Betfair sports is the world’s largest betting company. It also offers online bingo, casino (online gambling), online casino, and online poker. Betfair sports betting allows you to place bets against each other instead of traditional betting. Instead of taking on clients and taking risks on their own, the exchange offers a “late” option – placing a wager on something like this does not happen.
Betfair has the following sports betting options:
- Football
- Horse racing
- Cricket
- Tennis
- Golf
- Boxing
- Rugby
- US Sports (Basketball, MLB, NFL)
- Other sports (Athletics, GAA, Boxing, Darts, eSports, UFC).
Betfair sports betting exchange explained
There are 2 betting platforms used in matched betting. The first one is the traditional online bookmaker, and the second is an online betting exchange.
Traditional online bookmakers are very easy, they offer bets on public games. If you decide to support the result, and it wins, you get your winnings from the bookmaker. In case you lose the bet, the bookmaker will retain your wager.
Example of Traditional online bookmaker: Bookmaker may suggest you to Bet £10 on Real Madrid to beat Man City, and if Real Madrid wins, Bookmaker will give you £15. If Real Madrid does not win, Bookmaker will keep your £10 stake.
However, Betfair betting exchange is a marketplace for one-on-one sports betting. Exchange provides customers to make themselves bookmakers and accept other people’s bets. Which makes it different from traditional bookmakers.
Example of Betfair Sports Betting Exchange: It allows the customer to be a bookmaker and accept winning bets on Real Madrid. So, if Real Madrid wins, Team Profit John has to pay £15. If Real Madrid does not win, Team Profit John keeps the other person’s £10 bet. Thus, by becoming a bookmaker, In fact, he effectively bets that Real Madrid will not win. This is called betting against beta.
Now we are familiar with the difference between a bookmaker and a betting exchange.
So next how can we use this when matched betting?
We remind you that bookmakers give welcome offers, such as if you bet 5 pounds, you will get 20 pounds for free. So, let’s take an example of the Manchester City vs Chelsea soccer game, you could bet £5 on Chelsea to win for activation of your £20 free bets. However, Chelsea may not win, which means you will lose your £5 bet. Here the betting exchange comes into play.
By becoming a bookmaker, using the exchange, you can bet £5 that Chelsea will not win. So, in general, betting exchanges and bookmaker bets will cancel each other out. This means that no matter what the outcome, there is no loss or winnings in the initial £5 bet.
But good news: after that, we will activate the £20 free bet, which we can then turn into £15 for the bank profit.
What is a Betfair sportsbook?
When you place your bets on Sportsbook, you bet against Betfair and not against the other Betfair customers. The odds are generally higher for singles (exchange) than for the same outcomes at the bookmaker’s office, but unlike the exchange, when you place your bets at the bookmaker’s office, there is no commission charged on your winnings.