Guide · 7 min read
How to find arbitrage bets: by hand, with an odds comparison or a scanner
There are three ways to find sure bets: comparing bookmakers by hand, using an odds comparison site, or letting a scanner do it. This guide compares them, explains where arbitrage opportunities come from and why most are gone within minutes, and gives you a six-step check before you bet.
Updated 22 October 2026
Contents
Three ways to find sure bets
| Method | How it works | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| By hand | You open several bookmakers' sites and compare price by price. | Free, and you learn the markets. | Very slow; prices change while you search. |
| Odds comparison site | A comparison site shows the best price per outcome across many bookmakers. | A quick overview of one match. | You work out S yourself, match by match. How old the data is often isn't clear. |
| Arbitrage scanner | Software compares prices continuously and only reports combinations with S below 1. | Finds gaps in minutes rather than hours and works out the stakes. | Costs money, and even a scanner sometimes shows stale prices or rule differences. |
Which one suits you depends on how much time you have and how many bookmakers you use. With two accounts you can get a feel for it by hand. From five or six accounts upwards it is hardly manageable without software.
By hand: what it means in numbers
You want to check 20 football matches at 6 bookmakers on a Saturday. That is 120 match pages. On the 1X2 market alone you look at three prices per page, 360 numbers, before over/under and handicaps.
At 20 seconds per match page you are through once after about 40 minutes. By then the prices you looked at first have long changed.
By hand you are most likely to find sure bets that stay open for a while: in smaller leagues, at bookmakers that rarely update their prices, or on promotions. If you want to try, check every combination with the arbitrage calculator.
Where sure bets appear
Sure bets are not a glitch in the system. They follow from the fact that every bookmaker sets its own prices. Typical sources:
- Local bookmakers. Bookmakers with many customers in one country shade their prices towards what their customers back. If an Austrian bookmaker shortens Salzburg because that is where the money goes, the other side at the same bookmaker can be generous.
- Slow lines. Some bookmakers react later to team news, injuries or the weather. In the minutes before they adjust, their price sits off the market.
- Lower leagues and niche markets. Second divisions, women's and youth competitions and special markets draw less interest, and their prices are reviewed less often. Stake limits are usually low there.
- Price boosts and promotions. A boosted price on a favourite can form a sure bet with another bookmaker's normal price on the other side. Boosts often have low maximum stakes.
- Different margins. Local bookmakers with higher margins have worse prices overall, but are occasionally above the market on single outcomes.
Slovakia looks different. The Slovak-licensed bookmakers, such as Tipsport, Fortuna and Niké, run comparatively high margins, so sure bets between them alone are rarer and usually smaller. They mostly appear where a Slovak book is out of line with the wider market on one outcome, for example in ice hockey, where they offer many markets.
Why sure bets vanish within minutes
A sure bet means at least one bookmaker is "wrong" compared with the rest of the market. It corrects that as soon as it notices, often precisely because of the bets coming in at its price. That is why many pre-match sure bets last only minutes.
- Price changes. The bookmaker adjusts its price before you have placed your second bet.
- Data age. Every list is only as fresh as its last update. If the price shown is five minutes old, the sure bet may already have been gone when it appeared.
- Kick-off. Pre-match prices stop applying when the match starts. In-play prices bring their own problems; see live arbitrage betting.
If the sure bet is gone when you go to place the second bet, you have an open bet. Then recalculate whether a smaller covering bet still works, rather than taking a bad price out of frustration. The guide to arbitrage betting risks works through that case with numbers.
Check before you bet
- Check it is the same event. Same teams or players, same kick-off, same competition. Watch out for reserve, under-21 and women's teams with similar names.
- Check the same market and the same line. Both bets must be exact opposites of one market, for example over 2.5 and under 2.5 goals, not over 2.5 and under 2.75.
- Check the settlement rules match. Regulation time or including overtime, the tennis retirement rule, and the rules for abandoned and postponed matches.
- Check the prices are still there. Open both bet slips and compare the odds with your calculation. If one has moved, recalculate.
- Include fees and limits. If a bookmaker passes on Austria's 5% betting fee, use the odds after the deduction. Check that your balance and the stake limit cover the bet.
- Place the most fragile bet first. Bet first where the price is furthest from the market, check it was accepted, then place the other side straight away.
With a little practice this takes under a minute. It prevents exactly the cases where both bets lose or one side is left open. How the rules differ from sport to sport is covered in arbitrage betting by sport.
What an arbitrage scanner should check
A scanner saves you the searching, not the thinking. Whatever software you look at, check what it does for you:
- Data freshness. Does it show how old each price is, and hide stale combinations?
- Outliers. Does it flag unusually high margins, which often point to an error or a rule difference?
- Rules and markets. Does it only combine markets that genuinely cover each other, not 1X2 after 60 minutes with a match winner including overtime?
- Your bookmakers. Does it only show combinations at bookmakers where you have an account?
- Fees. Does it price in Austria's betting fee or Germany's betting tax where a bookmaker passes it on?
This is how ArbVantage handles it: it only shows matches that haven't started, hides combinations whose oldest price is too old (the closer the kick-off, the stricter the limit), prices in known betting fees for your country and marks bookmakers without a licence in your country with a neutral flag. Not every bookmaker popular in Austria or Slovakia is in our odds feed yet; you see which ones are covered when you set up. Value bets are coming soon. You can try it free for 14 days.
Frequently asked questions
Can you find sure bets without software?
Yes, but slowly. By hand or with an odds comparison site you mainly find sure bets that stay open for longer, for example in small leagues or on price boosts. Across many bookmakers and matches, software is much faster.
How often are there sure bets in Austria and Slovakia?
It depends on how many bookmakers you have accounts with and which sports you cover. With several international and local bookmakers you find them regularly, usually with a 1 to 2% margin. With only two accounts, much less often. Between Slovak-licensed bookmakers alone they are rarer, because their margins are higher.
Why is the sure bet gone when I go to bet?
Because the bookmaker has adjusted its price, or the price shown was already old. Pre-match sure bets often last only minutes. Check both bet slips right before you place anything.
Are lower leagues worth it?
Sure bets appear there more often, because bookmakers watch small leagues less closely. On the other hand stake limits are often low, and conspicuous bets in lower leagues can lead to limits sooner.
Sources
- RIS: Gebührengesetz 1957, § 33 TP 17 (Austrian betting fee) (in German)
- Land Salzburg: sports betting licences granted by the federal states (in German)
- ÚRHH (Slovak Gambling Regulatory Authority): licensed online operators (in Slovak)
As of October 2026. Bookmakers' rules, odds and offers change; their current terms and betting rules always apply.
Betting involves risk, even with sure bets: prices move, bets get voided, accounts get limited. Only use money you can do without. Our responsible gambling page lists free help in Austria and Germany.
Information, not betting, legal or tax advice. 18+.