Fixed Odds Bets, Arbitrage and The Sure Bet.

 

 

The most frequently placed sports bet in the United Kingdom is the Fixed Odds Football Bet. Those of you who are new to the sports betting world may not be aware what a Fixed Odds sport bet actually is, succinctly it is a bet placed against the bookie where the odds are set at the time that you place your bet. For a fixed odds bet the odds are fixed throughout the duration of the bet, however the category has been extended and in certain cases will include the starting price bets too. For clarification, a Starting Price Bet is a bet where the final odds are not fixed until the match actually kicks-off, rather than being fixed at the point the bet is made.

 

Traditionally, not only are the fixed odds sporting bets the most popular bets placed by punters in the United Kingdom, but is also the bet that allows bookmakers to make the most money. Via the use of the fixed odd bets, the bookmakers of the UK have managed to stay in business. The bets are calculated in such a fashion as to ensure that bookmakers do not end up paying out more to their customers than they take from them. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when the bookies make a mistake, at which point a ‘sure bet’ may be created whereby a punter can bet in such a way that they cover all bets possible ensuring that whatever the result of the game they win something; there is a lucrative business for this type of bet online, where punters who have noticed an error will contact a sure-bet company with details, although such bets are extremely rare and as soon as the bookmakers notice their mistakes they will rectify them straightaway. 

 

In recent years we have witnessed a proliferation of sports betting exchanges, nonetheless, a new window of opportunity has opened up to gamblers, known as arbitrage. Arbitrage is synonymous with the ‘sure bet’.

 

Sports Arbitrage:

 

“is a particular case of arbitrage arising on betting markets due to either bookmakers' different opinions on event outcomes or plain errors. By placing one bet per each outcome with different betting companies, the bettor can make a profit. As long as different Bookmakers are used for arbitrage betting the Bookmakers do not have a problem with this. Each Bookmaker will still make profit due to their calculations.

 

In the bettors' slang an arbitrage is often referred to as an arb; people who use arbitrage are called arbers. A typical arb is around 2%, often less, however 4%-5% are also normal and during some special events they might reach 20%.

 

Arbitrage Betting involves relatively large sums of money (stakes are bigger than in normal betting) while another variety, betting investment, means placing relatively small bets systematically on overvalued odds most of which will lose but some win thus making a profit.

 

The best way of generating profit, which has been established in Britain via sports arbitrage, consists of 'key men' employing others to place bets on their behalf, so as to avoid detection and increase accessibility to bookmakers. This allows the financiers or key arbers to stay at a computer to keep track of market movement.”

               

                                                                       - Wikipedia (2010).  

 

The majoricty of gamblers do not participate in arbritage, but stick most frequently to straight fixed odds football. This is a little strange given the gamblers usual preoccupation with beating the house. However, the reason why many stay away from this form of gambling is simple, you need to be good with numbers, with an excellent understanding complex mathematics and statistical problems, as well as being exceptionally organised because several bets must be placed at once. Additionally, a person needs the time to research which odds different bookmakers are offering on the same matches- although as stated above, there are sites dedicated to this feat online, but you often have to pay, and there is no guarantee that they have calculated the statistics correctly. All in all that is enough to keep most gamblers away from sports arbitrage.

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