Keep in mind that arbitrage betting opportunities do not come around often and must be sought out and exploited on a daily basis. Odds in most reputable bookmakers are very similar, but they are never exactly the same. Odds are set by people called oddsmakers, who take various factors into account in their work.
The vast majority of oddsmakers place starting odds based on their own predictions of what they think will happen during a particular match. They look at all possible factors and set odds based on them. So that they actually embed their own margins in the quotas. Now it must be clear why it is completely impossible for different oddsmakers working for different bookmakers to set identical odds. It is absolutely impossible for all the setters to have an identical view of what will happen.
Again, some bookmakers wait for other bookmakers to set the odds and only then set them according to the already existing odds. In such cases, we get t. i. MARKET, i.e. the range of odds that bookmakers offer their users, and which are more or less the same.
Arbitrage betting opportunities, in addition to setting initial odds, can also occur when bookmakers begin to respond to player payouts and begin changing odds. Changing bets in both directions can also be affected by player injuries or weather conditions.
Understanding how and why arbitrage betting opportunities arise is probably the most complicated part of learning this betting strategy. However, don’t panic if this all sounds too complicated. It is also complicated to understand why arbitrage betting opportunities arise. Understanding the theory itself is not even the key to playing this strategy. It is much more important that the player learns to recognize the arbitrage betting opportunity.
The best way to do this is to monitor the betting markets and look for nonsense in the odds. With a little practice, you can very quickly assess whether the set odds are suitable for arbitrage betting. Once you have determined that the situation may be suitable for arbing, it is necessary to calculate this with very simple mathematics.
First, the IAP (Individual Arbitrage Percentage) of each match outcome must be calculated. With this, the player determines the highest possible odds for the outcome and uses the following formula:
(1/QUOTA) * 100
The calculated IAP should be below 100 to be considered an arbitrage betting opportunity. The sum of all arbitrage percentages is called TAP (Total Arbitrage Percentage). That is, to say that there is an opportunity for arbing, TAP should be below 100. But in order to talk about concrete profit, TAP should be below 97. Arbitrage opportunities can also be used if TAP is between 97 and 100, but the profit in such situations is extremely small.
As you can see, finding arbitrage betting opportunities is not easy, but it can be extremely profitable. Although there are many advantages to this betting system, there are also disadvantages that should definitely be mentioned. We will write about them in more detail in the next section of this article.
