Sure bets, or arbitrage betting, are a form of sports betting that many gamblers use to guarantee a profit. The technique involves placing multiple bets on all possible outcomes of an event at odds that guarantee a financial gain regardless of the result. It capitalizes on the discrepancies in odds offered by various bookmakers, and requires bettors to be quick and strategic in their wagering.
The essence of sure betting is not about making predictions on the outcome of sporting events, but rather, it’s about the mathematical certainty behind the bets placed. Bettors must have a good understanding of odds and how they work, as well as the ability to efficiently manage their bankroll and place bets quickly across several betting platforms to secure the best odds before they change.
Sure betting necessitates a significant amount of time and dedication to monitor live odds and act swiftly. Given that bookmakers continuously adjust odds, opportunities for sure bets may be fleeting. Furthermore, participants must be aware that bookmakers may place restrictions or limits on accounts that consistently engage in this type of betting, which can impact the long-term viability of the strategy. Despite these challenges, sure bets remain popular among bettors looking to minimize risk and secure small, consistent returns over time.
Sure Bet Finder
Understanding Sure Bets
Sure bets, also known as arbitrage betting, are a betting strategy that guarantees a profit.
Definition and Concept
Sure bets arise when a bettor takes advantage of varying odds offered by different bookmakers for the same event, ensuring a profit regardless of the outcome. Arbitrage opportunities occur because bookmakers have different opinions on the odds of an event, or they may adjust their odds at different times.
To identify a sure bet, one must look for scenarios where the combined implied probabilities of all possible outcomes are below 100%. This is generally represented through an equation:
- 1/Odds for Outcome A + 1/Odds for Outcome B < 1
When the sum is less than 1, it indicates an arbitrage opportunity. Here’s a simple representation:
| Outcome | Bookmaker A Odds | Bookmaker B Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Team X Wins | 2.10 | 1.95 |
| Team Y Wins | 1.90 | 2.20 |
Calculating the arbitrage percentage for betting on Team X with Bookmaker A and on Team Y with Bookmaker B would reveal a sure bet if the sum of the inverse of the odds is less than 1.
Bettors employ a mathematical approach to distribute their stakes across all possible outcomes proportionally to guarantee a fixed return.
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What are Sure Bets in Nigeria?
Let’s start off with the basics. What exactly are sure bets and how do they help Nigerian punters? There are many punters who are experienced in the field, yet still don’t know much about these bets.
Well, in simple terms, it’s a solidified way to get your money back on any sporting event you bet on. While you may not always have a profit, you also don’t always incur a loss. With sure bets, you are betting the same amount on the opposite results. For example, if you are betting on a football match, you can bet for your favoured team to both win and lose. Thus, no matter which team wins, you get your money back.
That’s one of the main reasons why it’s called sure bets. You’re sure to get your money back with this form of betting. But, the key behind these bets is to find the best bookmakers in Nigeria who will guarantee a profit. To pull off this method of betting, you need to dedicate a lot of time and get a good hold of the mathematical calculations involved. There are many websites and software that are also available that help with this and with sure bets in general.
Along with time and math, you also need to understand sporting odds for these bets. With these bets, you will need to look at several bookmakers and understand where the profit is. Thus, being able to interpret and decipher odds is very important. The difference between the odds you are comparing will give you an estimate of the profit to be earned. So, you place your bet on an event at one sportsbook and do the same for another sportsbook but for the opposite outcome.
For example, suppose you place a sure bet on Brazil against Argentina in one bookmaker. On the other hand, you place a bet for the same amount on Argentina but in a different bookmaker. In this situation no matter which team wins, you don’t lose your bet. However, if there is a tie, you could be in trouble. So, try to steer clear of tournaments that allow for a tie between teams.
For these bets to work right, your bets must return more than your initial amount. So, if you bet ₦ 20,000 and place many sure bets in a few online sportsbooks, the final payout needs to exceed ₦ 20,000. If not, you will face a loss. There is not much luck involved with sure bets. It’s mostly about the mathematical calculations you have to make beforehand. There are also betting exchanges in Nigeria where you can place your opposing bets in the same online sportsbook for a small commission.
Why Punters Should Make Sure Bets
There really isn’t any reason for you not to try these bets. There aren’t any rules against this sort of betting in Nigeria so it’s definitely worth a try.
By understanding how online bookmakers work in Nigeria, you can understand why sure bets are the way to go. Each online sportsbook will have its own team to come up with sets of odds. These odds are basically everything in sports betting. These teams evaluate game trends, and history, analyze the weather, determine player performance and much more before they select the odds. And these odds are carefully curated so you can have an easy win!
This is exactly why these bets are a more plausible option for Nigerian punters. You can make sure your profit is guaranteed by just understanding the odds and building strategies that are made for the win. Sure bets are good for punters who are looking for a more stable side of betting. You will need to spend double the amount but a surefire amount is always assured. While you can’t expect to make millions, you can expect to get steady payments.
