Arbitrage CALCULATOR

Arbitrage Betting Strategies

There are many different strategies and methods to bet on Arbitrage Bets. This example will take you through two of the main strategies of betting on arbitrage.

Example: You have $100 and the New York Knicks are playing against the Boston Celtics. On Sportsbook Z the Knicks are paying -125 to win, while on Sportsbook Y the Celtics are paying +150 to win.

Strategy A - How to make a profit regardless of the result?

If the bettor was to place $41.86 on the Boston Celtics, and also place a bet of $58.14 on the New York Knicks on the moneyline market on the two respective sportsbooks, they can ensure profit no matter the outcome. The bettor has placed a total of $100 in bets on both the Celtics and Knicks, but as shown in the table below, they will be returned $104.65 no matter which team wins. Although this doesn't seem like a lot of profit, this can be scaled to suit your bankroll and will earn the bettor a 4.65% return on investment.

This strategy is the safer option and can be used to win free money from your bets (see Risk of Arbitrage betting at the end).

Strategy B - How to increase your profit if you have a strong lean towards one outcome?

This strategy is used if the bettor believes they have an edge and thinks they know who is going to win the game/market in their arbitrage bet. This strategy increases your potential profit on your arbitrage bet, however, instead of walking away with free money there is a chance you will break even and not win anything (or make a small loss).

In this example, the bettor believes that the Boston Celtics are going to win the game against the New York Knicks and therefore is willing to earn minimal profit or break even at a chance to ensure a slightly higher return on investment. By placing a $44.44 moneyline bet on the Celtics and a $55.56 moneyline bet on the Knicks they have created their arbitrage opportunity. If the favoured Boston Celtics win the matchup their bet will return them $111.10 securing the bettor a $11.10 profit (11.1% ROI), however if the New York Knicks win, the bettor will only return $100 therefore breaking even and not winning or losing any money.

This strategy is a riskier version of an arbitrage bet, however, if used successfully it does ensure a greater profit for the bettor. To take this a step further, the bettor could use a Weighted Arbitrage Bet where they place more money on the team they believe is going to win. While in this scenario there is a chance you do lose some money, the purpose of the Weighted Arbitrage is to maximise the return if you believe you have a better than decent chance of picking the winning team or market. If you do feel like this is something you want to do, simply use the Arbitrage Calculator above normally, then, assign a dollar amount on top you want to place on the team/market you believe will win. This being, your money is weighted to one outcome.

How to Find Arbitrage Bets Opportunities

As sports betting and sportsbooks are becoming more mainstream and popular it has become harder to find Arbitrage Bet opportunities. However, arbitrage betting isn't dead and there are still opportunities waiting for you, here are some ways to help you find them:

Manually

It sounds simple, but it is possible to find arbitrage betting opportunities by manually comparing sportsbooks odds against each other. Although this may be time-consuming, there are various tools on the internet that can help you. For example, there are many different odds comparison sites and tools that make it easier and faster to compare the odds on the same markets from different sportsbooks. Manually comparing and viewing different odds is also a good way to get comfortable and gain a better understanding of sports betting markets and sportsbooks.

Software

There is software available on the internet that automatically scans and detects arbitrage betting opportunities. These can be helpful as they remove the manual work from finding arbitrage bets. A good system/program has the potential to be a possible source of passive income. However, it would be wise to identify proven and successful software, and beware of scams and software programs that ask you to enter private/credit card information as there are possibly some fake programs out there. We are working on some free tools that show potential arbitrage opportunities which we will release soon.

Sportsbooks Promotions

An underrated method of finding arbitrage betting opportunities is taking advantage of sportsbooks promotional offers. Often sportsbooks may offer promotions on various events that boost/increase the odds of certain outcomes. When this happens there is often a maximum stake (amount of money you can place on the promotion) that you can place on this event, however there is still usually free money to be made. By being aware of the different sportsbooks that more commonly offer these promotions you can maximise your chances to make a quick profit. However, beware that it is not uncommon for sportsbooks to 'promo ban' customers who take advantage of their promotions (make it so that certain sports bettors can't bet on their promotions). There are some ways to avoid this occurring such as always using a different sportsbook to arbitrage your promo bet against, and by placing lots of small bets (such as 1c, 2c if they accept those amounts) on heaps of different sports or races. Please check out our Bonus Bet Calculator to learn how to maximize your return on Bonus Bets.

Risk of Arbitrage Betting

Although Arbitrage betting may seem entirely risk-free, there are still sometimes some risks associated with Arbitrage bets. This is because sometimes sportsbooks make mistakes or there may be errors in the odds they release.

For example, all sportsbooks might be listing something at $1.05, except this one sportsbook which has the odds for this outcome listed at $51 which is an obvious outlier. So by arbitraging this heavy favorite at $51 with the correctly priced underdog at $10 you seem to be on track for a massive pay day. However, sportsbooks are able to void your bet on the error odds at $51 (remove your bet and refund you your stake) which leaves you stuck heavily backing a $10 underdog on the other side of your arbitrage bet.

With this in mind when it comes to arbitrage betting it is best to stick to non-error opportunities where there is usually a 1-5% guaranteed return. As often if the odds seem too good to be true they are and it is an error with a high potential to be voided. With this being said it may still be worthwhile placing single bets on favorites with error odds as if the sportsbooks void you get your money back but if it isn't voided you have backed a heavy favorite at underdog odds and have a good chance to make a decent profit.