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How Are Softbooks Profitable?

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Cash
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How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:45 am

Hello.  I am new to arbing, and the concept of soft bookies.  If you are an arber with a soft bookie who charge 5% of your winnings, how can that be profitable?  Because if you make a $100 bet at 2.00 odds with a 3% arb profit, and the bet wins at the soft bookie, you only profit $3, but doesn't the book take $5?
Last edited by Cash on Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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arbusers
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:12 am

Taxes are always a factor against arbing.
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Sun Apr 05, 2015 5:40 am

Taxes?  Forgive me, as I am a noob, but doesn't a 5% tax on winnings outweigh the value of most arbs?  I don't see how any arber could profit from betting at betfair, or anywhere else that charges more than 3% on winnings.  Am I missing something about arbing with soft books?
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Sun Apr 05, 2015 6:57 am

Cash wrote: doesn't a 5% tax on winnings outweigh the value of most arbs?
Most arbs yes, but not all of them. Some people continue operating with this 5%, even with a filthy 6.5% charged from betfair in several countries.
Cash wrote: Am I missing something about arbing with soft books?
We all miss a lot of things. Even though there are various level of experience, i don't believe that there is someone among us that knows everything about arbing.
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:39 am

I see, thanks for that, good to know.  I'm sorry, I might have misused the word softbook as well.  I'm not sure if I meant bet exchange.  I feel like I'm trying to wrap my head around so many different things and have so many passwords and book names in my head, I'm struggling to make sense of it all before I devise a strategy to actually make money.
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:11 pm

Most arbs yes, but not all of them. Some people continue operating with this 5%, even with a filthy 6.5% charged from betfair in several countries.
Thanks, some users still continue with it though.
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:16 pm

I had same question. I maybe wrong but number of sites deduct 5% from winnings not the whole sum.
For example
Arb: 5%
Pos1 :10 EUR
Pos2: 10 EUR
Total stake: 20
Profit 20*0,05=1 EUR
Site1 deducts 1Eur*5%=5 cents as taxes

Therefore it's not so bad
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Re: How Are Softbooks Profitable?

Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:01 am

starter wrote: I had same question. I maybe wrong but number of sites deduct 5% from winnings not the whole sum.
For example
Arb: 5%
Pos1 :10 EUR
Pos2: 10 EUR
Total stake: 20
Profit 20*0,05=1 EUR
Site1 deducts 1Eur*5%=5 cents as taxes

Therefore it's not so bad
5% of 20 (total stake) is 1.(total profit)
5% of 10 (profit on 2.00 odds) is 0.5.

so yeah, i guess you lose half your arb with these numbers.  With 5% tax, the arb would have to be greater than 2.5% to profit anything. If the arb is 3.5%, its really a 1% arb after 5% tax.

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