Arbing doesn't only happen online. High-street bookmakers are slower to move their prices and run their own in-shop offers — which is exactly what sharbers take advantage of. Here's how it works.
Quick answer
Sharbing is arbitrage betting done in physical bookmaker shops rather than online. The word is a blend of "shop" and "arbing". It works because high-street shops are slower to update their odds than online sportsbooks, and because they run their own in-shop promotions — so you can sometimes back a selection over the counter at a price that beats the current lay price on a betting exchange.
The other attraction is anonymity. Pay in cash and don't hand over a loyalty card, and what you do in a shop generally has no bearing on your online accounts.
Matched betting and advanced techniques don't just take place online — there are ways to do it in person. This guide draws on the first-hand experience of OddsMonkey Premium member Christina, who has placed thousands of in-shop bets.
Sharbing is where you do arbing in physical bookmaker shops rather than online. It is a portmanteau word — a mixture of "shop" and "arbing". Arbing, or arbitrage betting, is the technique of making money when you can find back odds that are higher than the lay odds.
In practice, sharbing covers all sorts of offers you do in shops rather than online, and there are a lot of them. Bookies normally have special offers running all the time, although not all of them are layable or suitable for matched betting.
The first thing to remember when sharbing is that shop odds are not the same as online odds. That's one of the main reasons for sharbing in the first place. In fact, there are two sets of odds in bookie shops: the over-the-counter odds and the machine odds. Over-the-counter odds are generally better, but not always.
There are also Jennings and independent bookies to be found, as well as some chains unique to the north of England. The advice here still applies to them, but please go gently on independents — it's a fragile market. Indies who are willing to match the best price out there are particularly vulnerable to sharbers and should be treated with caution. There's no point in betting with people who are liable to go bankrupt.
This guide does not cover slot machine shops such as Cashino, although it does touch on in-shop gaming terminals, because shops occasionally run offers where you get free spins for making a qualifying bet.
There is one more difference that matters a great deal. If you are eventually gubbed in a shop, it tends to be temporary. Gubbings online are effectively permanent. In a shop where you are anonymous, a gubbing lasts only until a change of shift, until that member of staff leaves, or until the shop simply forgets about you. That means there is far less benefit to "protecting your account" than there is online.
Always use cash where you can. Card payments and loyalty cards are the two things most likely to link your in-shop activity back to you.
Many people have never been through the doors of a betting shop. One of the things shop staff are judged on is their ability to be friendly to new customers and explain things to them, so you should be assured of a reasonable welcome — and if there's anything you don't understand, staff are there to help. Your aim, though, is to come across as an ordinary punter.
You have to be 18 or over to enter a bookmaker. Staff check the age of anyone who looks under 25, so if you look young for your age, take ID. You cannot take children in with you. Since the whole point of sharbing is anonymity, avoid giving your real name or paying by anything except cash wherever possible — if you have the choice of producing a driving licence rather than a student ID, use the driving licence.
When placing a bet, allow enough time. It can be tempting to take an arb on a horse three minutes before the race sets off, only to find that the customer ahead of you is putting on a horse accumulator and wants the price of every leg checked. Always leave enough time to place your bet, sit down at one of the tables provided and lay it — or step outside to lay it if you are worried about being spotted, or if there is no signal inside.
Most of what shop staff get wrong is down to not having been trained by their employer, and they are often poorly paid for what can be a difficult job. Your job is to stay under the radar as far as possible, but if you are remembered, make sure it's for being a pleasant, polite customer.
From the shop floor
"Mystery shoppers are people paid to examine customer service in shops, and bookies know they're judged on friendliness and helpfulness. If you ask to use the toilet, examine the gaming terminals carefully and look thoughtful, you'll probably be suspected of mystery shopping and offered a cup of tea. You might even get sweets and biscuits if there's a major event on."
Christina, OddsMonkey Premium member
Sadly, they do — and you need to know how to cope with these.
