Betting Exchanges as an Alternative to Betting Shops

The year 1999 was marked by the expansion of the online gaming market. It was this year that the first sports betting exchange, Betfair, appeared. If before that the players tried to beat the bookmaker, then at the sports betting exchange, they began to bet among themselves. The exchange in this case is only the organizer, the owner of the betting website, not participating directly in the game process.

Betting exchange: differences from a traditional betting shop

The sports betting exchange is an online resource by which players get the opportunity to bet on the result of an event, bypassing the intermediary. This is the main difference between the sports exchange and the betting shop. Players have a free choice, they can act both as a player and as a bookmaker. That is, to offer their odds for the game or bet on the odds offered by someone.

A logical question arises, and then what is the benefit of those people who create such exchanges. The answer is simple: they get a certain percentage of each transaction. If we talk about the benefits of players, then, as statistics show, playing against ordinary people is much easier than against professional analysts in betting shops. Everyone has a chance to win with the freedom to choose suitable odds.

It’s also should be noted that a sports exchange can be both virtual and quite real. In this case, the organizers provide the players with a room in which the trade takes place and, again, receive a certain percentage. To understand how the betting process on the exchange takes place, consider a specific example.

Suppose a match is to be held between two football teams. There are two people who have certain opinions about its outcome. When placing bets in the betting shop, they are forced to accept the bets offered by the bookmaker. Making bets on the sports exchange, they are free to set their own odds and bet. That is, in fact, with the help of a sports exchange, you can find a person who can argue with you for money on your terms.

Another significant difference between the exchange and the betting shop is that it has absolutely no interest in losing a player, since its profit is provided exclusively by interest on winnings. Moreover, on the sports exchange there is an opportunity to resell odds or sell your bet to another player. This ensures a win at any outcome of the match.

As the game on sports exchanges is gaining popularity among players, we have made a selection of the most reliable sports exchanges for you.

Sports betting exchange: pros and cons

Compared to a traditional betting shop, the betting exchange has several undeniable advantages and a number of minuses.

Pros of betting exchange

Do not take the phrase “your quotes are set on the exchange” literally. Sometimes bookmakers objectively determine the “price” of markets. It’s not possible to deceive users, because people who “live” there are definitely no more stupid than you. Despite this, at exchanges, especially popular, primarily Betfair, quotes are more profitable than in betting shops.

There are no limits on the transaction amount on the exchange, but you must wait until one of the players balances the amount you bet. In sought after markets, bettors bet millions of dollars.

A dynamic change in quotes, even in pre-match, makes it possible not only to set, but also engage in trading. You can earn on fluctuations in the odds that occur due to user actions. The exchange simply offers a convenient service, and quotes are created solely on the basis of market outbursts.

On popular exchanges, the term “line error” or “wrong odds” is missing, because the “prices” are controlled by the bettors themselves. Although there are cases when the winnings were confiscated from users on the Smarkets exchange due to a software error.

The cash flow on the exchange is formed by means of players. The exchange will not be able to go bankrupt due to poorly set odds, poor match outcome or fixed game.

Cons of betting exchange

The main drawback is liquidity. The term indicates how actively trading takes place in a particular market. Probably only Betfair has high liquidity among exchanges, and not on all sports disciplines and outcomes. Sometimes you have to wait a few hours for someone to respond to your proposal. And for an exotic sport or championship, making a bet is almost impossible. In BS, such transactions are executed instantly.

There is no margin on the exchanges in the odds, but the gain is taxed by a commission. 6.5% is withdrawn on the mentioned Betfair, although there are more loyal platforms, for example, Smarkets, where the commission is 2%.

Most users use bots, so trading is reduced to zero. Markets usually control speculators who are bending the line thanks to big deals.

What about bookmakers?

All of the above benefits may be applicable against the average shop. But there are shops of another class, they are called professional. For example, Pinnacle. This company, on average, has more profitable odds than other shops. The bookmaker margin in this case is 2%. Yes, it is included in the odds, but the amount of the bookmaker’s commission is a rather large percentage. This should also be taken into account when searching for the most profitable odds for yourself.

This betting shop, like other professional ones, does not set limits on the amount of bets at a time when many other shops often do this. By placing one bet with a high limit, the player can do the same in a few seconds.

