Ten-Reasons-to-Open-a-Betting-Exchange-Account-x

Betfair and Betdaq are revolutionizing the way punters place bets. The most obvious benefit the exchanges offer over the traditional high street bookmaker is the ability to lay bets on horses to lose their race, as well as the conventional practice of backing them to win.

The pioneer in exchange betting is Betfair and today it operates the most popular betting exchange website.

Betfair is a platform that brings together punters who have opposing views and eliminates the traditional bookmaker. Betfair users can place bets in two ways: backing or offering odds to other punters (laying).

People with opposing views can place bets.

When you "back" a selection (be it an individual, a team, horse, dog or other), you are betting that it will win. This is just like betting with conventional bookies.

If you "lay" it you bet against the team winning. For example, if you're betting in a market on which team is going to win the Premiership and you lay Man Utd, you offer odds to other punters who wish to back Man Utd. If Man Utd do not win, then you pick up the backer's stake. If Manchester United wins, you will have to pay out. This is what bookmakers traditionally do.

Here are ten compelling reasons why you should join the revolution and place a bet on the exchanges.

You get better odds: When you place a wager on a betting exchange, you eliminate the need for the bookmaker to act as the middleman. As with any other middle man the bookmaker takes his cut. He will try to build his book and manipulate prices so that he can make a profit regardless of the outcome. By taking the bookie out of the equation you can generally get odds on Betfair 20% higher, which means more profit.

Lay and back. In the past, you could only win your wager if your horse won its race. Betfair allows you to be a bookmaker and place a wager that the horse will not win the race. If your selection doesnt win, then you collect!

Trading for guaranteed profits: on the betting exchanges you can take advantage of movements in the price of a horse to secure guaranteed profits  much like trading the financial markets. Profit whatever the outcome of a race? It is impossible, you might think. I will give you an example to demonstrate:

Imagine a horse that is priced at 3/1 in an event. You think the price of this horse will shorten because it is well fancied. You back the horse to win with a wager of PS100.

As many punters back the horse, the price of the horse drops to 2/1 before the race begins. You then lay the horse for PS134.

Now, lets examine how you will make a profit. There are only two outcomes for your horse  it will either win the race, or it will not win the race.

If it wins, you will win PS300 (PS100 @ 3/1). You will need to make a lay bet. This will result in you paying out PS268 (PS134@ 2/1). Your profit is PS300 less PS268 equals PS32

You will win your lay bet if your horse loses and you will receive PS134. However, you will lose your PS100 win stake, and be left with PS34 profit.

You can make sure you walk away with a profit by placing a horse at an affordable price and backing it at a higher cost, even before the stalls open!

You can also reverse this process. In other words, you can place a wager on a horse to lose and then, when it falls, you can back it to secure the profit.

Name your price. Before the advent of betting exchanges you had to place a wager on a horse at the price that was offered by the bookmaker. If the odds offered on a horse were 2/1 and you said you wanted 3/1 you would be laughed out of the shop. Betfair is different. Betfair allows you to place a bet on the horse at 3/1. If someone else is interested, your bet will match.

Bet in running: Betfair lets you continue betting on an event even after it's finished. This capability brings with it a whole new betting experience, but its not for the faint hearted. As you might expect, the betting market for a horse race can change dramatically and extremely quickly, as horses jostle for position in a 5 furlong sprint which is over in less than a minute! Pitting your judgment and opinions against other punters as the race unfolds is very exciting, but equally risky. However, it is an experience that the traditional bookmaker simply cannot hope to match.

Never have your account closed: we have all seen the photocopied letters from bookmakers giving notice of closed accounts. The truth is, when you consistently make a profit from betting, then your business becomes a liability for a bookmaker. If he takes more money from your business than he gives back, he will only be happy to accept your bets. When it happens the other way around, which is what all punters are striving for, then the bookmaker will invariably pull the proverbial rug from underneath you. Betfair, on the other hand, will not close your account. They will charge you a commission on your winnings. In other words, as long as they make money, they will also make money.

More Info Unlimited stakes: I can remember plenty of times when I have received word about a horse and visited my local bookmaker to place a bet. When I asked to have PS500 on the nag at 12/1 the assistant serving me would scamper into the office to ask the manager, then come back to say I was allowed only PS20 @ 12/1 but the rest would have to be at the Starting Price (which as we all know is controlled by the bookmakers). These transactions do not occur on exchanges. If you post a request to back your horse for PS500 at 12/1 and someone else is willing to lay the bet at that price (or it could be a number of people whose total stake matches yours) then you will strike your bet.

Your entire betting bank is in one location: Most people have opened accounts with multiple bookmakers at one time or another. This allows us to take advantage of the lowest price for a horse. Spreading our betting bank over multiple accounts can dilute our money. We may wish to place a PS100 bet on a horse, but we have only PS50 with the bookmaker that offers the best price. Sure, we can move funds between accounts, but it all amounts to an inconvenience. All your funds can be deposited to one betting exchange, so you have the ability to place all your bets and your money can work for you.

There are many sports you can bet on: Horse racing isn't the only sport that you can wager on. You can also bet on many other markets, as well as a wide range of sports just like you can with bookmakers. Take a look on Betfair today and you may well be able to wager on sports such as Australian Rules football, pelota(?) You can also bet on ice hockey and pelota(?) But you can also bet on the financial markets, politics, and even the contestants in game shows such as Big Brother.

Place your bets 24 hours a day: how many occasions have you been reading the Sporting Life at 8:00am at the breakfast table, and read about the Pricewise bet of the day? You obviously cannot bet at the local bookmakers because their shop doesnt open til 10 oclock. You think, "hey, Ill bet online!" But they haven't priced the race yet. Betfair allows you to place bets whenever you like. Betfair allows you to take advantage of early prices, before everyone else begins betting on the same horse. The price then collapses. You can post all your bets before you go to work, taking the odds available, or naming your price.