7 Best Sports for Arbitrage Betting (2024)

ByKevin

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Arbitrage betting is accepted as one of the most profitable, almost 100% risk-free betting strategies. 

There are many factors influencing the amount you can make, and one of them is choosing the best sports for arbitrage betting.

Each sport has its advantages, but some offer a more viable sure betting. 

What are the best sports for arbitrage betting?

I’ve been actively betting since 2014, and I think choosing which sports you focus on while arbitrage betting.

Some sports offer more wrong odds and sure bets but with many downsides like getting lower maximum stakes or faster account limitations.

#1. Football

Football is the most famous sport with a large follower base. Most bookmakers offer a large variety of betting offers with fairly good odds.

Why is football the best sport for arbitrage betting?

  1. A large variety of betting markets: more betting markets means more possibility of finding overpriced odds. The bookies are autogenerating odds and betting lines for smaller markets based on match-winner odds and goal over/under markets. They are more likely to avoid minor changes on matches, leading to massive sure bets on these markets. You might want to check my RebelBetting Review (for EU bettors) or my OddsJam Review to read more about the best sure betting services that cover each relevant market and bookie.
  2. High maximum stakes: Football is one of the best sports for arbitrage betting if you are looking for high maximum stakes. At bigger events, even smaller local bookies offer stakes above tens of thousands of euros. If you follow bigger leagues, even minor betting markets can provide an adequate stake size for arbitrage betting.
  3. Covered by sharp bookmakers and exchanges: It’s a fairly important factor to use sports for arbitrage betting that sharp bookmakers cover. These bookies, like Pinnacle, are the most important tools for most sure bettors. Because of their arbitrage-friendly nature, you can cover your sure bets without being afraid of getting limited. Most of these bookies are focusing on football.
  4. Lower chances for getting limited: most bookmakers are sensitive to betting activities that can be profitable in the long run. Sure betting is one of them. But football is a great sport for arbitrage betting if you want to stay under the radar for as long as possible. They get many bets with high stakes on most football events. With the right bets on football, you can delay getting limited.
  5. Covered by arbitrage bet finders: each arbitrage betting software includes sure bets for football matches. There are many more software like ArbMate or OddStorm focusing only on football sure bets. Football is the best sport for arbitrage betting if you want to take advantage of the fastest sure bet finders.

Want to learn more about sure betting? Check my arbitrage betting guide.

#2. Tennis

Tennis is a great sport for arbitrage betting. In-play and pre-match tennis matches are generating an insane amount of sure betting opportunities.

I always preferred betting in-play because of the fast-moving odds and high maximum stakes.

Why can tennis be great for arbitrage betting?

  1. Fast-moving odds in play: tennis is a perfect sport for arbitrage betting for pre-match as well. But for in-play arbitrage betting, is almost unbeatable. The odds are moving fast because of the many changes. These fluctuations are causing a large nr. of sure betting opportunities.
  2. High maximum stakes: similar to football betting, bookies are offering fairly high maximum stakes on tennis. This is true for most ATP and WTA tournaments, but sometimes even the challengers provide good opportunities.
  3. Many matches: more sports events mean better sport for arbitrage betting. Overall, football is better from this point of view, but I think tennis is also great for sure betting. 
  4. Tennis bets end fast: if you focus on in-play sure betting, tennis is the perfect sport for betting. If you place bets on markets like next game, set winner, set handicap/total games, your bets will end in 1-30 minutes. Even if you are betting on the match-winner, you can end up with a bet finished in 50-60 minutes. If your arbitrage bet is completed faster, you can use your funds more often. More sure bets mean more profits.
  5. Less limitation: based on my experience, in-play tennis is the best sport for arbitrage betting. Most bookies can’t follow the correct betting lines and odds on each event. This creates an opportunity to get away even with a bigger arb %.

Downsides of using tennis for arbitrage betting

1. Fewer sports events on tennis compared to football

2. You need a fair amount of experience in tennis to successfully practice in-play arbitrage betting on it (the odds are moving fast)

3. For in-play tennis sure betting you need to learn the basic rules and trends in tennis. Tennis is a hard sport for arbitrage betting if you don’t know which break is the best for placing arbs (after impair game nr. -> longer breaks, the players are sitting down and regenerating)

4. Checking the bookmaker’s rules for tennis is essential for successful sure betting. Make sure the bookies you are using have the same rules for giving up a match for injuries or other reasons. You need to check these rules even for smaller markets like the next game or point. Some bookies will void each bet some will evaluate them

5. Not covered by each arbitrage bet finder

#3. Basketball

I have been focusing on basketball for a while. It offers great betting opportunities for many betting strategies. It is a great sport for arbitrage betting, but using value betting software can offer the most profit in the long run.

