Arbitrage Sports betting

I've heard of sports arbitrage betting as well and it's been around for a couple of years. I probably first heard about it in 2005. In theory, I suppose it is no different selling shares or forward contracts and using futures as a hedge? Anyway, I know a guy who is using it and he tells me he's making some money out of it. I don't think it is 5% per bet though.

Remember the old saying? Gamblers only ever tell you when they win.

I disagree with the whole proposition of having to fork out that sum of money when there are a lot of other places around, eg they can licence the program to you for $x amount per month, which will significantly reduce your capital outlay, particularly should things go awry.

If you are that risk averse, ask them to give you a free trial if they are so sure it works, and maybe try it out for a month using "play money". I'd be wary of people who post their track record of "arbs" that they have found over the previous months, unless there is some way to verify it. I'd be keen to find out your results, but personally I prefer writing loans!

Sports arbitrage betting has been around for a long time. In theory it sounds great, but there are MANY pitfalls. To list just a few…

1. Arbing often relies on very small margins, therefore a substantial sum must be wagered before a decent amount can be returned. As you have already pointed out Terry, you need accounts with an enormous number of bookmakers to be able to snag the occasional arbing opportunity, but unless you have a virtually unlimited bankroll you are going to run into problems. What happens when you only have $100 in the account of a particular bookmaker when you need to make a $10000 bet? Sure you may have 10 times that invested in say 100 bookie accounts, but transferring funds in and out can be very time consuming. Chances are by the time you have transferred the required funds into the account, the juicy odds are long gone. Remember you aren't the only person playing this game!

2. With the large amounts needed in order to generate even a moderate return, coupled with the volatility of sporting/racing markets, you risk losing a large amount of money simply by normal market movements. It is entirely possible that once you have placed one (or more) bets, that the odds on the other bet(s) have changed, making an arbing opportunity impossible. You have then opened yourself up to a guaranteed loss, rather than a win, or having to simply let the original bet ride, not fun!

3. Not all bookmakers have unlimited funds at their disposal! Your 'software' may require a large bet, but if the bookmaker in question will only take say $500 on a certain event it makes it next to impossible.

4. Bookmakers are well aware of arbitrage betting. If you are found to be a successful arbitrage punter, your account will be restricted or cancelled completely. Bookies do share information about successful punters so if you are successful for any length of time you will find the number of bookies willing to take your bets reduced enormously. This obviously majorly impacts the success of your arbing venture. A small pool of bookies to choose from = failure in this game.

In any case there are sites out there that will provide you with ample info to exploit arbing opportunities for free, or for a negligible price. Upwards of 10k is absurd. To make any kind of return with that initial outlay you would have to place enormous sums of money to exploit the 1-5% margins you could typically expect, and as already pointed out, there are very few bookmakers that have the capital to regularly take such bets, and you can be assured that although their odds might be competitive, they certainly won't feature regularly in arbing opportunities! They didn't accumulate such a large amount of capital by being stupid….

Finally, arbing is something best done manually, do you really want to trust software written by some unknown on the other side of the world with large amounts of your cash? One simple mistake will wipe away your entire advantage, and then some.

Arbing is possible, but incredibly hard work and very stressful! It is absurd to think that anyone could claim that it is as simple as 'setting and forgetting' some software! If anyone is keen to give it a try, i recommend they subscribe to one of the free sites, or one with a minimal fee ($10 a month or thereabouts), with a modest bankroll (that they can afford to lose) and see just how difficult it really is. As has been said, if it really was that easy nobody would be selling their 'system'!

To sum up, these sorts of shemes are out and out scams.

If you part with thousands of dollars, you'll end up with a useless piece of software, which they tell you is sophisticated. What a joke! They're all the same – con you into thinking they've got a secret to making money that no-one else knows; tell you to hurry because there are only a few licenses left. Maybe even give you a guarantee that isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Don't be sucked into their promises. You'll regret it. And I guarantee that.

WJ Hooker

Your argument is flawed. It won't work. If you believe it, then give up your day job and work your system. Why would you work if all the money you need is on tap betting on the horses? Nope. You love your work and don't want to give it up. Fine, but you still have all that money on tap to build your property and/or share portfolio.

Anyone who reckons they win at the casino, horse racing or whatever, just tell them to give up work and do it full time. Like I said above, logic says you don't need any other income because the pool of money available is huge, and they reckon they can tap it any time they want. Absolute crap!

If you don't believe what I'm saying, you are probably too young to know (no life experience), or a naive fool. If you still want to play it, be my guest, but know right now you won't win. And that's not being negative, it's reality. Your choice.

That's right, Gazza. Logic says why would you sell a fool proof money-making system? Just use it and make all the money you want. The reasoning is usually something along the lines that they just want to share their success.

These systems are for gamblers and should be marketed as such (if they insist on selling them). You cannot make a living out of them. Life is not like that, so wake up if you're still tempted to waste your money.