Can you make money off sports betting? The short answer is yes, but it takes practice and a good strategy. This is not a fast and easy way to get rich. You will have to understand how sports betting works and different strategies, but it can be profitable if done right.
The reason I included this under the day trading category, is that sports betting and day trading work pretty much the same, but they still have their differences as well. They follow the same principle, where you put yourself in the shoes of the “house” and that way try to end up in profit in the long run.
Both, sports betting, and day trading are meant to make profits in the long run. It doesn’t matter if you take a few losses in a row, in the span of, for example, thousands of trades or bets, you should end up at a profit if your strategy is on point. This is not the case with arbitrage betting strategy; more about that below.
Different sports betting strategies
There are a lot of ways you can try to make a profit on sports betting. I have two strategies that I am going to explain in this post. Another should be completely risk-free, where the other should in the longer term provide bigger returns if done correctly. Let’s start with the arbitrage strategy, which is supposed to be risk-free.
Arbitrage sports betting strategy
Arbitrage strategies should be risk-free, if you do your calculations right and stick to your strategy. There are some requirements to this strategy. First, you need access to multiple different betting sites.
This is because you are going to compare the odds on different sites. You will also need somewhat a lot of capital or like in betting guides, people call it “bankroll”, since you have to have the money on multiple different sites for this to work.
Let me explain how the arbitrage strategy works in simple:
Team A and Team B on paper have exactly 50% chances of winning or losing, they are equal.
The first betting site offers 2,05 odds for Team A and 1,85 odds for Team B.
The second betting site offers the opposite, 1,85 for Team A and 2,05 for Team B.
You might recognize that the numbers don’t add up, (1,85 + 2,05) / 2 = 1,95 instead of 2. This is the house edge on this. The more people bet, the more likely the house is going to end up winning.
Let’s return to the strategy. If you bet on both sites for the team that has 2,05 multipliers, let’s say 100 dollars, no matter which team wins, you will get back 205 dollars. This leaves you with 5 dollars in profit with zero risk.
One thing you will have to consider is that when placing those bets, tie is not an option. The match can’t end up without a winner. The bet you are placing must have a winner and a loser. Not a third option.
Keep in mind that betting sites don’t really like arbitrage betters, and because of this, your accounts may get suspended or restricted.
Positive EV sports betting strategy
Positive EV stands for positive expected value. This strategy also will require you to have multiple betting sites and compare the odds among those. You will again find differences between different bet providers.
Let’s take a few examples again. One betting site offers a multiplier of 2,0 for Team A. Another site offers 1,95 and a third one offers 2,25. In this strategy, you will find the bets that have the biggest multiplier compared to their competitors.
This way, you should gain yourself an edge, that in the long run, would end you up in profit. This is not a risk-free strategy, but when done right, it can provide higher returns. This is also not the whole picture of the strategy, just a simple explanation of how it should work. There are other aspects you should consider too.
Because this strategy is not risk-free, you should prepare yourself to face several losses in a row. If you go with this strategy, you either need larger initial capital or have to place smaller bets. With the first strategy, which is supposed to be risk-free, you can get started with smaller capital since you should not be able to lose unless you make a mistake yourself.
Sports betting vs day trading
Now, like I mentioned before, there are similarities between sports betting and day trading. Even thought, sports betting is supposed to be fun and in the long run lose you money. You can gain yourself an edge when done correctly. This can still be fun as well.
Day trading is done in highly regulated stock markets, while sports betting is done with multiple different betting sites. In sports betting, you are taking advantage of the inefficiency of the bookmakers.
Bookmakers’ odds and multipliers are lagging. Because of this, you can find yourself an edge by comparing different odds and multipliers, with any of the strategies I mentioned before.
The common thing between day trading and sports betting is that even with a positive EV strategy, even that you might lose several times in a row, the trick is to end up in the profit in a long run. To get yourself the edge over the markets or the odds.
Is sports betting easier than day trading?
Sports betting might at some aspect be easier than day trading. In day trading, you will have to determine the enter and exit points. In sports betting, you only have to “enter” the bet and it will close itself automatically.
This can remove a huge psychological factor from the equation and cause you to lose less bets because of it. Sure, your day trading strategy might have pre-set take profit, and stop losses, but there are no guarantees you will follow your strategy.
With sports betting, there is no such thing as moving your stop loss and disobeying your strategy within a trade. Longer term, you can do damage with sports betting as well, if you take reckless bets.
So, is it really easier? I would say it can be, since it can be done completely risk free. Even if it isn’t as hard as day trading, that doesn’t mean it is easy. If it were easy, everybody would do it right?
Final words
I am against gambling, and I think you should rather invest your money than spend them on gambling, house always wins. However, sports betting can be treated like day trading if done correctly. You can turn the odds in your favor and this way make some extra pocket change from it.
If you got interested in sports betting, I would suggest you dive deeper into the world of day trading as well. Some of the methods and principles used in day trading can be used in sports betting as well. My other day-trading related posts can be found here.
Internet is full of information and people trying to sell you stuff. You don’t necessarily have to pay a 500-dollar monthly subscription to get access to different odds and tips on what to bet on. You can get started by just doing your own research. What I mean by this is to be careful who you trust, because they might be biased when trying to sell you something.
You might also be interested in this post: Is investing gambling?
Hopefully this was helpful to you, have a nice day.
This is not financial or investment advice. Always do your research before risking your hard-earned money. Some estimates say that 95% of day traders lose money. Keep in mind also that betting sites are making huge profits year after year, so you might end up being just one of their customers that brings in bags of money. Even though some strategies are supposed to be risk-free, there is still a chance you will lose money due to human error or other mistakes.