In this case, when the bookmaker does not set the limits, and the number of customers is large enough, it is more profitable to work with professional shops.

Bookmakers often offer to bet on little-known events, accept bets on unpopular sports. And, as you know, to win at such bets is much easier.

The main reason customers switch from betting shops to exchanges is setting limits and closing accounts. But there is a class of betting shops which are happy to work with professionals.

Types of bets on the exchange

The “FOR” bet is an analogue of the single bet in the betting shop. To bet, find the match and offer in the list. If quotes do not suit you, set up a pending order, which will be automatically issued when the odds increase or decrease.

Bet AGAINST. The bottom line is to identify an outcome that will not play. In shops, this can be observed in anti-accumulators, when you need to win the selected bets to win. Roughly speaking, a player transforms into a bookmaker and must accurately predict the event that is not likely to happen.

Example: match Liverpool-Manchester. Player 1 finds the event on the list and sees that player 2 has indicated Liverpool’s victory. Player 1 believes that Manchester will turn out to be stronger, therefore, makes a bet “against”. For other users to actively execute transactions, quotes are slightly higher than in betting shops. Suppose, if the average odds for the victory of Liverpool are 1.55, then you can set the odds 1.62.

After that, the maximum amount that you are willing to risk is selected. For example, it is 100 cu. With odds of 1.62 it will be 162 cu. You will lose 62 cu if you make a mistake. In case of a win, earnings without taking into account the exchange commission will amount to $ 100, which the second player (your opponent) risked.

Strictly speaking, “For” bets are an analog of the usual bets concluded in a betting shop. “Against” bets — reverse bets with inverse odds.

Let’s take another example. Two teams play in the match. A player bets for a specific outcome: for example, they bet 100 dollars on the victory of the first team and sets odds of 1.50 in the calculation to get 50 dollars from above. This is a pro bet. After that, they wait for the second player to appear who will bet “Against”.

The second player is sure that the first team will lose, and makes a bet against their victory with odds of 1.50. To accept a bet, they must pay 50 dollars, which will provide the first player with a win if the team wins. If the team does not win, the second player receives their 50 dollars + 100 dollars from the first player. If the team wins, the first player receives 100 dollars + 50 dollars from the second player.

The best sports betting exchanges on the Internet

The first and largest sports betting exchange — Betfair. The company was founded in 1999, and was originally created as an alternative to classic betting shops. With the advent of this exchange, players no longer depend on shops. To this day, Betfair’s betting exchange remains a trendsetter in many sectors of the gaming business. It has a huge audience and allows players to bet on large amounts.

Matchbook Betting Exchange is one of the main competitors of Betfair Betting Exchange. The British company was founded in 2004 and offers customers a convenient interface and navigation the ability to bet using mobile devices. There are also interesting bonuses.

Betdaq appeared in Ireland in 2000. Initially, the company operated under a license issued by Alderney. At the moment, the owner of Betdaq is the Ladbrokes bookmaker and operates under British and offshore licenses. The main advantage of Betdaq betting exchange is its small margin, not exceeding 3 percent. Players from Britain and China can use mobile versions and applications for various operating systems.

Other betting exchanges appeared and disappeared at different times — for example, BetLiner, the “daughter” of the gambling operator Betcruise. The exchange enjoyed certain popularity, but periodically went offline, requiring a high commission (10 percent). As a result, the brand left the market, giving way to the BetCruise betting shop.

Conclusion

In comparison, bookmakers effectively earn money, they know how to balance. Thus, theoretically, this allows betting companies to earn money regardless of the result, creating special chances. Without relying on margins, betting exchanges can offer a much fairer view. Understanding what betting odds are is the true probability of each outcome.

When you make bets with a bookmaker, you are limited only by the support of the winner, but the betting exchange allows their users to both “return” and “mortgage” the result. Therefore, players can act as a “bookmaker”, setting the odds for the event, or “client”, supporting the odds set by other users on the exchange. This gives the player the opportunity to trade positions in the same way as a broker on the stock exchange, evaluating the market as the event moves from the pre-game to the game. And, in turn, gives gamers more opportunities to find value and place a bet.