Arbitrage betting between Exchanges & Sharp Bookies

Arbitrage betting at exchanges and sharp bookies like Pinnacle is the ultimate goal of each smart bettor with limited betting accounts.

Arbitrage betting between betting agents and exchanges would also be a significant milestone for each sure bettor.

I created this article to summarize my experience, knowledge, and research about the above-mentioned possibilities in arbitrage betting.

Arbitrage between exchanges and sharp bookmakers

Arbitrage betting between sharp betting sites like Pinnacle and exchanges is close to impossible for regular bettors.

Let’s see the components of this possibility:

What does it require to be a successful arbitrage bettor?

In short, you need to be fast enough to cover both sides of the outcome with the right stakes before the odds could drop.

At present, you can achieve this either by becoming a professional at finding arbs manually or by using the top arbitrage bet finders and trying to become faster than other bettors.

What are the main characteristics of sharp bookmakers for arbitrage betting?

They offer accurate odds because they can update odds fairly fast every time the situation changes in sports events.

These bookies also welcome smart players such as arbitrage bettors.

These two factors allow them to offer high and accurate odds.

Relevant article: In-depth intro to arbitrage betting.

What are the characteristics of exchanges?

Betting exchanges are heavily used by smart bettors and sports traders.

Betting exchanges were built to exclude many steps and risks of regular betting sites, such as being forced to offer accurate odds.

These platforms are used mainly by matched bettors, arbitrage bettors, and sports traders.

There are many average punters, but the market is dominated by intelligent betting activities. 

This means that the smallest overpriced market and arbitrage bet, including a betting exchange, will be taken advantage of in a matter of seconds. 

Important facts about arbing sharp bookies against exchanges

Is this even possible?

The answer is a complicated No. You can’t simply place an arbitrage bet between sharp betting sites like Pinnacle and exchanges.

• The odds are changing very fast, both at sharp bookies and exchanges.
• You have a so-called “danger zone” at sharp betting sites at live betting because of having a slower acceptance time of your bet slip (not at every bookie).
• The arbitrage betting opportunities that could show up have a very low profit potential, which would require you to have a huge bankroll and to risk big stakes all the time.
• You would make a single mistake and ruin the earlier generated profits with sure betting between sharp bookies and exchanges.
• Arbitrage bettors who use automated arbing/value betting bots between sharps and exchanges annihilate the whole liquidity at exchanges and make the sharp odds drop faster.
  
  Relevant article: value betting at exchanges

• Theoretically, if there were no automated bots against you, each wannabe successful sure bettor would focus on these and would use the same sure bet finders as you. This situation would result in fast odds dropping and an exchange stake liquidity deficit.
• You might find some sure bets at exchanges that are not disappearing immediately. These bets usually have very low liquidity, which is not worth the effort.
• Even if you succeed somehow in placing some arbitrage bets between Pinnacle and even Betfair alternatives (a very rare case), the amount you can make will be tiny.

• Why would you waste 10-13 hours a day on these opportunities when you could simply take the most basic job and earn 5 times more?
• Matchbook (an important exchange) follows the odds of Pinnacle, but even if you notice some sure bets, they will ban you (so I would not even call them a betting exchange because of this fact).
• You would need a betting exchange account with a very low commission rate of 2% which is rare.

In summary, arbitrage betting between exchanges and sharp bookies is not available and achievable for regular bettors.

Even if you have coding skills, you will need to succeed in developing a bot that is capable of placing bets before other competing bots.

Instead of trying to find this never-ending gold mine for arbing, you should focus on value betting with lower stakes and the right approach.

By the right approach, I mean preventing getting your account/stakes limited prematurely.

You can check the RebelBetting opinion with the interview with a bettor who took this step instead of finding additional loopholes and succeeded in making 10.000 euros in 4 months.

Is arbitrage between betting brokers and exchanges possible?

The arbitrage betting situation between sports betting brokerage platforms and exchanges is slightly different.

These betting agents include odds from multiple exchanges, sharp and asian bookies.

