Sports Arbitrage
Sports Arbitrage
Please note that all information is provided ‘as is’ and no guarantees are given whatsoever as to the amount of profit
you will make if you use this system. Neither the seller of this system, the publisher or any affiliates can be held
responsible for any profits or losses from following this information, all betting involves an element of risk and you
should never bet with money you cannot afford to lose.
INTRODUCTION
As a member of the bookmaking community for a large part of my life I have
known about sport arbitrage betting for a while now. It is a way of generating
free income from the fact different bookmakers all over the world all have
different formula’s to work to, different clients to cater for and compilers with
different opinions on sporting fixtures.
I always thought that it was an incredible hassle to find sport arbs, after all,
just type in the phase into Google and you will find a multitude of web
companies all offering to do all the work for you – and of course take over half
the profit!
Now with the information and links in this document and the ‘arb’ calculator
you will be able to quickly find arbs and make guaranteed money from bets.
WHAT IS AN ARB?
There are well over 100 secured totally safe bookmakers all over the world all
offering different odds on betting. This number is steadily increasing. An arb is
formed when different bookies have different prices for different outcomes in a
particular sporting event. The bottom line is that we can place bets to cover
both (all) outcomes with different bookies and get back more than we
invested. The best way is to investigate this is with an example:
To return £100 with Victor Chandler above we would have to invest £71.42.
To return £100 with Tote for a Sharpova win we would have to invest £25. Our
total collective investment would be just £96.42 - and whoever won the game
our total return would be £100.
We have just made a guaranteed 3.58% on your money within 2 hours. You
can find plenty of these arbs each and every week.
How did we calculate how much investment is required to return £100
(including our stake)?
1
A very simple calculation:
With VC the odds for a Williams win was 2/5. To find out how much you need
to invest to return £100 simply make the following calculation:
(a) 3/1 + 1 = 4
(b) 100/4 = £25
A lot of bookies will express odds as fractions (especially in the UK). The top
figure is the profit achieved and the bottom figure is the investment required to
achieve that profit. So 2/1 means £2 profit from an investment of £1. 1/3
means a profit of £1 from an investment of £3 and so on what you need to
remember with this way of writing odds is that the profit does not include your
stake which will be returned to you if you win.
2
A lot of European bookies express odds in terms of decimals
What you have to remember about decimals is that your stake has been
included in the return - so 3.5 means your total return including stake is £3.5.
(c) US odds
US odds have a + or - in front of them. If positive it shows your profit for every
100 staked. Thus £100 at +400 would mean you get a total return of £500
(and a profit of £400). If it has a negative sign it shows how much you need to
stake to achieve a £100 profit. So -400 means you would need to bet £400 to
win £100.
As an arb trader it's vital that you construct a daily checklist of events that you
wish to investigate. It's very handy to buy a diary specifically for your arb
trades and jot down the specific events you'll be hunting for arbs in. Make this
a routine - for instance, perhaps on a particular Saturday you want to check
the premiership fixtures, the tennis fixtures and the one day series between
India and England. Do not randomly hunt for arbs without this sort of plan.
Now that you've identified the list of events you're going to attack today, what
do you do next? Let's start with the tennis fixtures between player a & player
b. To see if any arb opportunities exist construct the below table:
Here it's obvious that the best 2 prices are 2/9 for Player A (Bet365) and 3/1
for Player B (Eurobet).
3
Does an arb exist here?
Yes.
Our total investment to return £1000 whichever player wins is just £964. This
is a clear arb opportunity and you would then place £714.28 with Bet365 on
Player A and a further £250 with Eurobet on Player B.
At the end of the match you will pickup a certain profit of £35.72 - finding just
3 arbs a day of this kind (very achievable) will give you a daily profit of
£107.16 - and a tax free monthly income of over £3000.
Hopefully you are now beginning to realise the magic of arbs. If you take this
systematic approach with each sporting event you have on your checklist your
chances of finding an arb are good. However there are a couple of free
websites which will help you identify even more:
We recommend you get started with some free money by visiting the pages
below.
www.infobetting.com - has a long list of bookies and is very useful for finding
tennis arbs.
