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A comment on The rising human cost of sports betting. Parent comment

Re:The rising human cost of sports betting by vkou on Monday January 31, 2022 @06:15PM (#30156186)
Shouldn't the bid-ask spread eat all of that profit, and more?
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Re:The rising human cost of sports betting by gostsamo on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @12:53AM (#30159074)
No, you don't do it on random. Let's say you are looking at basketball game X vs. Y.

Bookmaker A is giving odds X win 2.5 and Y win 1.33

Bookmaker B is giving odds X win 1.55 and Y win 2.10

What you do is bet on X in A and on Y in B. Let's say that you invest $2000 ($1000 in each bookie). If X wins, you loose $1000 on Y, but you win $2500 from X. Total profit = $500. If Y wins, you loose $1000 on X, but you win $2100 on Y with net profit of $100.

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