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?