Betting Exchanges

The days of going into your local bookmakers is over. No more will you have to stomach the disdain of the man from whom you are personally taking money, just for knowing how to gamble. If you have ever felt like you shouldn’t have to apologise for approaching the little window with your winning ticket after having been in the pub up the road watching the match, pink slip in hand, then you must take your expertise into the betting exchanges online.

There are more and more betting exchange sites cropping up, with Betfair being the most famous and most frequently used one. (This, of course, makes them the richest and most well-equipped in terms of computer algorithms, so not necessarily the best to use). The idea behind these exchanges is that you have the option to act as the bookie and offer other punters odds at which to match your “lay-bet”.

A lay-bet is one which you place on an outcome not to occur. For example, you could bet on a horse to lose a race, or a player not to score in a match. This is “laying” the outcome. In these exchanges you offer the odds and the stake you want matched. If you win (i.e the outcome doesn’t occur, as you thought) then you take the stake you asked for. Be careful, though, because if you lose (i.e that horse wins or that player scores) then you pay out the stake times the odds you offered. A tricky business then, which may sound easy, but if not played carefully you may find yourself soon understanding the disdain with which bookies often view the typical punter.