Team names
Bookmakers often have different names on the same team. As an example in Ice Hockey, the Russian U20 youth team could be named:
- Russia U20
- Russia Youth
- Russia
– The name Russia Youth could refer to their U18 team, U20 team, or even their U18 Women’s team.
– The name Russia could refer to all Russia’s national teams.
As you can see, the best is to name the team Russia U20, as this could only be the U20 team. But unfortunately, bookmakers can name the team as they see fit.
Event names
The same applies to the bookmakers names on events/cups. For instance, the international Ice Hockey tournament Karjala Cup could be named:
- Karjala Cup
- Internationals
- Friendlies
– The name Internationals could refer to Karjala Cup, World Cup, International Friendlies, International Youth matches etcetera etcetera. Basically, all international events could be named Internationals. The same applies to the event Friendlies (yes, some bookmakers have the event name Friendlies for all kinds of matches, including international cups).
As you can see, the best is to name the event above Karjala Cup, as this could only refer to Karjala Cup. Unfortunately, bookmakers can name the events as they see fit as well.
Please note!
Because of the bookmakers inconsistent naming of teams and events, situations could occur to be aware of.
As an example, these two very different tournaments are played at the same day:
Bookmaker 1 | Bookmaker 2 | |
Actual Event | Karjala Cup | U20 4 Nations Tournament |
Actual Teams | Russia – Finland | Russia U20 – Finland U20 |
Bookmaker Event Name | Internationals | International Youth |
Bookmaker Team Names | Russia – Finland | Russia – Finland |
Note that the above team names are the same on both bookmakers. In reality, the Russian and Finnish senior teams are playing against eachother (in Karjala Cup) at the same time that the Russian and Finnish U20 teams (in a youth tournament). This could lead to a false arb between Russia (Bookmaker 1) and Finland U20 (Bookmaker 2).
- To avoid situations like these, please check that the teams you are betting on are playing in the same tournament before placing the arb.