Last Updated on December 21, 2020
Most gamblers lose money. And they will keep losing. The reason is because they want excitement not money. If you want to know how to beat the bookies you have to forget all you know about gambling and re-educate yourself.
There are a few betting strategies that increase your likelihood of turning a profit or even guarantee you a profit! That’s what we’re gonna discuss today.
How to beat the bookies at their own game
Let’s face it, bookies are normal companies which sole purpose is to make money. They are not charities and therefore they don’t like giving away money to winners (there are a few exceptions but i’ll get into that later).
I’ve been beating them for over 7 years now and sometimes it’s annoying because they set limits or say they don’t want me as their customer! 😉 But that’s ok! There are literally hundreds of bookies out there and in 7 years i made consistent profits with 200+ of them!
Strategies for beating the bookies
But enough chat about me. I know you want the meat and potatoes so let’s get into it.
I use several strategies to beat the bookies:
- arbitrages
- value bets
- drifting odds
- middles
I consider them to be almost the same thing with a few variations and nuances. It all comes down to value on the odds!
Arbitrages
Most of the time i do arbitrages or surebets. This is a boring technique but it’s the most consistent one.
Basically it’s a process of betting in all outcomes in such a way that you always turn a profit no matter the outcome.
I already wrote an in-depth guide to arbitrages so there’s no point in detailing it here. There are also plenty of resources online to learn this method.
Value bets
When doing an arbitrage one is in fact making a value bet in at least one of the outcomes, that’s why i say that these methods are almost the same thing. But a value bet doesn’t necessary have to be an arbitrage, it’s just that in an arbitrage you have zero risk and on a value bet you have low risk.
There are two approaches to finding value. One is related to arbitrages and it consists of betting on the outcome who is the likely cause of the surebet. This is the lazy method, i use it quite often and it’s very profitable!
The second approach for finding value bets is doing it manually. Calculating your own probabilities and converting them to odds to see if there’s a bookie offering a good deal. I know for a fact that this is very profitable because i personally know people who do it consistently but i have to tell you it’s not easy to get it right and it takes time to get used to it. If you like the research aspect of sports betting go ahead and start doing it but if you’re like me and don’t give a damn about sports stick to the arbitrage method. You’ll make money and not even know who the hell is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Drifting odds
This is another “subset” of arbitrages. At least that’s what i call them. Sometimes odds start moving in a clear direction and that’s a great opportunity for making profit. This occurs mostly in horse racing and it’s also exciting and profitable.
Middles
A middle is when you place two bets against each other and you have the possibility (although low) to win both!
Sounds crazy? Imagine a basketball game and in a bookie you bet on over 150 points and on the other you bet on under 155 points.
You always win at least one bet and on some occasions you win both.
Unfortunately i don’t do as many of these bets as i’d like because it’s easier said than done. for this method to be effective you have to find value on both side or else it’s just an arb or a single value bet.
This is my favorite method because it’s both profitable and exciting but like i said, don’t expect to see these opportunities very often.
My choice to beat the bookies
I suggest you start learning arbitrages. Al these “sub methods” come naturally after that because you train your brain to see opportunities in the odds and not on the outcomes.
If you want to follow the opposite approach and learn value betting that’s ok and that’s up to you but my suggestion is the other way around.
That’s how i started in 2013! And that’s how i still beat the bookies today.
Happy hunting! 😉
