Betting Exchange Guide

Betting Exchanges have revolutionised the betting industry since their launch 5 years ago. Unlike traditional fixed odds bookmakers, betting exchanges like Betfair merely act as facilitators to match bets between customers, hence you will sometimes hear the term matched betting to refer to betting exchanges.

All the odds on offer are placed by customers who want to lay bets with other punters. Punters who want to then bet (back) a selection can then either take the best odds made available by layers or state the odds they are prepared to bet at.

The Exchanges offer several advantages over traditional fixed odds bookmakers.

Firstly the odds are often better, on average around 20% higher. Secondly, you can back or lay a selection, acting as either a punter or bookmaker respectively. You can also set the odds you're prepared to back or lay at. Finally, you can bet or lay in-running, i.e. whilst an event is in play.

There are several betting exchanges available but the dominant player is Betfair due to its first mover advantage and superior liquidity. Having an account with them is an absolute must for the serious golf bettor. They offer the widest range of golf markets to bet on and some of the odds available are just incredible.

The exchanges make their money by charging a % commission on all winning bets. If you have several bets on a market and some win and some lose, the commission is only charged once on the overall profit. If your bet/lay loses then you pay no commission.

I use market leader Betfair for most of my golf betting and personally recommend them. They take upto 5% commission on winning bets but this is usually amply compensated for by the massive range of markets, excellent liquidity and more generous odds available.

Some of the smaller exchanges like Betdaq only charge upto 3% commission and offer excellent features like multiples betting whilst still offering decent liquidity.[betting exchange guide continued...]