What is Sport Arbitrage Betting?

Sports arbitrage betting, also known as sure betting or arbing, is a strategy employed by individuals to take advantage of discrepancies in odds offered by different bookmakers or betting exchanges. The goal is to place multiple bets on all possible outcomes of a sporting event in such a way that guarantees a profit, regardless of the result. But there are some risks, which we will discuss in this article.

What are Surebets?

A surebet means a situation when betting on opposite outcomes of the same event brings profit regardless of the outcome.

The search for surebets is getting done either the old fashioned way (manually) or using modern technologies. The sure bet scanner is a software designed to automatically find the arbitrage situations and provide a list to its users.

Arbitrage Situations in Sports Betting Arise Due to Several Factors:

The main reason for the emergence of arbitrage situations in sports is that bookmakers compete with each other for a potential client. Because of this, bookmakers put inflated odds on some events in order to attract a potential player. As a result, there are sure bets.

Here are a Few Other Reasons for Arbitrage Situations:

1. The bookmaker overestimates the odds as part of special promotions to attract customers (competition with other bookmakers for a potential player);
2. Odds for events change with different delays for different bookmakers;
3. A sharp drop in the odds as a result of a large stream of bets in a short period of time (or one large bet).

One must take into account the fact that sure bets cannot exist for long. When an arbitrage opportunity arises, players quickly identify it and place a large volume of bets. Bookmakers notice the surge in bets and adjust the odds. As a result, only those who managed to place their bets among the first remain in a winning position.

Types of Arbitrage Opportunities

We categorize arbitrage situations into two types:

• Prematch;
• live.

Prematch arbs arise due to differences in odds for the same events that are scheduled to start at a specific time.

Live arbs are formed from events that are happening in real-time.

How To Find Arbitrage Opportunities in Sports Betting — Example with Formula

Let’s say there’s a tennis match between Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula, and you find the following odds from two different bookmakers.

Elina Svitolina	Bookmaker	Jessica Pegula
1,26	Bet365	3,8
1,42	William Hill	2,86

Define inversion (L) for all the results:

Bet365: L = 1 / 1,26 + 1 / 3,8 = 1,056
William Hill: L = 1 / 1,42 + 1 / 2,86 = 1,053

Based on the calculations, we can determine a profit of 5.6% for Bet365 and 5.3% for William Hill regardless of the outcome of the competition.

1. Inversion (L) for Bet365 and William Hill. Imagine Bet365 bets on the win of Elina Svitolina, and William Hill – on Jessica Pegula:

L = 1 / 3,8 + 1 / 1,42 = 0,9673

It can be seen from the calculation that the inversion for counter bets is less than 1. This means that both bookmakers are suitable and we can continue our calculation.

2. Calculate the required rates. Let’s say we have $500. Bets on Bet365 (V1) and William Hill (V2) are as follows:

V1 = 500/(0,9673 x 3.8) = $136
V2 = 500/(0,9673 x 1.42) = $364

As a result, in order to get a guaranteed profit, we have to bet $136 on Elina Svitolina (Bet365 ) to win and $364 on Jessica Pegula (William Hill).

3. Profit (P). Calculate the profit from the total amount of bets.

If Elina Svitolina WINS:

P = 136 x 3,8 - (136 + 364) = $16,80

If Jessica Pegula WINS:

P = 364 x 1,42 - (136 + 364) = $16,88

Your total winnings amount to $516.8 regardless of the final outcome of the match. The net profit is 3.36%. Please take into account any potential fees and expenses associated with withdrawing funds from the bookmaker. It’s possible that this sure bet has a relatively low profit margin.

As a rule, a surebet brings 1-5% of the profit from the amount of all bets. Therefore, the profit directly depends on the amount of the bet: the more you bet, the higher the earnings will be.

Important criteria for choosing software

List of the most important criteria:

➕ Free plan	Up to 1%
➕ Live mode	Yes or No
➕ Scan speed	Only Fast
➕ Number of bookies	80 or more
➕ Number of markets	100 or more
➕ Valuebets	Yes or No

Benefits of Arbitrage Betting Software

Above, we described an example of manually searching for surebet. In the current reality, manually searching for surebets is highly ineffective. Therefore, we suggest considering software for finding arbitrage situations. Nowadays, bettors prefer the automation arbitrage betting software for the following reasons:

• wide range of surebets and valuebets;
• large selection of bookies from all over the world;
• ability to wager bets in a single click, without going to the bookies’ websites;
• no delays in updating data (usual for other scanners);
• surebets and valuebets are available in Live mode.

Is It Legal To Use Surebets?

The use of surebets, also known as arbitrage betting, is not illegal in most jurisdictions. However, bookmakers generally have measures in place to detect and limit the activities of surebet bettors. They do this because arbitrage betting can be seen as exploiting the discrepancies in their odds, potentially leading to financial losses for the bookmakers.

Bookmakers Employ Various Strategies to Penalize Surebet Bettors:

• Limiting Bet Amounts. Bookmakers may impose limits on the maximum amount that can be wagered by specific customers. This restricts the potential profits that bettors can make.
• Account Restrictions or Closures. If bookmakers identify users taking advantage of surebets, they may impose restrictions on their accounts and even close them.
• Adjusting Odds. When bookmakers detect significant imbalances due to surebets, they may adjust their odds to eliminate the arbitrage opportunity.

Tips for Bettors

1. Round your bet amounts. Bets like $123.82 and similar figures could raise suspicions with the bookmaker.
2. Refrain from withdrawing funds after every successful transaction, as this may raise red flags for the bookmaker.
3. Make regular bets on popular events while also incorporating arbitrage bets into your strategy. This helps minimize the risk of detection by the bookmaker.
4. Exercise caution when considering the most profitable arbitrage opportunities, as they may be intentionally set by bookmakers to identify arbitrage bettors.
5. Concentrate your betting activities on one or two specific sports. If you place bets across multiple sports, the bookmaker might suspect you of employing surebets and conduct a thorough investigation.
6. Avoid duplicating your bets, as this is a clear indication of engaging in arbitrage betting.

FAQ

Used literature, references

• How exactly does arbitrage betting work? // Quora.com
• What is arbitrage in sports betting? // Rotowire.com
• Arbitrage betting // en.wikipedia.org
• What is Surebets // ru.wikipedia.org
• As Sports Gambling Grows, So Do Appetite-Whetting Sure Bets // Nytimes.com