It is a well known fact that the majority of people that bet on sports lose. It is estimated that the number is around 95%.
How then do you become part of the 5% that actually make money from sports betting?
On this blog we have been running a sports betting and trading challenge detailing the results each month. Over a period of 66 months a profit of £162,252 has been made.
In today’s article we are going to breakdown what’s been working over that 66 month period. Looking at how you can become part of the 5% that make money from betting on sports.
Profit From Bookmaker Promotions (Matched Betting)
One of the easiest ways you can start to make money betting on sports is from taking advantage of betting promotions.
There are numerous sign up offers available that you can make quick profits from. After you have completed all the sign up offers that are around you can then start to make money from recurring promotions.
Above is an example of the type of offer that you can use to make a quick and easy profit. After your initial £10 bet has been placed. 888sport will hand you £30 in free bets and a £10 casino bonus.
By using a process known as matched betting you should lock in a profit of around £24 from this offer. Matched betting is the easiest and lowest risk strategy to start making money from betting on sports.
Want to learn more!
Click Here For Our Guide To Matched Betting
Arbitrage Betting
The next strategy is one that compliments matched betting very well. This is a low risk and profitable strategy called “arbitrage betting.”
Sports betting arbitrage involves covering every outcome of an event in order to guarantee a profit.
Sounds almost too good to be true right!
Sports arbitrage betting does work, it is a strategy that is commonly used by those looking to profit from sports betting.
Let’s take a look at an example.
In the above image you can see there is a tennis match starting in around an hours time.
Pokerstars are offering the player Casanova at odds of 2.4. Her opposition Acosta is available to bet at odds of 1.8 with Starsports.
Staking £86.14 at odds of 2.4 will return £206.74.
Staking £114.86 at odds of 1.8 also returns £206.75.
No matter which side of the bet wins a profit of £5.75 is secured due to the combined odds making an arbitrage bet.
(206.75 – 86.14 = £120.61)
(206.74 – 114.86 = 91.88)
Why doesn’t everyone do this and become very rich from sports betting?
Is a great question!
Unfortunately bookmaker’s don’t tolerate winning sports bettors over the long term. Whilst you can make good money from sports arbitrage. Once a bookmaker realizes that you are doing it they will cut off your limits or close your account.
Sports betting arbitrage is a great short term way to make money betting on sports. But it should be noted that it isn’t a long term option unless you can constantly create new betting accounts.
Interested in arbitrage betting!
Click Here For Our Guide To Sports Betting Arbitrage
Tipsters
Finding profitable tipsters and using their selections to make a profit is a strategy that you can use. There are all manor of betting tipsters available on the internet.
Many of these tipsters are not profitable, in fact a large number are affiliates for bookmakers and profit from referred players losses. Which means they are incentivized to provide losing tips.
There are however some tipsters that have proven to be long term winners. Below is a list of articles where we have highlighted some of the best free and paid tipsters available.
Top free football betting tipsters on Twitter
Chasing Steam (Value Betting)
Chasing steam is a strategy that looks to take advantage of slow moving bookmakers. When money is coming in on a selection with sharp bookmakers this is usually an indicator that the bet has value. Betting these selections at slow moving bookmakers yet to update their odds is a very profitable betting strategy.
Value betting or “chasing steam” is a very simple strategy that has a lot of data backing it up. Simply by monitoring sharper bookmakers and betting exchanges, you can find value with other bookmakers.
Let’s take a look at an example!
In the example above Bet365 have Venezia at odds of 3.5.
The sharp bookmaker Pinnacle has Venezia priced lower at odds of 3.23. Which according to the value betting software highlighting this selection is a 4.55% edge.
By consistently backing odds at slower moving bookmakers Bet365, William Hill, Unibet for example. You are able to make money betting on sports long term.
Click Here For Our Guide On Value Betting
Boosts And Extra Place Terms
Next up on the list is another strategy that is very profitable and easy to implement. Bookmaker’s frequently offer boosted prices and extra place terms.
These boosted prices can be worth taking when they above bookmakers or betting exchange prices.
Above you can see that Skybet have boosted the price of England to win the T20 world cup to odds of 4.5. At the same time this is priced at 4.2 with Betfair.
This is a clear value bet due to the difference in odds.
Taking advantage of these bookmaker boosts for either value betting or arbitrage betting can be very profitable.
There are also sports such as horse racing and golf where bookmakers will offer extra places. When the odds between bookmakers and the betting exchanges are close, having an extra place can be very valuable.
Historical Data
There are some sports bettors that build profitable betting systems using historical odds data.
Cassini is a popular sports betting blogger that is noted to use historical odds data in order to find profitable strategies. Another advocate of this approach is Ian Erksine from FTS Income.
Finding area’s that historically look like they offer value is a great approach. One that can be built on and is especially useful for those that have been limited or banned by most soft bookmakers.
You can find free football odds data here
How To Make Money Betting On Sports – Conclusion
In this article we have covered 6 different way to make money betting on sports.
Matched betting and arbitrage are an ideal way to make a low risk income from sports betting. They are very easy strategies to use and can open your eyes to opportunities that there are in the sports betting markets.
For the more advanced sports bettor that has already made use of bookmaker promotions. Value betting is a strategy that you should really be considering.
If you are an expert sports bettor that has already made decent profit but has found themselves limited and unable to get money down with soft bookmakers. Delving into historical odds and looking for profitable angles to use on the betting exchanges and sharp bookmakers, is something to consider.
Our advice is to take a look at Oddsmonkey which offer software for matched betting, value betting, boosts, casino offers extra places and much more!
