There are two ways of placing a sports bet – at a fixed odds betting site or at betting exchange sites. At a fixed odds betting site the bookie sets the price and pays you out according to that price should your bet win. At a betting exchange the ‘prices’ are set by the customers.
Betting exchanges usually offer better returns for successful betting in comparion to fixed odds betting sites. Here at SafeBettingSites we’ll tell you the best betting exchange sites where you should boost your betting account with cash via PayPal and others, and then place and lay bets safely, securely and with the best chance of a profitable return.
Free £20 exchange bet
Free £20 exchange bet
0% Commission For 60 Days
0% Commission For 60 Days
£10 risk-free bet
£10 risk-free bet
Bet £10 get a free £10 bet
Bet £10 get a free £10 bet
Bet £5 get £20
Bet £5 get £20
So, we’ve given you notification of what we reckon to be the leading five sports betting exchange sites in the UK, but you’re probably hunger for a little more information. You’re also probably wondering what makes these sites so special, or at least what are our reasons for listing them in the order that we’ve listed them.
Below you will find a little more info about the sites we’ve picked out as the best betting exchanges available to punters in the UK.
There are several things that we consider when compiling our lists. The criteria used for selecting the top five betting exchange websites can be seen below.
So, what are the key features of betting exchange sites, and which of our ‘famous five’ have them? Below you will find listed what we feel are the key feautures available at betting exchange sites, and an exchange-by-exchange view of which sites are equipped with them, and which are not.
Feature | Betfair | Smarkets | Matchbook | Betdaq | Ladbrokes |
Commission | 0%-5% | 1%-3% | 2%-4% | 0%-10% | 2%-5% |
Apps available | |||||
Fixed odds betting | |||||
Live streaming | |||||
In play betting | |||||
Casino |
For those new to betting, the concept of betting exchange sites can be a little confusing. Where a traditional sportsbook/betting site operates on a bookmaker-to-bettor relationship, a betting exchange facilitates a betting relationship between two bettors. In standard sports betting, the punter is trying to beat the bookmaker, but on the exchange, punters take on each other.
The one key difference is that on a betting exchange, players can lay bets by offering odds to other players. In other words, they can bet on selections to lose as opposed to win. This essentially allows players to adopt the role of the bookmaker. Betting exchange UK sites also aren’t looking to beat players to make profit, as they simply make a profit by charging a small commission on all winning bets.
There are other differences between standard sports betting and exchange betting, such as liquidity. When playing at a sportsbook, the punter simply selects a bet, enters a stake, and the job’s done. On the exchange, players must ensure that there’s enough liquidity in the market. In other words, if there’s not enough money on the other side of the market that you’re looking to bet on, then your bet will be unmatched, either partially or in full.
With any bet, the money is split into two pools – the money people have placed to back, and the money people have placed to lay. Each ‘pool’ is separated into pots based on the odds that have been offered. Depending on the result of any bet, the winning pool is returned to the people who backed the correct result, and they are paid from the ‘losing’ pool.
While setting your own odds does sound attractive, it’s usually best to stick with the odds offered by the betting exchange. These are the most common odds that people are backing and laying. If you try and offer outlandish odds, such as Manchester City beating Sutton United in the FA Cup at 100/1 then you will find there’s no liquidity as no one (at least no one with any sense) would be willing to lay such an outlandish bet.
We hope that now you know what is a betting exchange, and how to use one.
Are betting exchanges better than traditional sportsbooks? There are certainly pros to using a betting exchange instead of a sportsbook, though it really depends what you’re looking for. For a simple comparison of the two, see below.
Criteria | Exchange | Sportsbook |
Set own odds | ✔️ | ❌ |
Back bets | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Lay bets | ✔️ | ❌ |
Trading | ✔️ | ❌ |
Restrictions | ❌ | ✔️ |
Liquidity issues | ✔️ | ❌ |
There can be no denying that betting exchanges have their place in the world of online gambling, though that’s not to say that there aren’t pitfalls as well as benefits. See below for the pros and cons of exchange betting sites.
Pros:
Cons:
Betting on an exchange also offers the opportunity to trade. Many people who’re not really interested in analysing sporting events from a betting perspective, trade on betting exchange sites, much like you might do on a stock exchange.
In short, sports trading or betting exchange trading is simply placing two opposing bets on the same selection, to create a profit regardless of the outcome of the event. As mentioned at other points in this article, trading on a betting exchange is not dissimilar to trading on the stock exchange. Rather than buying and selling, traders on the Betfair betting exchange or at Smarkets, Betdaq or Matchbook, are concerned with backing and laying as a means of betting exchange trading.
The real draw of trading on an exchange, at least for many, is that there’s no need to care about the winner and loser of an event. All the trader is concerned about is price movements. In stocks, the aim of the trader is to buy low and sell high, thus making a profit. The principle is the same for betting exchange traders, but in reverse. Lay low, back high. Any ‘betting exchange academy’ will give you this advice when outlining the best betting exchange systems.
The key advantage of betting exchange systems, as opposed to traditional betting, is that we can bet on something to both happen and not happen, and thus profit can be secured regardless of how things end up. The premise quite simple: back, wait, lay. So, we back at a certain price, wait for that price to fall, before laying off at a shorter price. Having done this, profit has been secured.
[three-steps id=”1942″]After all, as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day …
Football betting remains the most popular betting market in the world, even though there’s always a problem with wagering on the global game. That problem is the pesky draw. You can back a team to win, but there are two possible outcomes to the fixture that will see you losing money – your backed team loses, or your backed team draws. Of course, you can use ‘double chance’ fixed odds betting, but the odds are significantly impacted.
