In sports betting, an "arbitrage bet" occurs when you are placing multiple bets on the same event that ensure a profit, no matter what the outcome is.
For instance - let's say that there are two sportsbooks that are offering lines on a big playoff football game, where there is guaranteed to be a winner. Site A has the odds like this:
Team A, +105
Team B, -120
Site B has the odds like this:
Team A, -115
Team B, +100
This is an example of an arbitrage possibility.
In order to ensure yourself a profit, you would need to bet $49.38 on the +105 odds, and $50.62 on the +100 odds in order to guarantee yourself a profit, regardless of who wins.
In this case, the guaranteed profit would be 1.23%, or $1.23 for every $100 wagered.
Obviously you would want to bet as much as possible, given that a profit is guaranteed.
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Arbitrage plays aren't the easiest to find, though they are out there.
