Have you ever wondered what it would be like to create your own betting odds for a sporting event? Well, with betting exchanges, you have just that.
A betting exchange is an online platform where bettors can go head to head on events without the typical use of a bookie. This experience provides the betting exchange no risk at all, as their customers are the ones offering the odds and matching their bets.
Top Tips For Betting Exchanges
When using a betting exchange, you are going to want to have some tips in mind. These will ultimately help you further along with your betting strategy. If you are unfamiliar with some betting terms, head to our guide for more information. The top tips for using betting exchanges are:
- How betting exchanges work
- The benefits
- Understand back and lay
- No limits
How Betting Exchanges Work
Betting exchanges have a uniqueness to them like no other sporting betting platform. The system is like a shared network of sports bettors that all share the risk of a certain event.
With exchanges, they allow lay betting. This means you can back a selection to lose rather than for it to win.
You can think of a betting exchange as a place where two bets occur at one time. One wager for the bet to win and one wager for the bet to lose.
For example, if you wanted to bet $10 on a horse at odds of 10/1 ($100 return), you need someone else to risk $100 at 1/10 to win $10.
Simply enough, this is all driven by supply and demand. You, as well as other sports bettors, are creating a betting market with suitable odds and creating a level of fairness.
The Benefits
The benefits of a betting exchange can greatly outweigh the ones from a typical sportsbook. It provides such a greater choice of options.
For example, if you wanted to bet on MLB but did not find the odds you wanted, then you are essentially out of luck. With a betting exchange, now all you have to do is to find someone else that is willing to take on some of that risk or to lay your bet.
So, this allows users to make their own odds and create a market they want. The market itself is not depicted by one person either.
There are hundreds and possibly thousands of bets being placed by other bettors. So it is important that when making odds that they are generally quite fair and reasonable so their bets will be matched.
As a result of the user market of odds, bets are now more valuable or have better value than before. This is because of people making their own odds for events and not being justified by whatever the bookie decides them to be when trying to make money on their margins.
Understand Back and Lay
With your regular sports betting when using a bookie, you are subject to simply backing the winner or “back.” Betting exchanges allow their users to both “back” and “lay” an event to bet on the loser.
With this system, someone is always going to be taking the risk somehow. You can also trade your positions, just in case you changed your mind during an event and want to lay your bet.
No Limits
Betting exchanges do not necessarily power down on bet cancellations, account closures, and stake restrictions. They are not concerned at all with how an event is going to turn out.
They are simply concerned with having a way for users to back and lay. The liquidity is what makes the number of bets work in a market. So, all winners are welcomed, and accounts are never closed.
The other side to this is the fairness and honesty that users have to all agree with. Since people are making their own odds, you can set them however you like. But if they are ridiculous enough, people are not going to bet on them. It doesn't hurt to be knowledgeable on how to read odds well.
It is important for each user to find a middle ground. Fairness and honesty are what drives a betting exchange.
