Betfair Exchange betting
A betting exchange offers a different kind of online betting to the norm. Instead of taking a bookmaker’s fixed odds, you can place a bet at odds of your choosing, so long as it is matched by another member. You can place a back bet to say something will win as normal. However, you can also take on the role of bookmaker and lay a selection which is saying that it won’t win. This is because you are trading with fellow punters who will have differing opinions. For example you might fancy a bet on Man Utd to win at odds of Evens (2.0) while another punter might see them as vulnerable and be willing to take your bet at those odds.
Because there is typically little or no overround on exchange markets, you will find plenty of value. The company makes money by taking a base-rate 5% of any winnings in the form of commission. It is possible to reduce this rate by accumulating points against winning and losing bets but only winning bets will be charged commission. Even accounting for the commission on your winnings, it offers a better chance of long-term profit compared to betting in the traditional way.
There are over 25 sports to bet on, the majority of which have multiple markets available. On top of this, there are special bets on things like TV, Politics and UK Weather betting. The list of sports is; American Football, Athletics, Aussie Rules, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Darts, E-Sports, Financials, Football, Gaelic Games, Golf, Greyhounds, Handball, Horse Racing, Ice Hockey, MMA, Motorsport, Netball, Politics, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker, Specials, Tennis.
You can bet on football every single day, with coverage of competitions from 70 countries worldwide. In addition to this, there are continental competitions such as the Copa Libertadores and international events such as the Copa America. Most games include a large variety of betting markets, with over 65 ways to bet on a typical match from the English Premier League or Spanish La Liga. Meanwhile lesser-known competitions such as the Indonesian Super League still tend to have at least 20 markets to play.
You can navigate to football matches by selecting a league or competition from the menu on the left-hand side or use the search facility to find the game. Clicking on the fixture title will take you to all available markets for that particular match.
There are daily horse racing markets for UK and Irish meetings, whether it be a flat, jumps or All-Weather meeting. There is also good coverage of international meetings from USA, South Africa, France, Germany and a host of other worldwide venues. Ante-post betting is particularly in-depth and you can almost always back your future fancies ahead of time.
You can bet on multiple markets on each race, as well as accessing Tote betting where available. A typical race will consist of Win, Each-Way, Place, Extra Place, AvB (Match Betting) and Forecast markets. This gives you a number of options when betting on the horses and each race card is complete with a Timeform preview.
Cash Out is a popular feature with many bookmakers and exchanges but Betfair was one of the first to adopt the tool. It enables you to either lock in a profit or cut your losses during a match, race or event. This means you are able put an end to nail-biting finishes and take a profit early. The betting exchange calculates live market numbers in real-time to give you the Cash Out value of your bets.
You can choose to Cash Out all of your bet or leave a portion of the stake running. Simply adjust the slider and once you’re happy with the offer, just hit the yellow button when you want to Cash Out.
As a betting exchange, Betfair can be used in the money making technique of matched betting. Matchedbets.com teaches its members how to make money from bookmaker offers and its guides explain how you can make real cash profits.