Welcome to the fifth article in our series: “Betting Experts Answer The Industries Biggest Questions.”

Commonly, there are five methods people adopt to make money from sports betting; value betting, matched betting, arbing, exchange trading or following tipsters. So we asked our 10 experts the question:

Q5: What is the best method to use to make money from sports betting? Value betting, matched betting, arbing, exchange trading or following tipsters?

Check out Part 1 of our answers here, where we get the opinions of pro sports bettor - Spanky, tipster verification site - Smart Betting Club, Toby Aldous from Punter2Pro, betting blogs - Day 25 and The Church of Betting.

MATTHEW TRENHAILE - FORMER ODDS COMPILER

The best way to make money from sports betting is to find a method that you find engaging. I believe that successful betting is dependent on finding a method and staking plan that suits your psychological profile. The way to make the most money is to ensure longevity. If you become bored or disengaged with your method it will inevitably lead to poor decision making and mistakes which ultimately cost you money. Some are very risk averse and have a high tolerance for repetitive processes, in which case something like matched betting or arbing would suit you.

Others might want something less boring or with a greater outlet for creativity resulting in making their own odds for a niche sport or market. If you are an emotionless automaton then it really does not make any difference what method you choose as you are already perfectly set up mentally to make money from betting. If however, money alone is not enough to ensure mental discipline then you need to find something that you enjoy doing and are happy to try and do perfectly every day even in the face of prolonged negative variance. Many people advocate the path of increasing complexity and variance.

So start with matched betting then maybe more complex arbitrage, then value betting, then trading, then making your own model etc. From my perspective most of those are not interesting and essentially a second tedious (but potentially lucrative) job to be added to an already possibly tedious day job. Yes you can build a bankroll and potentially learn as you go how to take the next step once the current door gets slammed in your face or even keep finding ways to open the same doors briefly. However, if sports betting is not going to be a career then your angle should be engaging and enhance your enjoyment of life. If you want sports betting to be your career then you should be prepared to fall in love with process and execution.

If you don't then there is every chance you could be making more money and more enjoyably by finding the correct career path and slowly improving yourself. By asking yourself what you want out of your sports betting you will find the correct path and then you must ask yourself whether you are suited to walking that path. Believe it or not, sports betting is not for everyone.

Check out Matthew’s podcast ‘Inside Betting’ here.

JOSEPH BUCHDAHL - SPORTS BETTING ANALYST

There's no "best way". Whatever suits the interests, specialities and context of the bettor. Whichever the method, there is only one way to make long term profits from betting, and that is by finding value: where the odds offered to you are longer than those implied by true outcome probabilities. Matched betting, arbing, exchange trading, these are just different versions of value betting. The only way they work is because something you are betting on contains value. It has to contain value, otherwise it's impossible to make a profit after good and bad luck cancel.

Arbs are good because in theory they are risk-free. But in practice, nothing is risk-free. You might get one side of an arb placed and the other side moves before you complete it. You will likely get noticed and banned by all recreation bookmakers for doing it. Exchange trading is good because you won't get banned for being good at it. But it's much harder to be good at it than arbing. Tipsters are good because they do the work finding value for you, but almost all bettors who call themselves tipsters aren't actually able to find value. Finding one who is can be as difficult a job as learning to find value yourself.

The best way to make money in sports betting is to start by assuming that it's not easy. Those who say it is are either lying, cheating or stupid.

Follow @12Xpert on Twitter & check out the 12Xpert website here.

JAKE - HOST OF THE BUSINESS OF BETTING PODCAST

The best approach is to do a thorough self evaluation of where you are at in your betting and decide from there. If you are at the peak of your betting powers and can beat sides, totals and derivative markets, by all means, go for it on the exchange or with a sportsbook where you can get down. If you are not there yet and are in bank building mode, perhaps look toward matched betting and arbing until you gain experience in the markets you wish to beat later on. I would avoid tipsters entirely (even if there are a very small percentage of them who could possibly add value to your betting). In lieu of tipsters, I would consume all the free content out there and try to enhance your betting through the free materials that do exist.

