A Guide to Betting Exchanges
Don’t take such requests personally, all licensed online bookies must follow these regulations or they can face huge fines. You may be asked affordability checks such as showing your pay slips and or you may be asked for proof of funds for money laundering checks. However sometimes using these methods may exclude you from bookmakers welcome offers.
At betting exchanges, you get to call the shots by setting your own odds. Exchange betting is when you wager directly against other punters instead of the sportsbook and at much lower fees. Simply put, these are platforms where exchange betting takes place. So join me as I go through betting exchange features, pros/cons, and how to use them in your favor. For example, you might place a lay bet on a horse not to win a race. In gambling, a lay bet is a wager that something will not happen.
It’s a willing buyer, willing seller kind of scenario where punters connect. I like to call betting exchanges the “eBay of betting”. This question is best explained by outlining the main characteristics of a betting exchange.
Although betting exchanges do not directly use margin, understanding this mechanism is important for analyzing competitive offers. One of the key advantages of betting exchanges is the absence of margin, which allows punters to find higher odds on every bet. In fact, in-play bets make gambling at betting exchanges more entertaining. Do your research and continue checking SportsGambler guides for handy guides.
Some years on in 2016, Betfair and Paddy Power merged and now both sit under Flutter Entertainment who also own many other brands including Sky Bet. It completely revolutionised the gambling industry with its new offering of a betting exchange where customers could act as the bookmaker. Betfair is the longest running and largest betting exchange in the world and considered by most to be the market leader by some distance. New customer offer – Matchbook currently offers the longest 0% commission offer to all Outplayed members.
With over 100 different betting sites ranked and rated, OLBG lists the best bookies in the UK for fast withdrawals, with some as quick as 30 minutes. Online betting sites have started to offer a number of tools to help you with this including They can offer great advice including helping you to self exclude. For more information take a look at our detailed responsible gambling guide.
However, liquidity can sometimes be an issue for less popular events. Betfair offers a wide range of markets, but keep bookies in mind their commission fees. The success of Betfair has since inspired the creation of other betting exchanges and significantly influenced the online sports betting industry. The concept of the betting exchange was pioneered by Andrew Black and Edward Wray, who co-founded Betfair in 2000. Geographical restrictions also play a role in the downsides of betting exchanges.
Smarkets are very data driven and provide customers with a host of live odds data, graphs and statistics. However, opting to use the basic plan would mean any free games, rewards or offers are removed. They also offer new exchange customers a sign-up promotion of bet £20 (using a debit card) on their exchange and they will refund £20 to your balance as cash if your bet loses. One additional feature that Betfair offers is a dedicated Each Way market on Horse and greyhound races. The increased liquidity means better available back and lay odds which is essential for Betfair Trading, Matched betting and other betting strategies. Another big advantage to Betfair is that they have so many customers, the liquidity (money in the market) is more often than not, much higher than their rivals.