Arbitrage is an advanced sports betting strategy that comes from the financial world. This strategy involves multiple wagers on the same game in order to guarantee a profit. An opportunity to arbitrage for a game is more about making money than betting and rooting on a particular team.
To be clear, arbitrage is a sports betting strategy that guarantees a profit. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme and isn’t illegal. It takes effort to find an arbitrage opportunity. This kind of gambling isn’t for everyone, but all sports bettors could use this tool as part of their wagering plans.
This might sound too good to be true but it isn’t. The most difficult part about arbitrage is actually finding the opportunity.
What is arbitrage?
In the financial world, arbitrage is considered “the simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset to profit from an imbalance in the price. It is a trade that profits by exploiting the price differences of identical or similar financial instruments on different markets or in different forms.”
Arbitrage is similar for sports bettors. This betting strategy involves placing a wager on all possible outcomes of an individual game or event so that that there’s a guaranteed profit regardless of the winner. The name might sound complicated but the idea of arbitrage is actually quite simple.
How to arbitrage in sports betting
Shrewd sports bettors can use hedging and arbitrage to lock in a guaranteed profit regardless of the result of a sporting event. Hedging your bets allows you to take advantage of line changes to. Arbitrage betting is a type of a betting strategy that lets you take advantage of the odd discrepancies offered by sportsbooks. Arbing requires you to place two opposite bets on the same event, but in different bookies.
- Using the Smarkets arbitrage calculator is simple. Just follow the below instructions: Input the total stake you want to risk. Input the odds for outcome 1 and the commission if on a betting exchange (if you are arbing between bookmakers set the commission value to 0).
- Arbitrage betting is a sports betting strategy designed to take advantage of pricing discrepancies in the betting markets. It involves placing two (or more) wagers on a single sports event, so that all possible outcomes are covered. In the right situations, these wagers will return an overall profit irrespective of the result of the event.
- Arbitrage, or “arbing,” is used in sports betting. Since different bookmakers offer different odds on a given event, a gambler can bet different amounts on all possible outcomes of an event, guaranteeing profit no matter what happens. As an extreme example, if one bookmaker were offering odds of 3-to-1 that a team would win, and another.
The goal of arbitrage betting is to find inefficiencies in the sports betting market in order to guarantee a profit. Sportsbooks often set odds so that they have even (or close to even) money wagered on both sides. There are times when sportsbooks have different odds from one another and this results in an opportunity to arbitrage a game.
Arbitrage betting is done by placing multiple wagers on different outcomes of a single sports event. One of the wagers will win while the other wager will lose. If done correctly, the result will be a small win for the bettor regardless of which side wins.
Arbitrage math and results
An example should help explain how to arbitrage a game.
New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros
- Sportsbook 1 odds: Yankees +110
- Sportsbook 2 odds: Astros +110
In this example, a bettor will wager $100 on each team. The total amount of wagers for this game will be $200. Regardless of which team wins the game, the bettor will be paid $110 for a winning wager plus the original $100 for a total of $210.
Altogether there was $200 wagered on this baseball game. There is a guaranteed return of $210 no matter who wins the game. The total profit of this investment was $10. This is a guaranteed 5% return; that’s solid for a short-term investment.
The return will remain the same if a bettor can risk more than $200. Grinding out small wins over time can help a bettor grow their bankroll. In the example above, the rate of return will be 5% no matter how much money is wagered.
If the bettor can find a larger moneyline spread, they will profit greater. For example, if there is a moneyline available for +120 on both sides of the game above, the profit for the bettor will be $20 for the same $200 wager. That’s a 10% return on the investment. Again, not too shabby for having money in play for three to five hours of a baseball game.
An arbitrage opportunity can be useful for any sized bankroll. A larger bettor might be able to risk $2,000 on the same game. The 5% return, in this case, would give the bettor a profit of $100 while the 10% return would return $200.
Having a large bankroll helps grow profits quicker but isn’t necessary. Anyone can use arbitrage to supplement their sports betting bankroll.
Lastly, the odds don’t have to be the same for both wagers. The example above is just keeping the math simple.
Line shopping
Line shopping is important for all sports bettors but especially when looking for an arbitrage opportunity. Finding the best odds for a game will take place at multiple sportsbooks. Unfortunately arbitraging a game isn’t a get rich quick scheme. Finding the right odds takes time and effort. Having said that, this extra work also helps a bettor become profitable.
Even if this isn’t a particularly fun strategy, the underlying approach can be helpful for all sports bettors. Line shopping is one way to be a more profitable sports bettor – and it isn’t difficult in most states that have multiple legal sportsbooks.
The process of line shopping isn’t difficult but it does take a time switching between apps and websites to compare the information. Visiting different sportsbooks to find the best lines and odds will help a bettor in multiple ways.
An arbitrage opportunity will always be profitable. Finding the best moneyline for an event will obviously pay more money. Finding the best point spread for a game increases the chance that a team will cover and the bettor will win the wager.
