| Arbitrage - or arb as it is simply sometimes | | | | which car won. Another way to put it - if you bet |
| known, involves placing a bet on each different | | | | on every possible outcome, you cannot lose. |
| outcome, with several different bookmakers. The | | | | Why do different bookmakers offer different |
| term was originally applied to certain transactions | | | | odds? Many bookmakers have a quota system - |
| in the financial trading world; the word itself | | | | once they have taken a required number of bets |
| comes from the Latin word "arbiter", meaning to | | | | at certain odds, they may raise or lower the |
| judge. Those same principles that have earned | | | | odds. A sporting event with an uncertain outcome |
| fortunes in the financial markets can also be | | | | or a lesser number of participants tends to create |
| applied to sports betting. | | | | discrepancies in the odds. |
| Simply put, it is the means of covering every | | | | When everybody is patriotic - if the UK is |
| possible option by taking advantage of the | | | | competing against the USA, you may find that |
| difference in odds offered by different | | | | bookmakers in the two countries offer different |
| bookmakers. A simple way to explain it is as | | | | odds in favor of the team they support. The |
| follows: if you bet $100 on car A with one | | | | obvious advantage of this style of betting is that |
| bookmaker and $100 on car B with another | | | | if applied systematically, it is difficult - or |
| bookmaker; if both bookmakers offered the | | | | impossible - to lose money. |
| same odds of 6/4, you would win regardless of | | | | |