CertainBets and Search4Bets CertainBet Calculator
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CertainBets and Search4Bets CertainBet Calculator
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What are 'CertainBets' ?
A 'CertainBet'
is an arbitraged bet. The word arbitrage is defined as being :
n : A kind of hedged investment meant to capture slight differences in price;
when there is a difference in the price of something on two different markets
the arbitrageur simultaneously buys at the lower price and sells at the higher
price
v : practice arbitrage, as of stocks
In the context of betting (or wagering), it is essentially the practise of betting on all of the outcomes of an event and regardless of the outcome of that event, more monies are returned than were wagered.
As an example take the scenario of a tennis match.
There are two outcomes; either player 1 wins or player 2 wins *.
If player one
were the favourite and the decimal odds at a bookmaker were 1.5 (1/2 as
fractional odds) and at another bookmaker the odds for player 2 were 4.0 (3/1 as
fractional odds) then (if monies were laid in the correct proportion) this would
be a 'CertainBet'.
If the person considered that he wanted to make £1000 regardless of the outcome, the respective amounts of money that would have to be wagered are as follows :
Player1 : £666.67 Player 2 : £250
The total outlay would therefore be : £916.67
The return (regardless of the outcome) would be : £83.33
The example above has a return of : 9.1%
* There are obviously other scenarios but in most cases bets are either returned or one of the two players is deemed to be the winner ( due to fairly standard betting regulations ).
How are the 'CertainBets' possible?
Its quite simple really; and for the same reason that you can arbitrage anything!
The internet has made it possible to place bets at different bookmakers throughout the world, and despite the fact that information technology has also aided the 'perfect knowledge' of the bookmaker, it still does not alter the fact that different perceptions as to the outcome of an event will differ !
Patriotism is a good example of why odds differ. As an example take a football international; Spain vs. Germany. In Germany punters will typically back their team to win and vice-versa in Spain. This will probably result on the respective odds at each countries bookmaker being lower for the national side. Hence place your bet on Germany to win in Spain, place your bet on Spain in Germany and look to place money on the draw at a bookmaker of a disinterested national !
The other principle reason is that a bookmakers early price (as they are trying to find their market) is sometimes erratic. For the opportunist (with a good knowledge of form) there are some real bargains to be had.
Why use the 'CertainBets' calculator
This calculator is intended to be used by the serious gambler looking to arbitrage bets.
It's basic premise is to provide a method of verifying
whether the odds selected provide a 'CertainBet'.
Its advantages over using a simple spreadsheet are as follows :
Saves
having to write complex macros and reduces human error when working out arbitrage opportunities.
Place bets in different currencies and convert back to a base currency
Get bet exchange commissions included in the calculations
Email yourself the results.
Up to 10 different outcomes bets and unlimited number of individual bets can be assessed at one
time. (so you can place the same bet at different odds with a different bookmaker!)
You do not have to have any special software loaded on the machine (just have Javascript enabled - which is a prerequiste for the rest of the site anyway!)
(c) 2005 search4bets