Betfair is the worlds No.1 online betting exchange, with over 2 million users. Launched in June 2000 it has continued to grow ever since and has become the largest online betting company in the UK. Betfair betting exchange allows users to bet at odds set and requested by other users rather than be provided with odds on an event like you would with a more traditional bookmaker. This offers two distinct advantages over traditional bookmakers:
As you bet against other people rather than a traditional bookmaker you get on average 20% better odds. This is because the margins on the betting markets are much closer, a traditional bookmaker will always work to take a percentage profit from any given market when making up the book using bookmaker mathematics. As there is no bookmaker involved in Betfair and in turn no large profit element to be taken into account the odds are generally much better than at a traditional bookmaker across all markets.
The only factor thay needs to be taken into account when using a betting exchange is a commission which is payable on winnings both on the back and lay side. Even with the commission taken into account the odds are still generally more competative than what you would have been given using any of the well known online bookmakers.
We breifly touched on before the ability to lay bets using a betting exchange such as Betfair. By 'laying' a bet you are effectively becoming a bookmaker yourself and have the ability to offer odds on a betting event. For example you may feel that Chelsea will not win this seasons Premier League, you have the option to 'lay' Chelsea to win the Premier League at given odds (depending on the current market odds) say 2/1 (decimal 3.00) meaning that if you placed a lay bet of £10 on Chelsea winning the Premium League would become the bookmaker.
Should Chelsea win the Premier League you would pay out at and lose your lay bet. At the odds given in this example you would lose £20 as effectively you would pay the bet out to the person who placed the bet side of the transaction at 2/1 (decimal 3.00). On the other hand if Chelsea then fail to win the Premier League your lay bet would win and you would receive your £10 lay stake less any commission due to Betfair.
For a more detailed guide on placing back bets and lay bets visit the Betfair help section.
For more Betfair uses visit Matched Betting and Bookmaker Offers where you will find plenty of useful information on how you can use Betfair to make money from free bets.
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