Fed up of losing to the bookie? Tired of picking the wrong bets? If you want to GUARANTEE that every event you bet on gives you a profit then sports arbitrage trading is right up your alley.
What is Sports Betting Arbitrage?
Arbitrage is a technique that originated from the financial markets and has been adapted to sports betting. It is a way of guaranteeing a profit by covering all outcomes of an event and taking advantage of the variation in odds on offer from different bookies. Arbitrage is also known as a Sure bet, Scalping and Arb Trading.
If you were to cover all the outcomes in a football match (win, lose, draw) then you basically get a return, no matter what happens in the game. The problem is that if you placed these bets all with the same bookmaker, you would be guaranteed to lose money as that’s how bookies work their margin. You can however manipulate the situation by getting the best odds available for each outcome from different bookies and guarantee that you make a profit. If you can spot the opportunity early enough (before other arbers) then you can win huge sums of money.
The great thing about arbitrage is that there is no risk whatsoever. You are completely in control of the situation and are completely aware of what you will win before the game even starts.
Sports Betting Arbitrage Example
The best way to explain the system of arbitrage is to give a worked example. Let’s use a hypothetical tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick. To being we will look at the scenario of covering both players to win with both bets being placed at the same bookie. If Ladbrokes and Coral were offering:
Ladbrokes: odds of 1.1 for Nadal to win and 8.0 for Roddick
Coral: odds of 1.2 for Nadal to win and 5.0 for Roddick
To win £1000, you would need to bet:
Ladbrokes - Nadal win: Need to wager £909.10 at odds of 1.1 to win £1000.
Ladbrokes – Roddick win: Need to wager £125.00 at odds of 8.00 to win £1000.
Coral - Nadal win: Need to wager £833.35 at odds of 1.20 to win £1000.
Coral – Roddick win: Need to wager £200.00 at odds of 5.00 to win £1000.
Looking at these figures we can see that if you want to cover both possible outcomes with Ladbrokes it will cost you £1034.10 (£909.10 + £125) to win £1000 and with Coral 1033.35 (£833.35 + £200) to win the same amount. With Ladbrokes you will have lost £34.10 and at Coral, you would be down £33.35.
As you might be able to see, in this instance, Ladbrokes are offering the best odds for a Roddick win, while Coral are offering better odds than Ladbrokes on a Nadal win. We will now combine the two bookies’ odds so both outcomes are covered to see what will happen.
If you backed Roddick at Ladbrokes at odds of 8.0 and Nadal at Coral with odds of 1.2, you would only be wagering a total of £958.35 to win £1000. This would equate to a guaranteed win of £41.65 brought about by sports betting arbitrage!
As long as the bookie is willing to accept the bet, you can pretty much make as much as you choose from arbitrage – if you can spot the arbitrage opportunities!
Using Software to find the best picks
On paper arbitrage is a really simple concept, in reality though, because there are so many people doing it, arbitrage opportunities do tend to disappear quite quickly as bookies reassess their odds as people match them. Using odds comparison software might not be quite good enough to find the best bets so you might want to consider using some arbitrage software.
Although there are many reputable companies offering arbitrage software, please beware of the hundreds of so called software providers who charge large sums of money and fail to deliver on their promise. I know many people who have been caught out and in some cases lost thousands of pounds.
A great piece of software you can have a look at is the odds matching software that can be found here at Compare Bookies. It is designed to find betting opportunities you can take advantage of to receive free bets, without risking your own money. It does have a duel function though, as it brings up bets that are suitable for arbitrage. If the match percentage is above 100% this means it is an arbitrage opportunity.
In conclusion, sports betting arbitrage is a really clever way to bet but it does take a little while to get used to if you are new. Start off small to get your head around the concept before you work your way up to larger wagers. If you think there is any other information that should be included in this sports arbitrage guide then let us know and we will try to include it.
