- How Does Lay Betting Work Betfair
- How Does Lay Betting Work
- How Does Betting Work
- How Does Online Betting Work
- How Does Lay Betting Work
A lay bet is the opposite of a back bet. Lay bets are the same as saying an outcome won't happen. Placing a lay bet on a horse simply means you are staking money on it NOT to win. If the horse doesn't win, you win your lay bet. Lay betting is an option on exchanges like Betfair where bettors can play the role of the bookmaker and back something not to happen. Punters offer odds to sell a bet instead of to back a bet. It is one component of matched betting, where punters both back.
·The term 'Lay' betting defines the process of using a betting exchange, like the Betfair Exchange, where the punter believes a selection will not win or place in a specified event, and will therefore offer odds on that not happening. The offered Lay odds will then be matched with a bettor who believes that event will happen (otherwise known as the backer), who is happy with the odds that you have offered for that outcome, and will therefore match your bet.
There are two sides to every bet when you play on the Betfair Exchange. When you place a back bet you are betting on an outcome to happen, whereas if you place a lay bet, you are betting on an outcome not to happen – in opposition to the back bettors. Typically, bookmakers represent the lay side of a bet, so they will offer customers odds which they are willing to lay. However, on the Exchange, customers can play the role of both back and lay bettors themselves, meaning you will be 'matching' bets with fellow bettors, rather than a bookmaker.
How does it work?
If you are placing a back bet that means you are putting your money on something to happen - a horse or a team or a player to win, for example. Placing a Lay bet means you are betting on something not to happen - for example, if you lay a football team to win your bet will be settled as a winner if the team loses or if the game ends in a draw - so two outcomes are playing in your favour.
By placing the lay bet, you have effectively become a bookmaker and you can place a lay bet in betting exchanges like Betfair, SMarkets & Matchbook where you need to pay the commission (BTW, for opening their accounts, see 4 Best Betting Exchange Sign-Up Offers & How To Monetize Bonuses). Through lay betting, or betting against an outcome, you are fundamentally acting in the same way as a bookmaker. Lay betting has only been possible since the introduction of betting exchanges in June 2000, which has effectively created a platform for punters to act as bookies, by accepting bets for events. The betting exchange make their revenue by taking a small percentage of the return for. The Betfair Exchange allows customers to bet against each other rather than a traditional bookmaker. By matching customers, rather than taking the risk itself, the Exchange provides the option to 'lay' - betting on something not to happen. How does it work? The Betfair Exchange is.
How to place a lay bet
1. Find the market you want to bet on
2. Select the event
3. Select the pink box to place a lay bet
How Does Lay Betting Work Betfair
4. Consider your liability and potential returns
5. Hit ‘confirm bet'
Liability
Your 'liability' is the amount that, in your worst-case scenario, you could lose. Your return for a win is effectively your stake (minus commission).
A lot of people prefer to lay at odds-on as your liability is then reduced. For example, if you lay a bet at 1.50 for £10 you are liable for £5 and will win £10 if the bet wins.
However, if you lay a bet a [3.5] for £10, you are risking a liability of £25 for the chance to win £10.
It is important to ensure you monitor how much you are liable for and to be very careful of where you put the decimal point. If you want to lay a bet at 4.20 make sure it is just that and not 42, otherwise it will be an expensive mistake should your selection win as you will be laying the bet at odds of 42, rather than 4.20, ten times the intended odds.
Betfair will only let you risk as much as is in your account and at the best available odds for you as a backer or a layer.
Dutching Calculator
You can use the dutching calculator to ensure an equal payout or liability on all selections. Click ‘Payout' or ‘Liability' then enter the maximum you would want to risk before clicking ok. You will then see how much you need to stake on each selection in order to get an equal payout or liability.
