2026 is here, and here's my most important New Year's Resolution: I’m done losing money gambling.

But I’m not done gambling.

Instead, I am officially an Arbitrage bettor now, and I will be hunting for Arbs to get risk-free, guaranteed profit.

I’ve been gambling for over a decade. I’ve had some great days, weeks, months and years. But I’ve also had some rough ones, especially lately. To be fully transparent, over the last few years, I’ve been getting absolutely crushed by the books. I was betting with zero discipline, and found myself on tilt often.

Not anymore, though. I’ve made a big change thanks to Pickwatch and the new BetSmart subscription package, and joined the Arbitrage Army.

BetSmart Subscription Package

Using BetSmart and the Arbitrage Bet Finder, I recently started seeking out and placing Arbitrage bets daily. They weren’t very lucrative, but I wanted to start small and slow, and ease into this trending Arbitrage movement.

The profits are small, but right now, my biggest goal is to just not lose money, and slowly start building guaranteed bankroll. As I do that, and as I get more comfortable with Arbitrage betting, I’m excited to keep using Pickwatch and their other tools that come with the BetSmart subscription package, such as:

If you’re interested in joining me on this journey, the BetSmart package currently has a 14-Day Free Trial, and a 50% Off Sale on top of that once the trial ends. I highly recommend trying it if you’re in a legal betting state, as it is an incredible deal compared to other similar sites and apps.

Arbitrage Betting: 3 Lessons Learned

Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned after just a few days of Arbitrage betting.

1. Odds and Lines Change FAST

Every day so far, I have seen these odds and lines change fast and often. Sometimes instantly fast, within minutes, even seconds. Here’s an example:

With the Arbitrage Tracker, I identified a solid opportunity with Payton Pritchard and his 1st Quarter Points market, but I saw it late. Per the tracker, bet365 had Under 5.5 Points with +105 odds, while FanDuel had Over 5.5 Points with +116 odds.

I put the +105 wager in the Bet Slip, then went to FanDuel to confirm it was +116. Unfortunately, FanDuel had already changed the odds to +112, but I placed the bet anyway because I had a profit boost (more on that in a bit). I went back to bet365, and the odds changed to -115!

With some other Arbitrage opportunities, I saw the lines had already changed as soon as I opened the sportsbook app, or they changed while I was adding it to my Bet Slip yet again.

Lesson learned: MOVE FAST, and utilize BetSmart notifications, so you can lock in bets as soon as they are identified.

2. Profit Boosts Help MASSIVELY

As mentioned, having Profit Boosts at either sportsbook for an Arbitrage bet can make a big difference, and if you're lucky enough to have boosts available at both books, it can be massive.

Using a 100% boost from FanDuel, I was able to secure a solid $12 profit with just $66 wagered across both sportsbooks on the Pritchard Arbitrage bets, even though I missed the original odds.

Moving forward, I am going to be very strategic in how I utilize these Profit Boosts. The 100% boosts don’t come around often, but definitely use them if you can. If not, those 20%, 25%, 30% and 50% are all increasingly valuable.

As you begin to try Arbitrage betting, be sure to keep an eye out for those on various sportsbooks.

3. Location is KEY

With Arbitrage betting, it's vital to be in a legal sports betting state with a lot of legal sportsbooks.

Unfortunately, if you are in a non-legal state, or a state with a limited number of legal sportsbooks, you will not be able to benefit much from Arbitrage betting. I can personally attest to this, as I live in California but am currently in Arizona for at least another couple weeks.

With 14 legal sports betting apps and sites, Arizona is one of the best states to be for Arbitrage betting, and for redeeming various Welcome Bonuses and New-User Promotions. Other great states include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, and more.

Arbitrage Hunter Series

Join me on my journey as I officially commit to being an Arbitrage bettor. I will be posting weekly with my latest lessons learned, examples of some of my best Arbs each week, and much more.

And remember, you can claim your FREE 14-Day Trial of BetSmart today, and get instant access to the Arbitrage Tracker and several other valuable sports betting tools.