This sport is not only excellent for arbitrage betting but also entertaining to watch. Many times I find myself stopping sure betting and only watching the stream. 

Advantages of Basketball for arbitrage betting

  1. Many betting markets: Basketball is very similar to tennis if we speak about arbitrage betting. It offers a fair amount of sure bets for pre-match, but it is shining at in-play arbitrage betting. You can find many markets for arbing like a winner, handicap, total points, etc., on quarter, half-time, and full-time. Each of them offers great opportunities.
  2. Fast-moving odds: I prefer In-play sure betting over pre-match, as I already mentioned. And for that, basketball is perfect. The odds are moving very fast and many times in each direction. Similar fluctuations are making basketball one of the best sports for arbitrage betting. Bookies are unable to offer perfect betting lines and odds every time because of these.
  3. High maximum stakes: If you are focusing on bigger leagues like NBA, Euro League, Champions League, German, Chinese, or Italian, you can get fairly high maximum stakes. It’s not uncommon to place arbs of 500-1000 euros even on smaller markets like next quarter’s total points.

Downsides of basketball for arbing

  1. Requires experience: the fast-moving odds can push you into big mistakes even if you know something about the trends and odds movements on in-play basketball betting
  2. Not covered by each sure bet finder

#4. Hockey

Hockey is a great sport for arbitrage betting. Unfortunately, I started focusing on it only after several years of arbitrage betting.

If you are an arbitrage bettor, the odds movement and the betting markets are somewhat similar to football.

Advantages of hockey for arbitrage betting:

  1. Many arbitrage opportunities: I was surprised how many arbs I saw when I included hockey in sure bet finder filters. The massive goal-line differences between bookmakers shocked me. Of course, they are not available between each bookmaker, but some are making big mistakes.
  2. Fast bet evaluation: If you are betting on period markets, you can place many sure bets on the same match. Only a few matches can mean dozens of arbs.
  3. Covered by most sure bet scanners: most arbitrage bet finders include hockey bets. Unfortunately, the fastest ones are focusing only on football. But if you are a fan of hockey arbing, BetBurger can offer pre-match and in-play arbitrage bets too.
  4. Fast-moving odds: Many sports fans would say that each outcome is the result of skill and training. But I have watched many hockey matches and spoken with hockey players to know that luck is a big factor in this sport. Because of this, you can see many goals in a very short period. These moments are creating many overpriced markets, wrong odds and betting lines.  

#5. American football

I’m not a big fan of American football, but many bookmakers offer great and often overpriced odds. 

As an arbitrage bettor, I’m looking for the best sports for sure betting. Arbitrage betting in the USA is still before its peak, and many bettors are making thousands of dollars with mathematical betting strategies. 

If you are using arbitrage betting software in the USA, you probably know that most of them are focusing on the NFL.

Why would you place arbs on American football?

  1. High odds at most US bookies
  2. High maximum stakes
  3. Famous sports (less chance of getting your account limited)

#6. Volleyball and handball             

I saw many arbitrage bets on both of these sports. But these are not as famous as the ones above.

If you want to practice arbitrage betting, you need to focus on sports with a bigger audience in the long run.

When are these sports good for arbing?

  1. If you bet on big championships
  2. Use major betting markets like match-winner
  3. Don’t place arbs on too big mistakes (I would avoid arbs over 3% even while in-play sure betting)

I also have an article with many arbitrage betting tips. They can help you in sure betting for a longer time.

Some relevant articles:

FAQ

Which are the best sports for arbitrage betting?

1. football
2. tennis
3. basketball
4. Hockey
5. American football
6. Volleyball and handball

My profitable betting journey started back at the beginning of 2014. I started building my betting capital with matched betting. After gaining enough profits, I slowly started switching to arbitrage and value betting. With several years of experience, my goal is to help others succeed in sports betting.