Betting Exchange Strategy

The imposing world of online betting has taken the business as it has been known for years by the horns and made gigantic transformations much to the delight of the new generation of punters and tipsters.

Back in the day, it would have been enough to go to your favourite bookie’s retail shop and write down the betting selection, whereas today bettors are presented with a myriad of betting variations that to some extent can be quite confusing.

One such option definitely is the Betting Exchange, a betting marketplace which has revolutionized online betting and caused plenty of controversies as well. However, it has overall taken the betting process to a completely new dimension.

The easiest way to explain the Betting Exchange is to say that it is a facility which allows bettors to wager against each other instead of against a bookmaker in a standard betting environment. Bettors are given the possibility to buy and sell the outcome of a game, event, race, fight or trade it through the event whether it’s to cut losses or to lock in profits.

The Betting Exchange will allow you experience endless possibilities and potential through different forms that sprung out of the Betting Exchange, as without it we wouldn’t have In-Play betting, trading features, competitive odds and an overall expansion of betting markets.

Origins and Controversy

Originally conceived by gambling industry’s innovators at Betfair, the Betting Exchange is designed to challenge traditional betting ways and introduce a new era of bookmaking, forcing other betting sites to up their game, step up or fail miserably in their efforts to keep pace and ultimately dispute the ever-changing course of betting history.

The United Kingdom’s “Big Three” Coral, Ladbrokes and William Hill have been the first ones to raise their hands in protest against the newly-introduced betting facility which they thought was opening doors to corruption in sports, arguing that betting on an outcome that won’t happen will be the biggest problem with this new system.
Betfair responded by stating that those arguments were inspired not by the well-being of sport, but by commercial interests as the Betting Exchange adopted modern security systems which are closely related to governing bodies and authorities over any possible suspicious betting behaviour.

How Does the Betting Exchange Work and How to Use it

The best way to fully understand how the Betting Exchange works is to have it compared to traditional betting through bookies. The Betting exchange is a form of a mediator which allows punters to match their bets and pair them up with a set of determined and agreed upon betting odds. You are betting against another bettor, just like you would do with your friend, who is not that convinced your team will win today.

So what you do is you place a bet on an exchange and have it matched up against another exchange user who is challenging your call. You will be buying and selling odds on particular outcomes, whereas you will also be given a chance to cash-out your selection in order to cut losses or lock down wins if you don’t want to wait your selections out until the end of the game. To put it out in more detail, you are given a chance to both Back and Lay an outcome and Trade the Market in a betting move that is particularly popular during In-Play betting. Throughout the entire process of the betting exchange, the biggest appeal of the system is that it is not biased.

It does not care if you win or lose as it is not making money on your losing bets, but rather a commission, which puts you in a rather fair betting environment, where your success depends on the skill, fortune and good understanding.

Some of the main aspects of the Betting Exchange which should be taken into consideration during the analysis of the facility itself, and during the formation of a sound strategy that will help you get most of the betting exchange are as follows:

• Lay Bets
• Back Bets
• Matched Bets
• In-Play Betting

Laying a bet is arguably the biggest difference – and in this case advantage – with traditional betting operators. Betting against a certain outcome will give you a greater chance of making a profit and a greater chance of making use of a value bet.

Similarly, betting exchange often comes with both backing and laying options and Betfair’s facility will give you an opportunity to bet on both outcomes of an event. The good strategy with this betting option is to spread your bet and thus make sure never to lose a significant amount of money. At the same time, backing and laying a bet will make it significantly easier to come out on top with a profit in your hand.

When it comes to matched betting, this type of betting exchange is at its core a version of bet laying, with the exception that your selection is matched by other members of the public, who would like to dispute your choice.

With no middleman offering fixed prices – which is the case with traditional bookies – you get to state your own odds. The main advantage of matched betting is that odds set by punters in the betting exchange are often of significantly higher and better value, which ultimately yields a kind of profit you won’t be able to collect with regular bookmakers.

One of the key bits of advice when it comes to Betting Exchange and the strategy behind it is to follow the odds. The betting exchange is a fluctuating and pulsating market with odds going up and down more frequently than with In-Play betting found at regular betting operators.

If you place a 1/1 bet on a team to win at the beginning of the game, chances are that odds can drift well beyond 5/4. And with prices constantly moving up and down choosing the time to cash out on a selection will leave you with a hefty profit.