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FAQ

How do I make money off middles and Polish middles?

A profit from Polish middles is achieved as with simple middles, if the actual outcome hits both (sometimes more) different outcomes.

Example of a simple middle: there are two bets: total over 0.5, odds 2.05, and total under 1.5, odds 2.50.

If exactly one goal is scored in this game, the result will fall under both events, giving the player twice the win.   That means hitting the middle.

In the case of a Polish middle, the calculation scheme is somewhat more complicated (it is described in detail on the Polish middles page).

 

Is a Polish middle an arbitrage bet?

No.  In the classical sense, it is not. An arbitrage is the situation when a player is at least 100% guaranteed against losing the arbitrage, and in most cases a good profit is achieved.

The Polish middles allow the occurrence of a single, though unlikely, result that can reduce the player's bank. You can read more about this in the article about the Polish middles.

Why do we tell about it on our website? This is self-evident: Polish middles are formed according to the same principles as traditional middles, where several events with different outcomes intersect, giving the player the opportunity to earn 5 to 10 times more (on average, there are some deviations) compared to the size of a loss.

This method, though not absolute in terms of reliability, is potentially very lucrative. And if you know how to look for Polish middles (we know it), you can make good money off it.

 

What is the difference between positive and negative middles?

As we have already answered above, if the outcome hits the middle, then the player profits from both bets, in other words, you get a very good profit. In case of a defeat, the winnings will only be received by one of the bets.

A positive middle means that the player profits in any case if the profit is based on only one bet.  In practice, such middles can be very rare and narrow, and sometimes it makes no sense to pursue them just because they are positive.

A negative middle means that if the player misses the middle and only one of the bets wins, the player is left with a small loss. This is acceptable for those who want to make middles wider and increase the probability to won both bets and make up for any possible disadvantages.

What is a value bet?

A value bet is a betting strategy betting on events that are undervalued by bookmakers. And if the bookmaker undervalued them, the odds are greater than the actual probability. With value betting, a player gets an advantage over bookmakers in the logn run, even considering the losses.

How do I find value bets?

  1. By yourself. This is especially true for players with good understanding of betting, having their finger on the pulse of the sport, and know what is happening with their favourite team at the moment almost better than the coach. Having carefully analysed the lines and odds offered by bookmakers, an expert of this kind can find value bets. In fact, the bookmakers’ own analysts make mistakes and become caught by stereotypes sometimes.
  2.  Services that scan for value bets. Their advantage is that they process a large amount of data from different bookmakers First, the average odds are derived as the arithmetic mean of all proposed odds, and then this value is compared with each bookmaker's odds.  The value above the average is the desired value bet.
  3. Check surebets carefully. One of the arms of a surebet is definitely a value bet. The presence of an overvalued bet is the key to the emergence of a surebet.

What is a middle?

Most often, the middle strategy is used in connection with basketball games. Let us take a closer look at the example.  The first bookmaker offers total goals under 159.5, odds 1.96. The second bookmaker offers total goals over 156.5, odds 1.8. If the game ends with total goals of 157, 158, 159, the player will win both bets. In any other case he will win one of the bets, which is also quite good.

Middle betting (middling) is a strategy to bet on two arms (outcomes) with some reserve. The advantage of middle bets is a good profit when you hit the middle.

 

What kind of sports arbitrage are there?

Sports arbitrage is a system of betting at various bookmakers on opposite outcomes of a game (competition), as a result of which the player receives profit independently of the outcome of the game.

In this way, surebets and middles are variants of sports arbitrage.

What sports are better to bet with surebets?

Arbitrage or surebets are best suited for football, hockey and basketball. The action line for some of events from the world of football is sometimes more than 200 markets, which means that the likelihood of evaluating the bets differently is much more than, for example, for water polo.  The difference in evaluations by different bookmakers as to whether or not an event occurs resulting in different odds is a necessary condition for an arbitrage bet to be possible.

An advice: it would be advisable not to bet on your favourite sports and teams, but to be guided to factors such as the profit amount and ROI (Return on Investment).

What sports are best suited for occurrence of arbitrage situations?

According to statistics, football remains the most popular sport in Europe. The greatest number of bets are made with this sport. For the most popular games, the number of open markets can exceed 200. It is the wide selection of different bookmakers that makes arbitrage betting possible. 

When we talk about live surebets, they are more likely to occur in sports where both teams win a lot of points.  First of all, it is basketball. To a lesser extent, it is tennis and volleyball.

Biathlon surebets: is there any such thing?

Despite sometimes exciting events that take place at World Cup competitions, biathlon struggles to become more popular than football, hockey and basketball. Not any big and well-known bookmaker even has biathlon bets available. There can't be any surebets without variety of choice.

So, to answer your question: there are some biathlon surebets, but they are rare. Under these conditions, profits are impossible.

Are middles and the surebets the same?

No, they are different types of arbitrage. Surebet betting strategy means that a bet player bets with different bookmakers and receives profits.

For example, the bets for a Zenit vs. CSKA football game according to Total Goals are as follows:

  • The first bookmaker offers total goals over 2.5, odds 1.91.
  • The second bookmaker offers total goals under 2.5, odds 2.25.

Regardless of the game outcome, the player will receive 3.3% profit.

A middle strategy provides for an opportunity to win both bets at the same time. Each middle has a certain width.

For example, the bets for a Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns game are as follows:

  • The first bookmaker offers total goals over 159.5, odds 1.96.
  • The second bookmaker offers total under 161.5, odds 1.96.

The width of the middle is 2 points, i.e. with total goals of 160 and 161, the player who bets on the middle wins both bets. In any other case, the player will make a profit off one of the bets with the 2% minus of the bank amount.