Best Arbitrage Practices

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Arbitrage Betting

Abitrage betting is not a new concept by any means. If you are unfamiliar with arbitrage, you bet on both sides of an event at prices that guarantee profit regardless of the outcome of the event.

There are sports bettors and side hustlers who almost exclusively arb. Why wouldn’t they? It is literally a risk-free way to make a profit from sports betting.

To place arbitrage bets, especially live arbitrage bets, there are some essentials you need as a sports bettor. These essentials are outs (places to bet), speed (these lines move quickly), an arbitrage calculator (to make sure the prices are profitable), and, the least considered part, other actions to mask your account.

For a general overview and for sports betting tools with arbitrage functionality, click here.

People often post year-to-date profits from arbitrage betting, and while arbing is not a secret, these accounts do not discuss some of the key aspects of arbitrage betting.

With the proper education and setup, you can get in on the arbitrage craze, keep your accounts healthy, and make risk-free profit.

What to Know About Arbitrage

While this may be obvious to some, it’s worth pointing out. A golden rule of arbitrage betting is to never arb at the same sportsbook. For example, if you spot an arbitrage opportunity on DraftKings, you are betting on a mistake line, and they will not like that.

This is why having as many accounts as possible is essential for arbitrage betting. The more books you have, the more likely you are to find discrepancies in lines that lead to risk-free profit.

If you were to arb at the same book, they would notice quickly, and your likelihood of getting limited increases. Once you are limited, it’s almost impossible to come back, and you lose a book that was part of your arsenal.

Another massive need in arbitrage betting is speed. Sportsbooks can set their odds in different ways, but significant gaps in odds, especially on live lines, are not going to last long.

Depending on the market, live arbitrage betting, even across different books, can result in your account being flagged. It is essential to understand that to continue making risk-free profit, you cannot make it obvious.

How do you keep your arbs less obvious? By also placing other bets - ideally square ones.

Sportsbooks profile their customers. This is how limiting happens. Based on your betting patterns, sportsbooks have internal teams or pay for external software that tracks every bet every account places, allowing them to see your betting patterns.

If all your bets are live tennis bets or +EV NBA props with massive CLV, sportsbooks will take note, and they will likely limit you.

To combat this, bet some big favorites moneyline. Throw in a $25 four-leg home run parlay. Take the Lakers to win the NBA Championship parlayed with the Cowboys.

As long as your arbs are covering the price of these throwaway tickets and more, the longer you can arb.

Let’s Get This Straight

Every week, we dissect a relevant sports betting topic to determine its validity.

The One Big Beautiful Bill is a Massive Problem

Once again, sports betting X cannot make up its mind. Accounts are saying the Big Beautiful Bill is meaningless. Other accounts are labeling it a threat to the entire sports betting landscape.

So, which is it? While we are not claiming to be tax experts at BetSmart (we are only experts in sports betting tools)…

Here’s the reality:
This bill matters for all sports bettors, sharp or square, and it’s worth educating yourself on the implications of the bill as a gambler.

Many tweets do a great job breaking down the bill, such as those from Zak Zimbile, CPA, and this thread from pro sports bettor Rob Pizzola.

It’s essential to familiarize yourself with these changes because they matter, and they are likely here to stay. We do not know what exactly will happen, but we can certainly prepare for what’s coming.

Featured Tool Spotlight: Pick The Odds

Every week, we highlight one of our featured tools that are making our readers better and more profitable sports bettors.

Pick The Odds is a world-class sports betting tool, and its arbitrage features are one of the best in the market.

Read our full review of Pick The Odds.

What separates Pick the Odds from other arbitrage tools is its speed and the number of sportsbook options they have. Odds update as quickly as every 1.2 seconds, and Pick The Odds has 110+ sportsbooks on its platform.

The best part? It’s free to use. The free version of the tool comes with some limitations, but all features work as intended. You can find risk-free profit (capped at 2%) at 110+ sportsbooks.