Profitable Arbitrage Betting

What is Arbitrage Betting?

If you are reading this, it is because you are interested in arbitrage (arb) betting. You’d like to know if you know more about profitable arbitrage betting and how OddsJam can help make that happen. But what exactly is arbitrage betting? The short version is that arb betting uses two different books that have set their lines that enable a guaranteed profit by placing a bet on both sides.

One way to think about arbitrage is with a coin flip example. Imagine that you can place a bet on heads or tails with a fair coin. A win will double your money. So, if you bet on both heads and tails with $1 on each, you would break even (a loss of $1 on one bet and a profit of $1 on the other bet).

Now imagine that you slightly more than double your money if you win, say $1.01 for every $1 bet. If you placed a bet on both sides, you would profit $0.01, a loss of $1 on one bet and a profit of $1.01 on the other for an overall gain. Now imagine compounding that edge over and over again.

This situation happens all the time in sports betting. An actual example will help.

Arbitrage Example

Here is one of the arbitrage bets currently listed on the OddsJam Arbitrage Feed.

So, what exactly is this showing? Well, in the Grizzlies-Timberwolves game, Xavier Tillman will either sink at least one three-pointer, or he won’t. Using the lines available from the two books listed, you can make a guaranteed profit by placing bets (of the correct proportion) on over 0.5 and under 0.5.

First, the bet size. Say we placed $50 on under 0.5 three-pointers at -220 odds. If we won that bet, we’d win $72.73. If we also placed a bet of $20.78 on over 0.5 three-pointers at +250 odds, we would win $72.73.

We would have placed a total of $50+20.78 = $70.78 in both bets. However, one of the two MUST hit and will pay us $72.73, or $72.73-$70.78 = $1.95 in profit.

Simply by placing these two bets, we will win $1.95. If you convert the odds to win percentages, -220 odds gives a win percentage of 68.75% and +250 odds gives a win percentage of 28.57%. The total we get adding those up is 97.32%, and this is why we have an arbitrage opportunity with a 2.68% return. Any time the outcomes from betting the two sides at the odds given by different books gives less than 100%, you will have a profitable advantage.

Why Use Arbs?

Simply put, using arbs is a great way to help grow your bankroll. As long as you have a few books on the go that set their lines independently, there will be opportunities for arbs.

This is a strategy that anyone can use, and many have used it very, very successfully.

Guaranteed Profit

Many will tell you that this is guaranteed profits and, for the most part, they are right. However, you need to be quick. Books are constantly adjusting their lines and on occasion, you may get caught when one side of the bet moves when you are placing the bets. You may also run into a situation where the size of the bet you want to place at one of the books is lower than you need based on the other bet you have already placed. Very rarely, you may end up with a book voiding a bet.

There are a few things you can do to help minimize these things happening:

• Bet quickly. The quicker the better.
• Place your first bet on a book that allows for full cashout, so if the other bet is unavailable for any reason, you aren’t exposed.
• Place your first bet on the favorite.
• Start with smaller bet sizes and work your way up. This will also help you get really good at using the different books sites to place your bets.
• If the line does move and you are exposed, placing the bet on the other side might be a good hedge. Otherwise, you might just have to take the bet you’ve already placed and let it ride.
• If a bet gets voided, you just have to accept it and move on.

Why Do Arbitrage Bets Exist?

Arbitrage bets exist because different books have their own ways of setting lines. A book might have different information than other books or they might weight that information differently. Or, a book might simply have taken a large volume on one side of a bet and shift the line to help balance their exposure.

With the expansion of online sports betting, especially in the United States, there are a lot of books available, which leads to more and more arbitrage opportunities.

How Do I Find Arbitrage Opportunities?

There are a few options. Some bettors simply scan a few different books manually and make the calculations on their own. That is a tough gig and will take a lot of time and significantly limit your opportunities.

Others, with the right set of skills, automate the process to an extent with web scrappers to pull lines from different books and scan for arbs. Efficient, but time-consuming to set up and maintain (time that isn’t used for sports betting).

Most use software, like OddsJam. Besides having a great interface, a large number of books, and arbs on player props, OddsJam is putting together such a large amount of data that no one could do on their own. Their interface also removes the guesswork and makes the calculations for you. And when time is essential, every moment counts.

As an added benefit, OddsJam offers arbs on live events, if you are on their platinum plan and are quick enough to place those bets.

How Much Can I Make With Arbitrage?

There are a lot of opportunities. How much you can make will depend on a few things:

• How much time you put in, the more time, the more opportunities. But balance your priorities.
• How many books you have and what books are available to you.
• How many games are on the calendar. On the weekend in the middle of November will have a lot more to wager on than the middle of July.

Check out some of my other posts to find out more about being a profitable sports bettor. Read about my best month ever or check out my first quarter results or you can read about the two-year journey before starting this blog.

Some Arbitrage Tips

• Start with small bets to learn and fully understand, with less risk of getting your accounts limited quickly.
• Start with a few books, maybe where you’ve cleared a bonus (OddsJam has their low-hold tool and promotion converter to help with that). The more books the better, but when you are starting there can be a lot to learn.
• Round your bets to multiples of $5 so you don’t draw attention to your betting (trust me, I speak from experience). The exception here is the sharp books, like Pinny/Pinnacle, that won’t limit you.
• Having a sharp book is helpful.
• Balancing out your bankroll if you are winning a lot at one book can be hard, so keep some cash in reserve from your bankroll to top up when needed. This can actually work in your favor as the book where you lose will be happy with you and you’ll be able to keep that account longer. Re-load bonuses are also a thing.
• Adjust your bet size based on the market you are betting on. The money line is a main market and will certainly have higher limits than player props.
• Similar to the last point, if you are betting on a smaller market, you might want to adjust to the size of your bet as well. For example, the NCAAB Big 10 will have a lot more liquidity than many other NCAAB matches.
• When you get limited, and eventually books will limit you, bet to the limits they offer or simply move on.
• If you are an international and have the option, use USD for your currency. Adjusting for currency conversion is an added step that can be a pain.

OddsJam Arbitrage Resources

As usual, OddsJam has some educational material to run you through all of this as well. They have their arbitrage page. They also have an arbitrage calculator. Alex, one of the founders, has also recently posted a video running through arbitrage as well.

Why This Post?

Some of you may be asking why I would write a post when OddsJam already has this covered. That is a good question.

Well, I think there is value in someone else’s take on topics, even if it is mostly just reviewing what has already been posted. As a teacher, I know that sometimes understanding comes from multiple presentations of similar material before it is fully understood. This doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with the first run-through, repetition and linking ideas is just the way learning works.

What Next?

Well, if you are ready, to become a sharp, profitable bettor you might want to head over to OddsJam and check out all the tools they have to offer. Arbitrage is just one of the many tools they offer to help you become a profitable sports bettor.

Disclaimer: Links to OddsJam are affiliate links and I am not hiding that. I truly believe in their product and use it daily. Visit OddsJam for a 7-day free trial and see for yourself. Take 35% off your first month with coupon code Beyond35 and really explore what OddsJam is all about.