There are three main methods to find value bets and each can be combined with another to maximize your chance of finding value betting opportunities that no one else can.
Make sure you read the whole article so you don’t miss my tips and loopholes that you can’t find anywhere else.
The most challenging way of finding value betting opportunities is by searching them manually. Your budget-friendly method will be using a free value bet finder.
But the most profitable is definitely opting in for a paid positive EV bet finder (EV – expected value. The same as Value betting but on another name).
When you try to find helpful and trustworthy information about value betting, you are facing several questions about this betting industry.
Back in the time when I started, it was hard to find tips from experienced bettors.
Back then, one of my first questions was:
How to find value bets?
There are three main possibilities for finding value bets or positive EV bets at bookmakers:
- Searching value bets manually by opening the same match at your local bookie and comparing the odds with the ones from a sharp betting site (*)
- Using free value betting software that displays betting opportunities with some limitations applied to them
- Using Paid positive EV bet finder service for searching value bet opportunities
All these ways of finding value bets have their benefits and disadvantages as well.
In the following part of this article, you can find out which way of searching value bets is best for beginners and which can generate the most profits.
Just a hint, it’s not so obvious!
*Sharp bookmaker: a betting site that is capable of defining the true probability of an outcome way more accurately than other regular/local betting sites.
Their betting odds have a smaller house edge due to higher accuracy which makes them excellent to compare other slower bookie lines to their odds.
1. Find value bets manually
The industry of smart betting has evolved a lot in the past few years. The value bettors and the smart bettors, in general, develop new ways of beating the bookies.
Unfortunately, if you really want to succeed, this is not the income source that you can start later.
By each day bookies are also getting smarter and have better-developed algorithms to spot value bettors as well.
Back in 2010-2015, it was fairly easy to find value bets manually.
The bookmakers have made a lot of mistakes and you could place bets easily before the odds could drop.
In most cases, bookies flagged your account only for winning too much, not for placing bets on overpriced odds.
As time passed the value betting finders got more popular, and they scanned a lot of bookmakers.
These services got greater attention from bettors, so more and more of us started actively using them.
Even though scanner services are making it hard to find wrong odds manually, there are still excellent opportunities to spot positive EV bets that no tool can find.
The more people are using these services the more people are betting on the same outcome of a match.
This means that a value betting opportunity is getting too much attention and the odds on those bets are dropping faster.
For a beginner value bettor, this means that the chance of finding a value opportunity is getting harder. Below are my top tips you can use, to get ahead of other bettors and make some profits.
These odds comparison sites can not scan every bookmaker and every market on sports events. Knowing this you can have better chances of finding value bet opportunities manually.
Steps on how to find value bets manually:
Below you can check which bookies are scanned by the value betting tool of RebelBetting.
- Find some bookmakers that are available in your country (and they are also trustworthy, based on other bettors’ opinions)
- Have a look at value scanner services, whether they are scanning that bookmaker or not (it is hard to find one that is not scanned, but hope for the best)
- Choose a sport that you are familiar with. At the start, you should stick to football and tennis. They are fairly predictable, and you can find many value betting opportunities on these
- Open the same sports event at your local bookie and at a sharp bookie such as Pinnacle
- The easiest to look for a value bet is to compare the same market/outcome between your local bookie and Pinnacle
- In the beginning, try finding positive EV bets on markets with only two outcomes: over/under goals, over/under corners, and over/under cards.
- If the odds at your local bookie are significantly higher than at Pinnacle (ex.: 1.80 instead of 1.65 or 2.60 instead of 2.40) it might be a value bet
- To make sure you are not mistaken, I would advise opening a free account at RebelBetting or BetBurger so you can use their free sure bet calculators
- If you insert the overpriced odds at one side and the other outcomes odds from Pinnacle, the calculator will display if there is a sure bet (no matter which outcome wins you could make a guaranteed profit on that)
- In case the sure bet profit is above 0%, the odds at your local bookie are overpriced and you just found a positive EV bet manually
- If you are familiar with handicap markets you will need to check those as well, I found many value bets on these that were not displayed by the main tools
- For manual search, I would suggest having more attention to tennis markets between your bookmaker and a sharp bookie
- For comparing odds you can find several free calculators by searching on google for an arbitrage calculator, but I would advise using the ones mentioned above.
