What is Arbitrage Betting and is it Legal?

arbitrage betting

❓What is Arbitrage Betting?
💡Is Arbitrage Betting Legal?
💬Should I Use Arbitrage Betting?
🎯Conclusion

Arbitrage betting, or ‘arbing’, has been around for many years, although over that time, it became an issue that has polarised the betting community.

Some punters believe that arbitrage betting is a legal, fair tactic and system for battling bookies. Others feel it is borderline cheating and unethical and employing it carries too many risks.

What is the truth? In our in-depth analysis of arbitrage betting, we will get to the truth of the matter.

So, let’s begin by explaining exactly what arbitrage betting is.

What is Arbitrage Betting (Arbing)?

Arbitrage betting is a process by which a punter uses the different odds available with bookmakers on certain markets to ensure that they profit by covering each possible outcome. For this to work they must calculate a scaled stake for each of the covered options to ensure that each return covers the total cost of placing the bets.

Each bet is usually made with a different bookmaker.

By covering all the eventualities of an event, and provided the odds offered by the different bookmakers allow it, a punter can ensure themselves a small profit (usually around 1.2%) regardless of the outcome.

With such a small profit guaranteed, punters generally have to place large value bets to make the profit worthwhile on a bet.

Arbitrage betting is a form of ‘advantage gambling’ and can also be known as ‘sure bets’, as the punter knows that regardless of the outcome, they should profit.

Below is a straightforward example of a potential arbitrage bet.

Arbitrage Betting Example

Below is a simple two-way arbitrage bet on a 2-way football match market.

In a match between Liverpool and Everton we discover the following:

Bookmaker 1 offers odds of 1.79 on Both Teams to Score - Yes - Market.
Bookmaker 2 offers odds of 2.60 on Both Teams to Score - No - Market.

Let’s assume we have a budget of £1000 to bet on this market. We now need to know how much to place on each of the two outcomes in order to guarantee a profit regardless of the outcome of the match.

Fortunately, many arbitrage betting calculators can do this for you online, and there is specialist software available that can identify arbitrage opportunities from different markets and even tell you how much to place on each option.

In the example above, the calculator reveals that we should place £592 on the BTTS-Yes bet and £408 on the BTTS-No bet.

This means our potential returns would be as follows:

Bookmaker 1 - if the game sees both teams score, then our return would be £1059.68.
Bookmaker 2 - if the game sees one or both teams fail to score, then our return would be £1060.80

So, analysing this, here’s how we have guaranteed a profit:

Total Stakes for both bets - £1,000
If our bet with Bookmaker 1 wins - We get back £1059.68
If our bet with Bookmaker 2 wins - We get back £1060.80

As such, we are guaranteed a profit of either £59.68 or £60.80 on our bet.

That is a simple example of an arbitrage bet, but you can place similar bets on 3-way arbitrage markets, such as betting on the full-time result (1X2), although the calculation for how much you need to stake on each betting option is a little more complicated with three options to cover, rather than two.

You can place arbitrage bets across a wide range of sports. However, most punters that use this betting system prefer to use specialist software that can analyse the betting odds offered across a range of sports and markets to identify potential arbitrage betting opportunities swiftly across a wide range of bookmakers.

Is Arbitrage Betting Legal?

Is arbitrage betting legal? Yes it is. You are in effect, simply placing two bets on the same market with two different bookmakers.

However, do bookmakers like it? Of course, they don’t. Furthermore, if they suspect anybody of ‘arbing’, then they have the right to limit their bet stake amount, cancel the bet made or even cancel their account.

Bookmakers will look for betting patterns that suggest arbitrage betting with them. They are surprisingly easy to detect, especially if you have used a specific bookmaker for one part of several of these types of bet.

Worse still, even if you are not arbitrage betting, if the bookie suspects you may be, they may cancel or limit your account anyway.

This is why punters that do use arbitrage betting will only do so with many different bookmakers. Place both bets with the same bookmaker and you are heading the way towards a quickly cancelled account!

Should I Use Arbitrage Betting?

That decision rests with you. To help you, we have produced a list of the benefits of arbitrage betting, against a list of the negative aspects of arbitrage betting.

Benefits of Arbitrage Betting

You can guarantee a small profit each time you successfully make an arbitrage bet.

Cons of Arbitrage Betting

You need as many betting accounts as possible, all funded with a large amount of money, for this system to work.
You need to wager large sums to make even a tiny profit.
If detected, bookmakers can cancel one or more parts of your bet, leaving you at risk of losing any other bet that is not cancelled. They can also limit your account (so you can only place smaller value bets) and if they suspect you of ‘arbing’ they can cancel your account.
It is time-consuming to try and find suitable markets for arbitrage betting. Software can help you do this, but this comes at an additional cost.
With so many betting accounts to cover and cash to transfer to, from and between accounts, it can be incredibly time-consuming to maintain your accounts to ensure that arbitrage betting remains profitable.

Conclusion - To Arb or Not To Arb - That is the Question!

Arbitrage betting operates in a ‘grey’ area regarding sports betting. While not illegal, it is frowned upon by bookmakers, who can and will limit or suspend the account of anyone they suspect may be engaged in arbitrage betting.

On the plus side, it does guarantee small profits, but you do have to put in a lot of work and take a lot of risks of not being detected to do this successfully.

However, our final point is that arbitrage betting isn’t in the spirit of betting. It is more about exploiting the system and that leaves a somewhat sour taste in the mouth. We know people do it, but as betting purists, it is not for us.

It’s a lot of work and expense for just too small a profit with too many risks for our liking.