Arbitrage betting requires no luck, statistics or knowledge of the sport you’re betting. But despite this, thousands of people are using the arbitrage betting strategy to guarantee a profit on sports bets day in, day out.
Did I mention that profits are also tax-free! It sounds way too good to be true but it’s incredibly easy to get started. Sports arbitrage betting is without a doubt one of the best side hustles you could start in 2024!
In this article, we’ll take a look at what sports arbitrage betting is, how it works, how much can be made and most importantly; how arbitrage betting can make you a great income.
What is Arbitrage Betting?
Arbitrage betting, otherwise known as “Arbing” involves placing multiple bets on all outcomes of an event in order to guarantee a profit.
This only works when the bookmaker has listed odds higher than the current market price. By “market price” we mean; the odds that are available on the betting exchanges (or occasionally another bookmaker).
Bookmakers rely on offering odds under the market price to make a profit. This is called the bookmaker’s overround. If you convert all the runners of a horse race odds into percentages, you will notice that it will never add up to 100% at a bookmaker. It can vary, but on average a bookmaker overround is somewhere around 115%.
The 15%’s is how bookmakers can consistently profit.
Bookmakers usually offer poor value odds. Because of this, they’re not going to leave arbing opportunities online all day long. More often than not, bookmakers will reduce their odds a few minutes after realising it is higher than elsewhere. The exception here is betting exchanges who don’t care what the odds are as they run on a commission basis.
In the same way that supermarkets have ridiculous offers at the front of their shops (think 50% off a crate of beer), bookmakers will sometimes offer great odds in order to attract new customers.
How Does Arbitrage Betting Work? (Step by Step)
Let’s use a real example, this is just one of the hundreds of arbing opportunities that are available every single day.
Just a quick note: This arb was found the day before the race began. Because of this, there isn’t much money available in the exchange and you are unlikely to have large bets accepted at the bookmaker. It’s just an example to illustrate the point clearly.
As you can see above, the horse “Tupi” is priced at odds of 8.00 at Coral. The market has only been opened recently as it’s still a day before the event. Hence the reduced liquidity. The market is a 16:25 race at Newmarket on a Saturday.
I’ve opened up the same race on Betfair Exchange and found the lay odds are available at 7.40. Crucially, this is lower than the bookmaker’s odds of 8.00.
This is a perfect opportunity for arbitrage betting. There’s money available in the exchange (£31 at 7.40) that we can get matched with and it’s lower than the odds at the bookies.
The Maths: Explained
By backing the horse at Coral for odds of 8.00 with £10, we expect to receive £80 (including stake) should the horse win. This would effectively be £70 win. Of course, if the horse lost, we would lose our £10 stake altogether.
That’s where the lay bet comes in….
At the exchange, we now place a £10 lay bet at odds of 7.40. Our total liability at these odds on the lay bet would be £64. This is what we have to pay if our lay bet loses.
Let’s put all of this into a spreadsheet and see what our possible outcomes are…
As you can see, we’re now in a risk-free position where we stand to make £6 profit should the bookmaker bet win and £0 if the exchange bet wins. It’s essentially a free bet.
Balancing the Profits: Guaranteed Winner
Nobody likes to put in some work and end up with £0 at the end of the day. Unfortunately, that’s entirely possible if your arbitrage bets didn’t win at the bookmakers (using the example above).
Most arbitrage bettors will balance their profits by adjusting the lay stake. This means that they are guaranteed profit, whatever the result. There are plenty of free calculators online that will help you work out the perfect lay stake for your arb.
Here are the results of our example below, using the adjusted lay stake.
We’re now left with a profit of around 80p whatever happens. Although it’s not huge money, we can increase our stakes and repeat the process. The profits can soon stack up.
One of the key things to remember with arbitrage betting, is that little profits add up very quickly. 80p might not seem like a lot; however, if you were able to do that on 10 races a day that’s £8. Now multiply that by 365 and that’s £2,920 in tax free cash with no risk!
Now you know how profitable arbitrage betting can be, let’s look at the exchange commission which you will have to factor in…
Exchange Commission
For the sake of an easy learning curve, I kept the exchange commission out of the above examples. Betting exchanges have to make their money somewhere so they do so by charging a commission on bets.
Betfair Exchange, for example, charges 2% on all winning bets.
Taking 2% winning bet commission into account, we would stand to make £0.62 profit if the horse wins or £0.62 if the exchange bet wins. This eats away at some profits, but nothing in life is free!
