newbie arbitrage questions.

[almostbusto]

i did a couple searches both on and off 2+2 and there are just a few things i woud like cleared up.

first is arbitrage considered cheating by sportsbooks? i thought it would be totally fine but after reading a few sites they seem to insuate that if you get flagged as a "arb'er" then you can get in trouble. am i at risk of getting my funds seized?


i recently signed up for an account and pinnacle. the WBC lines were moving a ton in early rounds, i was scalping/trading (i am not sure the difference, i was betting both sides at any rate) almost every other game i bet. meaning i bet both sides at pinnacle... not one side on pinnacle and the other side on another book (something i just started doing more recently). one thing that could potentially save me is that i made a bet that was huge negative EV. i bet opposite sides of the money and run lines on two games and it resulted in a situation where i won 50 in the underdog won, 75 if the favorite covered, and something stupid like -350 if the favorite lost by one point. i am not sure of the numbers, but it was bad. so if they review my play i don't think it will look like i am some super profitable pro sports bettor

should i email them in advance and try and explain myself? i feel like one of the beginners in the zoo who asks why his funds were frozen for dumping chips to his roommate in a heads up cash game. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]


second question, i read this thread and it seems like there was a lot of different advice on arbitrage. are those arb service sites worth the money? assuming i have about a 10K bankroll. right now i have 9k spread across 4 sites(i have a 5th site with 100$ in it, and about 5 other sites i have accounts with but no money deposited). i am interested in doing some arbitrage to clear bonuses (at least). i even calculated that with the bonuses i have i can actually bet losing lines and show a profit (betting a +109 and -110) because of the bonus it clears. of course thats not my intention but it seems to indicate that arbitrage mixed with bonuses is a very profitable situation.

so does anyone have experience with any of those web service s that report possible arbitrage oppurtunities? or are they scams/unreliable/filled with spyware etc?

how many oppurtunities do you guys find per week? any tips on how to find them?

[PropPlayer]

I would not suggest emailing a site to explain yourself [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] at the same time I would not worry about it either. I asked this question not to long ago, with sites like Pinnacle and betting exchange sites, taking both sides after a line move is fine. With other books this is not a good idea, and you risk having your limits reduced, bonus privileges suspended or being invited to leave if you are betting both sides at the same site, especially while trying to clear a bonus.
There are plenty of good books where you never will have to worry about your funds being frozen. There are a few books that are decent and have scalps available often who offer bonuses yet do not like bonus chasers and steam bettors. It rare they ask people to leave but in the event they do the ones I am referring to will pay you at the same time as asking you to leave. I do quite a bit of scalping with a smaller bankroll, $4500 and have been for a couple years. If you would like to discuss items regarding specific books that have arbs send me a PM. I’ve never used any of the arb finders but I generally find an arb or 2 per day. I’ll either come across them when shopping lines for a game I want, or when I notice a line has moved. After a while it’s easy to get the hang of, in terms of knowing what to look for. For example a couple of the books I use have the worst line on favorites most of the time, so in turn there are lots of times when a scalp can be found using the dog at their site and favorite at Pinnacle. Also a couple other sites are always worth checking because they offer profile lines. A few days ago I made a huge bet on middle at one site today I ended up with a ½ pt better on the other team which only showed when I logged into my account. I assume this had something to do with the large wager I had placed on the other team the day before, I checked with a friend and he could not get the same line I was getting. In summary my point is, it gets easier to find arbs after a while because you know exactly where to look for them.