Sports Arbitraging occurs when
TwoDifferentBookmakers offering
prices on an event with only two possible outcomes and there is enough
of a difference in their prices such that you can back both outcomes and
Make a ProfitWhoeverWins. It's very similar to trading.
The difference is that for Arbitrage you are betting almost
simultaneously with two books offering different prices. Trading
is making a profit by backing both outcomes at different times (normally
in-running). Arbitraging has only become
possible due to the recent growth in Internet Sports Betting and variety
of Online Bookmakers. Arbitraging is sometimes described as
Risk FreeBetting,
this is true in theory, but not in practice, so carefully read my advice
on risks from arbitraging prior to embarking on this pastime,
but with patience you can become a Sports Arbitrage Trader.
Most Arbs are generated in tennis and soccer,
particularly on the Asian Handicap markets.
To succeed at Arbitraging, you need to have:-
An account with at least 5 and preferably 10
OnlineBookmakers
(books for short)
A reliable computer with broadband internet connection
The ability to work quickly with the excel spreadsheet to
calculate stakes, and then place bets on two different sites, almost
simultaneously. You will definitely need to
use some software to calculate your stakes for you. My free
spreadsheet does the job nicely, there's examples of the sums on the
page, and you can request a free copy on that page too.
Good money management - the ability to keep track of all your
bets, and move money quickly from one account to another. A
Moneybookers account is the best way to do this. Click below
to go to their web-site.
That's all there is to it, but be warned, it is not a get rich quick
business. It takes plenty of capital, patience and the ability to
ride the occasional set-back.
Sports where you get arbs, an arb is an arbitrage
Arb Delivery Services
It surprised me at first that there are enough arbs to make serious
money from, but it happens due to competition amongst books to attract
business, by trying to offer the best price. The difficult bit is
finding them. I suppose you could attempt to do it manually, by
comparing price lists at different books, but my strong advice is that
this will prove to be futile. The best way is to subscribe to one
of the arbitrage services on the Internet. I use
Arbhunters - there
is a lot of free advice which you can access on this web-site, by
clicking on the banner below, for
example an arbitrage tutorial, a spreadsheet, a list of rules employed
on tennis retirements by different books.
I have always found Arbhunters to be reliable, and helpful.
You can specify which books, you have accounts with, and change this
list as many times as you like. You can book holidays with them so
your monthly subscription is not wasted if you are away from a computer
for a few days.
Another
arb delivery service is at,
this site is quite good for its free information - odds comparison at
different books, and a forum which has deteriorated recently, they do
have a free arb service, but it's 20 minutes delayed from real time, so
is of limited use. They have a paid service, which I haven't
tried, and can't comment on.
Probably well over half of
all the arbs are generated in tennis matches. It's the ideal sport
for an arbitrager; massive liquidity, all the books bet on all the ATP
and WTA matches, only two possible outcomes, plenty of tournaments,
matches at all times of the day and night. Some weeks there are
three or four tournaments, and arbs are delivered at such a rapid rate
that at first it can become confusing and difficult to keep up.
Just stick to the match you're working on, and do not be distracted by
trying to chase 2 matches simultaneously. Another one will come
along quickly enough.
The ATP and WTA
website are the starting point for
information on Mens and Ladies tennis respectively.
Most tournaments
have their own web-sites which you can access via these links.
Another good site for live scores is Livescore
Football gives the second highest number of arbs with
Arbhunters.
Mostly these are Asian handicap bets. This is slightly
complicated, and I would study it carefully before getting involved.
Asian Handicap is a form of betting which is very popular in
Asia (thus the name). "Handicap" means that a team receives a
virtual head start, effectively leading the game by differing
amount or amounts before it actually kicks off.
If you back a team with the handicap and they manage to win the
match (with head start included), then you'll win the bet.
In some cases, a team is given two virtual head starts. If they
manage to overcome both of these, then you get a maximum return
on your stake. If they overcome only one of these, your profit
is either halved or half your stake is returned, depending on
the market.
