With Betfair now operating in the Australian market, here’s our introduction to betting exchanges to give you punters some insight into one of the fastest growing forms of online gambling. Traditionally we bet with online with bookmakers but now we also have the option to bet against one another on a betting exchange.
You bet against other punters or lay (be a bookie) horses and sporting teams.
The Advantages Of Using Betfair
• Better Odds
Betfair is the biggest online betting exchange offering peer-to-peer betting and one of their key selling points is the better odds on offer. Generally speaking, Betfair gives you a 20% better return but understand that this is an across the board figure and it isn’t really a true reflection of every horse race or sporting event.
• Betting Options Back or Lay
You have the option of backing a horse to win or being a bookie and laying a horse to lose.
We have all seen races where we think a horse just shouldn’t be favourite. That’s when a Betfair betting account comes in hands. It may be a bit more difficult to find the winner so we can simply lay our “false favourite” instead.
• Trading
Trading on Betfair is one aspect of horseracing betting that can see you win a nice return without the race even being run.
This is more relevant for fixed price races on betfair where you can back and then lay the horse (be a bookie). Trading on race day is a little more difficult than when the fixed price races first display their betting markets but it is still possible if you are a good form student or have a red-hot tip.
If a horse is going to be plunged in then the earlier you get your bet on the better when betting on an exchange. The reason for this is that you can bet on a horse at a price of $3.00 and then Lay the horse (be a bookie) at $1.80.
The Disadvantages Of Using Betfair
• Odds aren’t always better
As we mentioned earlier, while Betfair offers “20% better odds” across the board, there are many times you will see a price comparable to a TAB price when betting on a well fancied runner on Betfair.
However, the longer priced runners are usually very generous odds. Again, the roughies aren’t ridiculous odds in every race but you will see that there is plenty of value to be had if you fancy one at big odds.
• 5% Commission
Betfair takes out 5% commission on all winning wagers so the figure you receive is not the actual price you had your bet on at. Unlike when you bet with online bookmakers.
• Liquidity
While the theory in setting your own prices is great in theory the reality is that you can only bet if there is someone willing to accept your wager. If nobody is willing to be the bookie then your bet will not be matched and therefore you have no action on an event that you want to bet on and in fact have placed a wager on.
This does also happen in some horse races, mainly the trots where some people that lay want you to take between 50-75% of the price offered by a TAB. There’s comedians everywhere and this just highlights the need to have more than one betting account online so that you can accept the price you want and not the one that is offered in a take it or leave it deal.
So there you have it, the betting basics on Betting Exchanges. Definitely a great platform to wager on for the semi-serious punters and above.
Take a look at Betfair now for the latest odds or to open betting account.
