Betting arbitrage, miraclebets, surebets, sports arbitraging is a particular case of arbitrage arising on betting markets due to either bookmakers’ different opinions on event outcomes or plain errors. By placing one bet per each outcome with different betting companies, the bettor can make a profit. As long as different Bookmakers are used for arbitrage betting the Bookmakers do not have a problem with this. Each Bookmaker will still make profit due to their calculations.

• Gambling Arbitrage
• Casino Arbitrage

In the bettors’ slang an arbitrage is often referred to as an arb; people who use arbitrage are called arbers. A typical arb is around 2%, often less, however 4%-5% are also normal and during some special events they might reach 20%.

Arbitrage Betting involves relatively large sums of money (stakes are bigger than in normal betting) while another variety, betting investment, means placing relatively small bets systematically on overvalued odds most of which will lose but some win thus making a profit.

Take advantage of the differences in sportsbook odds. Find arbitrage bets that guarantee a profit. Arbitrage applies to financial as well as gambling markets, and involves the simultaneous buying and/or selling in different markets to take advantage of different prices in the same market. In short, the possibility for arbitrage only exists due to market inefficiencies. This is a community to share arbitrage betting opportunities and sure bets. Post them for any sport, stock market, or bitcoin arbitrage situations.

The best way of generating profit, which has been established in Britain via sports arbitrage, consists of ‘key men’ employing others to place bets on their behalf, so as to avoid detection and increase accessibility to bookmakers. This allows the financiers or key arbers to stay at a computer to keep track of market movement.

Arbitrage in theory

There are a number of potential arbitrage deals. Below is an explanation of some of them including formulas and risks associated with these arbitrage deals. The table below introduces a number of variables that will be used to formalise the arbitrage models.

Arbitrage using bookmakers

This type of arbitrage takes advantage of different odds offered by different bookmakers. Assume the following situation:

We consider an event with 2 possible outcomes (e.g. a tennis match – either Federer wins or Henman wins), the idea can be generalized to events with more outcomes, but we use this as an example.

The 2 bookmakers have different ideas of who has the best chances of winning. They offer the following Fixed-odds gambling on the outcomes of the event

For an individual bookmaker, the sum of the inverse of all outcomes of an event will always be greater than 1. 1.25 ^{− 1} + 3.9 ^{− 1} = 1.056 and 1.43 ^{− 1} + 2.85 ^{− 1} = 1.051

The fraction above 1, is the bookmakers return rate, the amount the bookmaker earns on offering bets at some event. Bookmaker 1 will in this example expect to earn 5.6% on bets on the tennis game. Usually these gaps will be in the order 8 – 12%.

The idea is to find odds at different bookmakers, where the sum of the inverse of all the outcomes are below 1. Meaning that the bookmakers disagree on the chances of the outcomes. This discrepancy can be used to obtain a profit.

For instance if one places a bet on outcome 1 at bookmaker 2 and outcome 2 at bookmaker 1:

1.43 ^{− 1} + 3.9 ^{− 1} = 0.956

Placing a bet of 100$ on outcome 1 with bookmaker 2 and a bet of $100 * 1.43 / 3.9 = 36.67 on outcome 2 at bookmaker 1 would ensure the bettor a profit.

In case outcome 1 comes out, one could collect r₁ = $100 * 1.43 = $143 from bookmaker 2. In case outcome 2 comes out, one could collect r₂ = $36.67 * 3.9 = $143 from bookmaker 1. One would have invested $136.67, but have collected $143, a profit of $6.33 (%4.6) no matter the outcome of the event.

So for 2 odds o₁ and o₂, where . If one wishes to place stake s₁ at outcome 1, then one should place s₂ = s₁ * o₁ / o₂ at outcome 2, to even out the odds, and receive the same return no matter the outcome of the event.

Or in other words, if there are two outcomes, a 2/1 and a 3/1, by covering the 2/1 with $500 and the 3/1 with $333, one is guaranteed to win $1000 at a cost of $833, giving a 20% profit. More often profits exists around the 4% mark or less.

Reducing the risk of human error is vital being that the mathematical formula is sound and only external factors add “risk”. Numerous online arbitrage calculator tools exist to help bettors get the math right. For example, arb calculators can handle calculations for both book arbitrage (back/back or lay/lay) and back/lay arbitrage opportunities on an intra-exchange or inter-exchange basis, and is free.

