Sports Arbitrage Archives - Smart Sports Trader

Over my years of betting and trading I have come into contact with a lot of different people that make money betting and trading.

One person that I have learnt quite a lot from is my friend Matt who has been doing sports arbitrage for a living now for the last five years.

Sports Arbitrage For A Living

An Interview with a full time arber

SST: First of all thanks for doing this interview Matt. My first question is how did you get started with sports arbitrage?

Matt: Well I had been messing around with betting for a few years pretty unsuccessfully. I came across the concept of sports arbitrage in 2008.

I started off very small and made maybe £30 in the first month but saw that it worked and gradually built it up.

SST: Were you doing matched betting to start with or straight arbitrage?

Matt: I started off with straight arbitrage between Pinnacle and Bwin and then started doing some matched betting or bonus scalping as people were calling it then.

SST: Has the landscape of sports arbitrage changed much since you first started?

Matt:Yes it is always changing. Bookmakers tolerated it more at first. I don’t think there were too many people doing.

The landscape is always changing with new laws and regulations coming in. I think that is why there is skill in becoming a good arbitrage bettor. You always have to adapt.

Full Time Arbitrage

SST: When and why did you decide to go full time with sports arbitrage betting?

Matt: In 2010 my total profits from arbitrage betting were more then my yearly wage. I had made around £40k which was more then my yearly salary.

I weighed up the risk and reward. I realised I could make more money from arbitrage. I didn’t have a great job so there was no issue leaving it.

SST: How have you managed to make a living from sports arbitrage the last five years when bookmakers limit accounts?

Matt: Its not been easy but I have learnt a few trends that bookmakers have. Some hate you taking arbs on horse racing but you can get away with other types of arbitrage for a long time.

Then you have exchanges, I live in the UK so there is also shop arbing. I have done a lot of the casino bonus stuff in the last few years also. There are lots of ways to make money from the bookies if you are creative.

I also have a deal with a few friends and family members where I act as an advisor of sorts and manage their accounts. I pay them 10% of the profits that I make each month and its a good deal for everyone.

SST: I understand. If someone wanted to get into sports arbitrage what would your advise be.

Matt: Everyone seems to be matched betting these days I would start with that.

Start small and don’t put all your money in one bookmaker. Use trusted bookmakers that have been around for a while. As there are quite a few shady ones that operate and will steal your money.

SST: Which bookmakers do you suggest using?

Matt: Use all the ones from oddschecker.com they are all pretty good. Avoid ones that just arrived on the scene as many don’t last such as Bet666.

Start off with the major bookmakers Bet365 and William Hill for example.

SST: Any other advice?

Matt: Don’t worry about account limitation people get hung up on this. You will get accounts limited but new reputable bookmakers start up and then a whole new money stream opens up again.

If you really work at it its a great way to earn a very nice second income. If you really make the most of it then it can become a full time occupation.

SST: Cheers Matt thanks for you time.

If you want to start profiting from sports betting, arbitrage and trading. I recommend this service which is currently contributing the biggest profit in my 50k in a year challenge.

In this article I am going to detail a horse racing arbitrage strategy that I like to use occasionally to mix up my betting patterns.

This strategy is profitable and is a good way of taking extra value from the bookies.

If you are unfamiliar with arbitrage and want to learn about arbitrage betting. I recommend reading this excellent resource on arbitrage betting.

This strategy as it is a good way of moving money from bookmakers to exchanges but also getting some value in the process.

First off you are going to need a low commission betting exchange such as Smarkets or Matchbook and bookmakers that offer best odds guaranteed.

To find bookmakers that offer best odds guaranteed use oddschecker and look for a green tick box along the line noted at “best odds guaranteed.”

Horse Racing Arbitrage Strategy

First off we look for a horse that is a close back and lay price at a BOG(Best Odds Guaranteed) bookmaker (back) and low commission exchange (lay).

For this example I will use Smarkets.

In the picture above you will see the horse Copper Baked is priced at 1.91 with a number BOG bookmakers.

We can offer a lay price that matches the current BOG bookmaker prices. When the lay bet gets matched we then place the back bet at a BOG bookmaker.

From the above you can see that if the odds on Copper Baked stays the same price or comes in further we stand to win £90.90 for Bet365 and lose £90.01 from Smarkets for a £0.89p profit.

If Copper Baked loses we win £100 minus the 2% commission from Smarkets £98 and lose the £100 from Bet365.

Horse Racing Arbitrage Strategy

The key to this method is the large potential upside from the BOG (Best Odds Guaranteed) promotion. The Best Odds Guarantee promotion means that if a horses starting price drifts after you backed it you will get paid at the higher starting price.

So if Copper Baked price drifts before the off. With the starting price going off at a price higher then 1.9 then Bet365 would pay out at its starting price under the BOG promotion.

For example if Copper Baked drifted to 2.5 before the off and won we would then be paid £150 by Bet365 and lose only £90 from Smarkets. This would equal a profit of £60 when our risk of loss was only ever £2.

In this example we get a horse rated at 2.5 for odds of 31.0. This does happen fairly regularly in the horse racing markets.

From using this method there is always a much larger upside then there is downside.

Also by sticking to shorter favourites. It doesn’t look like conventional arbitrage to the bookmakers.

This method is a great way of building your trading bank alongside matched betting and arbitrage.

In order to make the most of this horse racing arbitrage strategy you will need an exchange that offers lower commission then Betfair.

Although this strategy is still profitable with Betfair it is much more profitable if you can access the 0% commission deals available with some bookmakers.

In the long term paying 2% less commission is going to going to add to much greater profits.

You can get 0% commission on both Smarkets and Matchbook by joining Oddsmonkey They offer a number of horse racing markets with ever increasing liquidity.

Alongside a host of other valuable tools that will allow you to make money from the sports betting markets.