4
By the time you finish reading this guide, you will have many websites that I
recommend - it's a good idea to open up a new directory in your favourites
dedicated to arb trading. These websites are all free and priceless in helping
you make money with arbs.
CALCULATING ARBS
Here we'll go through some more arb examples, including football arbs, which
require 3 bets to get your return.
Player A - 4/7
Player B - 17/9
To calculate your return and how much you should stake do the following:
(b) Divide the decimal figures you have calculated into 1000 and this will
tell you how much you need to invest to return £1000:
Player A - 1000/1.5714 = £636.37 needed to return £1000
Player B - 1000/2.8888 = £346.16 needed to return £1000
Does an arb exist? Yes - were you to invest a total of £982.53 on both players
winning you are certain to get back £1000. That's a £17.47 return in a couple
of hours for doing nothing. This is a low return arb - you will often find arbs
returning between 5% and 10% and sometimes even more.
Let's say Brazil are playing USA and the bookies have priced it as:
Eurobet - Brazil win @ 11/10
Bet365 - Draw @ 14/5
Centrebet - USA @ 4/1
5
(a) Convert fractions into decimals:
Brazil win - 11/10 + 1 = 2.1
Draw - 14/5 + 1 = 3.8
USA win - 4/1 + 1 = 5
(b) Find out how much is required to return £1000 in each instance.
Brazil win - 1000/2.1 = £476 to return £1000
Draw - 1000/3.8 = £263 to return £1000
USA win - 1000/5 = £200
Does an arb exist? Again, yes. Were you to place a total of £939 you are
certain to make a profit of £61 - not bad for 90 minutes work (if you can call it
that). Now that you have identified the arb you would place the bets - £476
with eurobet on a Brazil win, £263 with Bet365 on a draw and £200 with
Centrebet on a USA win.
With time and experience you will find that arbs occur not only with sporting
events but with any event where you can place a bet - from politics to music
awards. The opportunities are limitless.
SOCCER ARBS
the next couple of chapters will help you focus on finding arbs in particular
sports, and the tools, tricks, tips, bookies and websites that you should use for
each. The information is priceless and has taken years to formulate and
perfect.
We will start with soccer, where arb opportunities are almost endless thanks
to global coverage of global leagues. The best arbs are to be found in the
standard '90 minute result' category (an example of which we saw in chapter
4).
Odds comparison sites such as Betbrain are very useful in finding soccer arbs
- there are so many bookies who offer soccer results - and that's a very good
thing for us. It ensures many opportunities to pickup free cash exist.
It's important to note that in the UK many of the bookies will compile similar
odds so you wouldn't find many arbs between UK bookies. There are however
different odds to be found with European bookmakers which of course leads
to arbs. In your quest to hunt down arbs you should open accounts with as
many online bookies across the world as you can. The bookies you should
take special note of with soccer are featured at
The two bookmakers you should join first are www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
One of the best soccer tips is to start looking at lower leagues first and work
your way up instead of the other way around - remember there are very few
6
experts on lower league football so more price differences are likely to exist
here, and so more arbs can be found.
Get news before the bookies - remember that with soccer you will find that
breaking news will change odds dramatically. The good news is that some
bookies are much less responsive than others in changing odds to breaking
news and this results in arb opportunities being created.
Probably the most famous example of this was the Israel vs Austria World
Cup qualifying match where Israel were at home. Due to fear of terrorism
about 9 Austrian players backed out which of course weakened the team
considerably - of course not all bookies responded to the news quickly - and
at one stage the combination of odds included:
Israel win 11/10
Draw 5/2
Austria win 4/1
It was possible to pickup a profit of £40 on an investment of £1000 just for
knowing your soccer news.
Other soccer markets - there can be arbs found in other soccer markets such
as corners and total goals but these are harder to find and your main hunt
should be in the results after 90 minutes area as we have talked about.
Final tips - this applies to all your arb bets, you should always round up or
down when you place a bet as it makes you less conspicuous. A bet such as
£234.67 looks a little odd compared with £235. There is nothing illegal about
arbs but if a bookie suspects you are an arb trader he may try and restrict
your bets.
