Arbitrage Betting With a Broker: Method, Worked Example and Built-In Tools
The short answer
Arbitrage betting means backing every outcome of one event at the best price each operator offers, so that the total return beats the total stake whichever outcome happens. The margin is thin: in the worked example below, stakes of 200 and 210 at 2.10 and 2.00 return 420 on either outcome against 410 staked, a surplus of about 2.4% when both bets are accepted at those prices. A price can move, a leg can be refused and a bookmaker can restrict an account, so a broker matters mainly for the access it gives to Asian bookmakers and exchanges, which price for volume and take larger stakes. This page works the sum, shows where it slips and sets out the tools built into AsianConnect, BetInAsia, MadMarket and Sportmarket.
What arbitrage betting is
The gap exists because operators do not always agree on a price. Divide 1 by the best decimal odds on each outcome and add the results. If the sum is below 1 there is a gap to work with, and at 1 or above there is none. Our page on how bookmaker prices compare shows why the prices part company in the first place.
One word needs sorting out. Search for an arbitrage betting broker and most of what comes back is a scanner, a product that lists price gaps. That is not what this site means. A betting broker holds the account at the operators where you place the bets, while a scanner never opens an account or places a bet. We cover the broker side here, and arbitrage is one method among several: the hub with all betting strategy guides lists the rest.
How arbitrage betting works: a worked example
Take a tennis match, which has two outcomes and no draw. One operator offers outcome 1 at 2.10 and another offers outcome 2 at 2.00. The inverses add up to 0.9762, below 1, so there is a gap, and the table shows the stakes that share it out.
| Outcome | Decimal odds | Stake | Return if this outcome happens | Return minus total staked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome 1 | 2.10 | 200 | 420 | 10 |
| Outcome 2 | 2.00 | 210 | 420 | 10 |
| Total staked | 410 |
The 410 looks odd until you see that the stakes follow the prices, not the other way round. Put 200 on both outcomes and outcome 2 returns only 400. The surplus is 10 on 410 staked, about 2.4%, and every percentage on this page is measured on the total staked.
A habit worth having before you add anything up: prices from Asian bookmakers often arrive in Hong Kong or Malay format, so convert them to decimal first. AsianConnect has a free payout calculator and odds converter on its site for exactly that. Then follow five steps.
Invert every price
Divide 1 by each decimal price. 2.10 gives 0.4762 and 2.00 gives 0.5000.
Add them up
The example gives 0.9762. Below 1 there is a gap, and at 1 or above there is none.
Share the stake in proportion
Choose the return you want and divide it by each price. 420 divided by 2.10 is 200, and 420 divided by 2.00 is 210.
Place the first leg, then check the second price
The cover leg has to still be at 2.00 or better.
Place the cover leg
If the first bet is already placed at another bookmaker, the Arb Calculator in the bet slip of BLACK (BetInAsia) and of Sportmarket works out the cover, as Figure 1 shows.
Show the steps as a list
- Bet placed at another bookmaker
- Arb Calculator: in the bet slip
- Cover: worked out for that bet
- Cover bet placed
Three outcomes work the same way, as in a football match with a draw. Say outcome 1 is at 2.10, outcome 2 at 3.75 and outcome 3 at 4.20. The inverses add up to 0.9810. Aim at a return of 840 and the stakes are 400, 224 and 200, 824 in all, which leaves a surplus of 16, about 1.9% of the total staked.
The sum is the easy part. The second price has to still be there.
Where the sum slips
The arithmetic holds only when both legs are accepted at the prices you used. Four things get in the way.
- The price moves. The cover leg is no longer at 2.00. Below about 1.91 on outcome 2, the inverses add up to 1 or more and the gap has gone.
- The stake is part-accepted or refused. An operator can take the whole of a stake, part of it, or none. On Sportmarket, bookmakers can accept or decline the whole or any part of a bet until they confirm it, and an order can be split between several bookmakers, with a Partial Void if one of them cancels its share.
- A bet is voided. At BetInAsia the decision to void a bet lies with the bookmaker alone, and the other leg stays as an ordinary bet.
- The two legs settle at different times. BLACK shows the status Unrecon on a bet that is only partly settled because the operators behind it have not settled together, as with Betfair and Singbet. Until both are done, your money sits at two places.
| What happens | Stake on outcome 2 | Net if outcome 1 happens | Net if outcome 2 happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| As planned | 210 at 2.00 | +10 | +10 |
| The price falls to 1.95, stake kept | 210 at 1.95 | +10 | -0.5 |
| The price falls to 1.95, stake raised to cover | 215.38 at 1.95 | +4.62 | +4.61 |
| Only half is accepted | 105 at 2.00 | +115 | -95 |
| The second leg is refused | none | +220 | -200 |
Read it row by row. At 1.95 with the stake kept, outcome 2 returns 409.5 against 410 staked. Raise the stake to 215.38 and the surplus falls from about 10 to about 4.6. A leg that is half accepted or refused leaves an ordinary bet: 115 or 220 if outcome 1 happens, 95 or 200 lost if it does not.
Nothing exotic in any of this, only market mechanics. We look at the price on the second leg again before we confirm it, because a calculator that worked out the stakes a minute ago knows nothing about the screen in front of you now.