Decimal odds = fraction + 1
Fractional odds show the profit to the customer if the bet wins. Decimal odds show the return to the customer — the profit plus the initial stake. To change fractional odds to decimal, work out the fraction and add 1.
You will learn the translations in time, but here are some hints. For any whole number, just add one: horse odds shown simply as 10 mean 10/1, which is 11.0 in decimal. It's worth expressing decimal odds with a decimal point for this reason — 26.0 rather than 26. Quarters, eighths and halves (fractions where the bottom number is 4, 8 or 2) are easy to work out in your head.
Fractional
Decimal
1/9
1.11
1/11
1.09
4/7
1.57
8/15
1.53
8/13
1.62
The last three are the ones most people find hardest to work out on the spot, so they are worth committing to memory. If you would rather not do it in your head at all, the OddsMonkey Odds Converter will do it for you.
Most of the offers covered in this guide will be advertised in shop windows, or inside the shop on TV screens or on coupons. The rule is simple: never walk past a bookie shop. If you have time, always go in and see what's going on inside.
Many chains run a loyalty card scheme. These are worth signing up to and don't always have to be linked to an online account, although you will usually need to link them to a mobile number that can receive texts. Logging into a self-service betting terminal with your card will often reveal cardholder-only offers, and some chains require you to present the card for scanning to complete certain offers.
Do not use your loyalty card unless it is genuinely necessary for an offer. One of the big advantages of shops is that you are anonymous — the cards are a cheap way for the companies to get your data and know it is you placing the bets. Use cash and keep your identity to yourself.
If you find a good offer and you live in a major town or city, it is worth checking whether there are other branches of that chain accessible to you. Where do you live? Where do you work? Which shops do you pass on your commute? Most chains have a shop locator on their website. Different chains also tend to specialise in different kinds of offer, and because those offers have been broadly similar for years, it is worth knowing the shape of each one — which is what the next section covers.
Bookie shops publish coupons and then change the odds when they choose to. Sometimes there is a good reason for it, but it is still frustrating. When you place a bet using a coupon, staff should tell you if the odds have changed and what the new odds are, so you can decide whether or not to accept them. You can always refuse the bet, walk away and think about it — useful if you are not yet fluent in fractional-to-decimal conversion — then come back and place it.
To avoid the situation entirely, it is possible to check current odds in advance on in-shop terminals at several of the major chains. Where that is available, use it.
Always check your betslip. If the odds have changed from the published odds, you are entitled to refuse the bet.
Be aware that some staff members don't understand fractional odds at all. They may be able to tell that a price has changed, but have no idea whether it has gone up or down — another good reason to get your head around decimal conversions. You can ask them to check the price before they hit confirm, but this often makes no difference, because they don't necessarily understand what they are looking at on the slip.
If the shop is giving you a free bet, make sure they give you the correct one. Check any paperwork for expiry dates and restrictions, read the terms of the offer on the posters, and be prepared to quote them. Vouchers that have already expired, vouchers that don't scan and vouchers issued for the wrong offer are all common. Most in-shop bets go through smoothly — the main friction is that it can take staff several minutes to find the right voucher. You can always suggest sitting down to "check your emails" while they look.
Shop offers change constantly, so treat the following as the shape of what each chain tends to do rather than a current offer list. Always check in-shop for what is actually running.
Bookmaker
Typically strong for
Worth knowing
William Hill
Football coupon offers and free bets
Odds-check terminals let you verify prices before betting
Betfred
Price boosts, especially on horses
The most reliable chain for finding genuine arbs
Paddy Power
Frequently changing offers and a good loyalty card
Often strong over-the-counter prices
Ladbrokes and Coral
Refund offers and loyalty-card promotions
Same owner, so prices are usually identical in both
William Hill generally have the best offers apart from Betfred's boosts, and they regularly run promotions on their football coupons — typically along the lines of "bet £10 on this coupon and we'll give you a £5 free bet". The coupon can look overwhelming, but bear in mind that your bet to unlock the free bet is a qualifying bet with no minimum odds, so the qualifying loss is usually lowest on short prices. Look at match odds where there is a very short-priced favourite, over/under goals and both teams to score.