Remember: you can always increase stakes and repeat the process multiple times. We’re only using a £10 stake as an example as it’s best to practice with small amounts. However, a £100 stake is possible on a relatively regular basis. Sometimes far more.
Just look at this arbitrage bet as an example of the opportunity you can get from sports betting arbitrage.
Backing at 7/4 (2.75) with William Hill and laying at 2.10 – for a £275 stake. That’s a tidy result!
How Much Money Can You Make from Sports Arbitrage?
There are many factors to consider in how much you can make in total from sports betting arbitrage.
Arbing relies on bookmakers miss-pricings. You are limited by the number of times that these opportunities arise. Don’t expect to sit down and make a 10% return on every bet, with an endless list of arbs to go at.
Your other limitation is the max stake that you can get on at the bookmakers. This will vary between accounts and betting markets. There is no set rule that says how much you will be allowed to bet. In most popular markets such as UK horse racing, Premier League and so on, you should be able to get a £100 bet on quite easily. This is especially true on the day of the event.
In the above image you can see my results using £100 stakes on arbitrage bets for a whole month. Weekends offered the most opportunity with lots of horse racing and football matches being played.
Just think; you’re more than likely going to be rejected for a £500 bet on a horse the day before it races. This may look suspicious to a bookmaker as most punters wait until the moments before a race to place their bets. Plus the bookmaker will have a rating on your account. We’re all familiar with betting restrictions I’m sure.
Betting restrictions are the number one factor in capping your arbitrage betting profits, as eventually arbitrage bettors have accounts limited to peanuts or shut down. However, if you don’t know much about sports and want to build a bank easily; arbitrage betting is definitely a good option.
Covering On The Exchange
If you’ve been lucky enough to get a large bet through a bookmaker, now you have to worry about hedging your bet off at the exchange. Your success with this will ultimately depend on how much money is available at the appropriate price available.
Because of this, you should always check how much money is available in the exchange. Before you place your bet at the bookmakers.
If you’re left with a large bet at the bookmakers and nobody to match your lay bet on the exchange, you could be in for a big loss if the back bet doesn’t win. Remember, the whole idea of arbitrage betting is to make it as risk-free as possible. This is why it is advisable to start small and build your way up.
Daily Arbitrage Profit Example
As a rule of thumb, a decent target is to make anywhere between 5-15% profit of your back stake per bet (depending on account limitations).
Remember, this doesn’t include the lay liability.
Some days will have more opportunities than others You shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding 5 arbs in a day if you pay enough attention. On a good weekend yo can expect 20+ arbitrage bets available across multiple sports.
If you expect to make at least 5% per bet, then you will be making a minimum of £2.50 from each £50 stake. Doing this 5 times per day will get you £12.50 profit. Although it’s not a lot, that’s an extremely conservative example. Those with a small bank; you can increase your stakes as you make more profit over time.
If you manage to find 5, 10% arbitrage bets per day with a bigger bank, the figures are much more appealing. With a back stake of £100 at 10% profit each time you’ll be looking to make £10 profit per bet. Doing that five times over each day will net you £50 per day or £350 per week. An excellent tax-free income for many…
How to Find Arbitrage Bets…
Believe it or not, bookmakers are just ordinary people working a 9-5 job. The bookmakers make most of their money through huge sports events. Premier League games where millions of people are having a bet, or the Grand National maybe.
As most of their profits come through big events like these, you can safely assume that they’re going to pay more attention to the odds on these events than others.
What does this matter to arbers?
Many arbitrage bettors frequently find arbs on unpopular markets. For example the Over 1.5 Goals market on a Belgium 2nd Division match. You can find these arbitrage bets using cheap software such as Oddsmonkey or manually on an odds comparison site.
Best Time For Arbitrage Bets?
This is definitely a problem for keeping your account free of restriction. Bookmakers will be wary of people betting outside of the big events and focusing too much on the likes of the Belgium 2nd Division! Always be aware of this and possibly target arbs that are more likely to not get your account flagged to traders.
Arbitrage opportunities will make most of their appearances in the early stages of a market. That is when the bookmakers have just opened the market typically a day or two before the event. As more money pours into their books and the kick-off gets closer, bookmakers will typically sharpen up and there will be fewer opportunities.
