Arbitrage Betting exploits mistakes in sportsbooks lines and odds to create a situation where you can profit no matter the outcome.
It’s no secret that most sportsbooks don’t like people using this technique to profit from them.
However, is arbitrage betting legal in the US?
Yes, profiting from arbitrage betting is perfectly legal in the United States. Provided you are in a state that offers legal sports betting.
The law on this is pretty clear as a result of many court cases involving Las Vegas casino vs. card counters and other advantage gamblers.
The culmination of these lawsuits has drawn up a clear picture of what a casino or sportsbook can and cannot do, along with what a customer can and cannot do.
A sportsbook or casino cannot refuse winnings to a customer simply because they are skilled. Sportsbooks and casinos do have the right to limit a customers future wagers or refuse future services (i.e. refuse future bets before they are placed).
The only time a sportsbook can refuse winnings is when a customer has materially altered the state of the game being wagered on.
For Example, a customer damaging or marking cards with their fingernail so they can track those cards in future rounds. This would be altering the game and a casino could refuse to cash out their chips.
Here’s an example of a poker player caught potentially marking cards during the WSOP.
Martin Kabrhel ruining cards. Change the deck @WSOP pic.twitter.com/pcP0xKC9Aq
— Hugo Lemaire (@HHHUGINHO) June 19, 2023
However, counting the cards that have been played from the deck in Blackjack does not alter the probabilities of the blackjack game. Therefore a casino would not be able to refuse winnings.
Daniel Carr, a spokesperson for Colorado State’s Department of Revenue, which oversees gaming said “it is not illegal to count cards using your brain, It is illegal to mark cards or use any sort of technology to count cards.”
And a casino can reserve the right to ask a player to leave or no longer play blackjack “if you are really good at counting cards,” he said in an email. “But it isn’t illegal.”
This statement was made by the commission following the unlawful detainment of a card counter in Blackhawk, Colorado by Ameristar Casino and Blackhawk Gaming Enforcement.
In a similar way, arbitrage betting does not affect the underlying sports game that we are betting on. A sportsbook offers their customers odds on a certain outcome/team and we can decide whether to take those odds or not by comparing those odds to the rest of the market.
We’re using analytical skill to determine if those odds are overpriced to make a profit. As a result arbitrage betting is perfectly legal. (Even if sportsbook don’t like it!)
Will Arbitrage Betting Get my Sportsbook Account Banned?
The simple answer is Yes. Eventually…
In most cases if you are consistently winning over a period of time a sportsbook will either limit your account so that you can only bet a couple of dollars or they will close your account indefinitely.
However, there are measures you can take to avoid getting your account limited too quickly and ultimately make more profit.
Don’t worry too much about sportsbook bans there is plenty of money to be made and there are a few arbitrage friendly sportsbooks and betting exchanges that allow winning players, such as circa sports or sporttrade. Along with profitable betting strategies that you can use to profit after sportsbook restrictions.
Is Arbitrage Betting Legal in my State?
Before you can get started with arbitrage betting in your state you need to check if online sports betting is legalized where you live. The following state currently allow online sports betting:
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