Arbitrage betting, also known as arbing, is when a bettor places a wager on both sides of an outcome in order to guarantee profit no matter what the result is. Understandably, most people hear that something guarantees a profit and immediately roll their eyes and assume it’s a scam, but in this case it’s not. There are some risks which will be detailed later, but arbitrage betting results in a profit 100% of the time.

It is a form hedging, and it requires a sports bettor to place their bets roughly at the same exact time on opposite sides of the same bet.

There are two different types of Arbitrage bets, with the first being the most common.

The screenshot above is taken directly from the arbitrage betting tool on the OddsJam website. In this example, the play is the Over/Under for Payton Prichard's assists, at 1.5.

This type of arbitrage betting can occur for almost any type of line, including Main Market bets like Moneylines, spreads, and point over/unders, as well as player props bets like the example above.

This is the least common, and not a very analytical approach either. It would be risky to rely on this when originally placing the bet, but something to keep in mind if odds change, especially in live betting.

For example, let’s imagine a Bills/Jets game. Say that you bet on the Bills moneyline at -300 and the Jets were at +250 at that time. Then, the money starts to pour in more and more on the Bills, moving the Bills moneyline to -400 and the Jets to +350. That would create an opportunity to arb.

Overall, arbing is a good way to guarantee profit, but it’s generally not advisable to only arb bet as a sports better. For starters, it’s hard to win any significant amount of money if you are solely betting arbitrage opportunities. The profit margins are small (generally no greater 2.5%), and you would need to invest a significant amount of money in order to make any meaningful profits.

But, with that said, there are still important strategies to help you effectively and efficiently arb.

The most important strategy is to avoid betting an uncharacteristically large amount of money when arbing. Not surprisingly, sportsbooks don’t appreciate players that arb.

You should also be using as many sportsbooks as possible, and keep track of which ones you use the most often.

Another beneficial way to successfully arb is doing so when you get an odds boost, free bet, or site credits. Odds boosts specifically are a nice way to get a high percent of profit without having to have a large amount at stake!

Have more questions? Start here with our Arbitrage FAQs