The number of types of bets offered by all bookmakers increases significantly over the World Cup. Often, these bets are actually very difficult for bookmakers to calculate correctly, but they do so anyway because their competitors are! This leads directly to a very large number of arbitrage and middling opportunities for traders.
Each individual match will have a very large number of bets available on it.
All of the standard markets (match bets, Asian & European Handicaps, Total Goals, Half-Time Result, Double-Chance etc etc) will be available and
bookmakers will be ready to take far higher stakes than normal because they
will be seeing far more action than normal.
However, there will be other bets offered which are based on the entire tournament or specific aspects of it.
It’s here that you’ll uncover a once-in-4-years goldmine of arbs and middles…
TOTAL CORNERS
Total Corners bets will be based on:
a) Total Corners taken in a particular match
b) Total Corners taken during each stage (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
c) Total Corners taken during the final
d) Total Corners taken during the entire tournament (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
The biggest arbitrage and middling opportunities appear in the markets (b) and (d) because a very large part of the bookmakers’ method of price-setting for these markets is speculation. These bets will start to appear several months before the tournament starts and prices will be updated after every single match.
TOTAL GOALS
Total Goals bets will be based on:
a) Total Goals scored in a particular match
b) Total Goals scored during each stage (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
c) Total Goals scored during the final
d) Total Goals scored during the entire tournament (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
The biggest arbitrage and middling opportunities appear in the markets (b) and (d) because a very large part of the bookmakers’ method of price-setting for these markets is speculation. These bets will start to appear several months before the tournament starts and prices will be updated after every single match. In these markets, there can be a variation among bookmakers: whether or not the total includes ‘Golden Goals’. These are the goals scored during Extra Time whenever a match ends in a draw in Normal Time.
You should ensure that you bet like against like. However, if you spot an opportunity which allows you to bet UNDER X (excluding Golden Goals) against OVER Y (including Golden Goals), where Y > X, then you should grab it as there is a much greater-than-average chance that you’ll win both bets (i.e the Middle will land successfully).
TOTAL BOOKINGS
Total Bookings bets will be based on:
a) Total Bookings made in a particular match
b) Total Bookings made during each stage (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
c) Total Bookings made during the final
d) Total Bookings made during the entire tournament (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
The biggest arbitrage and middling opportunities appear in the markets (b) and (d) because a very large part of the bookmakers’ method of price-setting for these markets is speculation. These bets will start to appear several months before the tournament starts and prices will be updated after every single match.
TOTAL CARDS
Total Cards bets will be based on:
a) Total Cards given in a particular match
b) Total Cards given during each stage (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
c) Total Cards given during the final
d) Total Cards given during the entire tournament (i.e the sum of all corners taken by all teams in a particular stage)
The biggest arbitrage and middling opportunities appear in the markets (b) and (d) because a very large part of the bookmakers’ method of price-setting for these markets is speculation. These bets will start to appear several months before the tournament starts and prices will be updated after every single match.
There will be variations on the Cards markets, for example, Total cards, Total Red Cards, Total Yellow Cards. Ensure that you bet like against like when trading.
Also, be careful not to confuse the Bookings markets with the Cards markets as they are related but not the same thing.
The World Cup is an extremely profitable event for sports arbitrage traders; many professionals make as much from this single event as they do in a normal year of trading.
YOU CAN TOO…
