. This is especially common in point betting. For example in basketball point betting for Totals in the fourth quarter, some bookmakers will add up the points of an overtime to the total while others will not. Very often such difference in the rules is the very reason the arbitrage occurred in the first place – in fact it was no arbitrage at all, since you were betting on two different things.

Solution

Some Arbitrage Betting risks will require you to invest some time in order to avoid them. This one is a good example. There is no other solution to this issue aside from learning the rules for the sports you are arbing on in the bookies you are using. This looks like a tedious task (and it is), since you would need to dig through the T&C of every bookmaker and spend a long time looking for the sports you are interested in, assuming you are actually lucky enough to find that information on the bookie’s website.

Fortunately, there is quite some information about that around the web available for free if you only do your research. You can find tables for tennis (1,2,3), basketball, baseball, ice hockey and others. Of course there is the possibility that the information is outdated but for the most part, bookies do not tend to change their rules as it leads to unnecessary confusion.

Summary

Sports Betting Arbitrage Finder

So, these were the three most common Arbitrage Betting risks you will encounter while scalping the betting markets. Remember them, learn how to solve them and you will be one step closer to becoming a successful arber.

This article will be included in my free sports arbitrage guide which is already in an advanced stage. I hope I will be able to present it to you in a week or two. Meanwhile, the guys from Trademate Sports have contacted me to write a review of their product. I am currently paper trading with their software to gather a sample long enough to be worth a look. Once I have enough data (here I also suppose I will need a few weeks) I will do the review, so stay tuned to read more about the product. Until then if you have a question or anything to share feel free to drop a comment and good luck with your betting.