There are several ways you can use a betting exchange to improve your chances of coming out on top with your football betting. Say you are going to bet on Everton to beat West Ham. Instead of backing Everton, you could instead lay West Ham. That means you are backing West Ham not to win as opposed to Everton winning. You also have that pesky draw covered, because as long as West Ham don’t win, your bet is covered.
You could of course back both eventualities – back Everton at one site and back West Ham at another. This is know as arbitage betting or ‘dutching’. It may be more profitable to lay both teams instead as that you have have the draw covered twice.
One final option is to use double chance at a fixed odds betting site and laying the draw at a betting exchange. That way, again, you have all eventualities covered. If your backed teams wins, then you win both bets. If it’s a draw, then your double chance bet wins, and if your backed team loses, then laying the draw wins – all eventualities covered. Of course, you are only likely to make a profit if your backed team does win, but betting this way ensures that you do not lose the entirety of your stake.
Tennis betting is extremely popular at betting exchanges. Matches in tennis are more predictable than football matches and the favourite wins over 70 percent of the time (compared to football, where the favourite wins around 60 percent of the time). Tennis betting at exchanges is also popular as each game must have a winner – there are no ties.
Live betting is an essential tool for a tennis betting exchange strategy. Live prices change all the time, just like financial markets. For tennis, the key time is usually at the conclusion of the first set. If the favourite in a match loses the first set, backer’s panic tends to set in and people start to back the underdog. Even the strongest players tend to lose the first set though and then bounce back to take the next two or three, and you can use this to your advantage. The ‘back’ price of the favourite is usually at its most profitable (potentially) if that favourite goes a set down.
Another high price point to look out for is during a tie-break when a player goes 0-3 down. This gives the false impression that they are losing heavily when in fact, in all probablity they have only lost one service point. The price at this stage of the losing player is at its most profitable and you can use this to your benefit. All the player has to do to equalise before their opponent reaches seven points is to win a non-service point and hold serve twice.
If you are accustomed to placing bets at fixed odds betting sites, then you may open up a sports betting exchange and be flummoxed about what you see. In truth, placing a bet at a betting exchange is no more difficult than placing a bet at betting site with fixed odds, as long as you know what you are doing.
Here is our quick guide of how to place a bet at our favourite UK betting exchange, Betfair.
Even if you’ve had exchange betting explained, backing or laying a bet at a betting exchange is slightly more complicated than betting at a fixed odds betting site. If you hand a bookie a fiver to bet on England winning Euro 2020 at 3/1 (4.00) you’ll get £15 (your winnings) and £5 (your stake) back.
Say you bet with a mate – you say ‘I’ll bet you £5 that England won’t win Euro 2020′. Your mate may say, ‘okay, but if they do win you have to give me £20, and if they don’t, I’ll give you a fiver’. If you accept the bet, you have a liability of £20 which you’re accepting in the hope of winning £5, which is how exchanges work. However, working out your liability and potentional profit can be tricky, especially when you throw commission in too. This is where you need to use a betting exchange calculator.
This is the lay betting exchange calculator at the Betfair betting exchange. You enter your stake, which – as you are lay betting – is the amount you hope to win. You also enter the odds of your lay bet and the commission charged by the site. The calculator will update by itself to give you the information you need.
Here – your liability is £7.20 which is the amount you will need to pay if your bet loses. Your potential profit is £9.80, which is your winnings minus that two percent commission.
Want to improve your betting skillset? We bring you the best betting exchange sites sports betting guides and expert winning strategies across the most popular markets and sports. So be sure to check out the following articles that form part of our betting exchange academy and are designed to help punters with placing bets online.
If you’re serious about betting, then using a betting exchange is a must. Some betting exchanges offer markets that are not available with many sportsbooks, such as a variety of Asian Handicap markets, while there’s no risk of being restricted, as by their nature, exchanges encourage winners. We hope by reading this article you’ve had any questions about a betting exchange explained.
Trading opportunities and the ability to lay bets as opposed to just backing are other reasons as to why a punter would have at least one exchange account. There are fewer betting exchanges than traditional sportsbooks, but the choice can still be a tough one. So, which is the best betting exchange? After much deliberation, we arrived at the conclusion that Betfair, generally considered the king of exchange betting sites, is the best exchange in terms of overall quality, though both Smarkets and betdaq are viable alternatives, especially when it comes to low commission rates.
Free £20 exchange bet
Free £20 exchange bet
In exchange betting, a back bet is simply where you bet to win. For example, in football, you can back either side to win the match. Similarly, on a betting exchange, to back is like to buy on the stock exchange. You can back something to happen at a certain price, much like you would buy stock at a certain price.
A lay bet is the opposite of a back bet. If you lay a selection on a betting exchange, you’re essentially betting on that selection to lose by offering odds to another play who wishes to bet on the same selection to win. To lay on a betting exchange is like to sell on a stock exchange.
On a betting exchange, for a bet to count it must be matched. For example, if you want to place a £20 back bet at a certain price, then there must be enough layers’ money available at the same price. You can request a different price to the one currently visibly available, and wait to see if it becomes matched, though if the bet is not matched by the time the event that you’re betting on takes place, then the bet will not stand. Therefore, an unmatched bet is one that is yet to go through, while a matched bet is a bet that has been completed and will stand.
Yes. Betting exchanges UK charge winning punters a small commission. Since exchange betting facilitates person-to-person betting, the exchange itself isn’t winning any money like a traditional bookmaker. Charging a small commission is how betting exchanges make a profit.
The level of commission varies. For example, on betfair, the standard rate of commission is 5%, though this can go down depending on the level activity on the account. Regular bettors can see their commission go down as low as 1%. There are alternatives to betfair, such as Smarkets, who charge a very reasonable starting commission of only 2%.