The TraderZone automates all of the calculations that are necessary for trading so do not be concerned if the descriptions below cause your eyes to glaze over.

There are 2 main categories of formula relevant to sports arbitrage: price-conversion and stake calculation.

1. Price-conversion

Prices, or odds, come in 3 formats. The UK format is fractional (eg 2/1), the European format is decimal (eg 3.00) & the US format is numerical (eg +200)

The convention for sports arbitrage traders is to use the European format and this means that it's important to be able to convert between all formats.

a) UK | EU

To convert a UK price to the European equivalent, change the price to a decimal and add 1

EU Price = UK Price + 1

b) US | EU

To convert a positive US price to the European equivalent, divide the price by 100 and add 1

EU Price = (US Price/100) + 1

To convert a negative US price to the European equivalent, divide the price by 100 and multiply the result by -1. Then put 1 over the result and add 1

EU Price = 1/[(negative US price/100) x -1] +1

c) EU | %

To convert a European price into its percentage, put 1 over the price and multiply the result by 100

% = (1/EU price) x 100

When checking to se if a set of prices yield an arb, you would convert each price to its percentage equivalent and then add all of the percentages together. If the result is less than 100% then an arb exists.

2. Stake Calculation

To calculate the stakes you need to place on each bet within a sports arbitrage trade, you take the total amount you intend to invest, multiply this by the individual bet's percentage and then divide the result by the trade's total percentage

Stake = (investment x bet's percentage)/trade's total percentage