Yes, I am still here

Hey everyone! Boy oh boy have I been getting the hate mail! Ok ok, so it's not really hate mail as much as it has been "where are you?" emails. I do apologize for sort of dropping off the face of the earth the last month or so. Things have been hectic around here and to be honest, I have just not had the time to be on the computer.

I'll go back a bit and explain a bit of what's been going on.

First of all, living in the US, as most of you know, causes problems and I sort of wanted to see what the "fallout" would be from the new "repression law" regarding online gambling in the US. So I sort of cooled my jets a bit. I won't say much more on this subject because it's likely that I will go off on a rant and it will take you all 4 days to read and you'll get bored. Let's just say that I still find it hard to believe that our government is worried about people gambling yet we have homeless, poor education and violence unmatched by just about any other "superpower". But NOOOOOO let's go after the gamblers - those people are truly dangerous!

Anyway, enough about that. I was going to keep it to myself, but I have decided to post that I have figured out a way around the whole being in the US thing without moving out of the country and if you are interested in knowing what I figured out, please feel free to email me.

So with the above said, I still ran my SureBetPro software and found that this is a REALLY slow period for arbs. I keep being told that once basketball season starts, we'll see some good arbs, but I have not seen any in the last week. So besides, wanting to wait things out, I also did not feel particularly motivated to post "nothing big happened today" on this blog. Instead, I just did not post. I do apologize as I think many of you would at least like to know that nothing happened.

Then there's the whole stay at home dad thing. As most of you have read, I am a stay at home dad. I have found nothing more rewarding than to be able to spend my days with my son. He's 17 months old now and becoming more and more interactive and inquisitive. It has seemed as though when the arbs have been popping up, I have been playing with Eli and it's hard to get on my computer and make the trade uninterrupted at this point so I find myself with hours to be available to place the trades. And as I've said before, the thing about arb trading is that you have to be able to make the trades when they pop up.

Over the last few days I've gotten several emails. I am going to answer them here, publicly (I hope no one is offended), but I am thinking that most of you loyal readers have similar questions. So here goes . . . (BTW, these messages are truncated and edited)

Gary asked:

Q: In looking at some of the sites that give you arbs it seems like one should be able to consistantly get 3 - 5 %. I see from your blog that you are not there.... is that the reality?

A: I have not been able to consistently hit the 3-5% mark. I have found that many of the good arbs take place with bookies that do not do business in the US. I also have found that the 3-way arbs are the ones that result in the best return. 3-way arbs, however, are a bit trickier.

Q: Would you be willing to share what you have found to be the best source of ARBS that a U.S. citizen can take advantage of?

A: I guess one of the reasons I like the Surebet Pro software is because it is real time. I am also using the U Can't Lose service and have found it to be good as well. Only problem is that it is email. You can, however, have them text message your cell phone when they become available. I have also tried a couple of other real time notification services, and have not found them to be that good.

Hope that answered your questions!

Scott asked the following:

Q: This might be a difficult one, what is the average arb?

A: Since I started, I have averaged 3.128%, although it seems like lately they have been lower, so I expect the average to drop.

Q: Let's say it's 2%, for easy math. (I really don't know.) $500 with one bookie, $500 with the other. My total earnings is $10.00 Right?

A: The simple answer is no. Based on your scenario, your earnings would be $20.00 (2% of $1,000 total bet is $20.00). However, the reality is that you will not likely break down like that - and this is one of the frustrations with arb trading. I will give you a real world example:

In a recent tennis match, the way the odds worked out, and with $222.00 to bet, it was required that I placed $195.00 with one bookie and $27.00 with the other. Total was $222.00 with a return of $7.50 which came out to a 3.38% profit.

As you can see from the example, I had to have far more money with one bookie than I did with the other. It almost always works out such that your bet with one bookie will be anywhere from a bit more to substantially more than with the other bookie. Hope this helps.

Gary wrote (again):

Q: Are you still doing the arb blog? I know you're busy, a simple yes or no would be fine.

A: Yes :)

Allan wrote:

Hi, Marc,
I am very disappointed.

It's been a month now since you last posted on your blog. I have visited regularly to see if you have posted your latest adventures in the arbing world, but to no avail.

I hope that you are still arbing and will continue with the blog. It is an inspiration and encouragement to all would-be arbers like myself.

Allan (and all those others whom I may have disappointed),

I am sorry. I will do better in the future!

Lastly, in a week we will be going to California for three weeks. I will try to post regularly while out there, but if it seems as if I've dropped off the face of the planet, it's because I'm at Disneyland or something!

-marc