What is Arbitrage or crush betting?
Sports arbitraging or “crushing” arises on markets due to different price odds offered both before the event has commenced & during the commencement of the event (in play).
A successful Arb or crush means no risk of loss & only net profits. Our video tutorial is a step by step real demonstration & guide of how to execute successful sports betting arbitrages.
Types of Bets
Lay Bet
An important part of Sports Arbitrage betting is understanding how lay bets work. The difference of a regular bet (also known as a back bet) and a lay bet, is that on a back bet you bet on a team/player to win. If you were to place a lay bet on the same team/player, you bet on that team/player NOT to win.
- If you were to place a regular back bet on Raiders, you will win your bet if Raiders wins the match.
- If you place a lay bet on Raiders, you will win your bet if the Raiders do NOT win the match. If Broncos wins or the match ends in a draw, you have won your lay bet.
In other words, laying Raiders is the same thing as backing both Broncos to win or draw.
Using lay betting in Sports Arbitrage
If the lay bet odds is smaller than the back odds, you have yourself an arbitrage!
Lay betting terms
The terms associated with a lay bet can be quite confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty straight forward.
This is the amount you want to win. Let’s say that your backer’s stake in the lay bet example above was $100. Because you layed Raiders, you will win $100 (minus commission, explained below) if Broncos win or the match ends in a draw.: Betfair charges a percentage of your winnings. This percentage is by default 5%, but the more you turn over, the more discount on the commission you receive. You can get it to a minimum of 2%.
Backers’s odd: This is the odds of your lay bet. The higher the backer’s odds is, the higher the risk (liability) will be.
Liability: The liability of a lay bet is correlated with the stake and odds. A selection where the backer’s odds is 7 means that if you lose your bet you will lose 6 (7-1) times your stake.
- Example, backer’s odds is high
You lay $100 at the odds of 7, and your current commission rate is 5%
If you win your bet, your net profit will be $100*0.95 = $95
If you lose your bet, you lose $100*(7-1) = $600
Back Bet
Simply the opposite of a lay bet.
Example, layers odds is 7, and your current commission rate is 5%
If you win your bet, your net profit will be $600*0.95 = $570
If you lose your bet, you lose $100
ARBITRAGE
At the start of this Wimbledon tennis tournament, you placed a $100 wager on Andy Murray to win the tournament at odds of $30 to profit $3000 should he win Wimbledon. Because he has now won all 4 matches he has played, his odds have shortened to $10. Now you decide to lay Murray for $150 at odds of $10 which will lose you $1500 should he win the tournament, but profit you $150 should he lose at any stage.
So the equation now is like this.
Murray wins tournament, your net profit $3000-$1500 = $1500+$150 = $1650.00 minus comm
And there you have a simple & basic arbitrage.
So basic arbitrage looks like this:
Lets say Roger Federer is playing Andy Murray in the 4th round at Wimbledon
Federer is starting at $1.50 & Andy Murray is starting at $3. You start off with a bet on Murray for $500 at $3 which would gives you a net profit of $1000 minus the 5% commission ($50) which equals $950.00 should Murray win.
Murray wins the first set & now the in play odds have changed & are the opposite from the start of play. Murray is now favorite at $1.50 & Federer is now $3. You now place a wager on Federer for $500 at $3 which gives you the same outcome as your initial wager on Murray.
So now you have outlayed $1000 for a $950 profit on both outcomes. You will receive half your outlay ($500) back from the winning bet, which means your net profit on the entire match will be $950-$500 = 450.00
