Betting exchange – how to use one

A betting exchange is basically matching bets between those willing to lay a price and those willing to take a price. Instead of betting directly with a bookmaker you bet with a third party using the betting exchange as a clearing house. This means that the betting exchange is responsible for the settlement of the bet. You do not have the risk of your counterparty in the bet transaction going broke. This is well and fine as long as the betting exchange itself does not go bust.

The betting exchange takes out commission from one of or both of the parties depending on its terms and conditions. Most usual is to deduct the commission from the winner of the bet when it is settled.

A betting exchange does often give better odds than wagering directly with a bookmaker, but liquidity on certain events may be poorer and all you may find that wagering accumulators is not so easy to do. This basically means that the betting exchange is the playground of the professionals. People who only hunt value and mainly stick to singles love the exchanges.

Betting exchange usage example

Here is an example of what you will see when you look at a betting exchange line we will use World Cup Soccer in the example.

Brazil back 3.18 $230, lay 1.44 $525
USA back 2.4 $260, lay 1.67 $344
Draw back 3.4 $230, lay 1.39 $580

Let’s say after breaking down this game you like the US to win. The best price for them is 2.4, so you want to play $100 on them to win the match. Your profit before any commission to the betting exchange will be $146 if in fact they win the game.

Backing the side is essentially betting on the team to win. To lay on the USA this means that you do not want them to win the odd is 1.67. Here you would need to bet $149 to earn $100 in profit. When you lay a bet in this way you basically accept the bet request of a third party. In other words, you put on your bookmaker hat.

You can also choose to manually enter a bet request yourself. For instance, that you want to back USA for $100 at 2.45, or that you are willing to lay the USA at 1.62. The betting exchange software will then try to match your bet depending on the various requests in the system.

What betting exchanges to use?

Finding a good sports exchange site is not harder than finding a good sports book. There are many solid online sports betting exchange sites. Once you have done some research and due diligence on them, familiarize yourself with the system and make sure you know their terms and conditions.

You’re best to stick with companies that have been around for a long time. Betfair, Matchbook and Betdaq are three popular sites. Betfair is by far the biggest operator and is a listed company. Once you get comfortable with the user interface and what the sites have to offer you will be amazed at the opportunities you have and the increased Return on Betting you will have. Betting exchanges come with our warmest recommendation

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