Back-lay sports arbitrage

Betting exchanges have opened up a new range of arbitrage possibilities since on the exchanges it is possible to lay (i.e. to bet against) as well as to back an outcome. Arbitrage using only the back or lay side might occur on betting exchanges. It is in principle the same as the arbitrage using different bookmakers. Arbitrage using back and lay side is possible if a lay bet on one exchange provides shorter odds than a back bet on another exchange or bookmaker. However, the commission charged by the bookmakers and exchanges must be included into calculations.

Back-lay sports arbitrage is often called scalping or trading. Scalping is not actually arbitrage, but short term trading. In the context of sports arbitrage betting a scalping trader or scalper looks to make lots of small profits, which in time can add up. In theory a trader could turn a small investment into large profits by re-investing his earlier profits into future bets so as to generate exponential growth. Scalping relies on liquidity in the markets and that the odds fill fluctuate around a mean point. A key advantage to scalping on one exchange is that most exchanges charge commission only on the net winnings in a particular event, thus ensuring that even the smallest favorable difference in the odds will guarantee some profit.

Bonus sports arbitrage

Many bookmakers offer first time users a signup bonus in the range $10 – $200 for depositing an initial amount. They typically demand that this amount is wagered a number of times before the bonus can be withdrawn. Bonus sport arbitraging is a form of sports arbitraging where you hedge or back your bets as usual, but since you received the bonus, a small loss can be allowed on each wager (2-5 %), which comes off your profit. In this way the bookmakers wagering demand can be met and the initial deposit and sign up bonus can be withdrawn with little loss.

The advantage over usual betting arbitrage is that it is a lot easier to find bets with an acceptable loss, instead of an actual profit. Since most bookmakers offer these bonuses this can potentially be exploited to harvest the sign up bonuses.

Making money:

By signing up to various bookmakers, it’s possible to turn these ‘free’ bets into cash fairly quickly, and either making a small arbitrage, or in the majority of cases, making a small loss on each bet, or trade. However, it is relatively time consuming to find close matched bets or arbs, which is where an arb / close matched bet service is useful.

Drawbacks:

As well as spending time physically matching odds from various bet sites to exchanges, the other draw back with bonus bagging / arb trading in this sense is that often the free bets are ‘non-stake returned’. This effectively reduces the odds, in decimal format, by 1. Therefore, in order to reduce ‘losses’ on the free bet, it is necessary to place a bet with high odds, so that the percentage difference of the decrease in odds is minimised.

Arbitrage in practice

While often claimed to be “risk-free”, this is only true if an arb is successfully completed; in reality, there are several threats to this:

Disappearance of arb: Arbs in online sports markets have a median lifetime of around 15 minutes, after which the difference in odds undepinning them vanishes through betting activity. Without rapid alerting and action, it is possible to fail to make all the “legs” of the arb before it vanishes, thus transforming it from a risk-free arb into a bet. High street bookmakers however, offer their odds days in advance and rarely change them once they’ve been set. These arbs can have a lifetime of several hours.

Making errors: In the excitement of the action and due to the high number of bets placed, it is not uncommon to make a mistake (like traders on financial markets). For example the appropriate stakes may be incorrectly calculated, or be placed on the wrong “legs” of the arb, locking in a loss, or there may be inadequate funds in one of the accounts to complete the arb. Those errors might temporarily have an important impact. In the long term, the benefit will depend on the odds. For example one could actually make more money by placing the “wrong” bet where the outcome happens to be beneficial, though not justified by the arbitrage calculation. However, this stroke of luck being repeated is unlikely, assuming the bookies have calculated the odds so they make a profit.

Bet cancellation: If a bettor places bets so as to make an arbitrage and one bookmaker cancels a bet, the bettor could find himself in a bad position because he is actually betting with all the risks implied. The bettor can repeat the bet that has been cancelled so as minimize the risk, but if he cannot get the same odds he had before he may be forced to take a loss. In some cases the situation arises when there are very high potential payouts by the bookie, perhaps due to an unintentional error made while quoting odds. Many jurisdictions allow bookmakers to cancel bets in the event of such a “palpable” [“obvious”] error in the quoted odds This is often loosely defined as an obvious mistake, but whether a “palp” in fact has been made is often the sole discretion of the bookmaker.

Other Problems: Bookmakers who suspect arbing can set very low maximum stake limits, making arbing insufficiently profitable. Capital diffusion is serious; many bookmakers make it very easy to deposit funds and difficult to withdraw them. Making a return involves many bets spread over typically many bookmakers so keeping track is a considerable challenge, and requires excellent record-keeping.

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.

Gambling Arbitrage

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.

Casino Arbitrage

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.

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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