Another tip that applies to any sport is that you should always secure the best
price first (the one that is out of line with what other bookies are offering) - as
this price may not last.
TENNIS ARBS
There are always big differences between the compilers of different bookies
so tennis always produces many arbs. The 2 best odds comparison sites for
tennis arbs are www.tip-ex.com and www.infobetting.com.
The biggest caution when finding tennis arbs are different bookie rulings when
a player retires from a game. Some bookies will payout in the event of a
player having to retire, and others won’t. When finding tennis arbs it's
important to ensure both bookies you place bets with have the same rules in
the event of a retired player.
The two bookmakers you should join first are www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
Tennis is a good sport for finding arbs - and it runs pretty much all through the
year so it's worth getting involved with it as it will get you arbs all-year-round.
Just to illustrate, at the time of writing the draw for the Wimbledon first round
7
had just been made - and as usual threw up a feast of arb opportunities to
pick and choose from. Within minutes the following matches offered free
money for the taking:
4) Boutter (1.45 with Unibet) vs Galvani (3.5 with Stan James) giving a
return of 2.45%.
The important point to remember here is that this is not at all unusual - if
anything the results were a little on the low side in producing juicy high %
arbs, but even so there were more arbs than could be used. In fact there were
several other arbs produced in that draw.
CRICKET ARBS
There are plenty of arb opportunities to be found in cricket. But as with tennis
it's important to understand different bookie rules. In county cricket this means
knowing how bookies treat drawn matches - by far most will refund stakes in
the event of a draw but a few firms do not. In the national one day games,
again you have to see how bookies will treat a tie - most will return stakes but
again there are a couple of firms that do not. Once you check the rules once
you will be comfortable placing arb bets going forward.
The two bookmakers you should join first are www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
As with hunting for football arbs keep an eye on the cricket news for events
that can change prices (quickly with some bookies and very slowly with
others, thus creating a nice pick of arbs). Sites such as www.cricinfo.com are
very useful for this.
GOLF ARBS
Your best place to find golf arbs are in the 2 or 3 ball bets where bookies will
pick either 2 or 3 golfers, the object of course is to back the best one. Let's
8
look at a 3 ball example:
If you place bets with bookies at 11/4, 2/1 and 7/4 you end up with a profit of
4%. As always if you are placing 3 bets always secure the most 'odd' one first
and secure the others that are more in line with the industry later. You don’t
want to be in the position where a bet changes halfway through your trade.
For example in the above, you want to secure 7/4 on player 3 first as the other
prices 5/4 appears to be standard.
You can try looking for arbs in 2 ball betting but they are less common -
always check for 3 balls first.
Some of the best sites for golf arbs are featured at www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
As with any form of betting always check the bookie rules in case of
exceptional events. Make this a rule and you will never go wrong.
Motor Racing - while motor racing arbs are not as common as those in the
sports we've covered so far, they can produce some high paying ones when
they occur. The 3 categories here are qualification, race and classification.
Qualification - here 2 drivers race against each other but odds can change
quite substantially as the day nears. Some bookies take the drivers practice
runs seriously (and hence modify odds accordingly) while others don’t. This of
course can create some very tasty arbs. The best way to spot arbs here is to
create a table of odds before practice - and check the same odds immediately
after to see where arbs have been formed.
Race - bookies select 2 drivers and the driver finishing highest out of the 2 in
the race is the bet winner. There are some big arbs to be had here - again
9
because some bookies change their odds as they see practice results, and
others just leave their original odds untouched.
http://www.exclusivebonus.co.uk/free-bets/
The two bookmakers you should join first are www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
Cricket - if you've ever seen a cricket game you'll know that just one wicket
can change the direction of the game - as well as bookie odds which create a
bountiful supply of arbs as the game develops. With cricket the arbs will tend
to form only after an entire innings has been played out - in the second
innings, as the wickets and boundaries begin to accumulate you will see more
and more arbs being formed before your eyes. Arbs can be found not only in
the results category but also in total runs betting. Cricket is certainly one of
the best sports to find arbs, both pre-match as well as in-running - and don’t
forget, bookies sometimes have to price bets with a view to balance their
books rather than setting them realistically based on the probable outcome.