If you pay commission at your exchange, it has been suggested that betting the same match at different bookies lets you consider dutching both-teams-to-score or unders and overs across different shops, topping up at the exchange if necessary.
Most of William Hill's horse offers are unlayable — a horse to win by a specified number of lengths, for example — but they also run "flash odds", which typically appear on screen for around 15 minutes at unpredictable times. During big festivals such as Cheltenham and Royal Ascot these sometimes run to a rough schedule, with a different horse every 15 minutes. Always check the screens.
William Hill is the chain where you can most reliably check odds on an in-shop machine. Older button-driven terminals are unreliable about what they display from day to day; the newer touchscreen models are far better and will show current odds even after an update. On the touchscreen machines, both teams to score sits under football, then goals.
Their free bets come in two forms: one to be used over the counter and one for use on a self-service betting terminal. The over-the-counter version is more awkward because it commits you to counter odds, which can be hard to establish in advance — you can ask staff to show you the prices for a forthcoming match, and it helps to pick a match happening that day so the exchange market is well formed. The terminal version has a barcode that is scanned to give you stake-not-returned credit on the machine, and is easier to work with because nobody minds how long you spend researching at a terminal. Whichever you get, check the validity dates, whether it is counter or terminal only, and any restriction on which sport or competition it must be used on.
Betfred is the most reliable bookmaker for finding arbs and, along with Paddy Power, tends to have the best over-the-counter odds on most events. Owner Fred Done built the business on giving value, and the chain regularly publishes special boosts — usually on horses — on weekend mornings and around lunchtime. These are announced on the Betfred website, on social media and on screens in the shops as they go up. Do check the numbers before piling in, as boosts are not always profitable once you compare them to the lay price.
Boosts also appear on the mornings of big horse racing events. It is well worth keeping a dedicated social media account for sharbing so you see them as they are posted — a good idea for matched betting generally. Boosts get taken down as soon as they are oversubscribed, so check the lay odds and get your bet on quickly.
When you write your betslip for a boosted price, include the words "Fred's Push" (or the equivalent) and the price. If you leave either off, you are likely to be paid at starting price, which will most likely be lower.
Boosted prices do not normally include Best Odds Guaranteed, except on special occasions. If you drop into a Betfred at a random time, look at the main TV screen — current boosts often scroll across a banner. Make a note of what it says, let it scroll round once, then research your lay odds. The banner can disappear without warning when a race starts, but comes back once the event is over.
If you are betting close to the cut-off time, or the price has been announced as about to be cut, take a discreet photo of the screen advertising the offer immediately after placing your bet. If your bet wins and staff claim the price had already been cut, that photo settles the argument.
These two are owned by the same company, so odds are generally identical. If you find a good arb in one, it is worth walking to the other. Ladbrokes has historically run a "refund if your horse comes second" offer on one race a day, and on every race during big meetings — Coral typically doesn't.
Both have run football coupon offers where losing bets are refunded if the match ends in a draw. It is normally possible to extract a small profit from these. You usually have to bet on correct score or first goalscorer, and to maximise the offer you should pick a correct score that is not a draw — since it is possible for a named player to score and the game still to finish level.
Beyond that, offers are available to holders of each chain's loyalty card. These change regularly and, as with all loyalty cards, don't use yours unless the offer requires it. Some offers are best skipped entirely — anything that requires you to be in the shop at a specific in-play moment, dealing with volatile odds, is rarely worth the trip.
Paddy Power has some excellent and constantly changing offers, plus a good loyalty card. During the football season they often run refunds on losing bets if the game ends in a draw, and as with Ladbrokes and Coral you normally have to bet on correct score or first goalscorer — so pick a correct score that isn't a draw to maximise the bet.
In-shop gaming terminals are the machines that actually make money for the shop. It is well worth doing offers where betting a set amount on a normal bet earns you a free voucher for the machines, and staff will show you how to redeem it. Vouchers are often tied to a specific game, but where you have a choice, take the game with the lowest stake per spin for maximum lines. Play through the value of the voucher and walk away with whatever profit is left.