Why bookmakers limit arbitrage bettors
A mainstream bookmaker lives on the margin built into every price. An arbitrage bettor takes the best price on each outcome, which means the bookmaker's price is the one that is out of line with the rest of the market. By backing both sides of a market, the bettor takes margin out of that bookmaker without ever needing to like either outcome, and the bookmaker answers by cutting stakes or closing the account. Why bookmakers restrict accounts covers the signs and the routes that last, so we leave them there.
Operators built for volume work differently. Pinnacle and the exchanges set their prices for large amounts and take larger stakes, which is what people mean by sharp bookmakers: thin margin, heavy turnover.
Not punishment, then. Arithmetic: a margin cannot pay for a customer who beats it on both sides.
Where brokers and exchanges fit
A broker gives you one account at the operators that price for volume, and the price for one leg of your arbitrage comes from there. Pinnacle and the Betfair Exchange are reached through all four brokers: Pinnacle prices at a broker and Betfair Exchange through a broker give the routes, and the access matrix by broker lists the rest. Whichever arbitrage betting broker you open an account with, the job is the same: accounts, not signals.
An exchange adds a second way to cover. Rather than backing outcome 2 at another operator, you can lay outcome 1, and backing and laying on an exchange is explained from scratch on its own page. BLACK and Edge both switch to lay prices from an Exchange view.
Commission changes the sum, so it has to be inside the price you use. On BLACK the commission on exchange bets is already calculated in the price shown, and on Sportmarket the fees of bookmakers and exchanges are built into the odds, so the price on the screen is the one that goes into the sum. Sharp Exchange at BetInAsia and FairExchange on Sportmarket take commission on winning bets only.
When both legs go through the broker, they are paid for from one balance that you move between platforms inside it: the AMS at AsianConnect, the BIA Wallet at BetInAsia, the MadMarket Wallet, and Main Account to Betting Account at Sportmarket. No deposit at every operator.
Arbitrage and built-in tools at the four brokers
A calculator does the sum. It does not place the bet.
- AsianConnect. The site lists arbitrage combinations across platforms among its supported bet types. Asianodds88, one of its platforms, compares odds in real time and places the bet at the bookmaker with the best odds. More on AsianConnect and Asianodds88.
- BetInAsia. In BLACK you enter the price and stake of a bet placed at another bookmaker and the Bet-Slip proposes the best cover. The Bet-Slip shows the odds and limits of every connected operator, and a Timeout order waits from 5 seconds to 72 hours for the price you set. The BetInAsia website also has a two-way and three-way arbitrage calculator. See BLACK at BetInAsia.
- MadMarket. MadMarket lists arbitrage and value bets as accepted, and its site carries free calculators, among them Arbitrage, Odds Converter and Margin. In Edge, Total, Average & Best shows the average and the highest price with the maximum stake in view, and Timeout places the bet at the minimum price you choose within a time you choose. Read about MadMarket and Edge.
- Sportmarket. The Arb Calculator is built into the bet slip and works out the cover on Sportmarket for a bet placed at another bookmaker. The trade view lines up prices from different bookmakers, the bet slip shows which bookmakers cover your stake in full or in part, and Future Fulfilment places an order when your target price is reached. Details are on Sportmarket's betting platform.
Scanners and other software
A scanner is a separate product that lists price gaps. It opens no account and places no bet, so it sits outside the broker, and this page names and recommends none. The terms of BetInAsia and MadMarket forbid scraping their odds and using a robot, spider or other automated mechanism to retrieve or index information from the service.
Questions people ask
Is arbitrage betting illegal?
No. It is not an offence in itself, because each leg is an ordinary bet at a price the operator offers. What counts is the law where you live on betting online. That is separate from an operator's own terms, which decide what it will accept from you (see the question on limits below).
Is arbitrage betting profitable?
Barely. The 2.4% in the example applies to the money committed in one round, not to a bankroll, and that money stays at two operators until both bets are settled. A price that moves, a refused leg or a voided bet can erase the gap, as the table above shows. We treat it as a method, not as an income.
Will an arbitrage bettor be limited?
Limits exist at every operator. AsianConnect reserves the right to refuse a bet or part of a bet, and BetInAsia and MadMarket reserve the right to refuse, restrict or limit a wager and to adjust limits on individual accounts. The maximum stake comes from the operator behind each price and is shown before you confirm: in the Bet-Slip on BLACK, in Total, Average & Best on Edge and in the bet slip on Sportmarket. A broker does not remove limits. It gives you accounts at operators that set their prices for volume, and where the maximum stake comes from explains the rest.
What is the best arbitrage betting site?
None does the arbitrage for you, because the gap is in the prices and not in any site. A scanner finds a gap, a broker holds the accounts and places the legs, and this page presents no scanner. Pick the broker from the operator you want to reach, using which operator each broker reaches. We do not rank the four.
Do I need a broker for arbitrage?
No, two prices are enough. A broker helps when one leg is at a sharp bookmaker or on an exchange, because you move one balance between platforms inside the broker (the AMS, the BIA Wallet, the MadMarket Wallet, or Main Account to Betting Account at Sportmarket) instead of making a deposit at every operator.