Introduction to Laying and Exchanges
The advent of betting exchanges means punters now have one of the most valuable tools at their finger tips when it comes to locking in value from their betting, however this technological breakthrough has gone straight over the heads of many punters who still haven’t a clue to how they work.
You really should consider moving your betting action over to a betting exchange if you are either a regular gambler, who likes a punt every day, or even a infrequent punter who likes the occasional flutter, as once you get your head around how they work and operate you will become hooked (in a good sense), due to the high odds and betting opportunities that they throw up every minute of the day.
Betting Exchanges
A betting exchange is a way for gamblers to place a bet legally between themselves. The world’s most popular and biggest betting exchange is Betfair. Unlike a conventional bookmakers shop where you go in and simply choose whatever it is you wish to be on, and take the odds given or rely on the starting prices, at a betting exchange you have total control over the odds you can get, and you do not have to back a horse to win you can also lay a horse to lose!
When you arrive at a betting exchange, and have registered an account, then have put some money into your account using whatever method you have chosen, you can then scroll through a list of different betting events which are due to start later that day or any date in the future. All betting events are listed, from horse and greyhound races, to soccer and cricket matches, in fact you can even bet on novelty type wagers such as who will win big brother or who will be the next president of the USA!
Once you have found the sporting event or betting event that interests you, your next decision is whether you simply want to bet on that event much like you would in a bookies shop, and if this is the case you will then be able to take any of the odds currently offered. Or you can ask for higher odds, so if you fancy betting on a horse for example that is currently on offer at 5 to 1, then you could ask for 6 to 1 then wait for another punter using the betting exchange to give you those odds.
Conversely, if you are looking at the list of runners and have decided which horse you think will win, then you can become the bookmaker yourself and take wagers from punters who want to bet on one of the horses you are convinced will lose. This is known as you laying a horse to lose, if that horse then loses you will win the amount of the stake that the other punter bet on that horse, however should that horse win, you will then have to pay that other punter his winnings.
A betting exchange ensures that both backers and layers can afford to pay their for their wagers, or can payout the winnings by taking the relevant amount out of your betting exchange account once the bet has been struck between two parties. They then temporarily hold it once the wager has been placed, then immediately after the event or race has been run the cash is then credited to the person who either picked the horse to win or layed the horse to lose depending on where it finished in the race.
In Play Betting
One of the features of all betting exchanges is that once any betting event has started they will then allow punters to gamble on that race or event whilst it is in play, so if a soccer match has started, then wagers can be placed up until the closing minutes, similarly when a horse race gets underway you can still bet on it whilst the race is being run!
By offering betting in running, many savvy punters can lock in a guaranteed profit by either backing or laying a horse or team should they have already placed a wager on it, as the odds will and can move dramatically when a race or event gets underway, and this is why betting exchanges are so very popular, as there will come times when a gambler will not be able to lose due to the swings in the odds offered by both backers and layers.
Also, due to the sheer volume of wagers placed on betting exchanges, they often give much better odds than a bookmaker could possibly offer, and this is why many punters have stopped going into betting shops or betting online via betting sites. They much prefer to pick a selection, then either grab the best odds offered, or ask for better odds in the hope that a fellow punter with opposing views will accept their wager at these greater odds.
In fact, many land based bookmakers are now using betting exchanges as a way of balancing their books when they have liabilities on certain events or runners, and this means an even greater amount of money is swilling around the exchanges!
It should be pointed out however that the betting exchange will take a small fee for every winning wager you have placed, this is how they make money out of their exchanges. However this fee is relatively small, and is only charged if you have either backed a horse to win and it does indeed win or have layed a horse to lose and it does lose, meaning you won!
Should you wish to open a betting exchange account then there are quite a few of them you can choose from. So do some shopping around as they all have their own unique features! However, to make sure you get the best value, it pays to stick to the bigger and more well known betting exchanges, as they have a huge customer base, and as such you will find the volume of wagers available is huge and there will always be someone with an opposing view to you, and as such you will always be able to get a wager on!
