Why
A Betting Exchange Can Offer You The Key To Successful Gambling…
Introduction
Too many gamblers are still living in the ‘dark
ages’ and will only ever place a bet with a traditional
bookmaker. They either can’t be bothered to learn how the
exchanges work or simply don’t realise the features and
value that can be had when betting within an exchange environment.
Believe me, using a betting exchange is very easy,
and if you are not already using at least one exchange you should
join one immediately after reading this article…
I'm not saying that a betting exchange should be
used for all your betting. There will still be occasions when
a traditional bookmaker will offer more desirable odds than those
that are available on the exchanges. However, in the majority
of cases you will find better value on the exchanges and additionally
there are other VERY IMPORTANT features that
only the betting exchanges offer. More on this later…
So What Is A Betting Exchange?
Put very simply, betting exchanges are a secure
place where members of the betting public can exchange bets with
each other anonymously, at odds that they specify themselves.
The exchange companies simply act as the 'middleman' and match
peoples bets.
As there are no bookie margins to factor in, prices
are very often more desirable. The betting exchange companies
make their money by taking a commission payment on your winning bets. This is usually in the region of 3 - 5%, but even taking
this into account, it’s very common to find better prices
on the exchange.
The cumulative effect of better prices when combined
with a good staking plan, can make the difference between you
generating a healthy profit or a bad loss. Using an exchange does
not mean you will automatically win more frequently! You still
have to find good value winning bets yourself or via a professional
tipster but it’s the effect of getting a better return on
your winning bets that will boost your betting bank and protect
you during losing streaks.
Most people use the betting exchanges on the internet,
but you can also place bets on the telephone.
Betting Exchange Advantages
As well as regularly finding better prices when
backing a selection, exchanges also give the gambler some other
very important advantages over traditional bookmakers.
Some of the key advantages are:
- The ability to LAY a selection if you think
it will not win.
- The ability to BACK or LAY a selection to
be PLACED. (This is very different to the well
know Each Way bet offered by bookies and can be very powerful).
- Betting IN RUNNING on many events INCLUDING
HORSE RACING. This can give you many advantages and
opens the door to new methods that may secure you more profits.
- If you are very successful, you will not have the exchange
company threatening to shut your account down. A very important
point !
- The ability to TRADE on price movements in
betting events to guarantee yourself a profit regardless of
the result.
- Arbitrage Opportunities. Bookie and exchange
price discrepancies often allow you to take a NO RISK bet.
Those are some of the key benefits of using a betting
exchange and I will dig deeper into these and explain how you
can use them to your advantage in future betting articles.
For the remainder of this article, lets concentrate
on point 1 above, LAYING a selection to Lose.
LAYING A Selection to Lose – A Major Advantage Of The Betting
Exchanges
Probably the most important feature of a betting
exchange is the ability to LAY a selection. But what does laying
a selection mean?
Laying a selection is often referred to as 'Playing
the role of a bookmaker'. Like a bookie, you offer
a price against a selection / event happening (eg. a certain horse
to win a race or a football match ending as a draw). You only
do this if in your opinion there is a great chance that the horse
won't win or the football match will not end as a draw. The betting
exchanges simply match your lay bets with other customers who
think the opposite of you (eg they think the horse will win or
the match will end as a draw).
Lay Liabilities
The odds that you offer determine how much money
you will need to 'pay out' if the selection actually wins (just
like the bookie does when you have a winning bet with them). So
if you were to place a lay bet of £10 at 5.0 (4/1) against
a selection, you would be liable to pay out £40 from your
account if that selection won (The other punter gets their £10
back plus £40 profit). If however, the selection does lose
you get to keep the £10 staked by the other punter (just
like the bookies have done with all your losing bets all these
years!). It's as simple as that.
Now, you might be thinking 'great, I'll simply lay
all the rank outsiders and clean up'. STOP! Don't even go down
this route. If you keep placing lay bets on selections trading
with very high odds (eg 50/1), you will win regularly but when
1 of them comes first you will probably wipe out all your winnings
and more! A single £10 lay bet at 50/1 would see you liable
for paying out £500 should the selection win!
Therefore, I strongly recommend that you decide
upon a sensible upper limit for lay odds and stick to it no matter
what. Just think about how many favourites get turned over in
horse races every day of the year that are perhaps available to
lay at very short odds like 1.5 (1/2). Your liability on a £10
lay bet at these odds is only £5, or £50 on a £100
lay bet. I like to keep my lay bets at odds below 4.0 (3/1) but
that's just my own personal choice but it gives you something
to go on.
Flexible Odds / Placing an Order
The odds you offer obviously need to be realistic
in order to be matched, but if you are not happy with the current
price being requested by other punters you can simply place an
'order' in the exchange at your odds and hope that somebody eventually
accepts your offer. (eg you may feel that the current price of
3.0 (2/1) is too high a price to lay a certain selection, so offer
a lay bet at 2.75 (7/4) instead). If your lucky the price may
well be matched. If the event starts without your lay bet being
matched, your bet is simply cancelled so you gain/lose nothing.
Summary
Lay Betting might sound very confusing to the exchange
newbie, but believe me it soon becomes very straightforward and
you will find yourself laying selections much more frequently
than you think. Let's be honest, it must be easier to pick a horse
you feel will definitely lose in a average 12 runner race, than
find the single winner!
Well that's it for part 1 of my betting exchange
articles and all that's left for me to say now is that if you
don't already have at least one betting exchange account, please
open one right now. It will only take you five minutes and you'll
soon be thinking 'How did I ever bet without using an exchange'?
In part 2, I will be explaining the Betting Exchange
Place markets and how you can benefit from them.
Author: Martin Bailey
Visit www.the-secret-system.com for more free betting and gambling related information by Martin. |