Betting Exchange: what it is, how it works, where to bet in Canada
Ever heard of Betting Exchange or strategies related to Back and Lay bets? On this page we will try, in a simple and direct way, to understand more about the betting exchange, what it is, how it works and which are the best betting sites che offrono questo particolare, e senza dubbio affascinante, mercato delle Betting.
Tabella dei Contenuti
- The Best Bookmakers for the Betting Exchange
- Differences between classic Bookmaker and Betting Exchange
- The Betting Exchange, what it is
- Traditional Betting and Betting Exchange in Comparison
- How we chose the best betting exchanges
- Sports Trading
- Betting Exchange and Cash Out
- How to Open an Account on Betfair Exchange
- The Betting Exchange Beginner's Guide
- Betting Exchange Promotions
- Sports and Markets available on the Betting Exchange
- The Vocabulary of the Betting Exchange
- The History of the Betting Exchange
- Best site for Betting Exchange
- Betting Exchange Frequently Asked Questions-FAQ
The Best Bookmakers for the Betting Exchange
The betting exchange, as mentioned, is a betting market that allows the exchange (“exchange”) of the same, or allows you to purchase (in jargon“Back”) of the odds offered by other users or to sell (“Lay”) your odds to other bettors.
Differences between classic Bookmaker and Betting Exchange
The betting exchange represents an evolution in the concept of sports betting. Users no longer bet against the bookmaker but against other users of the site's community.
The quotes are on average between 10% and 20% higher compared to a traditional sports betting operator since it is the players themselves who fix the market value (with the balance between supply and demand) and no longer the bookmaker directly.
Moreover, the performance of the odds depends on the money flows between the players.
The Betting Exchange, what it is
For those who are new to the world of online betting, the concept of betting exchange could be a bit confusing. confusing. A traditional Betting portal operates through the bookmaker-bettor relationship (i.e. the bettor plays with the odds offered by the bookmaker), the betting exchange instead offers an exchange of odds between two bettors.
In traditional sports betting, the bettor tries to beat the bookmaker, but in Punta e Banca it is the bettors who face each other.
The only fundamental difference is that in a betting exchange, players can place bets by offering odds to other players. In other words, they can bet on bets or selections to lose rather than win.
This essentially allows bettors to put on the role of the bookmaker. But then what is the profit of Betting portals that offer Punta e Banca? These bookmakers simply make a profit by charging a small commission on all winning bets.
One of the bookmakers that also offer the Betting Exchange and which apply very convenient commissions on winning bets is Betfair:
There are substantial differences between standard sports betting and betting exchange betting, such as liquidity.
When betting against a bookmaker, the user simply selects a bet, enters the stake and that's it. On the Betting Exchange, bettors need to make sure that there is enough liquidity in the market. In other words, if there is not enough money on the other side of the market that you are trying to bet on, your bet will be unbeatable, partially or totally.
The liquidity in the betting exchange is nothing more than the sum of matched bets and money waiting to be matched in relation to a stake, i.e. the availability of money on a market of Back and Bank. It is a fundamental element at the base of this market.
The figure indicating the liquidity available on the market is visible under each quote – both those of sale (lay) and of purchase (back) – and reports the amount of money you can bet.
Traditional Betting and Betting Exchange in Comparison
Is Punta e Banca better than traditional Betting? There are certainly advantages to betting on the betting exchange market, just as in other aspects it is preferable to choose instead to play with a classic bookmaker. We decided to make a simple comparison between the two betting styles, summarizing everything in the following table:
| Betting Exchange | Traditional Betting | |
| Set share price | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Buy shares | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Sell odds | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Odds trading | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Problems with liquidity | ✔️ | ❌ |
Advantages and disadvantages of the betting exchange
The charm of the Betting market in the world of online gaming cannot be denied, even if this does not mean that there are no pitfalls and disadvantages behind Punta e Banca. So let's see what are the Pros and Cons of the betting exchange:
Pro
-
- Sei tu ad essere il bookmaker!
- Le quote sono più alte che sui bookmaker tradizionali
- Le Live Betting consentono di realizzare grossi profitti
- Possibilità di rivendere a un prezzo più alto una scommessa acquistata in precedenza a un prezzo più basso
Contro
-
- Offerta Betting multiple ridotta
- Terminologia complessa
All sports betting professionals have already switched definitively to the betting exchange, where they can earn more thanks to the best odds and with much more flexibility, thanks to the possibility of Lay.
This new generation of professional bettors treats sports betting in the same way as traders who operate on the financial markets.
How we chose the best betting exchanges
There are many things to consider when compiling our lists. Below are the criteria used to select the top five Betting exchanges.
