9 Arbitrage betting tips: sure betting tips for bigger profits

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For many years, arbitrage betting was one of my primary income sources from sports betting. I slowly started switching to more profitable but riskier strategies such as value betting.

I created this article to share some arbitrage betting tips that might help you in the long run.

Following the tips from this article can increase your profits from arbing and reduce the risk of getting limited by the bookmakers.

Arbitrage betting tips for beginners

1. Start with pre-match arbitrage betting

Arbitrage betting requires a fair amount of focus, and you also need to be quick if you want to place sure bets before the odds drop.

I need to warn you that arbitrage betting might seem like easy money, but it is not. My best arbitrage betting tip is to give yourself time to learn every essential part of this strategy before practising it.

Sure betting before the start of the event gives you a fair advantage over the bookmaker. Compared to in-play betting, the odds are not moving so fast at most bookmakers.

Even if you are a beginner, you can place more and more sure bets after a bit of practice.

2. Use the in-built arbitrage calculator

Each sure bet finder has a system that will insert the odds of your selected arb into the calculator. Most of these are offering even a preselected stake.

I used to have an arbitrage calculator opened in a separate tab and had to insert the odds/stakes for each individual sure bet.

Using the automatic calculator will save you time, energy, and money.

Speaking about automated…you might want to check my article on automated arbitrage betting bots and software.

3. Start with free sure bet services

Many bettors might think searching arbitrage bets manually is a better solution. I know some bettors who try to find arbitrage opportunities manually. 

If you have a lot of experience, this way might be the most profitable strategy. But for a beginner, I advise using free arbitrage betting software.

It will save you a lot of time, and you will be able to generate several times more profit.

On the other hand, opting for a paid service as a beginner arbitrage bettor is also not the best choice. Some arb scanners like surebet.com or Breaking Bet are an exception under this. 

They offer excellent services. But my best arbitrage betting tip is to spend only on cheaper services while you can’t take 100% advantage of them.

4. Use premium software

After getting some experience and becoming faster and faster in placing arbitrage bets, you should opt-in for a paid/premium sure betting scanner. 

Sometimes, a monthly subscription fee might seem a little bit high, but you can make many times more profit in the long run with premium sports betting software.

Many bettors don’t want to use a 130 euros a month service. But if you have enough betting accounts, you will be able to make 8-10 times more than the subscription fee.

Sticking to free scanners will keep you from making more significant profits and consume more of your time.

Arbitrage betting tips for decreasing losses

1. Start with popular sports/markets

Getting your account limited after 3-5 bets is the last thing you want to experience. I made that mistake many times, so here are some tips to avoid this.

Bookies are sensitive to pre-match arbitrage betting. Being a greedy arbitrage bettor will result in a very short career.

• You should bet on a major sports event, leagues, team, and markets.
• Focus on the first leagues of football, hockey, and basketball. On tennis, I advise betting only on WTA and ATP tournaments. ITFs and Challengers will get your account limited after only a few bets.
• Avoid smaller betting markets such as nr of cards for players, first half cards, player markets, etc.

2. Always have both betting sites opened

I prefer opening my accounts on a bigger screen by splitting the screen. This way, you can access both bookies without the need to switch screens.

3. Avoid betting on big sure bets

I know it’s hard to ignore arbitrage bets with a profit of 7%-9%. But if you want to practice arbitrage betting for a long time, my best tip is to avoid being becoming greedy. Mathematical betting strategies can generate the most profits if you are following certain rules.

You might make a significant profit on these opportunities, but it will harm your betting account. These big arbitrage opportunities mean big mistakes and overpriced odds that are obviously wrong.

Betting on 3 to 4 of these will get your account flagged in a very short time. You can easily get away with 50+ sure bets with profits below 2%-3%, but 3-4 of those big arbs can get your account limited.

4. Use trustworthy bookmakers only

Active arbitrage bettors will experience massive betting balance growth at soft bookmakers. This no lose football betting strategy will constantly generate profits on one of your betting accounts.

If you are covering your bets at arbitrage friendly bookmakers such as Pinnacle, the natural phenomenon is that you will deposit at Pinnacle and withdraw funds at the slow bookmaker.

If you start using sure bet scanners, you will often notice that some bookmakers are making more mistakes than others.

You might think trying them out would be a great opportunity for making additional profits. But making a proper background check before depositing any funds might save you even tens of thousands of euros down the road.

Many betting sites offer great odds but are also very sensitive to bettors who can win. These bookies can ask for documents for their KYC process that are insane, and some bookmakers might even confiscate your funds. 

My tip for arbitrage bettors is to check their reputation before depositing money.

5. Start with the money you can afford losing

Unfortunately, arbitrage betting is not 100% risk-free. If you succeed in placing sure bets, covering both outcomes, in 99.999 cases, you will end up in profit. But there are some factors that you can’t really influence.

For example, if you place bets on odds that are obvious mistakes, the bookie might void that bet, and it means your stake will be returned. And I hadn’t experienced such a case when a bookie returned my stakes for a losing bet. 

If you face a similar case, one leg will be lost, and on the other part, your stakes will be returned. This will generate a fairly big loss.

I have to mention that these kinds of losses are very rare, and they won’t influence your betting strategy.

6. Cut your arbitrage losses 

In many cases, you won’t be able to cover the other outcome with the whole stake. Or, many times, you can’t hedge your bets at all at the desired bookmaker.

The bookies will disable betting lines, odds, or matches for different reasons. But you, as an arbitrage bettor, need to cover that outcome no matter what. For these cases, I advise having emergency funds at other bookmakers.

Not covering the other outcome can seem like a gamble. But if you are comparing odds between a sharp and a soft bookmaker, letting an uncovered is simply a value bet. 

This is true only if you placed your first bet at the soft bookie with the overpriced odds.

Using value betting software is the most profitable betting strategy, but it requires many bets to become profitable in the long run. 

Any time I failed to cover the other outcome on the desired odds, I looked for another opportunity and hedged the bet even with a loss. 

A small guaranteed loss in arbitrage betting was always better for me than a possible big loss.

Conclusion: Arbitrage betting tips

The best tip for arbitrage betting an experienced sure bettor can give is to stop being greedy place bets with smaller profits on a bigger sports event. This way, you can keep your betting account active for a longer period.