Arbitrage

What "profit on paper" means. Every bookmaker builds a margin into its prices, so the chances implied by one bookmaker's prices add up to more than 100%. When different bookmakers disagree enough, the best price for each outcome can add up to less. Split your stake in proportion to 1 ÷ price and every outcome pays back about the same amount, a little more than you staked — but only on paper, and only at exactly those prices.

Prices move, and mistakes get voided. A price far from every other bookmaker is usually a mistake or a line about to change. Rows marked Check … price are those. Bookmakers' terms let them cancel bets placed at an obvious error, which can leave you holding only the other leg — an ordinary bet that can lose. Bet the flagged leg first, and only if the price is still there.

Not every bookmaker settles the same way. Cards, corners, shots and player markets are settled from each bookmaker's own data and rules (what counts, extra time, a player who doesn't start). If two bookmakers settle the same line differently, both legs can lose.

Where you can bet. Many of these bookmakers only accept customers from their own country — check the site is legal and available where you live.

Accounts get limited. Bookmakers watch for arbitrage betting and often cut stakes or close accounts that do it regularly. New to odds? Start with how to read football odds.