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- Ssafety – As we always say, safe betting is paramount. Betting portals must use the most up-to-date technology in terms of cyber security, treating user data rigorously. All the betting exchanges we have chosen comply with these standards.
- Commission – With Punta e Banca, it is decisive for bookmaker commissions. Due to the nature of the market which runs P2P (user to user), a commission is only charged on winnings by the bookmakers. Low commissions make a bookmaker the best in this type of market.
- Markets – Everything Canadian betting exchange portals offer in terms of markets is of fundamental importance. The more markets, the better.
- Bonus – bonuses and offers should also be considered. Whether it's promotions or welcome bonuses, no deposit or free bets, Punta e Banca sites must have a good offer in this too ;area.
- Quote – Offering many markets is a good starting point, but bookmakers also need to offer good odds on a consistent basis. Fortunately, betting exchange sites are known to frequently outperform traditional bookmakers in terms of (usually higher) odds offered.
- Cash – This is a very important point to take into consideration when choosing a betting exchange site. Some Punta e Banca portals may offer just what you are looking for in terms of market and odds, but if they offer low liquidity, it is likely that it will be difficult for punters to place the desired bets.
- Site features – The extra features can help betting exchange sites rank above their competitors. Key features like cash-out, specific stats, live streaming and hints are now a must. Sites that make use of innovative and engaging features are what we are looking for.
- Usability – It is one thing for a Punta e Banca site to offer a large selection of markets, provide high odds and bonuses, it is quite another to have a user friendly internet portal. If betting exchange sites are bland, everything else they have to offer becomes slightly irrelevant. At trendsnow we have only chosen mobile sites and apps that are user friendly and always up to date.
The experts who write on trendsnow every day, viewing dozens and dozens of bookmakers a day, have identified Betfair as the best portal for betting with Punta e Banca:
Sports Trading
Betting on a betting exchange site also provides the opportunity to trade. Many users who are not really interested in analyzing sporting events or matches from a Betting point of view, use betting exchange sites just like traders do on the most famous exchanges by operating with Stock market and other financial products.
In short, Sports Trading is simply placing two opposite bets on the same selection, to create a profit regardless of the outcome of the event. As mentioned elsewhere in this article, trading with Betting is not all that dissimilar from trading on the stock exchange. Rather than buying and selling, sports traders on Betfair, for example, are concerned with backing or laying an odd.
The real attraction of sports trading with betting exchanges, at least for many, is that there is no need to worry about who wins or loses a particular football or tennis match.
The sports trader will only have to focus on the change in the prices of the odds. In the stock and financial stock market, the trader's goal is to buy low and sell high, thereby making a profit. The principle is also the same for sports traders.
Uno Sport Traderhe uses sports trading and platforms such as Betfair to invest his money:
Betting Exchange Strategies
Unlike traditional sports betting, the main advantage of the betting market is that we can bet on something that will have to happen or on an outcome that will not have to happen. Profit can therefore be ensured regardless of the outcome of the match in question.
The strategy behind all of this is very simple: bet, wait and lay (or buy, wait and sell). So, we buy at a certain price, wait for that price to drop (and therefore become attractive for a large part of bettors interested in betting or backing), before selling (or laying) to make a profit.
Simple no?
We summarize in a practical example:
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- We have a feeling that one odds will soon decrease, so we decide to bet 20 euros at 2.30
- We wait and see that the share we bought has dropped to 2.00, i.e. the possibility has increased to bank and to sell that share
- If we manage to bank that quota, or to sell it, scraping together 23 euros in all, we will take home already a fair profit of 3 euros
Betting Exchange and Cash Out
The Betting market has introduced the concept of Cash Out to the world of sports betting, a function introduced by Betfair strong> about ten years ago for the betting exchange world and which today can commonly be found on the major traditional bookmakers.
The Cash Out button allows you to exit the market position before the start of the match and during the course of the same. This tool is really useful for the bettor who wants to abandon the Betting before the match is finished.
Unlike traditional bookmakers, the player can decide when he wants to leave the market. Regardless of whether the match is in profit or in loss, the bettor is always master of his destiny.
What is Cash Out
Cash Out in the Betting market allows you to have automatic coverage of a bet, which is normally done manually in traditional betting by making the now famous coverage calculations.
As mentioned, the Cash Out was introduced by Betfair and offers many bettors the possibility of prematurely closing a transaction in a football match, for example, without risking conceding a goal in the last few minutes and losing everything, as happens often with traditional Betting.
There is no need to pull back and Cash Out every time you are in profit, also because this could also increase and not necessarily decrease. The advice is to cash out only when it is believed that the operation carried out has no more value.