Finding value bets manually before the start of the event is very hard.
The time you invest in finding these bets is not worth it if you take into consideration that a tool could help you find at least 20 times more value betting opportunities.
But finding wrong odds and value opportunities in a live event is still a good possibility these days.
If you are a beginner in value betting it is good to know that bookmakers are making the most of their mistakes on live events.
Even though you have more value bet possibilities, the odds are changing really fast. Being successful in manual searching at live events needs a lot of experience but it is also one of the least suspicious ways you can make money.
I genuinely think that if a scanner is covering your bookies, you will make significantly more with a paying service.
For example, RebelBetting displays value betting opportunities from 100+ bookies and they also have a 14-day free trial period.
Or OddsJam, on the other hand, is covering 50+ bookies from the US (and 100+ international ones) and has a 7-day free trial.
I have dedicated articles with the information you need about these services, check them here:
I don’t get why someone with a starting capital of at least a few hundred euros would not take advantage of a free opportunity like this. They can easily increase your monthly profits by even 15 times.
Tips for finding value betting opportunities manually on live events
- Markets with fast-changing odds are one of the best opportunities for finding positive EV bets
- Markets that are excellent for finding value bets on football: over/ under goals, corner, handicap markets, next corner market, over/under red or yellow cards
- Markets for value betting on tennis: over/under games in the set and the match too, handicap markets, set winners. It is better to wait for the breaks to place your bets.
- This way you reduce the chance of running into dropping odds or risking the chance of betting on outcomes that did not have a true value on them (not even Pinnacle can offer sharp odds every time)
- Good markets on Basketball could be over/under points, handicaps, and winners in quarters, or half
Finding value bets on live events is mostly for more advanced bettors, so if you just started your betting journey you can have more success and less risk with the next method of finding value bets.
2. Find value betting opportunities with a free software
For beginner value bettors this method Is the most favorable for finding positive EV bets and growing your bank. These services are scanning bookmakers with complex algorithms and compare their odds of finding value opportunities.
Advantages of using free value scanners:
- If you are a beginner value bettor, you can gain experience without paying for the service
- You can grow your bank faster than finding value bets manually (but only if you don’t have experience)
- You can check which bookmaker can be good for your needs
- You can complete your bonus requirement rollovers faster
Disadvantages of using free value scanners:
- The maximum % of return on value bets at free scanners is only 2%
- Most of them are showing the value bets with a delay of approximately 1 minute. So those who have paid for the value scanner service have a 1-minute advantage for placing those bets before the odds start dropping
- A lot of people are using these free services, so the chance of being flagged as a smart bettor is pretty high
- You miss a lot of good opportunities because of delays and the 2% limit on profit
Down below you can find some positive EV bet scanner services which have a free version as well. I have an affiliate partnership with each of them. But I’m promoting only the services I used for at least some months.
| Service name | Web or app | Max arb % | Delay |
| RebelBetting | App | 2 weeks free trial | No |
| Betburger | Web | 1% | 60s Prematch 15min live |
| OddsJam | Web | 7-day trial | no |
You can find my more detailed review and comparison table of other similar & free value betting software here.
You might ask: how to find value bets with free software that is still available?
It’s a fair question. Everybody can have access to the same markets, bookies, and betting opportunities as yourself when using a free tool.
I’m trying to help people to find the best tools for their activity and won’t tell a big secret when I say that most people are looking for a free tool.
How to find value bets that are still available
First thing first, you need to use software that does not have a significant delay in displaying the odds.
For this matter, BetBurger can seem almost useless when looking for a free value bet finder. But professionals use their free services to spot potential events and markets for sure betting can profit from their scanner as well.
Based on my experience, the 2-week free trial of RebelBetting (for Europe and the US mainly) and the 1-week trial of OddsJam (USA and Canada) are your best shots for pre-match sure betting.
Both of them offer their services with a slight limitation on the profit % (in the free trial) which allows you to spot value bets that are still live.
3. Find value opportunities with Paid positive EV betting software
Using the paid version of these services most of the time has a significant impact on the quality and the number of your value bets. This way you will not face delays and there will be no maximum profit % limitation at value bets.