There is no fixed figure, and sharbing behaves quite differently to online arbing. Individual in-shop offers are often more generous than anything you'll find online — a £5 or £10 free bet for a qualifying bet is common — but the number of offers you can complete is capped by something online arbing isn't: how many shops you can physically get to.
The realistic way to think about your return is per trip rather than per bet. What determines it:
In other words, sharbing rewards geography and routine more than bankroll. Someone who passes four bookmakers on the way to work and drops in regularly will out-earn someone with a much larger bank and only one shop nearby. Most people treat it as a supplement to online matched betting rather than a replacement — a way to keep earning after online accounts have been restricted.
Before committing to a trip, work out the offer's actual value with a calculator, not in your head. Our guide to how much you can make arbitrage betting covers the equivalent maths for online arbing.
Whatever the staff tell you — and they do try it on sometimes — your betslip is evidence of a legally enforceable contract between you and the bookmaker. Ideally, get the bookie to check the odds or write them on for you if you are not betting from a coupon, and ask them to circle the odds to confirm they have checked. There are plenty of examples of bookmakers later denying that odds they themselves wrote on the slip ever existed.
If you think you may end up in that kind of dispute, think about what evidence will be useful. Betfred, for instance, is well known for advertising boosts on in-shop screens and then sometimes claiming the price had already been cut. A photo of the screen taken straight after you placed the bet answers that very effectively.
Sharbing sits alongside the rest of your strategy rather than replacing it. If you are weighing it up against the online approaches, read arbitrage betting vs matched betting, our full guide to arbitrage betting strategies, and whether it is ever safe to arb as part of your matched betting strategy.
Sharbing is arbitrage betting carried out in physical bookmaker shops rather than online. The name combines "shop" and "arbing". It works because high-street shops update their odds more slowly than online sportsbooks and run their own in-shop promotions, creating prices that can be laid off profitably at a betting exchange.
There is no fixed figure. Individual in-shop offers are often more generous than online equivalents, but your total is limited by how many branches you can physically reach, how often good offers appear, your exchange bankroll and shop stake limits. Sharbing rewards geography and routine more than bankroll size — someone who passes several bookmakers daily will typically out-earn someone with a bigger bank and one local shop.
Placing bets in a licensed bookmaker is legal for anyone aged 18 or over, and your betslip forms a legally enforceable contract with the bookmaker. Bookmakers set their own terms, however, and can refuse or limit stakes at their discretion.
Not normally, provided you stay anonymous. Pay in cash and avoid using a loyalty card unless an offer requires it, and there is generally nothing to connect your in-shop activity to your online accounts. Using a card linked to your online account is what breaks that separation.
Yes, but it tends to be temporary. Because you are anonymous, a shop gubbing usually lasts only until a change of shift, until that member of staff moves on, or until the shop forgets about you. Online gubbings, by contrast, are effectively permanent.
Yes, for the arbing side of it. You back the selection over the counter and lay it at an exchange, so you need an exchange account funded well enough to cover the liability. You can check the lay price on your phone before placing the shop bet.
Betfred is generally the most reliable chain for finding genuine arbs thanks to its regular price boosts, while William Hill tends to have the strongest free bet and coupon offers, and is the easiest chain in which to check odds on an in-shop terminal before betting. Offers change constantly, so it is always worth checking what is actually running in each branch.
Only when an offer genuinely requires it. Loyalty cards are how the chains attach an identity to your betting, which removes the main advantage of sharbing. If you do use one, try to keep it to a single shop.
Check your betslip before accepting. If the odds differ from the published price, you are entitled to refuse the bet. You can walk away, recalculate at the new price and come back if it still works.
It uses the same underlying principle — backing at a price higher than you can lay — but the setting changes the practicalities. Online arbing is limited by odds movement and account restrictions; sharbing is limited by how many shops you can reach and by shop stake limits. See our main arbitrage betting guide for the online version.
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