Also, these bets are forms of long-term betting. This means that the bets will not work in a short amount of time and the profit margins are usually pretty low. But, stay at these bets for a longer period of time and you’re sure to see good results. It’s kind of like an investment if you think about it. You have to initially deposit a lot but the returns will be consistent and will be lucrative.
Maximize Your Advantages with Sure Bets
With sure bets, you can have a profitable betting experience that will sustain you in the long run. But, for these bets to maximize your advantage, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
Software to Calculate Sure Bets
These bets are all about mathematical calculations and thus you need to understand all the equations and formulas that go behind these bets. While you can opt to make these calculations manually, you can also use software to do it for you.
There are many sure bet calculators in Nigeria that will help make the calculations of these bets for you. With these tools, you can quickly understand how much you can earn if you bet a certain amount.
Research
If you want to be successful with these bets, you need to do your research. Getting good at sure bets means dedicating enough time and energy into figuring out the best deal for you. It’s not really for punters who are looking for a short enjoyable experience.
These bets are for punters who are in for the long run and who take betting very seriously. You need to do research on the history of the sport, player insights, odds on different online sportsbooks and much more.
Observe the Weather
With sports betting, you not only have to speculate the odds, but also the weather. Sporting events usually take place in an open field and changes in the weather can drastically affect the match.
Thus, learn how to observe and know the weather and how it will affect the sporting event. Weather changes do not always mean negative outcomes in the match and can often lead to boosts in player productivity.
Look into Betting Exchanges
Betting exchanges, as we mentioned above, are online sportsbooks where you can place sure bets in exchange for a commission. This means you don’t have to look for two individual sportsbooks and finish the job at one!
There are some great Nigerian betting exchanges that offer these bets to punters. With these exchanges, you can place opposing sure bets on a match. Keep in mind that you will have to pay a small commission for this convenience though.
Sure Bets Example
We’ve been talking about the calculations for a while now, so let’s put it to practice. Say there is a tennis match that has two possible outcomes. Either Player A or Player B will win.
In one online sportsbook, Player A has odds of 1.90 while Player B has odds of 2.00. on another betting site, Player A has odds of 2.20 while Player B has odds of 1.70.
This is a sure bet without a doubt. The indicator for this is the differences in the odds between the two betting sites.
If you place a bet of ₦ 100 on Player B at 2.00 and ₦ 90 on Player A at 2.20, you will have a guaranteed profit of ₦ 8.
Let’s break it down further.
With the scenario being that you bet ₦ 100 on Player B at betting site 1 and that you bet ₦ 90 on Player A at betting site 2.
There are two possible outcomes for this example.
Outcome 1: Tennis Player A wins
- You will initially lose your ₦ 100 at betting site 1.
- You will win ₦ 90 at betting site 2.
- As the odds were 2.20, a win of ₦ 198 is generated.
- So, you lost ₦ 100 at site 1 but you get your ₦ 90 betting stake back at site 2 and win ₦ 108, giving a total profit of ₦ 108.
- You lose your ₦ 90 at betting site 2.
- You win ₦ 100 bet at odds of 2.00 with site 1. So, you get your ₦ 100 stake back and win ₦ 100.
- Thus, after spending a total of ₦ 190, you get back your ₦ 100 stake back along with winnings of ₦100.
- Hence your total profit is ₦ 8.
Now let’s look at the other possible outcome.
Outcome 2: Tennis Player B wins
- You lose your ₦ 90 at site 1.
- You win your ₦ 100 bet at odds of 2.00 so you get your ₦ 100 stake back and win ₦ 100.
- Thus, after spending a total of ₦ 190, you get back your ₦ 100 stake along with winnings on ₦ 100.
- Thus, the total profit is ₦ 8.
In short, if Player A wins you get ₦ 10 and if Player B wins you get ₦ 8. Hence, you win an amount regardless of the outcome.
Keep in mind that there are different interpretations of these bets. This was also a very ideal scenario which might not always be the case. There are also other ways to calculate the bets but this is just a simple example to get you started.
We also used small numbers so you can easily understand the calculations.
Pros and Cons of Sure Bets in Nigeria
Now that you have a clear understanding of what sure bets are and how to calculate them, we can move on to some of the pros and cons of these bets.
Pros
Let’s start with the pros of these bets in Nigeria.
- Profits Are Guaranteed – With these bets, you can almost always guarantee a profit. As long as there are differing odds, you can hope to make money with these bets. Just keep an eye out for tournaments and matches that allow for ties, in those cases things aren’t as simple.
- Long Term Gains – With sure betting, you can aim to make a steady flow of income that will sustain for a long time. Unlike short betting, this sort of betting does take more time dedication but also has long term outcomes.
