What is arbitrage betting?

Arbitrage betting is a term that’s come to the UK and Ireland all the way from America, where it’s widely considered to be standard betting practice – if you can find the right bookmakers.

It is effectively the holy grail of sports betting, because arbitrage betting is all about locking in profit no matter the outcome of an event.

The only problem is, very rarely does one bookmaker offer odds so different to another as to make arbitrage betting a regular pastime. Instead, arbitrage bets are the sort of thing you might stumble across, or work hard to secure when playing the live odds.

In this Paddy Power guide, we’ll explain the principle of arbitrage betting and how it’s meant to work in theory. We’ll also show you some arbitrage betting tips, and how this activity strays into hedge betting.

What is arbitrage betting?

Arbitrage betting is when you bet on opposing outcomes from the same event, in order to win no matter the end result. For example, you might place individual bets on England and Spain to lift the Women’s World Cup ahead of the final between the two nations.

How arbitrage betting works

Of course, no bookmaker would actually offer odds that let you win profit after betting on both outcomes at the same time. Otherwise everyone would do that.

So, with arbitrage betting punters need to shop around at other sites to find different odds that favour different outcomes.

For example, one bookmaker might offer a price of 2.10 on England to win the Women’s World Cup final and Spain at 1.90. However, another site offers Spain at 2.10 and England at 1.90. By betting on England on one, and Spain on the other, you secure profit no matter who lifts the trophy.

Is arbitrage betting different to hedging?

Yes! Arbitrage betting is different to hedging – but only very slightly. Arbitrage bets require you to back opposing outcomes at the same time. Just like in our example above, where you shop around for different odds.

Hedging is about waiting for the odds to move and then betting when you think the price offers good value. This way you don’t have to shop around, so long as you track the same market over hours, days, weeks, months, etc.

The point of both arbitrage and hedging is to secure a ‘green book’. This is where you earn profit no matter the result. The only difference is in how you get there. 

How to arbitrage bet

Let’s now look at how betting arbitrage actually works in practice. There’s really only one way to do it properly, so we’ve also explained how you hedge:

Arbitrage Betting on Different Sites

Here’s how arbitrage betting is supposedly meant to work. You find a market that has only two outcomes – such as which football team will win a match (draw no bet, obviously) – and that’s also evenly matched. For example, Estonia vs Lithuania.

On Paddy Power, Estonia are 2.10 to win and Lithuania, the favourites, at 1.90. On another site, Lithuania are 2.10 and Estonia are the favourites, at 1.90. So, you bet £10 on the outsiders at each site, and no matter what happens you earn a profit.

Hedge at Paddy Power

The alternative is to hedge until you secure a green book. You can do this at Paddy Power fairly easily – all it takes is a little patience and faith that the odds will move in your favour.

For example, you bet on outsiders Estonia to win at 2.10 (draw no bet) a week before the match. A few days

later, three of Lithuania’s top players withdraw from the squad injured, which shifts the odds in Estonia’s favour. Lithuania are now 2.40 to win, so you bet on them (draw no bet, remember!). Now you’ve got a green book!

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