There is one exception…
If you’ve seen any of my YouTube videos, you’ll know how volatile horse racing markets can be. Most of the activity generally happens 5 minutes before the race. This means that there are often plenty of arbitrage bets available in the last 5 minutes before a race as bookmakers are sometimes slow to adjust their prices in line with the rest of the market.
The main danger here, of course, is that you only have a small amount of time to lay off your bet, before the race goes in play. You might also find that by the time you’ve placed your back bet, the exchange odds have changed to an unfavourable position.
What To Do When Your ‘Arb’ Isn’t An Arb Anymore?
There will always be times that your arb just doesn’t work out. Remember lots of people are arbitrage betting through Betfair, Betdaq, Matchbook, and Smarkets. So, by the time you get your bet on with the bookmakers, it may no longer be an arb on the exchange.
The correct thing to do here to take the hit and red out. Do not just leave it and hope for the best – that can lead to disaster! It might just keep on drifting. These types of situations can happen; especially when you are arbing the on-course prices 5 minutes before the off. Remember a small loss is fine and you can move on. A stubborn loss can blow your bank.
Is Sports Arbitrage Betting Legal?
There is nothing illegal about arbitrage betting.
However, bookmakers have every legal right to close your account or limit your bets to stop you from taking them for a ride. They’re just businesses that are interested in keeping their profits high, and arbitrage bettors don’t help with that.
Although it’s typically more used in matched betting circles, multi-accounting is a legal grey area. This is when people bet on behalf of friends and family to maximise free bet offers or arbitrage opportunities. If you stick to using your own accounts when betting on arbitrage bets, you are playing well within the law.
Best Arbitrage Strategy
As with anything, successful arbitrage betting is done best with a plan of action or strategy. A little bit of planning will go a long way when arbitrage betting and save countless hours of endless searching for arbitrage opportunities and potential panic when it all goes wrong.
Look ahead at the weekend’s football for potential arbitrage bets 3-4 days out. Find the bookmakers that are slowest to adjust their horse racing odds in the 5 minutes leading up to the race. Perhaps one bookmaker offers lot of arbitrage bets in obscure markets such as card or corner bets. Find your best arbitrage strategies and make the most of them.
Arbitrage Betting Bankroll
Before you start your arbitrage betting business, you’ll need some money to actually bet with. Set aside a small amount of money you are comfortable with losing (In the advent of a mistake) and that you don’t need immediate access to. When done properly, arbitrage betting is almost risk-free but if you’re new, you might make a few mistakes to start with (so start small).
Let’s say you have £1000 to use for your arbitrage betting. You should keep this money accessible, should you need to top up a bookmaker or exchange account. If you deposit it all into one bookie account you’ll have no spare money to lay the bet off at the exchange and you risk losing all of it.
As a rule of thumb, keep 50% of your bank in the exchange and spread 30% between a handful of sites that you plan to place arbitrage bets on. This means that you have 20% to deposit into a different bookmaker or exchange, should you need to. The benefit of depositing beforehand is that you can place your bets quicker and avoid missing out on the opportunity before it changes!
Staking plans aren’t as important for arbitrage bettors as traders, but generally, you will want to avoid tying all your money up at once. You may miss out on a great opportunity in the time you have all your money tied up for a tiny return.
Keeping Records
Records are an essential part of any successful bettors toolkit, whether they are an arbitrage bettor or a punter. It will help you keep track of your money whereabouts and your overall profits.
You can easily put a spreadsheet together in Excel or Google Docs. It doesn’t need to be complicated but here are a few things to consider recording:
- Date/Time of event
- Stake
- Event name
- Profit
- Bookmaker
How to Find Sports Betting Arbs:
Having an idea of where you’re going to find your arbs will save you a lot of time. I’d advise picking a couple of bookmakers to use, that are slow or offer odds early (Bet365 is great for arbitrage betting). Also, target those weaker markets that have already been mentioned. Low-level football, darts, greyhounds, basketball.
Using some software such as OddsMonkey (free trial available) is also advisable as this will save you so much time.
If you can, try to spread out your total stake across a couple of bookmakers. It may help you keep under the radar that bit longer.
Once you find a daily routine that suits you, profitable sports arbitrage becomes very easy. Arbing is a great way to make a tax-free income and build up a trading bank when done right!
Useful Article? You may also like: The Betfair Traders Beginners School Tab
35 thoughts on “Arbitrage Betting: 5 Secrets for Massive Risk-Free Profits!”