Betfair Starting Price (BSP)
You can lay your selections at BSP. If you can't already see the option for BSP, you'll need to turn it on in ‘Settings'. Just like with any other bookie, you won't know what the Betfair SP is until the race goes off. However you can get a guide to the expected BSP by enabling BSP in your settings and then the forecast prices will appear on your market view. If you think your horse's price is likely to drift before the race, and you don't want to miss getting your bet on, this could be the way to go. BSP offers tremendous value and tends to offer around 90%+ better prices than official SP returns on all UK and IRE horseracing.
If you're looking to start matched betting, learning what a lay bet is – and how to place a lay bet – is an absolute necessity.
Every single bet you place will involve laying bets off.
The process sounds a lot trickier than it actually is; it's extremely easy!
Firstly, you're going to need to be signed up to a betting exchange such as Betfair.
If you haven't already joined them, you can do so here.
Betfair – on their exchange – allows you to bet AGAINST results.
Let's give you an example to simplify things:
Instead of betting on Arsenal to win, you can choose to bet against Arsenal to win.
In that situation, you'll win your bet if Arsenal draw or lose.
This process – betting against possibilities, is known as the LAY bet.
It's that easy!
Betting against an outcome, is laying that bet.
So in the example previously, you would be LAYING Arsenal.
The main issue people have with placing lay bets is just how complicated it looks:
To newcomers, that image probably looks like a complicated form of sports stock exchange.
How Does Lay Betting Work
Well, that's not too inaccurate, really. But it's a lot more simple to use than a stock exchange, that's for sure.
To place a regular bet on your chosen selection, you'd click the blue box. Just like using a betslip at a bookmaker; click the blue box, enter your stake and then click ‘Place bet'.
To place a lay bet, you'd choose the red box. The process after that is almost identical to the above.
The other boxes aren't all that important – they do serve a purpose, but you don't need to worry about them at this stage in your betting journey.
Why do you need lay bets in matched betting?
In matched betting, every bet you place will need to be laid off.
You do this using a matched betting calculator, and you lay off every bet so that you never lose any (or much) money on each bet; usually it's just a few pence.
By laying off bets, you can qualify yourself for free bets with very, very minimal investment up front.
Dice coach dice sets. How does a £25 free bet sound for the price of 20p?
How Does Betting Work
That's how matched betting works.
Better still, you can lay off your free bet too – again using the calculator – ensuring you guarantee an 80% profit minimum on every free bet.
What does liability mean?
When you place a regular bet – let's say you want to bet £10 on Lionel Messi to score the first goal in Barcelona's next game – the money you are risking is easy to see: £10.
How Does Online Betting Work
£10 is the most amount of money you can lose on this bet, regardless of what Messi's odds are to score first.
However, when you lay a bet, things work the opposite way round.
2. Select the event
3. Select the pink box to place a lay bet
How Does Lay Betting Work Betfair
4. Consider your liability and potential returns
5. Hit ‘confirm bet'
Liability
Your 'liability' is the amount that, in your worst-case scenario, you could lose. Your return for a win is effectively your stake (minus commission).
A lot of people prefer to lay at odds-on as your liability is then reduced. For example, if you lay a bet at 1.50 for £10 you are liable for £5 and will win £10 if the bet wins.
However, if you lay a bet a [3.5] for £10, you are risking a liability of £25 for the chance to win £10.
It is important to ensure you monitor how much you are liable for and to be very careful of where you put the decimal point. If you want to lay a bet at 4.20 make sure it is just that and not 42, otherwise it will be an expensive mistake should your selection win as you will be laying the bet at odds of 42, rather than 4.20, ten times the intended odds.
Betfair will only let you risk as much as is in your account and at the best available odds for you as a backer or a layer.
Dutching Calculator
You can use the dutching calculator to ensure an equal payout or liability on all selections. Click ‘Payout' or ‘Liability' then enter the maximum you would want to risk before clicking ok. You will then see how much you need to stake on each selection in order to get an equal payout or liability.
