Online exchange betting has grown tremendously in popularity in recent years. With the rise of betting exchanges like Betfair and Smarkets, more and more bettors are opting to place their wagers on exchanges rather than with traditional bookmakers. While bookmakers still dominate the overall sports betting market, exchange betting id offers some clear advantages that have attracted many bettors. Here are 5 key benefits of online exchange betting.
Lay Betting Allows Profitable Outcomes on Any Match
One of the key benefits of exchange betting is the ability to lay bets, as opposed to only being able to back bets like with traditional bookmakers. When you lay a bet on an exchange, you are effectively betting on an outcome to lose rather than win. This opens up profitable betting opportunities that aren’t available otherwise. For example, let’s say you think the favourite in an upcoming match is almost certain to win, but the odds being offered on the exchange to back (bet on) them aren’t very high. Rather than settling for those less profitable odds, you can instead lay a bet on the underdog to lose at much longer odds. As long as your prediction is correct and the favourite does win as expected, you will earn a profit from the lay bet.
With a regular bookmaker, in this same scenario your only choice would be to back the favourite. But the odds may not have been high enough to make that bet worthwhile. By laying the underdog instead on an exchange, you can structure the wager to still earn a profit no matter which team wins, since laying a bet profits as long as the selection loses rather than wins. This ability to both back favourites for a win as well as lay underdogs for a loss provides exchange bettors more flexibility and opportunities to make profitable wagers compared to only being able to back one side with bookmakers. It allows profitable outcomes even when the odds are less than ideal, increasing betting potential.
Set Your Own Odds and Bet Size
When placing bets on an exchange, you have control over both the odds you are willing to accept and the amount you want to wager. This gives bettors much more flexibility and autonomy over their bets compared to fixed odds from traditional bookmakers. If you see a bet you like but the available odds aren’t high enough yet, you can opt to wait and observe if other bettors increase the odds further to a more favourable level before placing your wager. You also aren’t restricted to standard wager amounts – you can bet a portion of the outcomes total stake if that’s all the risk you want.
This customization and control is very appealing to serious bettors. Rather than immediately accepting the odds and wager sizes set by others, exchanges let bettors tailor these factors to their own preferences. If the current odds aren’t satisfactory, a bettor can simply hold off on betting until the terms align with their standards. Exchanges also allow betting fractions of outcomes. So if the total wagered on a result is 100 units but you only want to risk 10 units, exchanges facilitate partial bets down to your desired amount. This micro-level flexibility over wager sizing is not possible with traditional bookmakers’ fixed limits approach.
No Commissions Means You Keep More of Your Winnings
When placing wagers with a typical betting platform, they will take a small percentage of the total amount risked on any bets that conclude successfully. This portion taken reduces the amount returned compared to what the stated odds indicate. However, betting exchanges do not remove any portion of a successful bet. The full result is what is shown by the calculated odds, without any amount subtracted.
Over numerous winning outcomes on multiple wagers over time, avoiding this standard deduction on successful bets can accumulate to a significantly larger total amount retained in one’s own account compared to fixed-chance betting. For bettors who place many wagers and achieve positive results frequently, exchange betting permits maximizing long-term returns without relinquishing any of the rightfully earned rewards from triumphant bets. While small individually, this kept percentage of each win adds up substantially the more bets are placed and wins achieved.
The freedom to retain the full anticipated return amount on each winning wager, as expressed in the presented odds, allows regular successful bettors on exchanges to steadily increase their total benefits at a higher rate than if a standard portion was removed with each victory. In this way, exchange betting is advantageous for experienced participants who bet often and achieve positive outcomes on many of their predictions.
Hedging and Arbitrage Opportunities
Advanced bettors also use exchanges for hedging and arbitrage betting strategies not possible with regular bookmakers. Hedging involves placing two opposite bets on the same event to guarantee a profit no matter the outcome. For example, backing and laying the same selection at slightly different odds.
Arbitrage involves finding temporary odds discrepancies between exchanges or bookmakers and locking in guaranteed profits by betting both sides of the same outcome until the odds equalize. These low-risk strategies are only viable due to the ability to both back and lay on exchanges, opening up new profitable opportunities for savvy bettors.
Transparency of Betting Markets
One final advantage of exchange betting is the transparency of the markets. You can see all live and pending id bet in real-time, including bet sizes, odds, and potential payouts. This allows you to get a clear picture of where the early betting money is going before placing your own wagers.
You can also track major bets as they are placed and how they move the odds up or down. This level of insight into live betting trends and patterns is very useful for informed decision making. Overall, exchange betting provides a much more open look into real betting data compared to the opaque markets of traditional bookmakers.
Conclusion
The key benefits of online exchange id betting include more flexibility and control over your bets, avoiding bookmaker commissions, and new hedging/arbitrage opportunities. For serious and experienced bettors, exchange betting maximizes profits over the long run through lower costs and more betting options. While requiring more effort, online betting exchanges offer a powerful alternative to fixed odds betting.
