Everything You Need To Know About Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting, or 'arbing' for those who love it, is betting on all eventualities of a sporting event. Arbitrage betting, when done correctly, earns you a profit.

You can learn all about arb betting at danske-casinoer.com, what it is, how it works, if it's legal or otherwise, and what risks are involved on this page. 

What Is Arbitrage Betting?

Arbing is where you back and lay the same result on a sporting event, taking advantage of any mathematical discrepancy in the odds on offer. The difference between these is referred to as an 'arb'.

If done correctly, arbitrage betting guarantees you a profit regardless of whether the back or lay bet is the winner. In arbitrage betting, the back bet must be at superior odds to the lay. You don't need to understand sports to be a skilled arber. It simply relies on spotting chances.

The wager in which you are backing a sporting outcome should be placed by way of a normal fixed-odds bookmaker, either in person via the net by way of sportsbooks or physically from high-street outlets.

Placing on the lay bet when arbing, nevertheless, should be done exclusively by means of a sports betting exchange.

How Arbitrage Betting Works

We have provided some examples of arbitrage betting to explain how it works. In a hypothetical UK horse race, Red Rum is the bookmakers' favourite to win at 9/4 (3.25 decimal). That is equal to a £9 return for every £4 betted.

On the exchanges, however, one may lay this horse at 15/8 (2.88) which is £15 return for every £8 betted.

Another Arb Betting Example

Now suppose we take an example of football arbitrage wagering. New England Patriots are traveling to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL.  You wager on the Patriots to win away at +175 with the bookmaker, staking $50. For every $4 you stake, you receive $7 winnings.  Meanwhile, you bet New England to lose at Tampa Bay at +163 on the exchanges. For every $8 staked, there are $13 winnings if you succeed.

Once again, with 2% commission paid on your exchange bet, a lay stake of $52.68, to leave you with a balance of $85.87 to take the loss, would be enough to guarantee $1.63 profit either way with arb betting.

Arbing Is Legal But Hazardous

Arbitrage betting is legal, and therefore you cannot be prosecuted for doing it. Yet, be aware that bookmakers don't like arb bettors.

This is because you are profiting from a hobby which is designed to lose money. Any gambler winning often, employing fixed-odds bets and/or sports exchange betting, has gambling practices monitored by the bookmaker. You will be punished if caught arbing.

You are lucky you understand the risks. Bettors are occasionally in a position to have their accounts with bookmakers restricted, such as minimum maximum bets, or even closed. Arbitrage betting can even cause you to get blacklisted so you can never bet on some sportsbooks anymore. To some clever bettors, the irony that bookies disapprove of arbing is not lost. You win at gambling by placing bets when the odds are in your favor.

Bookmakers and their bettors tend to be very sharp and clever at closing price, especially to meet market demand for specific results.

Evasion and being exposed as an arber is part of the game, so we have some tips later on that should help you with your arbitrage betting.

Popular Arbitrage Betting Events

• Arbing is an activity you can undertake in any sport of your desire, but pay attention.
• The more exotic or unusual the event that you back and lay odds on, then the more it will attract the bookmaker's attention.
• It is wiser, therefore, if you limit arbitrage betting to popular gambling sports such as soccer and horse racing.
• These two sports specifically attract huge amounts of bets all over the world.

With soccer, of course, there are quite so many markets offered by fixed-odds sportsbooks that it is difficult for traders to get on top of the odds. On the down side, though, the margins of sure profit through arbitrage betting are quite close in this instance. That is because in most of the markets, there are only two or three outcomes. Arbitrage betting is associated with horse racing more than with any other sport because of the large number of runners in races leading to many more different possible results. 

Final Thoughts On Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting is win-win for bookmakers until you get caught out by bookies. You might then be punished, e.g., account suspension, so you must be prepared for the expense of being caught out. The key to successful arbitrage betting is discovering margins between laying and backing the same outcome in a sporting competition.

It's entirely legal to do it, but makes the bookies furious. Arbitrage betting is possible for you with software and, though the margins are low, temptation of guaranteed profit is extremely alluring