Sports betting strategies can come in all kinds of different forms. Some simply assist with your logic towards making the smartest predictions possible. Others provide systems of betting which you can follow step-by-step in the hopes of success.
Some are good, some are bad, and some are so convoluted they’ll drive you mad. But few can match up to the popularity or influence of arbitrage betting. If you’re intrigued as to what makes this style of betting so popular, how it works and what risks are associated with it, then you’ve come to the right place.
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Our
UK betting guides
are always created to be suitable for beginners and experts alike. That means that even if you’ve never heard of arbing before, there’s no need to worry, as we’re going right from the top.
But where to begin with something like arbitrage betting UK?
We think a great first step to understanding what we mean by betting arbitrage is to understand the
overround. This is how much profit, in terms of percentage, the bookmaker would make if an equal amount of money was put across all available markets on an event.
How is this worked out? Well, all the odds on an event can be converted into percentages. Here’s an example. In a football match between France and Croatia, let’s say France has 1/2 odds, Croatia has 19/4 odds, and a draw comes with 16/5 odds.
These odds converted to percentages come out as 66.7%, 17.4% and 23.8%. Add these all together and you get 107.9%. The amount above 100% is known as the overround, and represents the bookmaker’s edge. This is a vital indicator of profitability.
What is arbitrage betting?
So, what’s the relevancy of this to sports-arbitrage?
Well, it uses the same basic concepts to attain consistent profitability. With arbing betting, you take advantage of the price difference between the odds offered by a multitude of operators to profit.
The way this works is simple. Not all bookmakers will provide the same odds on different markets. Some markets on the same event will have lower odds on some bookmakers than others, and other markets will also have lower odds on other bookmakers.
The key here is to use multiple bookmakers or betting exchanges to get the lowest odds across all markets on an event to ensure the overall percentage of all the markets’ odds comes to less than 100%. Thereby, you’re creating a margin of profit for yourself. Essentially, this is taking the overround in the opposite direction to turn it to your advantage.
Let’s go back to that previous example. Let’s say, hypothetically, we shop around and find odds for France on one bookmaker at 4/6, odds at 7/2 for Croatia and 6/1 on draw odds. These odds converted into percentages are 60%, 22.2% and 14.3%. The percentage of the odds converted across all markets on this match now comes out to 96.5%. Not only have we eliminated the bookmaker’s margin, but we’ve created our own.
Unlike most betting strategies, betting arbitrage doesn’t require correct predictions to be successful. Consider for instance,
how to win accumulator bets. Ultimately, your picks need to be correct. This isn’t the case with betting arbitrage. These percentages mean that by backing all markets, you would be in profit no matter the result of the contest.
These are the core concepts behind arbitrage betting – ensuring profit through taking advantage of price differentials across multiple bookmakers and betting exchanges. You may be interested to know that it’s a technique also commonly used on the stock exchange.
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How betting arbitrage works
The above example is a pretty simple one of how a sports-arbitrage opportunity may look. Much like the
spreadbet beginner
may find, the concepts are simple but the practicalities can be more complex.
Put simply, it can be hard to find the right betting odds to create such an opportunity – especially with odds often moving at such a fast pace. Nonetheless, the betting arbitrage process remains straightforward.
First, you’ll want to sign up to as many quality betting sites and exchanges as possible. Arbing betting is a fast moving strategy, and the time it takes to register could cost you big. After that, you need to find the best odds possible for each market. There are odds comparison sites which can help you here.
Once you’ve found the best odds on all possible markets on an event, you can then calculate whether the odds represent an opportunity for arbing, and if so, what stakes are required for each bookmaker. There are special calculators online which can help you do the sums here too.
If it all checks out, all that’s left is to place your bets!
Where to utilise arb betting
You may be wondering where to utilise arbitrage betting in the UK. It’s simple. We recommend any bookmaker or betting exchange which is safe and has a reputation for providing consistently competitive odds. In terms of what we’d recommend for a specific market, well, that depends on what odds are offered in that particular case.
Don’t be afraid of utilising betting exchanges either. If you’re wondering
how do betting exchanges work, then it’s somewhere users can bet against each other as opposed to the bookmaker. This is also a useful odds opportunity because it allows for a
lay bet, where you bet on something not to happen – in many cases, for a selection not to win.
