Betting Odds Explained
The key to making arbitrage bets is understanding how betting odds work.
The simplest example is with a two-way game-winner bet.
The sportsbook will generate odds for either team to win the game representing the chances of either team winning.
This means you will be spending $2113.8 to win either $205 or $204.84.
So where did the rest of the money go?
Well, that is where the house has to make its profit.
Using implied probability, you might calculate the house edge.
It also means that you cannot make any arbitrage bets using these two given bets.
The second sportsbook has a house edge of 4.45%.
This is taken by dividing the odds 1.8/2.3.
If the Giants win, your $100 will make $230.
If the Eagles win, your $128 will make $230.4.
If the Eagles win your profit will be $0.40.
How to Find Bets
With arbitrage betting, you will realistically only make small profits.
Of course, these can be multiplied but you would need to use far larger sums of money.
The next step is to make a quick calculation between the optimum odds for both chosen bets.
Remember, (1/odds)x100 to calculate the IP, and then add the odds.
If they are lower than 100 then you’re able to use them.
The profits are quite lean, and the amount of time that is spent finding odds is tremendous.
The difference between odds at each sportsbook is marginal.
Those sportsbooks have a larger house edge, shortening the odds on both bets to create a larger advantage.
This may mean betting on sports you do not know.
You should also be prepared to register accounts with different sportsbooks and to make sizable deposits into each one.
