What is Arbitrage Betting?
Arbitrage Betting is a strategy of simultaneously betting on all possible outcomes of a betting markets when the odds offered on all outcomes of an events have a combined implied probability below 100%.
We bet on all possible outcomes of an event at two or more different sportsbook (or a sportsbook and betting exchange). When the winnings from any one one bet will cover the losses made by the other bets plus a small profit.
If you would like to learn more about arbitrage betting check out my in-depth article: What is arbitrage Betting?
How to use the Arbitrage Betting Calculator
The Arbitrage Betting Calculator is used on two way binary betting markets such as Moneyline markets, totals markets, spread markets etc.
If you need to bet on a 1×2 markets or any other 3-way markets use our 3 Way Arbitrage Betting Calculator.
The calculator currently supports moneyline odds (American Odds), Percentage Odds (Implied Probabilty) and Decimal Odds (European Odds). You can select the odds format from the dropdown menu at the top of the calculator.
Once you have selected an odds format, you will need to select a stake type by clicking the checkbox of either ‘First Bet Stake’ or ‘Total Bet Stake’.
- First Bet Stake:
This is when we want to set a fixed bet amount for one bet (For example $100 on Team A) the calculator will then calculate how much we would need to place on the second outcome. - Total Bet Stake:
This option is when we would like to specify how much we want to bet in total between both bets (For example I want to bet $100 in total on this arb). The calculator will work out how much we should place on each betting outcome.
In the next section of the calculator we want to enter the odds for both outcomes. Once entered the calculator will work out the Suggested Bet Stakes along the Arb %
The Arb % is how much the implied probabilities of the odds are below 100%. A negative percentage means the bet is unprofitable!
The Stake Rounding boxes allow you to alter the bet stakes. For Example, I could change the bet stakes to $47.00 and $53.00 to look more natural to a sportsbook. The calculator will adjust the profit calculations to include your desired stake round.
At the bottom of the calculator we get a breakdown of our individual bets profit and loss for each outcome winning along with an overall Total Profit.
Any Stake Rounding will adjust these profit and loss figures. Additionally, we can adjust the profit we make for each outcome by using the Overhedge and Underhedge Slider option.
You can enable over/under hedging by clicking the checkbox below the Betting Odds section
Once selected we will get a slider bar to alter the hedging.
If we underhedge by 100% this means that we breakeven if the second bet wins but profit more if the first bet wins.
If we overhedge by 100% this means that we breakeven if the first bet wins but profit more if the second bet wins.
How to Calculate Arbitrage Bets
If you would like to calculate your arbitrage bets manually or create your own calculator using excel or google sheets. The basic arbitrage formula is rather simple:
Bet Stake = Overall Bet Stake x (Bet Implied Probability/ Sum of Implied Probability For All Bets)
Do this for all betting outcomes.
If you would like to set the bet amount for one of the bets then you only need to calculate the bet stake for the opposing bet. The formula would then be:
Hedge Bet Stake = (Fixed Bet Stake x (1/Fixed Bet Implied Probability)) / Hedge Bet Implied Probability