Betfair Starting Price (BSP)
You can lay your selections at BSP. If you can't already see the option for BSP, you'll need to turn it on in ‘Settings'. Just like with any other bookie, you won't know what the Betfair SP is until the race goes off. However you can get a guide to the expected BSP by enabling BSP in your settings and then the forecast prices will appear on your market view. If you think your horse's price is likely to drift before the race, and you don't want to miss getting your bet on, this could be the way to go. BSP offers tremendous value and tends to offer around 90%+ better prices than official SP returns on all UK and IRE horseracing.
If you're looking to start matched betting, learning what a lay bet is – and how to place a lay bet – is an absolute necessity.
Every single bet you place will involve laying bets off.
The process sounds a lot trickier than it actually is; it's extremely easy!
Firstly, you're going to need to be signed up to a betting exchange such as Betfair.
If you haven't already joined them, you can do so here.
Betfair – on their exchange – allows you to bet AGAINST results.
Let's give you an example to simplify things:
Instead of betting on Arsenal to win, you can choose to bet against Arsenal to win.
In that situation, you'll win your bet if Arsenal draw or lose.
This process – betting against possibilities, is known as the LAY bet.
It's that easy!
Betting against an outcome, is laying that bet.
So in the example previously, you would be LAYING Arsenal.
The main issue people have with placing lay bets is just how complicated it looks:
To newcomers, that image probably looks like a complicated form of sports stock exchange.
How Does Lay Betting Work
Well, that's not too inaccurate, really. But it's a lot more simple to use than a stock exchange, that's for sure.
To place a regular bet on your chosen selection, you'd click the blue box. Just like using a betslip at a bookmaker; click the blue box, enter your stake and then click ‘Place bet'.
To place a lay bet, you'd choose the red box. The process after that is almost identical to the above.
The other boxes aren't all that important – they do serve a purpose, but you don't need to worry about them at this stage in your betting journey.
Why do you need lay bets in matched betting?
In matched betting, every bet you place will need to be laid off.
You do this using a matched betting calculator, and you lay off every bet so that you never lose any (or much) money on each bet; usually it's just a few pence.
By laying off bets, you can qualify yourself for free bets with very, very minimal investment up front.
Dice coach dice sets. How does a £25 free bet sound for the price of 20p?
How Does Betting Work
That's how matched betting works.
Better still, you can lay off your free bet too – again using the calculator – ensuring you guarantee an 80% profit minimum on every free bet.
What does liability mean?
When you place a regular bet – let's say you want to bet £10 on Lionel Messi to score the first goal in Barcelona's next game – the money you are risking is easy to see: £10.
How Does Online Betting Work
£10 is the most amount of money you can lose on this bet, regardless of what Messi's odds are to score first.
However, when you lay a bet, things work the opposite way round.
If you lay £10 on a bet, you're actually aiming to WIN £10.
The amount you could lose – your liability – is £10 multiplied by the lay odds. You then add your £10 stake back on.
In simpler terms:
The odds to LAY Messi as first goalscorer is 4.0, so your liability is £30.
The money you stand to win is £10 if he doesn't score first, minus commission from the betting exchange.
Of course, you'll never actually lose the £30 when matched betting, because you'll have also backed Messi to score on another site.
Where can you lay bets?
How Does Lay Betting Work
You can lay bets on any betting exchange.
Unfortunately, these aren't available in every country in the world.
Unfortunately (again) we're unable to provide a full list of every country in the world that does and does not have access to betting exchanges, so the best thing for you to do is to check for yourself.
For those of us based in the UK, we have a great selection of exchanges to choose from:
- Betfair – the original betting exchange, you can sign up here
- Smarkets – arguably the site that really ignited the matched betting industry due to its low commission, you can sign up here
- We also have BETDAQ & Matchbook, with Ladbrokes also having their own exchange
If you do not have access to betting exchanges, your matched betting journey is not over.
You just have to do things slightly differently; making use of the dutching technique, rather than backing and laying.
