This chapter will discuss how to optimise the profit from your betting bank. It is often asked how much money you need to start in this business. Well, you can start with a hundred pounds or so and build from there.
Clearly though your betting opportunities will be limited as your return from arbs will average 2 to 5 %. Remember if the arb is executed correctly you will not be risking any of your funds. The funds are safe to be returned to you with the profits you have made. However once you place the bet your funds may be tied up for 2 or 3 days. This depends on how you operate your accounts.
I have been asked whether it is a good thing to leave money on deposit with a bookmaker. This really depends on your situation. If it is a bookmaker that you use often then I would suggest leaving it there. There may be transaction charges associated with withdrawing the money. If it is left in the account and you can actively trade with the money then it is not standing idle.
Also removing all your winnings every time tends to suggest that coupled with high stakes you know someone and this can arouse suspicion. Therefore remove it all if your bank is limited. Also, remove it all if something draws you to suspect the bookmaker may make it difficult for you to withdraw funds if you win too much.
However this would be unlikely.
By the way bookmakers offer no interest on funds deposited. Note if you use British bookmakers you can avoid possible transaction fees by using a debit card.
It sounds obvious but the more frequently that you turn your money over each month the greater use of your betting bank you will have. Ideally look to execute arbs that are going to appear as soon as possible. Clearly, as already explained, a lot of arb Visit www.SportsBettingLoophole.com
opportunities will result as a subsequent of them being 'early prices', but never the less try to make the most of your capital.
You also need to bear in mind that there is not much point in placing an arb only for it to mature in 6 months, unless the return is exceptionally good. An arb will ideally be executed the same day and that way you can get your funds back in the shortest possible time to use again. Ideally you want to bet on arbs that will expire in no more than 3 days so that your funds are tied up for the shortest possible time. In reality most of your arbs will expire in less than 24 hours.
I suggest that a sum of money is set aside for running this business and you don’t dip into it for household bills. The larger you bank grows the more potential you have for executing more arbs at the same time. It is clear that in my experience there are certain occassions or events that create multiple arb opportunities simultaneously.
Maybe it’s the first round of a tennis tournament where there are lots of matches.
Maybe it’s a soccer world cup qualifying week where there are a large number of internationals being played.
Whatever it is you should always have spare funds available so that you can take advantage of any opportunity that may present itself. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing an arb pass by without having the funds to profit from it.
The following is an illustration of the likely growth potential that you should see from your arbs trading. Let us say we are starting with an initial bank of £1,000 and we have a 3% arb every day. If we bet a total of £200 on each arb then we should have enough funds to satisfy each arb each day without having to wait for the funds to return to our accounts.
Week 1:- 7 days, one arb a day at an average of 3% betting £200 on each equals £42
(£6 x 7) profit for the week. Our £1000 bank has risen to £1042. In one week we have made an easy 4% return on our money. It should be easy to see that if we had invested
£1000 in each opportunity our profit would be 5 times as large i.e. £210(£30 x 7). Or we could have found several more arbs over the week averaging 5 a day and still made £210 (£6 x 35) profit. This is the same percentage profit but clearly we have invested 5 times as much and so our profit is five times as large.
From these humble beginnings it is clear that as you gain experience and churn back your profits into more arbs. As you do so your bank will grow and grow. Clearly we are only playing with theoretical numbers here but they are typical of the situation you will find yourself in when you start sports arb trading. The more time and money you
‘invest’ the greater the returns will be.
So why don’t we just bet all our bank on one arb at the beginning of the week and sit back and wait for our profit to come through before we invest it all in the next arb?
This can work in the short term but you will quickly come up against betting limits that the bookmakers impose on your account.
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Also you may make a mistake in computing your arb. The event could be cancelled and you are caught out on the wrong side of a losing bet. You could place one side of the arb only to find the other side has moved price and the arb is no longer available.
However the main reason for not acting this way is that you will gain far less experience of the business if you only trade once or twice a week. Experience and knowledge is everything in this game. Without it you will struggle where others are identifying easy arbs.
Placing only one or two arbs a week will mean that your learning curve will be much slower than the person who bets less but bets regularly. This book will teach you the basics and the advanced techniques of this business but there is no substitute for experience.
Results
Once we have created a successful arb we will want to know which bets won and which lost. There are a number of sites across the Internet which specialise in offering results in specific sports. Do a search and you will find a number listed for each sport.
Alternatively some bookmakers e.g. Ladbrokes and William Hill offer a comprehensive all round results service. Also you can view your account with the bookmaker and once the bet is settled it should be listed in your account details.
Hopefully you will have no trouble with receiving winnings but you want to know which accounts have winning bets pending for cash flow purposes. All transactions should be logged as if you were an accountant so that you know your position across all your accounts at all times. Being organised in the area of money management is important.
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Chapter 16 - What equipment do I need?
You will have guessed by now that access to the Internet is imperative for this business to succeed. Initially, as you gain experience, a basic PC which is a few years old will do. It will have a slower processor but experience is everything in the initial stages.
Once you are comfortable with placing bets and gain more experience in arbs an investment in the latest PC with a fast processor is essential to get the most from the business. There is nothing more frustrating than a slow PC causing you to miss an arb opportunity. Experienced arbs makers insist on using a laptop so that they are portable and can access the Internet from wherever they may be. This may come more important with the advent of wi-fi technology offering a truly portable solution.
On the same subject of speed of transaction being key, a broadband connection will become essential. Go for one that is at least ten times faster than a dial up and you are always logged on to the Internet. You also have access to the use of the phone simultaneously.
If you have not got broadband you should also have access to a phone, either a landline or a mobile phone. However quickly you will realise that it will be useful to have both. Often the bookmakers numbers being dialled are freefone numbers so the costs will be either nil or low in the case of mobiles.
Technical specifications are changing all the time. But fairly basic equipment will suffice until you gain suitable experience and confidence in navigating through the sports arbitrage business. Let the investment in the hardware pay for itself once you have the necessary experience to profit from it.
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