Arb's

[andyp]

I have recently been researching the world of Arbs. I have found it very interesting and i am really tempted to give it a go. Me and my mate have saved up quite a bit of money to open several online bookmaker accounts.

I have searched through this forum and found some threads on arbs. But i would like to know if anybody on this forum regularly does arbs? has ever done them? has had good/bad experiences with them?

I am aware that odds can change quickly and therefore can leave you screwed! but are there any other downfalls? and do you think it would be a worthwhile investment? (dont worry Keith i will still be ploughin my hard earned cash into here aswell :D )

[Jonny2621]

I had a real pop at this last year, had 20 or so accounts on the run and used a few websites/services that specialize in this field.

Problems i encountered:

1. Many of the best arbs can only be found on more obscure foreign sites, especially German, Nordic and Amercian sites and often relate to more obscure sports rather than footie Having accounts with Wills, Paddy, Laddies etc doesnt really get you any decent arbs i promise you i rarely found any at all there. You need to look at the like of Nordic Bet, Expect, Gamebookers, Betandwin, BetatHome etc etc etc.

2. People boast about 8% arbs but they are v few and far between, most are 1.5% and many under 1%. Thats a lot of work for a small return and requires a pretty sizeable bank IMHO.

3. Obviuosuly there is a winning and losing bet involved in any arb, that means you have to constantly withdraw and deposit funds to balance accounts out so that there are funds available for future bets. Again quite a lot of work and record keeping.

4. Extracting funds from overseas sites CAN be torturous and long winded with faxed copies of credit cards, passports etc required and long delays in receiving funds. I had some bad experiences here.

5. Finally the biggest problem, you get one side of the bet up and the other sides odds change in the meantime as others lump on and your arb is gone or worse now a loss. It happens a lot now due to computerised systems finding the arbs and placing bets automatically, much quicker than yourself.

I know im being negative but i talk from experience and these things dont get mentioned by the websites promoting arbs. I made a profit yes, but it wasnt worth the effort and so i dfound the pro losers and tennis betting instead, both are much more pofitable!

Godd luck if you go for it, perhaps its worht loking at the automated arb software thats going around, Keith may be using something like it for racing purposes i dont know. Either way, the best of british mate and i hope the above is useful.

Jon

[andyp]

Thanks Jon, this is the type of info i really wanted. Fact No. 3 is a negative that i was cautious about.

Did you use any of the odds comparison website like oddschecker etc? This seems to help. We have been researching now on a daily basis for 3 weeks and have found several of our own arbs, but like you say only ith small profit.

Our theory was just to keep building up the arb bank, beacause the more we bet the more we will profit.

Jon, have some rep mate for some very useful info you provided. Thanks

[mathare]

Try www.betbrain.com Andy

More comprehensive than Oddschecker I have found as it covers more obscure bookies. Their surebets section is supposedly all the arbs they have found

[andyp]

Mat, cheers mate. Well impressed with thatsite even at just a 5 minute glance! Have you had any personal experience using these surebets?

Thanks agian - some rep coming your way

[mathare]

To be honest Andy I only came across it a week or two back and haven't had the time to dedicate to checking it out thoroughly but I was impressed with what I saw

[Jonny2621]

i used to use that site a lot Andy but many of the bigger arbs were gone by the time they were posted :doh , theres a couple of others like it if you search for surebets in google.

I still do a few of my own using traditional bookies and betfair, particulalrly on obscure footy leagues and tennis at the majors but i dont do it in a big way these days as i have found more profitable ventures.

all the best with it

Jon

[Workshy]

I gave this thread a 5 star rating (due to Jonny's post) and some invalid has voted it 1 star. :doh

[MarcusMel]

I started gambling as an arb hunter and then moved on to this site. As staking research and gambling systems have proved themselves to be more profitable than arbs.

Excelent post by Jonny2621.

Only one more downside that I would like to add.
Different terms and conditions of bookmakers can also cause an arb to go against you.

The best arbs are ones you find yourself. These are mostly found in golf, boxing and baseball along with the differing points handicaping bookmakers offer. Badmington and table tennis may also offer some opportunities.

And while I think of it some bookmakers limit their book on a sporting event so you have to be careful that they will accept the size of bet you wish to make.

[Jonny2621]

I gave this thread a 5 star rating (due to Jonny's post) and some invalid has voted it 1 star. :doh

Who votes something 1 star ?? :doh

[bigcumba]

A bit underhand doing that... I've added my 5 star bit to it....looks like someone else has also...