This applies to every sport and is fantastic news for the arb-trader.
Football - steer clear of the result after 90 minutes area for in-running
football. The fact is (and it can be a little surprising) there just aren't enough
arbs here to make it worth looking at. The last corners market is much better if
you wish to find in-running football arbs - a 2 possibility event and plenty of
'out-of-date' prices (as most bookies see this as a secondary importance
market, much to our delight). Wait until the last quarter of the match, and if the
match changes dramatically (e.g. A goal is scored) you will find out of date
prices that you can just secure. Remember that bookies will close the market
with 80 minutes gone on the clock - remember this when placing a late arb.
Golf - a moderate amount of arbs can be found here but patience is required,
and your best chances are when a tournament is limited to 3 potential
winners. Arbs tend to be found more often in the european tour.
Snooker - like cricket, it takes just one moment to completely change a game.
It's worthwhile following the in-running details and odds to see if there are any
10
easy pickings to be had.
You're not in this business because you're interested in the sport or event
you're placing an arb on. No, you're here to make money and maximise your
profit whether Man united beat Arsenal or the Green Party win the general
elections. You don't care - because you're going to be taking money from just
about every bet that the bookmakers can offer. Possibly the best thing is that
you can start of with as little or as much money as you want.
Just some of the other events that you can find arbs in are:
1. Music, film & television awards.
2. Politics - the wealth of fantastic arbs available in politics betting is
best illustrated through an example:
The number of seats a particular party will win can produce spectacular
results. Here is an actual example of how you could have made easy money
on a political arb. During the last general election here were the odds on the
number of seats that Lib Dem would win:
What is immediately obvious (it appears to everyone but the bookies involved
who think they are always correct) is that one bookie is betting 10/11 on more
than 50 seats while the other bets 13/8 on more than 43. The actual polls
(which are usually very close to the actual result) were predicting 54 seats
which means Bookie a got their odds horribly wrong. 13/8 for over 43 seats
was unbelievable to arb traders everywhere.
This is an instance where 'biasing' your arb to take advantage of this situation
would be fully justified. So for example investing £1200 at 13/8 and £436 at
11/4 would have netted you a profit of £1513.64 - a return of 92%. And this
was no exceptional arb - in the same time seat betting on the labour &
conservative parties would have produced over 90% returns too.
The two bookmakers you should join first are www.bet365.com and
www.ladbrokes.com
11
STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME - TIPS, TRICKS AND ADVICE
The system - all bookies put their customers into categories. These include
the 'loser' tag (i.e. This guy is completely hopeless at betting and all his bets
should be encouraged) right up to the 'dangerous/unprofitable' tag - a better
who tends to win more often than not. From your point of view, the more loser
tags you can get, the better as you don't want to be labelled as an investor
who takes money from the bookies - or they may just refuse to trade with you!
So how do you avoid this from happening? This and other issues are looked
at below.
1. Don't place bets with decimals - if the 2 sides of your arbs required
investments of £109.87 and £455.18 round them up/down to £110 and £455.
This looks much more like a 'normal' bet, and you're less likely to set off
alarm-bells with bookies.
2. Family - where possible use family and friends to set-up accounts with
bookies if you have been tagged as unprofitable and they refuse to trade with
you.
3. Where you know you have had a series of wins with a particular bookie,
make an extra special effort to try and place the losing end of an arb with him.
This should lower your chances of getting tagged.
4. If you're refused a certain amount that you're trying to secure an arb for,
then try again after a little while. It's not uncommon to find that your full
amount will be accepted just minutes after initially being refused.
5. There are certain types of equipment you can invest in to improve your
efficiency at making high % arbs. For a start, a mobile phone is very useful -
you probably already have one, but if not think about getting one. It's very
useful as you can place a bet with a bookie (on their freephone number
usually) while placing the other end of the arb at the same time online.
