What is Arbing?

Arbing is a form of betting where you can bet on all outcomes of an event and still make a profit. You do this by simultaneously betting on all outcomes on different bookies that guarantee profit, whatever the result of the sports event.

Arbing has been around since bookmakers began but the rise of online bookmakers & the competition between them has led to an increase in the amount of arbing opportunities that have arisen.

This type of betting is also known as arbing betting, arbitrage betting, arb betting, surebetting, surewins, miraclebets, sure bets or just arbs. An Arb is when the opportunity for profit regardless of outcomes arises, people who do this type of betting are called arbers. Unlike normal sports bettors, arbers normally have no interest in the sport they are betting on, they are just interested in the opportunity for profit.

Arbing Betting or Sports Arbitrage Betting to give it it’s full name, is popular throughout europe with many people using it to make a side income online and beat the bookies. In this article we will go over exactly what arbing is, examples of arb bets & answers to the most commonly asked questions about arbitrage betting.

Arbing opportunities arise when there is uncertainty surrounds the outcome of an event. Basically where bookmakers disagree on the probability of an outcome, arbitrage opportunities arise.

Arbitrage Betting takes advantage of the high competition in odds between online bookmakers. When bookmakers odds vary enough we can bet on all outcomes of the event and win a profit of around 2-10% no matter what.

This may seem like a small return of £2-10 at first (given a £100 stake) but over time this can lead to great profits, especially as on some events you can bet upwards of a £300 total stake on a single arb which means £15-30 per trade!

Arbitrage is similar to matched betting but instead of using free bets to get a risk-free profit it uses the natural variation in odds instead.

Arbitrage betting has been dubbed as “the only way to make constant profit” in sports betting and there are tens of thousands of people who regularly arb because it is typically a far better way to invest money than a bank.

For Example you bet on a football match.

Swansea v Wolves

The odds for the game to have total goals of over 2.5 has odds of 2.6

The odds for the game to have total goals of under 2.5 has odds of 1.75

We place a total stake of £100 and have covered all outcomes.

We make £4 profit if Outcome A happens & £5 profit if outcome B happens.

Outcome A

£40 - stake

Marathon

2.6 x 40 = £104 (+£4)

Outcome B

£60 - stake

188Bet

1.75 x 60 = £105 (+£5)

To break down what is shown above:

If there are over 2.5 goals in the match, your return will be a total of £104 (2.6 x £40=£104) = £4 profit

If there are under 2.5 goals in the match, your return will be a total of £105 (1.75 x £60=£105) = £5 profit

Remember we’ve only place a total of £100 so anything over this figure is profit.

Arbing is completely legal but bookmakers don’t like it too much because they think it costs them money. Arbers don’t actually know which outcome will happen so if the bookies lose it’s just bad luck but many people believe if you just bet on “best odds” every time then the bookies will take notice. Arbitrage bettors accounts normally last less than a year but in that time they can make some big profits. When a bookie stops you receiving promotions it’s called being gubbed. When a bookie limits how much you can place on an event, it’s called being limited.

It depends on your arb betting bankroll. Many people can make £500 or more every month, but it also depends on how much time you have available.

Arbing betting opportunities normally only last an average of 15 minutes so you have to be quick. Arbing software like Betslayer updates the odds of an arb in real time and navigates you to the correct event on the bookmaker making the arbing process much quicker and easier. They also have tools to track your arbing profits.

It’s important you always double check the arb market you are betting on. It’s also important you open both windows side by side to ensure you can lock in the bets without delay. It’s also important that you practise small stakes trading when starting arbitrage betting because in that way you learn quickly and then when the stakes are higher you are less likely to make arbing mistakes. Also It’s important you have a back up plan. Always place the higher number stake first because that means you will never run into a situation where one side of the arb is locked in but on the other side the bookies only allows a lower figure. Another thing to note is that if one side of the arb bet is locked in but the other you can’t place you should use a tool like betslayer or oddschecker to find similar odds so you can use another bookie to make profit from, or you can cash out your bet in some cases or use the betting exchange to place the other side of the arb. It’s best not to bet on arbs with an ROI of 20%+ because it could be a palpable error which means the bookmakers odds are an error and your bet may get cancelled.

Exchanges think favourably towards arbers because they make money on commission rather than profit when you lose like online bookmakers. They like the high amounts arb bettors place through the exchange and how they act as market makers, quickly correcting over generous bets. There are opportunities for back lay arbing using low commission exchanges like smarkets. These are normally called horse racing arbing.

Ewallets like Skrill, Neteller or PayPal are an important part of arbing betting because they allow you to withdraw your funds in 12 hours rather than 3-5 days, this allows you to keep your money working and reinvesting it in arbs to make profits.