Follow @BettingPod on Twitter & check out The Business of Betting Podcast here.

RYAN BRUNO - OWNER OF SMART SPORTS TRADER

I think all are valid ways of making money from the sports betting markets. Currently I do use a mixture of value betting, matched betting, arbing and sports trading to make money from the betting markets. Whilst also taking the advice from a few betting tipsters.I wouldn't say one is better than the other, it is probably more about finding what is going to work best for you. If I look at the pros and cons of each:

1. Matched Betting And Arbing

Pros - Matched betting and arbing are a great way of making very low risk money from the sports betting markets. They are also a good way to familiarise yourself with the betting markets. Understanding how they move, why they move etc.

Cons - The long term issue is being banned/limited and running out of soft accounts.

2. Value Betting

Pros - Value betting using sharp markets as a value indicator is a great betting strategy. It allows you to churn over a lot of bets without needing to do much of your own analysis. Can use on limited bookmakers or bookmakers that don't offer decent matched betting opportunities.

Cons - The issue with this again is that you need a continual stream of soft bookmaker accounts to do it.

3. Following Tipsters

There are a small percentage of betting tipsters that will make money long term. The best ones that I have come across are horse racing tipsters that again exploit soft bookmakers or tipsters that bet in lower liquid markets cards/corners etc.

Pros - Doesn't take much time.

Cons - Hard to find tipsters that beat the exchanges or sharp markets. Soft bookmaker accounts will get limited/banned.

4. Sports Trading

Pros - If you can find an edge you can scale it easily in bigger markets. You won't get banned.

Cons - Competitive markets, higher commission charges as your profit increases.

Follow @SmSportstrader on Twitter & check out the Smart Sports Trader blog here.

HAROUT MASSOYAN - PRO SPORTS BETTOR

When it comes to making money on sports betting (especially long term), opportunity is everything. If we apply ourselves to only one of the options above, we significantly decrease our earning potential because a betting style too narrowed and defined would limit us from capitalising on a variety of profitable betting options. The sports betting marketplace is full of new surprises on a daily basis — you never know what you’re going to get, but you must be prepared for whatever is coming your way. Most of my best opportunities have been value betting, while others have come from arbs, and some in the form of information from tipsters with great models.

Having a diverse betting style that covers all of the strategies above is essential to sports bettors who are trying to maximise their profits. My best advice would be to try to learn all strategies, and then once you become familiar and skilled with all of them, prioritise your betting opportunities with the ones that offer the most amount of expected value first and then work your way through until you’ve captured everything in your reach.

Follow @BetLikeHarout on Twitter here.

Check out Part 1 of our answers here, where we get the opinions of pro sports bettor - Spanky, tipster verification site - Smart Betting Club, Toby Aldous from Punter2Pro, betting blogs - Day 25 and The Church of Betting.

Love getting the opinions from experts in the betting industry? Then subscribe to the Trademate Sports Podcast, where we interview the most important people in the sports betting industry.

Here are the other questions we have got our industry experts to answer so far:

• Q1: Top 3 tips for betting beginners? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q2: How do you define “finding value” in betting markets? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q3: How do you determine whether your betting results are based on luck or skill? Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.
• Q4: Kelly criterion or flat staking: Which stake sizing strategy do you consider to be the best and why? Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.
• Q6: How difficult is it to beat the sports betting markets? How efficient are the odds? Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.
• Q7: Best way to manage risk in sports betting? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q8: Is there a best sport to bet on? If so, what is it? Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.
• Q9: Assuming you have an edge, at what point can you start accurately evaluating your results and say that variance has played out? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q10: What is the one thing you would like to see change in the gambling industry? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q11: Do you think emotions play a part in people's sports betting results? If so, how should they overcome this? Part 1 & Part 2.
• Q12: What are the top 3 mistakes people make when betting? Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.