Looking for the best strategy for betting and your bankroll can be challenging. Arbitrage betting and matched betting are both great strategies that bettors use to gain maximum profits, but they also share their unique downsides. In many cases, a bettor usually chooses one of them instead of the other.
These strategies are based on similar possibilities where the bookie offers something that bettors can exploit and turn into guaranteed profits.
However, every time a betting site offers some great bonuses or free bets for your deposits, the resistance may get weaker. An average bettor will take this bonus as extra money to put in bets. But for a smart bettor, they'll turn the bonus into a guaranteed profit opportunity.
Now, let's look at arbitrage and match betting in detail and find out their differences.
Why You Should Try Matched Betting
It's Easy to Learn
It's possible to learn the basics in just one hour. If you've been practising for 1 or 2 days, you'll have almost 90% of the information you'll need for the long term
You Don't Need to Work All-Day
Indeed, the more time you spend in matched betting, the more your potential rewards will be. However, this strategy doesn't require you to stay in front of your laptop screen for the whole day. For example, if you only have time on weekends or later in the evening, it's still possible to make some decent profit.
Make Profits in A Short Time
It's pretty easy to fulfil the roll-over requirements for most deposit bonuses. However, beginner-matched bettors usually focus on the free bets.
For example, you need to place 2 bets at the sportsbook with the bonus, and then you need to cover the two bets at another bookie.
You can easily make 20-40 dollars within 10-15 minutes. After you've completed these bonuses, you only need to upload the essential documents for the KYC (Know Your Customer) verification to withdraw your profits.
Longer Lasting Account
You won't find your average bets in overpriced markets for matched betting. Most bonus seekers look for betting opportunities where the loss can go close to 0% on a pair of bets. This is why your account can last longer.
Differences of Matched Betting and Arbitrage Betting
As we've mentioned, you can make some decent money from matched betting and earn more than $1000 in a month. However, the biggest downside of this strategy is the number of bonus offers available.
After claiming your welcome bonuses and free bets, you'll have significantly lower monthly profits. Indeed, you'll receive new free bets and recharge bonuses now and then, but it's still not enough to even out your monthly income.
Arbitrage Betting Can Be More Profitable
The possible profit you can make with arbing is significantly higher, but you won't be getting this profit from the start.
Arbitrage betting requires much more money from the start. If you don't have at least thousands of dollars for arbing, the potential profits may be too small.
You can make more profits with matched betting at the start, but later on, arbitrage betting is the best way to take your earnings even further.
How Much to Start?
You don't need to start a lot with a matched betting technique. So don't worry if you don't have thousands or even hundreds of dollars. In matched betting, the reasonable amount you can start with is around 70 to 90 dollars.
On the other hand, arbing requires a lot more capital initially. After you've succeeded in making profits from matched betting, the best strategy is that you can use that money to get a good start for arbitrage betting.
Time Investment
If you want more profits, you'll need to dedicate more of your time. This applies to both strategies. But arbitrage betting will, unfortunately, require more of your time than matched betting.
You can find more opportunities for matched betting and hedge your bets with a minimal loss. Keep in mind that these opportunities come in a rather small timeframe. This is why catching these bets requires you to invest more time. On the other hand, arbing lets you take advantage of the actual sure bets if you want to start betting before the match begins.
Pre-match arbitrage betting is getting more complex every day, and most sportsbooks can easily find smart bettors.
Which Strategy is Best?
Before you choose a strategy that works for you, remember to have a goal in either arbitrage or match betting. Do you want to make it as a full time job or just as a side hustle, or a bonus source of income? Here are the final verdict for both strategies:
1. Learning the strategies: Matched betting is much easier to understand and doesn't require much knowledge in general. On the other hand, arbing requires constant learning, and you'll find out something new almost every day.
2. Time investment: arbitrage betting takes a lot of your time. If you're serious about it and want to make it a primary source of income, you will need to work up to 12 hours a day.
3. Profitability: arbitrage betting is significantly more profitable in the long run compared to matched betting.
4. Starting capital: Arbitrage betting requires more money to start. However, you can start from as little as $50 for bonus hunting.