As I’m from a matched betting background I can say that this is the quickest way to get your account closed and strongly advised against if you want to keep your account with any bookie. So proceed with caution as the bookie knows exactly what the odds are on the exchange when your bet is placed.
I have to agree with Caan there
I have recently, too, noticed a matched betting site saying of this: that you’ll get gubbed following this or that site … but goes onto say “if you follow our principles, you won’t ever get restricted …” which is not only a contradiction, but hypocrisy too. As: if bad when that site grows the same patter happens!
Hundreds of ppl all lumping on particular horses will get ya gubbed … my Dad got gubbed in the 90’s (when it was hard to get gubbed), just by following ISIRIS racing a Cavallo racing tipster.
I had a personal bet365 account which I placed 1.5 million of bets in within that time and it wAs only last year I got gubbed; I’m not related to any Directors at B365 by the way…and just the fact i placed so much over a long period of time (which I’ve proved on screenshots) is proof not everyone get gubbed.
Matched betting sites have to beware they don’t all “shoot themselves in the foot”, by all saying the same thing!
Exchanges do not care much if you are arbing as they are getting paid in commission regardless.
Hey mdr8uk,
Unfortunately that’s not correct.
You should be careful what you accept as truth from various matched betting services. The reason that you will get closed quickly by a bookmaker, when coming from the matched betting sites is because a large volume of people are coming from there, to settle the same bet. Sticking out like a sore thumb.
That’s not to say you won’t get closed if you’re coming from one of those sites. But accounts are likely to last a hell of a lot longer. Depending on which bookie also.
At the end of the day, if you’re taking value – you will get closed. You’re a losing proposition, be it matched betting or arbitrage betting. Bookmakers aren’t daft, they don’t get ‘confused’ or ‘thrown off’ by your red herring £2 bet on something at bad odds. Nor does, putting on a mug accumulator, or consistently betting on your favourite horse or team. None of which changes the fact you’re taking out more than you’re putting in. Some of the things I’ve heard of are ludicrous… and put there by them services to keep you going.
Cheers,
Caan
At the end uf the day I don’t think anyone’s gonna get rich or make a decent living from arbing. If they once did, then credit to them. But with the bookies making use of tools such as Snare, a half successful arber’ll get sussed in next to no time, I’m sure. With at least 4 exchange firms out there now, I’d think it might be possible to arb within these only now, wouldn’t it?
No. If I had a brand new B365/Hills account to use I could easily produce £400-600 profit in the next 48hrs. There’s opportunity there, and its far easier than between the exchanges.
Email me to get you new documents and you can sign up new accounts
Hello, I have a several bet365 accounts. Can you share your oppinion about the strategy of betting.
Replying to an old thread here Caan but curious if you would think there would be any value in trying to make a bot to find arb opportunities between exchanges or have you any thoughts on it? Just a curious software dev wondering if it’s something worth trying.
So do you think a good way of avoiding a ‘gubbing’ and lasting a bit longer anyway. Is to not use a helpful site like OM as you flag up from these kind of sites? So if you like for the opportunities yourself?
Cheers
Hi Ian, possibly. Not sure bookies would spend time following those sites as they are just expressing data that is already in the public domain. Think there’s a lot of small talk around that kinda thing that doesn’t hold much value. I think that if you’re taking value the bookies algorithms will find you eventually either way, just a case of making hay while the sun shines as they say.
I made about £800 out of the bookies some years ago but then i started to get closed down or restricted but the worst scenario of some bookies was to accept a bet then when it won refusing to pay out saying it was originally mispriced and a few of them makes a massive loss ..just to warn you what could happen
Yes certainly. But if they’re not closing you – you’re not winning right 🙂
I got closed too when i tried to do this. Sounds good in paper but at the end of the day is not worth the risk. Just my 2cents.
From your name – are you a bookie? Kinda figures why you’d say that if so…
No hiding you may get closed when arbing between bookies but at the end of the day, they don’t allow people to hang around if they consistently win anymore do they.
Can you show me how to get an arbitrage game?
Hi Caan,
A great read and very interesting, thanks for taking the time.
I started by matched betting and then I found the bet365 2up offer which was a gold mine until I got gubbed so now i’m looking to arb. I’m only gubbed at 2 accounts so my options are fairly wide. I see you said you can make £400/600 in 48 hours from a 365/wills account. Please can you give details / a strategy on how you would make this kind of profit on one of these accounts in that time? Would you likely get gubbed straight away in that time?