- Easy to Learn – Once you pass the initial hiccup of this type of betting, it’s a piece of cake. All you need to do is get the calculations right and you’re good to go. You can even use the online sure bet calculators to help you out.
Cons
Now let’s have a look at some of the cons of these bets in Nigeria.
- Limited Earnings – As we said before, you can’t expect to make millions with these bets. It’s more fitted for people who want consistent payouts over a long period of time. In most cases, the profits are quite low.
- Not Easy to Find – Because of their nature, these bets aren’t as commonly seen if compared to regular betting. Sure bets come around from time to time if the odds allow it.
- Not Easily Accepted – It’s a given that these bets aren’t as easily accepted or appreciated in the world of sports betting. While it is not illegal, most bookmakers don’t like this sort of betting and try to steer clear of them.
Odds in Sure Bets
Your experience with these bets will rely on sporting odds. The larger the difference between the odds, the more you can gain with these bets. Thus, you need to have a clear idea of how sports odds work.
In Nigeria, understanding decimal odds will be the most beneficial as it is widely used in online sportsbooks. Compare the decimal odds for teams or players in different sportsbooks and place sure bets strategically to make a profit. The odds for a certain sporting event will usually differ for different sportsbooks. Where some team might be the favourite for a bookie, the same team might be an underdog in another.
With these bets, you need to understand this gap just by looking at the odds. Always remember that higher odds mean that team is the underdog while lower odds means that team is the favourite. The favourite has a higher chance of winning a game in comparison to the underdog. We’re using these terms even though they are more prevalent in Moneyline odds, but the understanding is the same.
Sure Bets Offers and Promotions
As we mentioned above, bookmakers aren’t the biggest fans of sure bets. Thus, finding offers and promotions for these bets can be a bit difficult. There are some sportsbooks in Nigeria that have offers and promotions for these bets but it is not very common.
What Are Alternatives to Sure Bets?
These bets are a good way to go but it is not always an option as you can probably tell. Thus, finding some alternative to these bets can be a good way to stay prepared for any betting adventure.
Let’s have a look at some of the alternatives.
System Betting
System betting is a very large and prominent part of sports betting. A system bet is a pre-set bet consisting of 3 to 8 selections. It’s potentially a way to increase the payout size if you win a bet.
This bet can range from 3 to 8 selections and the amount of your stake is multiplied by the total number of bets in the system bet. Basically, you are taking calculated risks with your money to win more.
Examples of system betting could be the Zig-Zag theory or the Fibonacci pattern.
Live Betting
Live betting is another thrilling way to bet on sporting events. With live bets, you get to make changes to your bets in real-time as the event is going on.
This would be, for example, a cricket match that is happening live. You can watch the match and bet on different markets as the match progresses in real time. This does take some time and practice to master but provides an experience like no other!
Matched Betting
Matched betting is quite similar to sure bets. Both of these bets use the same concept of placing opposing bets on different bookmakers. But for matched betting, you can use free bets to place the bets rather than using real money.
For sure bets, you need to double your stake for it to work in your favour. So, for each bet, you are going to have to spend double your stake. However, with matched betting, this is not the case. Here, you can use your regular stake for one bet while you use free bets to pay for the other one.
FAQ: Sure Bets
To get started with these bets, you need to make accounts in both of the online bookmakers you chose. Then, you simply need to place opposing bets on these bookmakers for the same match, tournament or sporting event.
Yes, you can make multi bets with sure bets. The bet itself is a multi-bet. You can place as many of these bets as you want in different online sportsbooks.
You cannot withdraw your winnings before a bet is settled on online betting sites in Nigeria. You must settle the bet first and then cash out your winnings.
If the online sportsbook you chose has a mobile version, then yes you can use your mobile to place these bets.
You cannot necessarily win every time but you will guarantee yourself a certain amount with these bets. So, while there may not be a win each time, there is a set amount you can hope to earn with these bets.
Responsible Gambling
Before embarking on your sure betting adventure, remember responsible gambling. Responsible gambling talks about the ways to stay accountable and alert when gambling with real money online.
It can be fun to bet with real money online and can also be addictive in many cases. To overcome this addiction and obsession with gambling, responsible gambling techniques have been developed. With responsible gambling, you can stay in check with yourself and adapt strategies to help you play responsibly. You can take breaks from gambling, set limits on your online sportsbook accounts, set limits for playing times or even contact a support group.
Remember to never bet money you cannot afford to lose and be aware of your surroundings when playing. Never gamble when you are angry or anxious and always gamble with a sound mind and judgement.
Recap of Sure Bets
These bets are a great way to get into the sports betting scene in Nigeria. With this form of betting, you can always ensure a small amount is earned back. While you do need to understand the calculations and how this betting form actually works, it’s nothing a little time and effort can’t solve.
Compare the odds in different sportsbooks and find the best bets that will make sure you have a gain no matter which team you’re rooting for!