How to Open an Account on Betfair Exchange
We have mentioned Betfair several times on this page as the best betting exchange site on the Canadian market regulated by AGCO (today ADM). But how to open an account on Betfair?
It only takes a few minutes to do this. Before opening a gaming account, it is necessary to register on the site, obtain the credentials to log in and confirm your account. The next steps to be taken concern only the first deposit. Once registered, you can also start taking advantage of the advantageous welcome bonuses and promotions offered by the well-known bookmaker.
In summary, to open a gaming account on Betfair Exchange:
- Go to the Betfair website and click on the SIGN UP button above
- Fill in all the fields as in the photo above (username, email, password, etc.)
- Confirm registration by sending an identity document
- You are ready to bet with Betfair!
The procedure to follow, as seen, includes entering personal data and sending a copy of the identity document, so that, in the event of a win, the sums won can be obtained. The document is also used to carry out operations such as deposits, withdrawals and to immediately receive the welcome bonus.
Once registered, you can access your gaming account and make your first online deposit.
Betfair offers a variety of choices for payments and withdrawals. From cards to wire transfers and electronic wallets (and even Apple Pay), the deposit on Betfair will always be instantaneous and without any commission. It is no coincidence, in fact, that Betfair is one of the most famous Betting providers in several countries around the world.
The Betting Exchange Beginner's Guide
We have seen in the previous paragraph the first step to be able to access the betting exchange services on a bookmaker like Betfair. All that remains is to see now, step by step, how to bet with the betting exchange.
Read the odds
In the graph above we see the classic initial screen of the odds of the betting exchange (in our case the bookmaker is Betfair). Each box on the screen displays current odds (top) and available liquidity (bottom).
The blue boxes represent the odds available to bet (back) or to bet on an event that will happen; in the pink boxes there are the odds for laying a bet and therefore betting on something that will not happen (betting against). The exciting aspect of the Betting market is that it operates live, with the value of the odds varying constantly.
Bet and lay on the betting exchange (Back & Lay)
If you are interested in betting on the betting exchange market then you will need to look at the odds in the blue column. Let's take the match between Manchester United and Roma as an example. If you have decided to bet on United then you need to click on the blue odds on the Manchester United row, choose your stake and press the button that will process your bet.
The liquidity (i.e. the money available for that odd which is usually the amount visible under the odd) will decrease by the amount wagered.
When submitting a bet offer, bets may be returned as unmatched, partially matched or fully matched. If you select the odds shown on the screen, they will be matched in most cases.
Conversely, when we want to lay (Lay), or when we want to bet against (as we will see later in our review), then we will have to look at the odds in pink on the row of the team we are interested in.
Basically, in this case we will behave like the bookmaker. Also for this selection, you can choose the odds and, in fact, put them on the market waiting for another player to match them.
For example, we don't think Roma will win against United and therefore we want to give this stake up for grabs. We decide to lay (precisely to bet against) and we do it at odds of 3 by placing 50 euros. If the bet is matched, it means that someone else is betting on Roma to win 3-a-side and if the Giallorossi actually win, your bet will lose.
But if Roma lose or draw, your bet will win and you'll make a profit of €50. Therefore, it is as if you were betting on a double chance against Roma at odds of 1.5.
Commissions
The site that offers the Punta e Banca market makes its profit by charging commissions on net winnings, this gaming system being entirely managed by the user who makes his odds available for another user.
Only net winnings are commissioned. The initial rate of this handout is 5% on net winnings (but may vary depending on the bookmaker). So, if we were to earn a net 10 euros from a bet, we will have 0.50 euros deducted from that winnings as a commission.
Betting Exchange Promotions
In general, the bookmakers that offer the betting exchange also have a section dedicated to the more classic sports betting for which there are various welcome bonus, no deposit bonuses and promotional offers which may vary from operator to operator.
The bonuses valid for traditional Betting are not always expendable for Punta e Banca which, conversely, could have dedicated promotions.
Betfair Back and Lay Bonus
In the case we are examining, Betfair, the bookmaker offers an excellent welcome bonus, but it cannot be used for betting exchanges and sports trading. We report it below:
On Betfair Exchange there is a promotional system very similar to a loyalty program. In this way it is possible to accumulate points so as to increase the discount rate on the commissions paid to the bookmaker. Basically, the more you play (whatever the outcome of the bet), the more the discount increases.
BetFlag bonuses on the betting exchange
As far as BetFlag is concerned, it is very similar. This Canadian operator also offers a rich welcome bonus which, however, can only be spent for standard Betting.
But there is a special program similar to Betfair's, the Vip System Exchange, which allows players to get commission discounts. In this case you can get up to 95% discount, or almost zero the commissions due to the operator.
