Best Bookies for Arbing

Clearly, if you want to arb you need multiple bookmaker accounts. But the stand out MUST HAVE account is of course with Betfair Exchange. Do though check out some of the other exchange sites as betting with several exchanges will increase your opportunities. 

All the betting exchanges have no issue with arbing, or their customers utilising their best prices available, they do not mind as the prices on their sites are created and offered by customers, there is no bookmaking margin built in. Arbers create much of the liquidity on the exchanges.

You should sign up for these exchanges if you want to take arbing to the next level.

• Betfair
• Betdaq
• Smarkets
• Matchbook

In reality most bookies (but not exchanges) wouldn’t publicly accept punters who were regularly arbing, however what they say publicly and what they actually allow are different.

Arbitrage betting (arb) is the simultaneous execution of bets on selections from different bookmakers that will make you a profit whatever the outcome.

This makes it different to trading where you back and lay a horse at different times. Although many do call trading arbing.

Davidg3907 highlighted the difference between arbing and trading on his excellent Arbitrage Blog.

Betting events with only two outcomes where there has to be a winner such as Tennis, Darts and Snooker are ideally suited to arbitrage.

To highlight an example of an arb imagine if Judd Trump is playing John Higgins in the World Snooker Championship Final, Trump is on offer at 2.25 with Bookie 1, and Higgins on offer at 2.25 with Bookie 2, then a £10 bet on either will return 22.50 a guaranteed profit of £2.50 whoever wins the match.

That is an example of an arb where the prices on offer for an event from different bookmakers mean you can back both teams or contestants and make a profit. You exploit the inefficiencies of the market by taking different prices on the same event to guarantee you a profit.

Arbing an event with multiple contestants to make a profit can, of course, be undertaken with any bookmaker. It may be more than 2 prices, although arbitrage betting is more associated with 2 selections.

In a football match, you may have different bookies offering a wide cross-section of opinion and one bookie having one team as favourite and another having the other.

1. Arsenal 9/4 – Bookie 1 30.77%
2. Manchester United  - 5/2 Bookie 2 28.57%
3. The Draw 5/2 Bookie 3 28.57%

You can see the percentages add up to less than 100%, making a profit possible by backing all outcomes. Making yourself familiar with betting percentages this will assist all punters who are looking for arbitrage opportunities.

New exchange Smarkets have a very helpful arbitrage calculator where you can test how much you should stake on each outcome. 

You can only lay bets with betting exchanges, so if you are considering arbing 1  specific selection you could back it with a bookmaker or exchange but only simultaneously lay it with an exchange. This is not a true arb but falls into the general usage of the word. You always need to remember with Exchanges the need to pay a commission if it’s a winning bet, this can obviously have a detrimental effect on profits, and the arb.

1. Back Shergar @ 3.5 with Bookie 2
2. Lay Shergar @3.2 with Matchbook

The bookies will be aware of exchange prices and will react quickly to exchange lay prices that are less than their back prices. The bookmakers do not like to see their customers constantly taking early stand out prices, where the sole aim seems to be to lay it back on an exchange.

Now you do need to be wary if you are taking early prices with a bookmaker on a regular basis. The bookies will soon catch on if you are regularly beating the general prices on selections.

The bookmakers understand arbing and are on guard to this. Punters who are seen to successfully arb, or regularly trying to arb can see their bookmaker accounts restricted, especially if taking 2 prices from the same bookmaker, and the third from another.

There will be more arbing opportunities on early markets, so look for those Bookmakers who price markets up early.

Also, you can check some of the smaller bookies whose pricing model can offer opportunities for arbitrage

Look to bookies with stand out prices where they trust their odds compilers judgment.

You can also take advantage of bookmaker free bets to arbitrage, obviously, this would be a back bet. 

If there was a golden age of arbitrage betting then that era has passed, the internet and the instant ability by the bookmakers to react to glitches in odds have all but banished big arbitrage opportunities.

You will need to be on the ball and a bit lucky, to make regular profits in the 21st century through arbitrage.