Rather than the three options available on standard match
betting:
Arsenal
Chelsea
The Draw
when you bet on an Asian Handicap market, you have two options
from which to choose:
Arsenal -1.5
Chelsea +1.5
The above example is the simplest case of Asian Handicap betting
on Betfair, ie when a team is given a half number of goals
(+0.5, +1.5, +2.5 etc). The team who scores the most with the
handicap applied is deemed the winner. For example, if I back
Arsenal to beat Chelsea with a handicap of -1.5, the bet is a
loser if the following happens:
Chelsea win
Draw
Arsenal win by a 1 goal margin
but it's a winner if
Arsenal win the match by 2 or more goals
As mentioned, some Asian handicap markets give teams two virtual
head starts (or handicaps in the case of the favourite!). Here,
we have a combination of a half goal and a whole goal handicap
(-0.5 & -1, +0.5 & +1). These bets are sometimes referred to as
quarter goal handicaps:
Real Madrid -0.5 & -1.0
Barcelona +0.5 & +1.0
In this case, the stake is divided between a bet on the half
goal and a bet on the whole goal handicap. For example, if I
back Real Madrid to beat Barcelona with a handicap of -0.5 &
-1.0, then
If Real win by 2 goals or more, both parts of my bet win and I collect
all winnings
If they win by exactly 1 goal, then only half my bet wins
and the other half is void
If they draw or lose, then naturally both parts of the bet
lose
A similar market to this is when the handicap starts with a full
goal amount (-1, 0, 1) rather than a half goal amount. For
example:
Liverpool 0 & -0.5
Everton 0 & +0.5
In this case, the stake is divided between a bet on the whole
goal handicap and a saver on the half goal handicap. For
example, if I back Liverpool to beat Everton with a handicap of
0 & -0.5 (or -1/4 goal), then if:
Liverpool win by 1 goal or more, I win my bet at the
odds taken
These three American
sports throw up quite a few arbs. I personally find it quite
difficult to follow them, because I don't know anything about the sports
or the teams. Many of the teams have nick-names which appear in
some bookmakers lists (eg Jets, Thunder etc), without
the name of the city. Baseball betting is
rather strange in that most books list prices with a named pitcher
attached, if he doesn't play the bet is void, so if you get involved in
this sort of arb you must make sure that both books are betting with the
same named pitcher for both sides, otherwise you will be exposed on one
side of the arb. I once got in a horrible situation when Houston
were playing Denver, and the named pitchers all had Spanish names.
It was only after I had placed both my bets that I realised that the
named pitchers were not the same, and worse still my bets were not even
on the same match - unbeknownst to me the two sides were playing each
other twice on the same day - apparently this is not uncommon in
Baseball.
All I can advise is that if you know these sports there are some good
opportunities, but be careful if you are like me, and don't understand
them
A good site for following live scores in all the
American sports is at Yahoo Sports
Each book offering tennis betting has rules regarding the situation when
a player retires injured before the end of the game. There
are three basic categories:-
1 Bets void unless match played to a
conclusion. All stakes returned on both players
2 Bets void unless the first set is
completed. If first set is completed then the results stands.
3 Bets stand is the first point is played.
Obviously if you are arbing with two different books, this could
leave you in a position where one bet is settled (win or lose), and the
other bet is voided - which can leave you with a big win (or loss).
Some people advise only arbing if the two books have the same rules.
My own view is that this would unnecessarily restrict the number of arbs
available. There are not that many retirements, and if there is
it's just as likely to work in your favour as against.
For what it's worth my current books rules are as follows:-
Group 1 (Full Match)
Group 2 (One Set)
Group 3 (One Point)
Bet 365
Betfair
Bluesquare
Paddypower
Sportingbet
Expekt
TotalBet
Pinnacle (2 sets)
Ladbrokes
A full table of all bookmakers tennis rules can be found
on the
Sports arbitraging is often described as
risk-free. THIS IS NOT TRUE.
You can end up losing
money on an arb in one of the following ways.
Placing an arb with one bookie, then finding the price has gone when you
try to get the other part of the arb on with the second bookie. The
solution to this one is to do the calculations in the spreadsheet, open
up one window for each of the bookies, and one for the spreadsheet and
set all the bets up until you are one click away from placing it on each
site, then almost simultaneously place the bet on each site. This
process won’t work all the time. The problem is the speed you have to
work at. For the best arbs if you don’t get it placed within a minute
or so of getting notified of the arb from your subscription, the price
will go. If you do fall into this trap one way to recover if the
match is on Betfair is to re-calculate your stakes for a Betfair arb
(using the spreadsheet of course) and if it is offered place the bet
in-play on Betfair. If you do this, and get matched, you
effectively turned an arb into a trade.
This
speed of operation is a contributor to the next losing mechanism.
You end up backing the wrong thing with one of your bookies. One
way of doing this is to back the same outcome with both books; the other
is to bet in the wrong event completely. Another contributor to this
problem is the different layouts and bet placing mechanism on each
site. You need to get really familiar with your chosen bookmakers web
site.
It’s
not happened to me, but most, if not all, bookies have a clause in their
rules stating that if they make a mistake (they call it a palpable
error) in putting up a price then they can cancel the bet. You are
then left exposed at the other end of the arb. You can actually spot
these mistakes most days, and if you do then avoid putting a bet on. A
dead giveaway is an arb % greater than 10%. Genuine arbs at this level
do not really exist. One of the books will have a mistaken price
listed.
You may fall victim to the different rules that apply for tennis
retirements. You can avoid this by only backing in one match with
two bookies/exchanges with the same retirement rules. My own view is
that doing this will deny you some good opportunities; the retirement
rules are just as likely to work in your favour as against you. I read
somewhere that 1 in 24 matches features a retirement, my own experience
is that there are substantially less retirements, more like 1 in a 100.
Some of them call it a match after one point, some after one set, some
after two sets and some only if the whole match is played out to a
finish. Odds and Bets has a table in its free information area showing
which bookies have which rules.
In
baseball its quite common for certain books to offer prices with a
stipulation that if the named pitcher for both sides doesn’t start then
the bet is voided; other books do not mention the pitchers. Do not
arb in Baseball unless the books either both list the same named
pitchers, or both do not name pitchers at all.
