Arbitrage betting consists of betting on all possible outcomes of the same event. In the case of football, it would be to bet on the win, draw and defeat, which would give us a fairly high chance of winning, as we would be covering a large part of the possible options.
This strategy is possible because different bookmakers usually offer different odds for the same event. It is these differences that allow us to apply this type of betting.
- Let’s take a look at an example.
- Match: FC Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid.
- Bookmaker A offers for FC Barcelona to win $2.00. We bet 100 $. Possible winnings of 200 $.
- Bookmaker B offers FC Barcelona to draw or lose 2.50 $. We bet $80 (the stake is lower because the odds are higher). Possible winnings of 201.60 $.
Thus, we would have to: [Total investment: $180 / Possible Winnings: $200 or 201.60]. In this case, if FC Barcelona wins we could make a profit of $20, while if they draw or lose the profit would be $21.60. In both cases we recover our investment and make a profit.
However, zero risk never exists as bookmakers can block the bet due to an estimation error, there can be an update of the odds while we carry out the predictions, there can be anomalous circumstances in the event such as injuries, cancellations, etc…
In which sports is arbitrage betting available?
Although arbitrage betting is applicable to practically any sport, whether there is a draw or not, football is the most popular sporting event, as most bookmakers allow us to cover the 3 main options (win, draw and defeat) with only 2 bets. Tennis is also a very popular sport among bettors.
Is it interesting to place a bet on an arbitrage situation?
Arbitrage bets are just another option for users, like system bets, single bets or accumulator bets.
However, there is no such thing as zero risk and it requires a long time study and a great deal of experience to establish certain guidelines that can be used by certain bookmakers to achieve profits on a continuous basis, as many bookmakers will either not allow them or may cancel your bets.
Is it possible to calculate the profit on an arbitrage bet?
It is possible to calculate an estimated profit on an arbitrage bet. The first way is to “do the maths”, as detailed in this article above. However, this method is a bit rudimentary and can be difficult when we are talking about a large volume of bets.
In this case, we have arbitrage calculators, which by simply entering the odds and the amount of our bets provide us with the total payout and net profit that we would get from that arbitrage bet, if we finally manage to win it, as there are no guarantees for it.
In addition, it offers the possibility of managing arbitrage bets of 2 and 3 events, as well as allowing the odds in decimals, fractional or American format.
Is there arbitrage software for sports betting?
If we are finally interested in switching to arbitrage betting but are hesitant about having to calculate the possible profits ourselves, there are many companies on the internet that offer software specially dedicated to arbitrage betting.
In this case, they will be paid services but they offer a free demonstration period so that we can see for ourselves how they work and the results they offer us.
The advantage of this type of software is that it provides us with data on dozens of bookmakers, information that would take us an almost unmanageable investment of time.