By having access to low commission percentage exchanges and many sharp Asian betting sites, you may have access to more odds discrepancies and sure bets between them.

Make sure to also check my comparison table of arbitrage bet finders. Most of them cover both brokers and exchanges.

But can you place sure bets between betting agents and exchanges?

After following many forums and private discussions with other successful arbitrage bettors, I can say this activity is not out of sight.

Arbitrage betting between betting agents and exchanges is possible in theory, but some factors need to be applied to practice it successfully.

• You need to find arbitrage bets faster than the scanner services that cover the betting sites at the agents and the exchanges.
• Professional bettors are already running automated bots capable of spotting these sure bets faster than the scanners available for the wide audience.
• Because of their bets, the liquidity at exchanges is very low, and the odds drop pretty fast at Asian bookies as well (available at betting exchanges)

Is anyone successful in arbing between betting agents and exchanges?

I know people who are successful in value betting at betting exchanges.

These smart bettors are very rare, mostly hiding in the shadows and not being active in forums or any social media site topics related to sharp betting.

But the fact that they can make serious profits at betting exchanges without the help of arbitrage betting software means that overpriced odds are available.

The sad fact is that the ones I know do not use simple sure-betting or value-betting methods to find overpriced markets.

This type of betting at betting agents requires many years of experience in value and arbitrage betting, a well-developed, smart, well-researched, and a little bit lucky bettor with analytical thinking.

You need to find ways to analyze historical data to spot value opportunities at Asian bookmakers, sharp betting sites, or betting agents.

This route is the hardest, probably the king of all sharp sports betting. This type of approach is not comparable even to live value betting. 

Can you place sure bets between betting exchanges only?

Arbitrage betting between exchanges only is like asking for failure.

Bettors who have just started learning about these betting opportunities face the fear of getting banned for arbitrage betting.

Each sure bettor was there, whether successful or a beginner, with many failed attempts; you will get your betting accounts limited for arbitrage betting. 

This moment can come after 2-3 bets are placed without the essential research on how to avoid it.

Others can succeed in staying under the radar for a longer period, even months, with live betting.

Betting exchanges offer the opportunity of arbitrage betting without the fear of getting your account limited.

Here are the main reasons why arbitrage betting between exchanges is nearly impossible:

• The liquidity will change from one second to another. Even if you take bets with smaller stakes than the maximum, another bettor will place their bets milliseconds earlier with a higher stake.
• Many bettors use exchanges for sharp purposes, giving each outcome predictable liquidity.
• Even if you are lucky and fast enough to place a successful sure bet between two exchanges, you will run into many mistakes. In these, you are not able to cover your bets on the right odds/stakes (not even if you choose to cover them at sharp bookies). These mistakes will end up generating significant losses that could ruin even a successful sure betting profit.

Why do people think arbitrage betting is possible between Pinnacle and Betfair?

There are some common reasons why many bettors think arbitrage betting between Pinnacle and Betfair can be a viable solution.

During my long-term arbitrage betting career, I faced many situations when I thought I had just discovered the gold mine of sports betting. I’m not discussing value betting, sure betting, or other similar strategies.

I thought I just noticed a loophole that can guarantee massive profits without fear of being limited. One of these moments was when I manually compared the odds between Pinnacle and Betfair. 

The biggest mistake I made was depositing money at Betfair before checking the odds while I was logged in. Unfortunately, Betfair did not refresh their betting odds in real-time when you were not logged in, and this situation caused me to think I just noticed a way to beat them easily. 

Another mistake that can suggest the possible way of arbitrage betting between Pinnacle and Betfair is using either a pre-match or a live sure betting finder tool.

Even the fastest scanner has a delay of approximately 3 seconds. The main issue with that sure bet was already noticed by private automated arbitrage betting services.

When you see a sure betting opportunity appear on your screen, an automated bot has already calculated the stakes and hit the place bet button with the maximum stakes available.

Relevant articles related to this topic: How to spot arbitrage opportunities?