Lay Betting Strategies

The ever-expanding world of online betting has brought forward innovative ways of attracting tipsters and punters with betting options that were unimaginable until a few years ago.

One such way which achieved instant popularity still enjoyed to the same and even increased extent today is called Lay Betting.
An exciting and truly unique way of betting offers a different perspective and is enjoyed by millions of people who get engaged in a betting exchange. What Lay Betting does is that it makes you a bookmaker.

The best way to start an article on Lay Betting Strategy is to provide the simplest definition that can be found – Lay Betting is betting on an outcome not to happen. A concept in full contrast to your ordinary betting process allows to choose an option you think will not happen instead of backing a team/horse/tennis player etc. to win.

To put it in a better perspective here is a more illustrative example: let’s say you want to bet on the Champions League winner market, but you are still undecided on Barcelona for example, who are made the biggest favourites. By Laying Barcelona, you are effectively backing the entire crop of rivals to beat them and eliminate them from the chase.

If you think this simple concept is too good to be true, you are right. Like in everything in life, there is a catch with Lay Betting as well. In Lay Betting, you can lose more than you have staked since you will be forced to pay the backer his winnings in case your Laying selection wins instead of loses.

Lay Betting was the subject of controversy when it was first introduced as short-sighted competition insisted that betting against someone/something could cause corruption and match fixing but betting on winning and losing is what betting has even been all about. Just remember how many times you might have told your friend: “I bet you this team will not win”. More times than you can remember, right?

Lay Betting allows you to back your belief, hunch or a gut feeling telling you a certain selection should be avoided. It can be quite simple, but in order to be successful at it, one needs to do inside-to-outside research and study this betting option thoroughly in order to create a clear plan and a sound strategy that will yield results and bring success.

One of the first things about Lay Betting that needs to be explained is the Betting Exchange.

Betting Exchange

Lay Betting will not be available on a regular betting platform you go to every day to place your regular bets. The most likely platform is a betting exchange, a concept first introduced by Betfair, one of the world’s most visionary betting operators who caused a giant shockwave in the industry with their innovation.

The Betting Exchange is a marketplace for tipsters who can buy and sell an outcome, without requiring a mediator as you bet against the other bettors instead of against the operator.

The Betting Exchange allows you to trade in or out anytime during the event of choice as well, which is a good way to secure your profits. In the Betting Exchange, it is the players who dictate the price range, which means that this platform is more fluent, with more fluctuation and uncertainty which, in a fantastic way, makes it so thrilling.

Punters set their own odds in the Betting Exchange and accept odds from another bettor, by taking on the role of a bookmaker, thus setting the market by offering your own prices. One would ask what’s in it for bookmakers, but knowing that the Betting Exchange normally charges a nominal commission on bets being placed will provide an answer.

One of the most important aspects of using the Betting Exchange, consequently the Lay Betting, is understanding the liability, which is increased in Lay Betting.

Increased Liability

Definitely one of the biggest issues in Lay Betting is the increased liability which needs to be understood properly before diving into the exciting world of Lay Betting.

It is basically extremely important to remember that in Lay Betting you can lose more than you can win.

For Example, if you lay a 2/1 bet at £30, that is the amount you will get if your selection ends up losing. But, if you get it wrong and the selection wins at the aforementioned odds, your loss will then mount to £60 (2 x £30).

When you are backing a selection to win, the most you can lose is your initial stake, whereas in Lay Betting your overall liability increases as the total risk involved in the bet is the amount you actually bet against.

The most important thing you need to keep an eye on with Lay Betting is to monitor how much you are liable for.
The most popular sports for Lay Betting are:

• Horse Racing
• Football

Horse Racing is actually the most popular choice with Lay Betting. The reason is simple and can be found in the fact that horse races offer various outcomes that are extremely difficult to predict which is why betting against a single selection is much easier than betting on one.

When it comes to football, Lay Betting offers a double chance of sorts, with you backing a team not to win, which means that your selection goes through in case the other team wins or if the game finishes in a draw.

The biggest and arguably the most important piece of any good Lay Betting strategy – apart from keeping your eye on the liability – is to watch out for the early Lay Betting markets in early stages of trading.

During this time, the market will not be completely formed and you will find plenty of gaps between the best prices to back and lay a selection. In this particular case, you can make an offer if you don’t want to lay the selection at the price available or trade it at the increased prices later on, which gives you room for profit.