Is it possible to outplay bookmakers?

Anyone dabbling in bets sometimes stumbles upon an idea of outwitting bookmakers (hereinafter — the BMs). Experienced handicappers perfectly understand why you can’t beat them. This article will tell you how to bet at bookmakers’ with minimal risk and win with maximum probability.

How bookmakers are always with gain

All leading bookmakers have their own analytical centers engaged in compiling lines for sports events and writing down the odds for matches. They also set the odds for each outcome. Deep down, they are the same ordinary people who also make mistakes.

Why, then, bookmakers always stay afloat and consistently win over bettors on a global scale? It’s no secret that bookmakers make money on bets that their customers have lost. It may be useful for betting newbies to know that even a successful bet for a player does not turn into a lost cause for a bookmaker.

This phenomenon is also known as a margin. Margin here means the financial interest of the BM office included in the odds. So let’s say, in a match of equal opponents, the quotes for winning must all be at the 2.0 mark. In fact, we see them at 1.88, 1.90, etc. The bookmaker gets its main income from this difference.

It means that the bookies gets better of us not because of its deep knowledge in sports or due to simple luck, but purely with the help of mathematics.

Winning strategies — do they really work?

You, of course, can place bets randomly. This is a sure way to get all your money down the drain and make the bookmakers even richer. Experienced bettors use their tried-and-true strategies in betting. As the recitation and description of all existing techniques may take up a lot of space, as well as a lot of time – we prepared the summary of three most well-known strategies:

1. Martingale (doubling) strategy. The aim of this strategy is to increase the size of the bet after a loss in order to turn to gain. The recommended odds is 2.00.

2. Betting against the favorite. The strongest sports clubs (athletes) rarely perform smoothly along the entire tournament distance. Event the recognized giants sometimes hit a rough patch. The bookmaker analysts automatically see them as winners. In football, even a single underdog’s goal means a lot, not to mention the double chance and a win of a undoubtedly weak player.

3. Hockey goal scored in the last minutes. With a minimum difference in the score, for example, at the 2:3 score, at the end of the match, the coach of the losing team may remove the goalkeeper and release the additional field player. The players from the winning team may then get back the initiative and hit the empty net. As the result, a live bet may get over an “over 5.5” total.

Unfortunately, no betting strategy guarantees 100% winnings. Sports are extremely unpredictable. How to explain Liverpool losing to Aston Villa with a hockey 7:2 score or the Latvia national team defeating Canadians with a football 0:2 score?

Any bettor may have its share of situational victories. The success of the capper is time-tested. The most winning bettors make up a critical minority.

In the next block, let’s talk about surebets — the only win-win option in betting.

What are those surebets, anyway?

A surebet (arbitrary situation) is an option of wagering a bet in different bookmakers on opposite outcomes of one event and getting a guaranteed profit. Namely, the surebets on bets in sports guarantee a win, but the size of the gain may depend on the surebets chosen, as well as on the reliability of the sure bets finder.

Bookmakers’ mistakes in compiling lines, especially on live bets, often may produce the “yummy” odds. Let’s see an example of said compilation illustrated by a nominal duel of two tennis players of equal strength. 

Bookmaker A: W1 – 2.10, W2 – 1.95

Bookmaker B: W1 – 1.80, W2 – 2.15.

The simplest calculations show that wagering the same bets on W1 at bookmaker A and on W2 at bookmaker B may result in inevitable gain. Finding similar setups on your own is ineffective.

In an age of rapid development of scientific and technological progress, it may be reasonable to turn to real professionals in the field of surebets — the BetBurger service.

Should you try to beat the bookmaker?

Beating the bookie is not equal to fighting windmills.

The following bettors may surely count on victory in a obviously unequal battle:

• the ones with a deep knowledge of certain sports and tournaments;
• the ones with an analytical mindset;
• the ones with a strict financial discipline;
• the psychologically balanced ones;
• the ones able to analyze their own mistakes.

Let’s also add learnability to the above qualities, especially in the context of betting arbitrage. In the hands of a competent bettor, the BetBurger surebet service may become an effective tool for making money in a bookmaker’s office.