How does Betfair Exchange work?
This video answers the question ‘how does Betfair Exchange work?’ with a quick introduction. A link to Betfair is mentioned in the video but we’d recommend starting your OddsMonkey free trial for full access to our Betfair Exchange and matched betting guides.
TIME STAMPS:
0:17-0:52: Register with Betfair correctly.
0:53-1:28: Deposit money into your ‘wallet’.
1:29-4:36: Navigate around the Betfair site.
4:37-6:07: Learn how to place lay bets.
USEFUL LINKS:
Start your Free Trial: https://www.oddsmonkey.com/OddsmonkeyNewUser/tabid/157/Default.aspx?returnurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.oddsmonkey.com%2fHome.aspx
What is matched betting?: https://www.oddsmonkey.com/matched-betting/what-is-matched-betting/
OddsMonkey Features: https://www.oddsmonkey.com/matched-betting/features/
TRANSCRIPT:
In this tutorial, you’ll find out how to register with Betfair correctly, deposit money into your wallet, navigate around the Betfair site, and learn how to lay bets.
Follow the link below this video to go to the betting exchange page at Betfair’s website. Please note that this is not to be confused with the sportsbook page of Betfair’s website. It should look like this.
Click the ‘Join now’ button and a pop up window like this one will open. Click ‘Join now’ and complete the form. Fill your details in, leave the promo code as it is, and press ‘Continue’ when you’re done.
This is the deposit screen. You don’t have to deposit any money right now but we’ll tell you a little bit about it so you know for next time.
When you deposit money into Betfair, it gets placed in your virtual wallet and whenever you place a bet, the stake comes out of your wallet. Keeping money saved in your wallet means that you don’t have to deposit every time you want to place a bet. It just speeds things up a bit for you.
There are lots of ways to top up your wallet. The easiest and most popular ways are using a debit card and credit card or PayPal. You can deposit as much as you want at any one time but the minimum amount allowed is £5. Please be aware that there’s a small handling charge for credit card payments.
Now, let’s take a look at the Betfair Exchange homepage. There’s a lot going on. But the main things to take notice of are: the search box, where you can find specific events. For example, if you wanted to find the Chelsea versus West Ham match, just type ‘Chelsea’. The sports menu, which is the easiest way to navigate the site. It is divided into sports and then subdivided for more details. And ‘Today’s racing’ menu, which gives you quick access to any races that are on that day.
By navigating to an event, we can see a range of markets. Remember: ‘markets’ are the name given to the things that a bet can be placed on in an event.
The most popular markets for football matches are: ‘Match Odds’. Predict the outcome of the match: Manchester United to win, for example. ‘Correct score’. Predict the score at the end of the match: 1-0, for example. ‘Over or under goals’. Predict if there will be over or under a defined number of goals in the game.
The most popular markets for horse racing are: ‘To win’. Predict which horse will finish first in a race. ‘Each way’. Predict whether a horse is likely to finish within a pre-determined number of places. For example, first, second, or third place.
Click on one of the football matches listed on the homepage and you’ll arrive at a page that looks like this. This is the game between Lens and Arsenal on the 22nd of July 2016. Notice that the sports menu on the left hand side has now opened up with Lens versus Arsenal as a sub menu. Underneath, you can see a blue list. These are all the various markets that you can bet on for this event.
The last thing to show you is where you can exchange bets with other customers. I’m going to choose the ‘Match Odds’ market by clicking on the ‘View full market’ link, like so.
In the ‘Match Odds’ market, the selections we can choose from are ‘Lens’, ‘Arsenal’, or ‘The Draw’. Remember: a selection is just a betting term for the outcome you select from the choices available.
Focus on the blue section to start with. Notice how it’s titled ‘Back’. Remember: ‘backing’ is the term used when you’re predicting that something is going to happen. All of these bold numbers highlighted in the blue box are the odds that are available for you to back the corresponding selection. The little number underneath is the total stake available at those odds. So, for example, you could back Arsenal at odds of 1.58 with a maximum stake of £29. In other words, you could place a back bet with a stake of anything up to £29.
Let’s suppose you predict that Arsenal will win the game and you stake a £10 back bet on it. If your prediction is correct, your profit would be £5.80. Decimal odds minus one, multiplied by your stake equals profit. If Arsenal don’t win the game, you’d lose your £10 stake.
[Continued in Captions]