Advantages of using paid value scanners:
- No delay in showing new positive EV betting opportunities
- No profit % limitations
- You can see value opportunities that are not available in the free version due to these limitations
- Way bigger returns in the long run
Check my review about the cheapest, yet well-developed value betting software: Breaking Bet
Disadvantages of using paid value scanners:
- Some of the subscriptions can be expensive for a beginners experience and bankroll
- There is a chance that you get limited at bookmakers before the subscription ends at scanner service – if you do not have new accounts that could mean dead money
- You might feel pushed to use the software even if you do not have the mood or time for work (because you paid for it).
On the following link, you can read my review and table about the best value betting software.
o avoid any misunderstanding, I have to note that price differences at these do not mean a very big quality difference as well.
Do you still have some questions? Post it in the value betting forum and someone from the community will answer it.
How to Identify value Betting Opportunities: step by step guide
- Make a list of your bookies: to identify the right value betting opportunities, you need to have a list of your local bookies.
I would advise using only the ones with a good reputation. This betting technique is not welcomed, so the last thing you want to experience is facing a bookie that has a background of banning accounts for no reason. - Open the events at sharp/Asian bookies: To practice value betting with success you need at least one sharp bookie that has already proven of being able to display accurate odds.
- Set up the filters: after opening accounts at the above-mentioned bookies and you have some funds on your accounts, you need to set up your filters with the value betting software. To identify the right value betting opportunities you need to open the settings and choose only the bookies that you have funds at + the sharp bookie.
- You need to fix the sharp bookie so the tool will compare each odds to theirs, not between soft bookies. These settings are different from one software to another.
For many, it might sound like a piece of obvious advice, but believe me, many people (me included) need to know the very basics when they are beginners.
Selecting the required sports, markets, and odds ranges can come when you already have an idea about how to find value betting opportunities at your local bookies. - Follow the right sure bets: the right way to find and identify the value bets that are good is by looking for sure bets that are available for several seconds or even minutes. Many of these opportunities disappear from one second to another. These can happen because of a short delay at one bookie not because of a real sure betting opportunity.
- Calculate the stakes: now you know how to get value bets displayed on your screen. The next step is calculating the right stake for your bets. Each relevant value betting finder has a dedicated calculator for each betting opportunity.
You will notice them as a calculator icon on each sure betting opportunity pop-up window. Here you can fix one leg of your bets and include the stake you need at your slow bookmaker. The tool will display the right stakes for the other outcome. - Place the bets: You succeeded to learn how to find value odds and how to calculate the right stakes. Here comes the hardest part of your activity. Getting the best value opportunities is not enough. You need to be fast at each step to accomplish it successfully.
Opening the right event and market in time and inserting the right odds is the crucial part of profitable value betting. The odds might change from one second to another and if you are not fast enough, sometimes you need to cover your bets with a loss.
Conclusion: How to find value betting opportunities
Based on my experience, finding value betting opportunities manually is more suitable for experienced bettors. They can easily spot new EV betting opportunities in markets not scanned by value bet finder tools.
Finding value bets on free services could be very helpful while completing rollover requirements on bonuses or when you are starting to learn about this industry of sure bets and smart betting in general.
Paid value scanner services will mean the biggest difference in your profitability. These services are coming with a higher price tag but offer significantly more value to you.
Opting for a weekly subscription or a free trial are the best ways to help you in deciding if the service is appropriate for your needs.
Read more in my value betting guide article to find out each of my tips regarding value betting. I also covered the best ways to find the best bookmakers for value betting. Here you can read about the ways to spot the ones that you might miss otherwise.
FAQ
Finding overpriced odds and value bets is the easiest by using arb scanner services. The bookies are changing odds very fast, so finding a value bet is becoming viable only with arb software.
Some bookmaker scanners are offering free services with some delays and some limitations. Others have only a paid subscription plan, but finding value betting opportunities is viable only with bookmaker scanner software or services.
A positive EV betting tool best and most profitable way to find value betting opportunities. They can increase the volume and the profitability of your betting strategies and also can help to choose the right stakes