The only other key things to pay attention to are the commissions at betting exchanges. These platforms typically charge a fee for facilitating bets between their users, and that could eat into your profits. However, do the maths: they may still be worth your while, as odds on a betting exchange can be very different from what’s offered from bookmakers.
Can I use bonuses while arbing betting?
Absolutely, you can utilise promotions to enhance your profits from a betting arbitrage. Signing up to all of those bookmakers and betting exchanges doesn’t just afford you the best chances of finding low odds across multiple markets – it also opens you up to more promotional opportunities.
The value these can add can absolutely help towards this strategy, especially in the case of bonuses which directly impact odds, such as bet boosts or enhanced odds. Just be sure to check the terms and conditions to ensure you’re not blindsighted by any details, such as wagering requirements.
Risks of arb betting
In theory, arbitrage betting UK is supposed to provide a system which guarantees profits. However, the reality is that, just like all forms of betting, it does come with its own risks. Here are five key potential pitfalls to arbing that you should keep in mind:
Small returns=need for higher bankroll
Remember our earlier example of how betting arbitrage gave a profit margin of 3.5%? That might not sound like a lot but it would actually be quite the find, as typically your potential profit would be well under 2%. This means that in order to make decent money and to make this worth your while, you would likely have to wager a lot. Therefore, any mistakes could be very, very costly.
Market liquidity
One pitfall of requiring such large stakes is that there might not be the liquidity in a particular market to actually allow you to make a decent profit. Worse still, if you placed one bet to find that another will not accept your stakes, you could find your potential winnings collapse very quickly.
Account restrictions
The possibility of simply being unable to place the bets you want in order to implement your strategy is further enhanced by any account restrictions. This could mean you’re limited to how much you can bet or may not be able to bet at all. Again, this would spell disaster for this strategy.
Speed of odds movements
Betting arbitrage opportunities are typically only available for a very short period of time because bookmakers are constantly adjusting their odds. If you wait too long, you could miss out – or could even find yourself with odds which don’t add up to a profit.
Miscalculation
With the speed required to capitalise on opportunities – especially with how many operators you may have to take into account to find the right odds in the first place – it can be easy to miscalculate and end up losing money.
How this strategy changes how betting works
This kind of strategy fundamentally changes the relationship of betting with the user. While everyone wants to win, betting is typically there to enhance the fun. It exists to provide stakes to events that may otherwise lack them, or to otherwise add an extra bit of enjoyment to your favourite sports.
That’s not the case with this strategy. Its mathematical, systemic nature means that, while you can certainly still enjoy your favourite sporting events, it doesn’t add excitement in the same way. How could it when the very concepts behind it aim to make the result of the event irrelevant to your betting success?
You can still enjoy betting and your favourite sports, but the impact betting has on your viewing enjoyment is changed by the use of this strategy.
Conclusion: A strategy requiring a thorough approach
Betting arbitrage isn’t a perfect system. But it remains, for many, one of the best strategic options out there. While it’s conceptually sound, the practical risks are very real. And anyone who decides to move forward with this strategy should proceed with great caution and care.
Nonetheless, it’s a strategy that has been successful for many and has the potential to continue to do so for those who are diligent and thorough in their approach. While there shouldn’t be too much difficulty in understanding arbitrage betting, implementing it and perfecting it remains a challenge – one which must be taken seriously in order for this strategy to work.
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Arbitrage betting FAQ
💲 What is arbitrage betting?
The first step to knowing if any kind of betting strategy or system is right for you is to understand the concepts behind them in the first place. That’s exactly where our guide to betting arbitrage begins. That way, you can consider this system with the right foundation of knowledge and understanding of its core ideas.
❓ What are the risks associated with sports arbitrage?
Pretty much every betting strategy worth considering offers the possibility of lowering your betting risk and increasing your chances of success. That’s the typical reason for their existence and creation, but nonetheless, every type of betting comes with some kind of risk. The question when it comes to arbitrage betting is what risks come with this particular betting strategy. That’s what our guide aims to answer.
✅ How does betting arbitrage work?
Our guide to betting arbitrage aims to help you not just understand what betting arbitrage is, but also whether it’s worthy of your consideration. Should you decide that it’s something you are interested in utilising, we’ll also be explaining how it works and how to best mitigate risks where possible when using a sports arbitrage strategy.
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