The year 2012 was sheer horror for fans of sports betting – due to the introduction of the betting tax. That was over a decade ago, but it still has a serious impact today. It has become much more difficult to find profitable bets and arbitrage bets in particular are super hard to find.
Surebets have become rare, which will be explained in more detail in this article under the technical term arbitrage betting. Wettbasis hopes that you will find the explanations helpful and that you will occasionally find two matching odds in the future that guarantee a profit within seconds. Wettbasis explains what arbitrage betting is and provides an example of the now rare free win at the Hellspin.
WHAT ARE THEY?
Arbitrage betting is usually quickly explained using an example, but it is important for us to elaborate on the key points. Wikipedia summarizes arbitrage aptly:
Arbitrage is (in economics) the exploitation, without risk, of differences in rates, interest rates or prices at the same time in different places for the purpose of taking profits.
This describes all the important factors: On the one hand, it is therefore important that the exploitation of price differences (in betting, these are different odds) takes place without risk. A counter-argument would be, for example, tennis bets with different abandonment rules.
On the other hand, it is important that profits are generated at the same time. Anyone who buys odds and sells them later is trading the price trend. Only profit options used at the same time are consistent with arbitrage betting. Of course, in sports betting there is always a delay between bet 1 and the counter-bet. However, if this is no more than a few seconds, it is referred to as arbitrage betting.
However, in betting forums, the term arbitrage is often mistakenly used for trades, although the price adjustments used only lead to a profit hours or days later.
AN EXAMPLE
A very simple example, ignoring the taxation of bets, should help to understand arbitrage betting in this case. We assume a soccer match in which the following odds are offered on the over/under betting market:
Over 2.5 goals: 1.75
Under 2.5 goals: 2.50
The experienced betting eye will immediately recognize that the payout ratio for this betting market is well over 100% if the stakes are distributed correctly. Since not every bettor is a real mathematician and arbitrage bets usually require quick action, Wettbasis calculates the individual stakes and winnings with the Wettbasis Surebet Calculator. The total stake with the individual odds can be entered there and the sports bettor immediately receives the individual stakes and the percentage and absolute return.
In the example, a desired total stake of €100 would be distributed as follows: €41.18 goes into the @2.50 on 0-2 goals and €58.82 into the 1.75 for over 2.5 goals. The payout of the winning bet is €102.94, so that after deducting the original stake, a guaranteed profit of €2.94 can be regarded as a return. 2.94% is the sum of the arbitrage profit.