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Man of Mystery

I opened my Betfair account on 22nd April 2003. I was one of the first subscribers to Adam Todd's BetTrader and was a founding partner of JuiceStorm.com on 17th February 2007.

Latest posts by Man of Mystery (see all)

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Deciding how much time and effort to spend searching for the best possible match can be quite tricky, and depends on several factors, notably the time you have available and the size of your bank. If you are a pro arber with a large bank you are more likely to take a smaller profit to save time than if you are doing the odd free bet with a small bank and have plenty of time to look. Here are some views on this subject from our old forum:

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dakc47

Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:14 pm

I’ve been wondering what minimum % return on Free bets members go for? I would guess that anything over 75% must be good, but is it worth waiting around for for better opportunities, or just to simply cash it in a some minimum level?

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Betformulas

 Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:37 pm

The best way to make the most of Free Bets is to trade small odds for deposits, but BIG odds when trading free bets if the free bet stake isn’t returned with winnings.

To demonstrate this, input some small odds in your free bet trading calculator, and then insert some BIG odds, and note the difference in profits.

Mathematically, the golden rules for best returns are :-

Deposits – trade short odds.

Free bets when stake IS returned – trade short odds.

Free bets with stake NOT retuned – trade BIG odds.

If you’re only hitting 60% – 65% or so on your free bets, maybe the bookie odds are very short.

To improve on that, be bold !

You might try trading free bet (Lay) odds as big as your Betfair account will stand.

I’ve traded almost to the limit of my Betfair account lots of times to maximise my profits.

Also, take your time – Tell yourself that the bookie has got his odds wrong somewhere and if you keep looking, you will find where his bet odds are bigger than the lay on Betfair – especially in horse racing markets which can move quite quickly.

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 dakc47 

Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:45 am

Thanks for the response…I’m familiar with all of the points you raised My problem is that some bookies give such rubbish odds that I often have to wait for a while to ‘get on’ with a trade that will give what I consider to be a decent return on a free bet…which means I have to keep an eye on when the free bet ‘runs out’. Was curious to know what % return other traders ‘settled for’.

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gazza180

Fri Aug 14, 2009 2:22 pm

When cashing out free bets have you ever considered the correct score market on the football, I use this market a lot of the time when im cashing out the smaller free bets, you should be able to get 75% and upwards.

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dakc47 

Fri Aug 14, 2009 2:49 pm

Thanks gazza…I had not considered the CS market in Football…I will certainly give it a whirl next time I have a free bet with a ‘conservative’ bookie…

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gazza180

Fri Aug 14, 2009 4:07 pm

No probs DAKC, the bookies are more willing to accept these bets because of all the different possible outcomes, hence the reason you always see a big poster with a correct score/scorecast special in every bookmaker shop…, all the best!!

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wilfred

Sat Aug 15, 2009 6:35 am

Be very careful arbing the horses. Dead heats, disqualifications and the dreaded NRs +R4. Its also a quick way of getting limited. I stick to correct scores. Bookies are not as worried as its a team game, Wilfred

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majorsam 

Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:18 am

It depends also how many times you have to roll over the deposit. If it’s only once then go for the shorter odds with the first bet and always the higher odds with the free bet.

If the deposit has to be rolled over more then once then go for the higher odds as there is more chance the lay bet will be successful which, for me, is alway best. Otherwise the bookies bets could keep on winning therefore less profit.

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abaxas 

Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:26 am

Extracting the maximum value from freebets is usually uneconomic in terms of time spent.

Take something with high(ish) odds and a close match. Just get it done and not worry about a few quid here or there. I work to about a 80% return.

Finally remember to take something that people would bet on!

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Gentari 

Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:42 am

Abaxas,

I agree that often extracting the last penny is not time well spent if you are making a living from time spent on your pc/betting/arbing, but as a lot of people here are running single accounts and trying to extract maximum value I feel there can be far more gained than 80%.

Using the oddsmatcher and other possibilities including the Correct Score markets can give greater gains, but also think about the liability needed to cover often very high odds.

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Darren

Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:49 am

Fully agree, it is a time / cashflow/ profit balancing act.

As a guide, then the graph shows the % retention of Stake Not Returned free bet, assuming back and lay odds are the same.

So bigger is better but there is no right or wrong figure, if you are happy with the profit, take it and move onto the next.