Arbitrage Betting: Alternative high-yield opportunities

Arbitrage betting is currently viewed as one of the best legal money-making opportunities on the Internet. It became possible to due to more and more bookmakers opening websites and offering their services online.

The concept of arbitrage betting (also known as "non-loss" betting) is based on differences in odds offered by various bookmakers. It would be highly unlikely for all bookies to offer the same odds, since it would significantly reduce competition and most betters would stick to two or three well-known companies. The task of an arbitrager is to spot those matches for which the difference in odds offered by various bookmakers enables to gain money from placing bets on all possible outcomes of the match no matter how it ends.

Do bookies know about it? Of course, they do. Bookmakers never create an arbitrage situation with their own odds but cannot control their competitors in this plan and are not interested in having the same odds for sport events for the above-mentioned reason. In the end, assuming that you have placed bets on three different outcomes (win - draw - loss) with three different bookies, two of them keep your money and the other one pays out the amount of money you have won. That's why bookies have never attempted to combat arbitrage betting on a large scale and never will. The most important thing, however, that you are a winner regardless of the outcome.

Let's take a look at the way it works on a practical example taken from the Internet - a soccer match in which Poland was playing Latvia. "Bet365" estimated Latvia's victory at 15:1 (15.0) while the odds of "Luvbet" on a draw were 7:1 (7.0). Finally, quite a few bookmakers estimated the possibility of Poland winning the match at 1.35:1 (1.35).

To derive guaranteed profit from this game, you should proportionally distribute your total stake between the three bookmakers. To determine the percentage of money you should place on each outcome you should divide "1" by each of the three odds:

1 / 1.35 = 77.951% (on Poland's victory)

1 / 7.0 = 15.033% (on a draw)

1 / 15.0 = 7.016% (on Poland's loss)

Now let's take a look at all the three possible outcomes:

Poland's victory: 1.35 x 77.951 = 105.23%

Draw: 7.0 x 15.033 = 105.23%

Poland's loss: 15.0 x 7.016 = 105.23%

As you see, in any of the three cases you receive 5.23% of guaranteed net profit.

Now, there might be a couple complications with arbitrage betting. First of all, it's the stake size which is always limited to a certain amount of money. Hence, arbitrage betting can bring you good profits, but you are not likely to become a multi-millionaire by doing it.

Secondly, practically all payment systems which you might consider for sending and withdrawing money charge fees for their services which eat up part of your profits. The optimal way out in this situation would be to eliminate the number of transactions from your bookie balance to your system account balance.

Thirdly, some bookmakers accept only certain methods of payment and currencies, so you might have to open multi-currency accounts with many payment systems.

Fourthly, sometimes it happens for a match to be postponed. Various bookies have different policies for these cases. Some might keep the bat valid until the event takes place; others might validate it as "void" and cancel the bet. To avoid unpleasant situations in this plan always get familiar with the rules of a particular bookmaker prior to placing a bet with them.

Finally, you should place your bets as quickly as possible, since the odds for them might be changing every minute. Also, keep in mind that you should place your bets only with credible bookmakers which are not likely to go bankrupt tomorrow.

Good luck with your betting endeavors!