Are surebets legal?

Is it legal to surebetting or can it entail punishment? The answer is unequivocal: yes, legally. Surebetting , valuebetting and middles are no different from other bets made by thousands of other people who are not engaged in arbitrage. But why is it so widely believed that it is illegal?

Each profitable better is a loss for the bookmaker, so most of the bookmakers impede making a profit by cutting limits and even blocking accounts. Arbitragers are guaranteed to be profitable players, so they are fought against first of all: most bookmakers have rules prohibiting such activity. Therefore, the players get the impression of "illegal".

But there are also firms that are loyal to arbers. You can read about them in this article on our website.

It would seem that the question on this can be considered closed, but there is an important condition: arbitration will be legal if sports betting is, in principle, legal in the player's country of residence. 

Is it legal to bet in offshore bookmakers

A separate point should be made for those bookmakers who do not burden themselves with restrictions on jurisdiction and licensing of activities. To put it simply, they work illegally. Does the player break the law by placing bets in such bookies? No, it doesn't. Bettor is not to blame for the fact that she works.

As an analogy, we can cite a financial pyramid: their activities are prohibited almost all over the world, but a person is not to blame if he gave money there. This person is a victim, not a criminal.

But there are other risks here:

• the bookmaker may refuse to give the money and cannot be influenced in any way;
• blocking sites by government agencies, but usually such bookmakers have many mirrors;
• seizure of accounts belonging to a bookmaker (a complex procedure requiring international coordination).

In general, the profit from arbitration in offshore bookmakers significantly exceeds the listed risks.

Arbs in Europe

Are surebets legal in the Baltics

Betting is allowed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They began to regulate this area almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, so the gambling business there is quite developed. In addition, there is a huge selection of licensed companies. any bookmaker registered in the EU is considered legal.

Eastern Europe bets

There is no shit in Eastern Europe where it would be forbidden to bet on sports. The laws of the countries may differ in nuances, but in general, you can arbitrate without restrictions.

Arbs in Western Europe

Western Europe is the world's cradle of sports betting. Therefore, it is natural that they are allowed everywhere here.

Italy and France are worth mentioning separately. These countries require a player pool to be segregated specifically for them. Therefore, their official sites are located in national domains, where players cannot access from outside. This, of course, is reflected in the commission, since there are few players. Therefore, it may be unprofitable to play in these countries in legal bookmakers, and there will be much less situations for arbitration.

Is it legal to bet in Scandinavia

Scandinavian countries practically do not differ in terms of bookmakers from the rest of Europe, but there are nuances. As an example, consider the situation with Viktor Blom, a poker player, which originated in Sweden.

Victor won millions online, but the tax authorities demanded even more. Why? They figured that Bloom should pay tax on every pot he won. At the same time, they did not take into account that he subsequently lost more than he won. Those. remained at a loss, and millions more taxes are demanded from him.

If we apply this situation to sports arbitration, then it turns out that even if the player goes to zero, he will still be required to pay taxes on each won bet (which will be in any case). The courts are underway, and it is not clear how this issue will be resolved.

Surebets in communist Asia

China, North Korea, Vietnam are countries where betting is prohibited. But there are also exceptions. China still has a relaxation regime for the former European colonies - Hong Kong and Macau. You can place bets there. In addition, there are many websites targeting Chinese players. It is not yet clear how this will be regulated by the government, but it can be assumed that China is moving towards liberalizing betting activities.

Rich Asian countries

In Singapore and South Korea, the situation is similar: in each of these countries there is only one bookmaker, the “state” one. Therefore, it will not be possible to officially engage in arbitration in these territories.

In Japan, you can only bet on horse races and races (even including bicycles). In such a small market, there are no arbitrage situations to make a profit, even if there are many bookmakers.

Are Muslim bets legal?

It is strictly forbidden to place bets in the Muslim world (as well as to play any other gambling game). Even in a relatively liberal Turkey, you will not be able to engage in arbitration (although there is some progress), let alone in more orthodox countries. For example, even a deck of cards will most likely not be brought into Iran.

Legality of surebetting in the USA

Everything is complicated in America. There are officially some gambling zones where you can place bets (Nevada, Atlantic City). There are also Indian reservations, which also give such permits (reservations can adopt their own laws). But all this works only offline, so what should an affiliate marketer do in the US?

In fact, there is progress in this matter. The federal law banning bookmakers was canceled in 2018, although this did not lead to a rapid growth in the gaming industry. Several states are trying to pass bills to allow online bookmakers to operate in their territories. There will be many restrictions, for example, only residents of these states will be allowed on the sites. But this is a confident step forward and there is hope that the capitalist society will not miss this benefit, because people are betting illegally anyway.

Betting in Canada

It is easy to get confused about Canadian sports betting law. In some territories, the size of the rates is legally limited. But the main limitation is that you can only bet express, you cannot bet an ordinary. What makes arbitration in this country impossible.

True, bookmakers demand from the government to allow single bets. But at the same time, the state insists on fixed coefficients that will not change until the start of the event. It will be a paradise for arbitration. But for now, we are following the development of events.

Arbs in Brazil

Laws have recently been passed to legalize sports betting in Brazil. This is potentially a great market for arbitrage: the huge population with internet access will rock the line a lot. But so far it is difficult to say where these legislative initiatives will lead.

Is betting legal in Latin America

In the developed countries of Latin America, there are almost no problems with rates. These include:

• Argentina (bookmakers are prohibited in the capital);
• Chile;
• Mexico.
• Colombia can also be included here, where there is a fairly large income from bookmaking activities.

In most other countries, little attention is paid to this sector of the economy. Most often, it is not regulated in any way, but players who bet at foreign bookmakers online are not prosecuted in any way.

Surebetting in Australia

As with any British dominion, the love of the stakes in Australia is high. But the government does not support the aspirations of its people. For example, live betting was banned a few years ago. Also, the rules and requirements for bookmakers differ from state to state. They are most loyal in the sparsely populated Northern Territories, where online betting is allowed without restrictions (except for live, as already mentioned).

Conclusion on the legality of surebets in different countries

There are plenty of countries with a ban on sports betting. But let's face it: there is no way to regulate offshore bookmakers even in the most developed countries, not to mention states with more modest capabilities. Therefore, even where it is impossible to officially bet, you can deploy arbitration activities.

This is not a call to break the law: in fact, even the governments of these countries do not fight "illegal immigrants". In general, there is a noticeable tendency in the world to legalize bookmaking activities. Therefore, we can assume that sports arbitration has a future. And it is quite light.

And if you are just getting started in arbitrage, read 10 tips from the pros in surebets. This will help to avoid the mistakes that they made at the start.