How much money do you need to start arbitrage betting?

The short answer

$500 to $1,000 is enough to start arbitrage betting. Split it across 3 or 4 sportsbooks so you can take either side of an arb when it shows up.

Your total bankroll matters less than how it's spread. Each arb uses two books at once, and the smaller of the two balances decides how much you can stake.

Your smallest balance sets the limit

Say you have $250 at BetMGM and $250 at Caesars. BetMGM has the Chiefs at -105 and Caesars has the Bills at +115. That's a 2.3% arb.

The Chiefs leg needs the bigger stake, so BetMGM runs out first. Putting all $250 there means $227.02 on the Bills at Caesars. That's $477.02 in total, and either result pays back $488.10, a profit of $11.07.

You have $500 across the two books, but you can only stake $477.02. Add $1,000 to a third book and the cap doesn't move, because that book isn't in this arb.

At near-even odds each leg is about half the stake, so the largest arb is about twice the smaller balance. Change the odds or the locked stake below to see how far your own balances stretch.

What each bankroll size can do

This table assumes an even split and a 2-way arb at near-even odds. Profit uses a 2% edge, a common size for pre-game arbs.

More books means more arbs to choose from, but thinner balances in each. Below about $150 per book, a single arb can drain an account, and you'll skip good edges while you wait for money to move. For which books to start with, see the best sportsbooks for arbitrage betting.

Every arb leaves one book empty

Go back to the Chiefs and Bills. Before the game you had $250 in each book. After it settles, the money has piled up on one side.

The total grows by $11.07 either way, but one book can no longer fund an arb. After a few dozen arbs, most of your money tends to sit in two or three accounts while the rest run dry.

• Withdraw and redeposit. Pull from the full book and deposit into the empty one. Withdrawals can take one to five days, so start before a balance hits zero.
• Keep a buffer. Hold some cash outside the books so you can top up an empty account the same day.
• Let the arbs rebalance you. When choosing between two similar arbs, pick the one that puts the bigger stake on your fullest book.

How much to put on one arb

The game result can't hurt you, but execution can. The usual problem is the second line moving before you bet it.

Say you place the $250 on the Chiefs, and the Bills drop from +115 to +100 before you get to Caesars. To cover both results you now need $244.05 on the Bills. That's $494.05 staked for a $488.10 return, a loss of $5.95. A missed leg usually costs a little like this. A voided leg is worse, since it can leave the full $250 unhedged.

• Place the leg most likely to move first. That's usually the outlier price, the one furthest from what other books offer.
• Keep any one arb to a share of your bankroll you'd be fine losing on a voided leg. A cap of 10% to 25% is a reasonable start.
• Skip edges above about 5% on obscure markets. They're often pricing errors that books void.
• Round stakes to whole dollars. It costs a few cents and makes your account look less sharp.

For the full process, see how to arbitrage bet step by step. Rounding and staying under the radar are covered in how to avoid sportsbook limits.

How a bankroll turns into profit

The edge on each arb is fixed, so your monthly profit depends on how much you stake in total, not on the bankroll size alone.

A $2,000 bankroll that settles and gets reused 10 times in a month puts $20,000 through arbs. At a 2% average edge, that's about $400. The same bankroll used 3 times earns about $120.

The bigger risk to growth is account limits. A book that caps you at $50 shrinks the arbs you can place there, whatever your balance is. For how returns hold up over time, see whether arbitrage betting is profitable.

Frequently asked questions