January
Darts - World Championship
Golf - Kapalua Championship
Tennis - ATP & WTA tours
Darts - BDO World Championship
American Football - NFL
12
Golf - Honolulu Open
Golf - South African Open
American Football - AFC/NFC Wildcard Playoffs
Tennis - Australian Open
Golf - Bob Hope Classic
Golf - Alfred Dunhill Championship
American Football - AFC & NFC Divisional Playoffs
Golf - Phoenix Open
Snooker - Regal Welsh Open
Golf - Perth Classic
American Football - AFC/NFC Championship
Golf - Melbourne Classic
February
Golf - Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Tennis - WTA/ATP tours
American Football - Super Bowl
Snooker - English Masters
Golf - Buick
Golf - Anz Championship
Tennis - Davis Cup
American Football - AFC/NFC pro Bowl
Golf - Nissan Open
Golf - World Golf Championship
March
Snooker - China Open
Tennis - ATP/WTA events
Golf - Genuity Championship
Golf - Malaysian Open
F1 - Australian Grand Prix
Snooker - Thailand Masters
Golf - Coral Springs Classic
Golf - Dubai Desert Classic
Golf - Bay Hill
Golf - Quasar Masters
F1 - Malaysian Grand Prix
Golf - The Players Championship
Snooker - Irish Masters
Golf - Madeira Island Open
Golf - Houston Open
Golf - Open De Canaries
F1 - Brazilian Grand Prix
April
Tennis - WTA/ATP Events
Golf - Sugarloaf Classic
Golf - Algarve Open
Tennis - Davis Cup (rd 2)
Snooker - Regal Scottish Open
13
Golf - Masters Tournament
F1 - San Marino Grand Prix
Golf - Head Island Classic
Basketball - NBA Playoffs
Snooker - World Championship
Golf - Greater Greensboro Classic
Golf - The Seve Trophy
Tennis - Fed Cup
F1 - Spanish Grand Prix
May
Golf - New Orleans Classic
Tennis - ATP/WTA Events
Golf - French Open
Golf - Byron Nelson Classic
Golf - International Open
F1 - Austrian Grand Prix
Golf - Fort Worth Colonial
Golf - German Open
Golf - Memorial Tournament
Golf - PGA Championship
F1 - Monaco Grand Prix
Tennis - French Open
Golf - Victor Chandler British Masters
June
Golf - Long Valley Open
Golf - British Masters
Basketball - NBA Finals
Golf - Buick Classic
Golf - English Open
F1 - Canadian Grand Prix
Golf - US Open
Tennis - ATP/WTA events
Golf - Greater Hartford Open
Golf - Great North Open
F1 - European Grand Prix
Golf - St Jude Classic
Tennis - All England Championship
Golf - Irish Open
July
Golf - Illinois Open
Golf - Dublin Open
F1 - British Grand Prix
Golf - Greater Milwaukee Open
Tennis - WTA/ATP Events
Golf - Scottish Open
Golf - New York Open
Golf - British Open
14
Tennis - Fed Cup QF
F1 - French Grand Prix
Golf - John Deer Classic
Golf - TNT Open
F1 - German Grand Prix
Golf - Colorado International
August
Golf - Qwest Int
Tennis - ATP/WTA Events
Golf - Volvo Scandinavian Masters
Golf - Buick Open
Golf - Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open
Golf - US PGA Championship
Golf - North West Ireland Open
F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix
Golf - NEC Invitational
Golf - Reno Tahoe Open
Golf - Washington Golf Championship
Golf - Scottish PGA Championship
Golf - Southern England Championship
Tennis - US Open
Golf - BMW International Open
September
F1 - Belgian Grand Prix
Golf - Canadian Open
Golf - European Masters
American Football - NFL
Golf - Pennsylvanian Classic
Tennis - WTA/ATP events
Golf - German Masters
F1 - Italian Grand Prix
Golf - Tampa bay Classic
Golf - WGC American Express Championship
Tennis - Davis Cup
Golf - Texas Open
Golf - Ryder Cup
F1 - USA Grand Prix
October
Golf - Kingsmill Championship
Tennis - ATP/WTA Events
Golf - Las Vegas Classic
Golf - Lancôme Trophy
F1 - Japanese Grand Prix
Golf - National Golf Classic
Golf - World Match Play
Golf - Buick challenge
15
Golf - Spanish Open
November
Golf - Atlanta Tour Championship
Tennis - ATP/WTA Events
Golf - Southern Farm Bureau Classic
Tennis - Fed Cup
Golf - Volvo Masters
Tennis - Masters Cup
December
Tennis - Davis Cup Final
Golf - WGC Emc2 World Cup
This guide has armed you with the knowledge you need to be a fine sports
arbitrage trader. However finding arbs everyday can be a time consuming
process so the websites given below are absolutely priceless. They show you
the available arb opportunities on a daily basis - in fact they are updated real-
time as and when more arbitrage opportunities develop. There are
subscription services providing the same information, this guide gives you
these sites as part of your package. Please ensure you read the guidance tips
below - there are certain situations where you may not be able to use the bets
on the website, but I’m willing to bet you will find at least one high yield arb
right now – Have a go!