There’s always an upside to placing bets with the best odds available.
Arbitrage isn’t for everyone
Sports betting arbitrage is an advanced strategy and it’s not for everyone. All sports bettors want to win but they have different motivations. Recreational sports bettors often seek to have some action on the game they’re watching or the team they’re rooting for.
Sure all bettors want to win but sometimes the goal is to have fun watching the game and to win money based on predicting the outcome correctly.
Professional sports bettors are strictly gambling to make a profit. These bettors appreciate being able to find arbitrage opportunities. Pro sports bettors are always looking for ways to make money when wagering on sports and are typically the type of bettor most open to arbitrage.
There’s a large number of sports bettors that fall in between these two extremes. These bettors will put in the work to find the best information and odds for games they’d like to wager. Many will do the extra work to find an arbitrage situation because generating a profit is the most fun part of gambling. However, arbitrage betting takes time and even an advanced recreational bettor may not have time to always seek out opportunities.
There are pros and cons to all kinds of sports wagers. Arbitrage is a great opportunity to generate small guaranteed profits on a game. This is another great tool available to sports bettors.
Arbitrage betting is a sports betting strategy that aims to guarantee your chances of winning. Sometimes called riskless profit, arbitrage allows you to place a bet on every possible result of a particular game. This way, you will never lose a bet, per se. At the same time, it will deliver guaranteed returns every time you place a bid. In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about arbitrage betting.
What is Arbitrage Betting?
Betting works on odds. In arbitrage betting, you place your bets on a unique mix of odds so that you have a guaranteed profit irrespective of the game’s result. However, the profit you make with arbitrage is long-term rather than an instant return.
Known by multiple names like surewins and miraclebets, arbitrage betting is legal. You can find different odds on different online sportsbooks. As an arbitrageur, you have to find the perfect mix of bets to maximize your profits. If you are placing bets for the first time, you can maximise your winnings by using it in conjunction with the 200% welcome bonuses available at some online casinos.
How does it Work?
Arbitrage betting is wildly popular among sports bettors for a reason. You do not need to have any in-depth knowledge about the sport. However, it is important to note that arbitrage betting requires experience and skill of choosing the right bets.
This type of betting works on the premise that there are discrepancies in the odds across different platforms. Every bookmaker prices their bets differently. This difference may not seem huge, but it can be significant enough for arbitrage betting. If you find a big enough price difference, then you can place multiple bets on a single game to cover all probable results of the game.
Say, for example, you are betting on a game between Team A and Team B. Two different betting sites have placed varied odds for the two teams. Betting site 1 gives higher odds for Team A to win. Betting site 2 gives higher odds for Team B to win. By simply buying the best bets on both platform you are guaranteed to make a profit.
Different Ways to Approach Arbitrage Betting
Finding bets with significant enough pricing discrepancies is the first step towards making a profit. This involves making a calculation to determine whether the difference in odds is suitable for arbitrage betting.
Using the above example, imagine you are placing your bets on Team A on betting website one and on Team B on betting website 2.
To find out if it is suitable for arbitrage betting, use the equation:
O1-1 + O2-1
O1 stands for outcome 1’s odds, whereas O2 represents outcome 2’s odds. In simple terms, this is the summation of the inverse odds for both the outcomes.
From the above example, you can put Team A’s odds on betting website 1 in O1. Then put the odds for Team B on betting website 2 in O2. When you put these values in the equation, you will get a number. If the sum of these inverse odds is less than 1, then this is suitable for arbitrage betting.
Risks of Arbitrage Betting
Arbitrage betting is undoubtedly lucrative. However, it also involves some risk, like every other for of gambling.
Arbitrage Betting Sites
Some of these risks include:
- Lack of experience: This is certainly the biggest risk in arbitrage betting. Insufficient knowledge about odds, types of wagers, and bookmakers’ processes will greatly damage your chances of success. You need to have the necessary skills to assess the right bets and react to changing situations on the feet.
- Dawdling: In arbitrage betting, this term refers to the time delay between placing multiple bets. If you have placed a bet on one result and take too long to place the second bet, then you could end up losing out. Time plays a key role in arbitrage betting. Even the slightest delay can represent a significant risk.
- Mistakes by Bookmakers: No odds are fool-proof. You will find a clause on every sportsbook that gives the bookmaker the authority to cancel any bets that have erroneous odds. Therefore, if you place any of your bets on mistaken odds, then the bet may be cancelled. You will end up with no second bet, and this creates an obvious risk.
- Volatility: Booking odds constantly change. Therefore, you might miss out on profit if you fail to place the bets in time. Just like dawdling, the odds’ volatility is also a big risk factor in arbitrage betting.
Arbitrage strategy is a popular strategy in sports betting. One of the reasons for its popularity is the guaranteed returns it claims for every bet, although it is not risk-free. To be successful in arbitrage betting, you need to do your research, determine if odds are suitable for arbitrage betting, and be carefully of timing and other risks.
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