I went through a spell of getting 1 star votes on my systems a while back.. I have a good idea who was doing it and he ain't with us any more.... if you know what I mean!

[Jonny2621]

Good points Marcus..and thank you for the compliment old chap

1. You may find sharply different terms on things like Tennis betting where some bookies pay out if a set is finished, others pay out only if the match finishes so a player withdrawing due to injury could wreak havoc.

2. I was prevented from placng some arbs due to the size of bets, as i mentioned some of the arbs are quite obscure sports/eents and the bookies limit stakes to prevent them being done over by fixes etc ( heaven forbid) which happen often in foreign leagues, Italian Serie B - I rest my case m'lud, and thus you have a big bet on one outcome only which is scary.

I had a big arb on a Norwegian footy match, never heard of the teams, using two US bookies and Expect, a Geram one. Over £700 to be bet in total for a 2.2% arb and the German bookie wouldn't take the 3rd bet as they had exceeded their max exposure on the outcome :yikes: Luckily and i mean luckily one of the two remaining bets came in and i got out alive but that one event was one of the major reasons i lost interest somewhat :D

Jon


Only one more downside that I would like to add.
Different terms and conditions of bookmakers can also cause an arb to go against you.

And while I think of it some bookmakers limit their book on a sporting event so you have to be careful that they will accept the size of bet you wish to make.

[icebreaker]

That was me, BigC, bumping it back up to five stars.
An excellent post Jonny....... one of the very best I've ever read on the downside of arbing.

[andyp]

Just had a look at that website again mat, i saw a good arb with one of the bookmakers, it was called macuslot? So i clicked on it, only to find the whole site is written in japanese or something (symbols). I obviuosly didnt understand a word, so i think a few of the arbs involved with them are out the window. :D

[mathare]

Just had a look at that website again mat, so a good arb and one of the bookmakers was called macuslot? So i clicked on it, only to find the whole site is written in japanese or something (symbols). I obviuosly didnt understand a word, so i think a few of the arbs involved with them are out the window. :DClick the i next to each bookies name for more info on them, including supported languages, currencies, minimum stakes etc.

[mathare]

That was me, BigC, bumping it back up to five stars.
An excellent post Jonny....... one of the very best I've ever read on the downside of arbing.I added my ***** too.

It was a great post Jonny, well said mate

[Jonny2621]

Blimey, ive been here since last June and never had so much praise :D

[Jonny2621]

With the subscription sites you can exclude the bookies you dont want, ie foreign ones or 'dodgy' ones where you cant get paid out, it reduces the number of arbs you see on the site but means they are all in theory feasible for you. They give you a list of hundreds of them and you tick the ones you want to monitor.

[andyp]

With the subscription sites you can exclude the bookies you dont want, ie foreign ones or 'dodgy' ones where you cant get paid out, it reduces the number of arbs you see on the site but means they are all in theory feasible for you. They give you a list of hundreds of them and you tick the ones you want to monitor.


What do you mean by subscription sites jonny? :doh

[MarcusMel]

Thread Stuck! Ooo

[MattR]

Andy,


Reiterating what Johny has said, be very careful with tennis match bet arbs, read the bookmaker rules thoroughly to ensure both sides of the arb have the same rules regarding retirements etc.

Also read them with any sport really as I once got caught out with a greyhound race where the second favourite was withdrawn and a 'general industry rule' as quoted to me by the bm meant they paid out the winner at SP(11/10) rather than the odds I took which were 7/4 meaning I lost out quite a bit.

[Win2Win]

% wise on turnover, it's not usually worth the effort, their are easier ways of making money from gambling.

It is also not RISK FREE as some sites tend to state, it is very risky if you only get 50% of the bet on.

[Jonny2621]

Keith's right, there are several sites, like W2W they are subsciption servies, that will send you the arbs as they happen or post them up on their site and claim they are NO RISK, i tried 3 of them and wouldnt go back...

[Stewards enquiry]

Don't know if this has been mentioned http://www.oddsexplorer.com/?cat=surebets

[Secret Squirrel]

I thought I'd add to this thread, I was involved in Arb betting about 3 or 4 years ago and I had my greatest success on Athletics arbing, especially the big events like the Olympics and the Worlds, I remember I once had Felix Sanchez at 2/1 to win the 400m hurdles and he was 2/7 on another site and they offered 3/1 the field against him, worked out to be a huge arb and I won quite a bit on that one, they are few and far between mind you and I lost interest in arbing, there are opportunities out there, be patient and concentrate on Athletics, that would be my advice. Steve