2. Betbrain http://www.betbrain.com/odds/surebets.jsp?site=0
3. Zazewe http://www.zazewe.com/free/dms/dms.htm
4. Oddsexplorer http://www.oddsexplorer.com/?cat=surebets
Chances are you have already found one 5%+ arb using the above sources!
There are 2 main points in using the above 5 sites to find your daily arbs:
1. Sometimes, some of the bookies they give you will not accept single bets –
the two bookmakers www.bet365.com and www.ladbrokes.com
accept single bets, if the arb is to be found using another bookmaker, check
they offer single bets before placing the bet!
2. When all the bets can be placed as singles there is one last vital step you
need to take to ensure your risk-free arbitrage return. It is very simple but very
important –
Check all the bookies rules in the event of an abandoned game I have
included direct links to this information on my site list. While this may seem
16
unlikely, this sort of thing can happen in sport. Most bookies have
standardised rules in such events but you should check with each bookie that
you place your arb with anyway. For example in some cases you may find
that bookie a will payout depending on who technically won the tie (even if by
default - e.g. Tennis player going through by default because his opponent got
injured), while bookie b will call off all bets and return your stake. As
mentioned while such events are rare it is advised that when bookie rules in
such instances are different you do not place the arb. All bookie sites will have
contact information and a list of rules where this information can be
discovered if the direct links are not at
Find the arbs on the 5 websites given above then find out the following before
you place the bets.
1. Check that any fee’s / tax that the bet may incur with the bookmaker
doesn’t outweigh the profit and you will still make at least 2%.
2. Check the minimum bet you can place, it may be more than you need
to bet to win the arb.
3. Check the rules on payout and make sure they are exactly the same
for both bookmakers. (You wont lose money if the game is abandoned
etc.)
4. Get the webpage’s up in your browser, keep them all open at the point
just before you are going to place the bet and quickly check to see if
the bookmakers haven’t changed the odds and you will still make a
profit.
5. You will then be able to place the bets quickly so there is very little
chance the odds will change
You don’t have to join all the websites right now you can join them as and
when you spot an arb, but by joining just one a day you can save yourself
valuable time in securing that hugely out of line price and the resulting large
profit!
Once you are a member of all the bookmakers and you have been doing this
for a while, you will get very quick at it and you should only need to spend a
couple of hours a day to make serious money.
The best advice is to start small with a bank account (debit card) or credit card
dedicated to arb trading, as you build up your money you will get faster and
more competent at trading and in a few months you should be inflating your
money every day in a couple of hours that you have made from a small
investment! Good luck and enjoy all the free cash!!!!
17
It is easily achievable to find one 5% arb a day just using the free sources
given in part 14. If you where to say start off with staking say £100
unbelievably it would only take 48 days, less than 2 months (using one 5%
arb opportunity a day) to turn it into £1000, you can then make £50 a day –
Tax Free - from your arb trading!!! Of course if you started with £1000………..
This opportunity really is not to be missed!
There are people working a couple of hours a day who are making a full time
living from arb trading - and with what you have learned here along with the
quick reference bookmaker guide and easy to use software, you can trade
with the best of them within a couple of weeks of practice!!!
18