How to bet on Betfair
Want to know how to bet on Betfair? Find out all you need to know...
Placing a bet
To place a bet click on either back or lay next to the selection you are interested in. In the following example you are backing Tiger Woods at odds of 3.8, enter your chosen stake (minimum €2) and your potential profit is displayed in the bet slip on the right.
If you are happy with your odds, stake and potential profit click submit. If you have 'Verify bets' (at the base of the bet slip) ticked you will again have to confirm your bets. This is the bet offer.
Now you need to be sure your bet is matched...
What is 'lay' betting?
"I bet you won't get a bullseye", "I bet you won't finish all that", "They'll never win if he plays." We all make statements to friends like this every day. What you're actually doing is 'laying a bet': betting something won't happen. This is the major difference with Betfair and conventional bookies.
Betfair have made lay betting possible.
Like anything too good to be true, there is a catch. Should your selection win, you'll pay the backer his winnings, which could be a lot more than the stake. Just be careful how much you decide to lay!
How do the odds work for laying?
Imagine two everyday scenarios - flipping a coin and rolling a dice.
You and your friend each put a fiver on the coin toss. One calls Heads, the other gets Tails, and whoever wins gets €10.
You backed Heads for €5 to win another €5. The odds you received were evens (or 2.0 on Betfair).
Or looking at it another way...
You laid Tails. You let your friend have €5 on Tails to win another €5, at odds of 2.0.
Either way, if it lands Heads, you win a fiver, if it lands Tails, you lose a fiver. In a two-horse race, backing one side means you are laying the other.
So what happens when the odds aren't even, or there are more than two options?
Think of a standard dice. Pick a number. Your friend will pay you every time it lands on six. What odds should it be? It can't be evens or 2.0, because that's not fair - you've got much more chance of losing than winning.
Chances of winning - one
Chances of losing - five
The true price of this bet is five to one, or in decimals, 6.0 (potential profit plus your stake).
So your friend agrees to pay you the true price if you roll a six. You put down €1, he risks €5.
If your price is 5/1, what price is he getting for his bet? He has five chances of winning, and only one chance of losing. So the odds are 1/5 or in decimals, 1.2. If you've noticed the similarity, well done. It's simply 'flip the fraction' to work out the other side of the bet.
True odds (such as 5/1 v 1/5) represent an efficient market. This occurs when all the money going into the market equals all the money being paid out in the market - there is no leakage or profits being taken. Efficient betting markets rarely exist outside of betting exchanges - bookmakers need to reap a profit in order to run a business.
Betting should all come down to weighing up the risk versus the reward.
Laying at 2.0 will win you more if you are correct, but it is more likely to happen than laying at 6.0. But laying at 6.0 will cost you more should that result occur.
Backing at 2.0 is more likely to happen, but you won't win as much compared to backing at 6.0. And if you have bet to win a certain amount, then backing at 2.0 will cost you more if the selection doesn't win.
Placing a lay bet
Select the market as outlined in placing a bet.
Then click on the lay side, in the following example you are laying Phil Mickelson at odds of 22.0. The backer is staking €10.
Your liability of €210 is taken from your balance as this is your worst case scenario. The payout will be €220 but that includes the stake from the backer. If this bet was matched, there would effectively be a pot of €220 for someone to collect - the backer's €10 stake, and the layer's €210 liability
If Phil Mickelson wins the tournament you have to pay €210 to the winning customer. If any other player wins the tournament you win €10 less commission. When laying a bet, you can only win the other person's stake.