The real risks

The maths of a surebet has no risk. Placing one does. Here is what actually goes wrong, roughly in order of how often.

A price moves between legs

You place leg one, open the second book, and its price has dropped. Now one outcome is covered and the other isn't. Your options:

• Take the new price if the surebet still has a margin, or costs you less than leaving the leg open.
• Cover elsewhere: another book may still quote a price close to the old one. On our board, a surebet's alternatives show the same bet at other pairs of books.
• Leave it open: then it's an ordinary bet that can lose. Decide before you start how much you're willing to leave uncovered.

The fewer seconds between legs, the smaller this risk. That's why stakes are worked out for you and each book opens with one key.

A leg gets voided

A book can cancel a bet it calls a palpable error, or void it under its rules (a postponed match, a retirement). If one leg is voided and the other stands, you hold a single bet. Prices far from the market are the usual suspects: our board flags them.

Different settlement rules

Two books can settle the same match differently: overtime included at one and not the other, a tennis retirement voided at one and settled at the other. Read each book's rules for the sports you bet. Our matching checks market, period and line, but the fine print is each book's.

Limits

Books limit accounts that win consistently. See Books, limits and account health.

Money tied up at books

Every book needs its own balance. A bankroll split across many books means each one holds a part, and withdrawals take time. Only stake money you can leave at a book for a while.

Human error

Wrong stake, wrong side, wrong line, a missing zero. Copy stakes rather than typing them, and check the slip before you confirm.