What is a fork in sports betting: how does this strategy work for bookmakers
Betting on forks allows you to earn money at any outcome in sports»Championship» figured out what a fork means and how it works.
Forks in sports betting allow the player to earn money at any outcome of the event. But even a win-win strategy has drawbacks. Next, you will learn what forks are, how they work and how to find them, how bookmakers treat forks, types of forks, pros and cons.
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What does a fork mean in sports betting
A fork is an opportunity to place bets on opposite outcomes of the same sporting event with guaranteed profit. Fork shoulders are the opposite outcomes forming a fork.A fork maker is a player who uses forks to make money.
How do bookmakers’ forks appear
Forks appear when the bookmaker’s odds diverge from the market, that is, the rest of the BC. This happens for the following reasons:
The bookmaker inflates the odds to attract customers.
- The coefficients change with different delays at different bookmakers.
Large bets lead to a sharp drop in the coefficient. - This is also caused by a large flow of regular-sized bids received in a short period of time.
Forks do not last long — a few minutes. Bookmakers monitor competitors’ odds and abnormal betting flows to get out of the forks quickly. Players use publicly available and self-written programs to monitor forks: as soon as a fork appears in a public service, a large number of bets come to it — and this leads to its end. Therefore, fast forks remain in profit.
Examples of calculating forks in sports betting
Consider two examples.
Roger Federer — Rafael Nadal tennis match.
At bookmaker A, Federer’s victory goes for 2.05, and at bookmaker B, you can bet on Nadal with a coefficient of 2.10. If you bet 1000 rubles on each of the elections, you will be in the black at any outcome of the match. Roger’s success will bring 2050 rubles: 1000 x 2.05, and Nadal’s victory will give a payout of 2100 rubles: 1000 x 2.10.
Chelsea — Arsenal football match. Bookmaker A gives 2.00 for Chelsea to win.
Bookmaker B offers to bet on a draw for 4.00, and on the success of Arsenal for 4.50. It’s a fork. If you bet 900 rubles on Chelsea, 450 rubles on a draw and 400 rubles on Arsenal, the total amount of bets will be 1,750 rubles. Potential payout in case of success of Chelsea: 900 x 2.00 = 1800 rubles. In case of a draw: 450 x 4.00 = 1800 rubles.
When Arsenal wins: 400 x 4.50 = 1800 rubles. You will receive a profit of 50 rubles at any outcome of the match.
How to find forks in bookmakers
There are two ways to find a fork in bookmakers.
Calculate it yourself
The fork can be determined by the formula: Sp = 1 / K1 + 1 / K2 + … + 1 / Kp, where Sp is the sum of probabilities, n is the number of outcomes in one market, K1, K2, …, Kp are the coefficients for the outcomes of one market.
Take the tennis match between Federer and Nadal from the previous example. If the coefficient for the first is 2.05, and for the second is 2.10, then: 1 / 2.05 + 1 / 2.10 = 0.964. The result is less than one, that is, it is a fork.
Use fork scanners
Use the services that look for forks from bookmakers for you and calculate the amount of bets that will allow you to earn. Many of them are free and work online. The disadvantage of this method is that the capacities of public scanners are mediocre, and there are a lot of users. Therefore, they fix only a part of the forks, and even those quickly disappear.
How to calculate the amount of bets for a fork
You can determine the amount of the bet on the fork leverage using the formula:
S = 1 / coefficient / Sp x B, where S is the amount of the bet on the fork’s leverage, Sp is the total probability of outcomes in decimal terms, B is the size of the pot allocated for the entire fork.
Let’s take the same example of a tennis match. Let’s say you put a total of 1000 rubles on this fork. The amount of the bet on Federer: 1 / 2.05 / 0.964 x 1000 = 506 rubles. The amount of the bet on Nadal: 1 / 2.10 / 0.964 x 1000 = 494 rubles. If you bet exactly these amounts, you will get a net profit in any outcome, and it will be approximately the same.
How bookmakers treat forks
Most bookmakers apply sanctions to players who bet on forks. The most common measure is to reduce the maximum rate. Some bookmakers may block the account and deprive the player of their own funds, but legal ones do not do this.
Here are recommendations that will help you avoid bookmakers’ sanctions.
Bet round sums. Fractional values, such as 8574 rubles and 30 kopecks, arouse suspicion among bookmakers.
Don’t bet the whole pot. An ordinary player will not risk the entire amount of his account every time.
Avoid high-yield forks. The bookmaker can specifically create a fork with a high profit for catching forks and later make a refund on the bet, referring to an error in the line.
Do not deposit or withdraw funds after each bet.
Leave the funds on the balance.
Place regular bets on popular events. Bookmakers take on the pencil of players who constantly bet large sums on unpopular outcomes and minor tournaments. Diversify your fork rates with regular and express.
Types of forks in betting shops
Forks are divided into groups according to several criteria.
By the number of shoulders: two-way, three-way and so on.
Full and incomplete: in incomplete forks, you don’t bet on the most unlikely outcome of the market, but in full forks, you bet on all outcomes.
In the pre-match and live: during the live match, forks occur often, but you may not have time to place a bet with the right coefficient.
Pros and cons of betting on forks in sports
Plus forks in making a profit at any outcome of the event.
There are many disadvantages to betting on forks.
For a large profit, you will have to keep large amounts of money on the accounts of several bookmakers.
There is a high risk of account blocking, delays and loss of money.
You will have to bet, including from illegal online bookmakers in Russia, and this means blocking websites and transfers.
Forks are only formally considered a win-win option.
The risk of account blocking and the need for a large start-up bank make this strategy not too attractive. To be successful, forks need to be given a huge amount of time and take into account all the nuances described.
In addition, betting companies are constantly improving algorithms, and there are fewer forks, and it is more difficult to bet on them without suspicion.