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More Options Once you have got the Betfair screen sorted out and got the hang of placing bets there are a few more things you can do to make your matched betting (or arbing) easier. Many of these are in the “More Options” menu. To…

Where To Start Betfair is a complex website which caters for a variety of punters and there are a bewildering variety of settings and options. My aim in this series of 3 posts is to guide you in setting up your display to enable you to…

Australia has very specific rules about betting, and Betfair is required to have a separate Australian Licence and to use a separate betting wallet for Australian events. If you are going to bet on anything that takes place in Australia you…

Even if you have a Betfair account which is registered in the UK (or another country where Betfair is allowed) you may not be able to use it if you go abroad.  An example is France, where Betfair used to be allowed, but now is not:…

One of the important things to factor in when using Betfair is commission. This takes a surprising amount of your profit and is therefore worth reducing whenever possible. Betfair has a sliding scale of commission starting at 5% and…

Like any computer program, Betfair has some bugs and can sometimes crash. It is extremely frustrating to find that you want to place a bet quickly and Betfair website is not working properly. In this post I suggest a plan of action if you…

One of the biggest problems successful traders face is the Betfair Premium Charge. If all you do is trade, as soon as you start winning decent money the charge kicks in and takes away a chunk of your profits. I am a very novice trader,…

In general I would strongly advise you not to try arbing greyhounds. Unlike horse racing, greyhound racing has reserve dogs which run if there is a problem with one of the declared runners for the race. The rules on non runners differ…

As far as I am aware rugby league and rugby union match odds are safe to arb, providing you check that bookie and Betfair are both offering the draw as an option. The only exception I have heard of is something called a "golden point",…

These can be a minefield, and you should always check very carefully what happens if there is a tie or someone retires without a vote. Each individual event may have different rules and bookies can change their rules on the same event from…

Snooker is very similar to darts - match odds falls into the easy category. Most are simple A v B markets. Occasionally there is a draw option, which should be safe as long as it is there at both bookie and Betfair. You may also find draw…

There are a confusing array of markets for motor sports with various different terms meaning the same thing. It is easy to get muddled between markets for the qualifying/pole position and markets for the race result, as well as podium…

Ice hockey is something of a minefield as some bookies include overtime and some do not. Betfair have markets for both - the regular time market has a tie option. I have heard of people being stung by overtime and shootouts at the end of…

Golf is one of the few sports that is safe to arb in play, providing that you don't do it just as a significant player is about to hit the ball. There are times when the market is in play when nobody is actually playing, and this is…

Darts match odds falls into the easy category. Most are simple A v B markets. Occasionally there is a draw option, which should be safe as long as it is there at both bookie and Betfair. You may also find draw no bet markets on these…

Big events such as the Tour De France have plenty of liquidity and I understand the markets for the individual days, yellow jersey etc can be arbed. I have never done this. You should check the bookies rules carefully before attempting it.

I do not pretend to understand the rules of cricket. However, as a major part of the summer sporting calendar, when football is pretty quiet, it deserves some investigation as an arbing medium. There are 3 main categories of cricket: test…

Match odds boxing should be safe to arb providing there is a draw option at both bookie and Betfair. Arbing the "to win in round x" market is also safe. Take care with the "knockout method" market, as I understand that some bookies may not…

As far as I am aware basketball is safe to arb. Markets include overtime and there is no draw option. Take care with handicap markets that the handicap is the same at bookies and Betfair.

Baseball can be a useful sport to arb with some of the foreign bookmakers in the summer when football is scarce. You MUST be very careful as there are 2 situations in which you can find yourself in a nasty mess, and they are not that easy…

I have never arbed athletics. Track events are subject to disqualifications if a runner causes too many false starts. I do not know what happens in this case, but it looks a classic case for rules differences. My advice is to avoid this.

As far as I know American football (NFL) is safe to arb. The match odds market at Betfair includes overtime and if there is a tie bets are void. It is unlikely that the bookmaker would do anything other than settle the tie as void or a dead…

Football is the accepted "safe" sport to bet on for matched betting and arbing because there are very few rules differences. Nothing is quite that simple though. I have come across 3 instances where football arbing has not been quite safe:…

The implications of non runners and rule 4 are discussed in detail in this post. There are very few other rules differences on the win markets in horse racing, and those that do exist (guaranteed prices and double result on a…

Everything you need to know about Rule 4 The most important thing to understand when matched betting or arbing on horse racing is rule 4. This causes more trouble and worry to inexperienced arbers than anything else, and yet problems can…

Please note that this post applies only to match odds markets. Set Betting (correct score) markets are usually* match complete at both bookies and Betfair. Outright markets are usually settled on the player winning the tournament, and you…