Sports and Markets available on the Betting Exchange
Football is the most popular sport and obviously the most present on betting exchanges. At the time of writing, BetFlag presents the widest range of sports available for the Betting market, with 8 disciplines on which to bet or lay:
- Formula 1
- Basket
- Calcio
- Football Americano
- Eurovision Song Contest
- Pugilato
- Snooker
- Tennis
Betfair invece propone 4 sport tra cui scegliere per piazzare le proprie Betting sul betting exchange:
- Basket
- Calcio
- Tennis
- Rugby
Compared to classic betting, the betting exchange offers fewer markets. This is to ensure a more solid and less dispersive liquidity base than the many betting options.
| Bookmaker | Soccer | Tennis | basketball | Formula 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betfair | 95.70% | 95.40% | 94.80% | - |
| BetFlag | 97.60% | 96.30% | 96.60% | 96.80% |
The Vocabulary of the Betting Exchange
So far, we have tried to explain in a concise manner how Back and Bank or betting exchange works. It is now time to better explain in detail some key concepts and terms we have used.
Difference between Backing and Laying
In a betting exchange, Backing corresponds to the action of betting a certain amount in euros on a certain odds. Therefore, Backing is equivalent to the simple bet that we have always made with traditional bookmakers. Losing when we Back means recording a loss of money equal to what we decided to bet at the beginning.
The concept of Bancare in betting exchange means betting against, that is when we bank a bet, we are betting that the outcome we have banked will not occur.
In essence, if we bet on Torino's victory against Inter at San Siro, we are betting that the granata will not win in Milan against the nerazzurri. This means that our bet will be successful in two situations: if Inter wins the match or if the game ends in a draw. Torino's victory, on the other hand, would result in losing the bet.
In simple terms, in our case betting on the victory of Torino is equivalent to betting on the traditional double chance 1X.
What is Back?
The Back in Back&Lay corresponds to what we know in Canada as Punta (in Canadian Punta&Banca). It is the column of odds always marked in blue. We are talking here about a simple sports bet: by betting, for example, 10 euros on an odd in the back (or punta) column, it is possible to win the stake multiplied by the odd marked in blue.
The difference with traditional betting lies in the fact that in this case you are betting against another player instead of against the bookmaker and that there is a limit beyond which you cannot bet.
The opponent in a betting exchange is actually the bettor who banks the bet. The player takes on the role of the bookmaker by offering odds on an outcome and betting against the occurrence of that outcome, on which another bettor who has accepted the proposed odds will place a bet instead.
What is Lay?
The Bank odds column is marked with pink color on Betfair (ocher in the image above). If the bettor who banks is not satisfied with the accepted odds from the punter, they can offer the play to another user, deciding the odds and betting limit again.
Let's make a very simple example to simplify our explanation: by betting 10 euros at odds of 1.50 on the victory of team X, those who play in Bank mode can win 10 euros in the event of a draw or defeat of team X, while in case of victory, they will lose 15 euros (10 euros x 1.50).
The History of the Betting Exchange
The first bookmakers to introduce this type of betting to the market were Matchbook, Flutter, and Betfair in 2001 (later, Flutter merged into Betfair). This type of betting is very popular outside of Canada where, besides Betfair, BETDAQ also holds a substantial market share percentage.
As previously mentioned, the bettor finds in this type of bet the possibility of taking on the role of bookmaker, being able to have a direct comparison with another bettor (whose identity he will never know).
In our country, betting exchange is regulated by the Legislative Decree No. 47 of March 18, 2013, known as the Legislative Decree on gaming systems between players. This regulation sets some parameters that all bookmakers must comply with:
- Multiple bets and systems are not allowed
- The minimum bet is 2 euros
- The maximum prize is 10,000 euros.
- The maximum commission is 10%
Best site for Betting Exchange
Betting Exchange Frequently Asked Questions-FAQ
Which is the best betting exchange bookmaker?
Currently, there are three operators in the Canadian market that offer betting exchange, according to our experts, the best one is Betfair.
What is Betting Exchange?
This is the betting market, where bettors also act as bookmakers and the odds of sporting events are bet and laid (back and lay) in a trading system very similar to that used in financial trading exchanges.
How does the betting exchange work?
The betting exchange works like a financial stock exchange, hence the name, in which odds are made by the same players and then "bought" by other gamblers, who can play following different punting and backing strategies.
What is the commission on betting exchange winnings?
The commission percentage varies from operator to operator. For example, on Betfair, the standard commission rate is 5%, although this may decrease depending on account level activity. In some cases and on special bonus occasions, the commission may decrease to as low as 2%, as with BetFlag.
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