Thanks
That’s not something I’ll just put out there at this stage. I wouldn’t expect the account to last too long either, no. Maybe will release the specifics at some point.
Whats the best way to find arbs?
Speed, time and sudden change. Definitely the most reliable when it comes to finding arbitrage bets. You can focus on less liquid markets, but then you have the issue of staking up and sometimes getting matched.
Is there any way to do Arbs in long term?
Because look like everybody get banned.
Hi Caan
Is it really necessary to make accounts with different bookmakers when Exchange sites such as Betfair/Betdaq/Pinnacle offer their own sportsbooks?
I don’t really understand why separate bookies are needed at all, can we not just back/lay at the same time on the Exchange? Sorry I’m new to this, hope I make sense 🙂
Hi Sophie,
You can… but that’s trading. This article is about arbitrage betting – where you exploit the bookies mistakes.
Caan
I need full details about this trade .I need a sender to learn me
I have been doing it for long time. Arbitrage betting. The key here is to lose. But at the bookies and win in exchange. Tough it is. But possible. How? Let me explain a little bit. Only do arbitrage with higher odds games. That way when you back at the bookies you are more like to lose at the bookie. As long as they are making profit they don’t care. Now the second thing is, if you only play arbs you can still get caught, so find a game where you can play and cashout in profit even if the profit is little. Mix it with some real safe bets. All of us can find such bets.
But the key is not to win at the bookie. Try to keep them happy by losing to them. And trust me higher odds than 3.5 loses way more than it wins you.
I wouldn’t recommend this. There are a number of issues with what you have said there… it’s likely you’ll just waste a lot of time and value in the process.
Hi Caan,
I searched everywhere but found no one to answer me a tricky question. I would appreciate if you give me your oppinion. I do a lot of arbing throughout racing, footbal, darts, whatever. I am a pro pretty much. My income is over 5k/m so pretty good. However, even though I have placed tens of thousands of bets in my life and continuosly turned to exclusively “underlay”, I do underlay all my bets (including horse racing odds 6+), I simply cannot figure out if I am doing a right strategy. Simply, I do not know whether I am maximazing my profits this way. Many times happenden to me that I grabbed 100 pounds as I balanced the arb and the horses won. On the other hand, right now I have lost 25 horse racing bets in row. By the time I started underlay and after a year I still cannot say if it is a good decision :(.
Would you please give me your opinion?
Thanks
Hi Caan,
do you think you could answer me, please? I would appreciate it very much.
Thanks,
Michal
Unless there is an additional edge to the position, you’re best off straight hedging.
Michal, seems your really knowligable in Arbing. Please I need a mentor
Caan
Please, I’m a highschooler from Afica looking to get stable income, atleast to be able to pay and take care of myself in University,I’ve already tried different ways to make income but thy all seem not to work out, Arbing is my last option, normally I thought Arbing was an easy way to make moneyz I thought I could just use arbs finders like rebelbetting and make over 20% daily with a hand full of bookies, but following your article and other arbers past experiences I have become worried,but still seeing you are a pro, so I seek assistance,I know you are really busy but please, I need a mentor who can work me through this road to success, please consider.
Caan
Please, I’m a highschooler from Africa and I’m looking for ways to raise income so I can be able to take of myself in university, well, yes I’m 18..I’ve already tried different ways to make I but they all seem not to work out, Arbing right now is my last option, I originally thought Arbing was an easy way to make income, I thought using arb finders like rebelbetting I could be able to make 20%+ profit daily with ease, but after reading your article and past experiences from other esperienced arbers I’ve become worried, so..I’m here to seek for assistance, mentorship..I know you are very busy but please consider helping me
As I’m from a matched betting background I can say that this is the quickest way to get your account closed and strongly advised against if you want to keep your account with any bookie. So proceed with caution as the bookie knows exactly what the odds are on the exchange when your bet is placed.
Wow! Some of the comments are ridiculous. Caan you have some patience mate answering some of these comments. Bookies are scum no matter which form you take value the accounts won’t last and if they do your doing it wrong. Build a bank, create a strategy on the exchange, test it, tinker with it and good luck
This post was incredibly insightful! I had no idea there were so many strategies for maximizing profits with arbitrage betting. The tips on monitoring odds and using multiple accounts were especially helpful. Can’t wait to put these secrets into practice!