Betfair Sign Up Offer Guide

The Betfair exchange is a platform where customers choose their own odds. 

These chosen odds are them matched by another customer on the Betfair platform, and your bet is placed. 

The matching of your bet had previously been done by a bookmaker, now another customer (who you do not know) acts as the bookmaker. 

This matching of customers and odds enables you to get bigger prices than you do with a traditional bookmaker. 

In the above scenario, you can also act as the bookmaker, taking bets (lay) from other customers of the Betfair exchange. 

If you lay a bet you are predicting that something will not happen. 

You can back or lay bets on Betfair to your heart's content. 

Betfair Exchange Example

• You decide that Liverpool will beat Manchester City, the odds from the bookmakers are 2/1 (3.0 in decimal odds).
• On Betfair Liverpool are available to beat Manchester City at 9/4 (3.25 in decimal odds).  
• So you naturally take the better Betfair odds. These odds are being offered by another Betfair customer who thinks Liverpool will not win.
• If Liverpool win the other customer pays you at 9/4 (3.25), (as a bookmaker would do). 
• If Liverpool lose or draw the other customer wins your stake, (as a bookmaker would do). 

The Betfair Exchange brings opposing customers together, and allows them to back (support) and lay (be against) bets, without the need for a traditional bookmaker. 

You can only lay bets on the Betfair Exchange, not the sportsbook. Laying a bet means you are opposing a selection, you are taking a backers stake, as a traditional bookmaker would do, (just imagine you work in a bookmakers).

To lay a bet is to back something not to happen. For example, to lay Manchester United is to back them NOT to win. If you were to lay them, you would win your bet if they either lost or drew their match.

On the Betfair Exchange, the back prices are in blue and the lay prices are in pink. 

If you want to back a selection you click the blue button, if you want to lay a selection you click the pink button. 

When you lay a selection you are taking the backers stake and giving them the odds on offer, you will pay out at the odds on offer OR win the customers stake.

If you lay a  £10 customers bet at odds of 2.0 your liability will be £20.00, your payout will be £10.00. (The customers £10.00 +£10.00 from the 2.0 odds you laid at)

On the Betfair Exchange, you can view how much your payout will be before you lay the bet by using the "What If" tab. 

Again just imagine you are working in a bookmakers and you are taking customers bets over the counter, you are the bookmaker. 

It's always important to remember when laying a bet, you can only win the other person's stake.

BLUE BOXES are back prices. When you are betting that the selection will win - Backing

PINK BOXES are for when you are betting against the selection winning  - Laying in other words.

The Betfair Exchange allows you to choose the odds you want. 

If you can succeed in securing the odds you want from another customer, then you may well be getting more value than you do with a bookmaker. 

Betfair allows you to bet against a selection, this allows you to act as a bookmaker. 

You can back and lay the same selection on Betfair Exchange, securing a profit whether the horse or team wins or loses. 

You can dutch (back more than 1 selection) on Betfair.

You can take advantage of horse racing multiples at the bigger Betfair Exchange odds. 

You can bet in play on Betfair taking advantage of fluctuating odds.

When you bet on the Betfair Exchange, you are rewarded with Betfair points.

The more you bet on the Betfair Exchange, the more points you accumulate.

Betfair Exchange charges Commission on winning bets.

The more points you have, the less commission you pay.

The liability on Betfair is the amount you will have to pay out when laying a bet, the liability is shown in the top right-hand corner of your Betfair betting slip when placing a lay bet.

It also shows next to the laid selection on the event page 

The liability is different to the payout, the payout includes the original backers stake. 

The answer is Yes. You can have separate accounts with both Paddy Power and Betfair

Paddy Power and Betfair merged to create paddy power betfair. That has morphed yet again into Flutter Entertainment but it does not affect your ability to have a registered account with both at this time.

The simplest analogy is to say that the Betfair Sportsbook is the equivalent of a traditional bookmaker, and the Betfair Exchange is similar to a couple of friends having a bet between themselves on the outcome of a race, a match, or whatever.

Everyone is likely to be familiar with how a bookmaker operates, so I shall just endeavor to outline the concept of an Exchange.

Betfair - the original concept.

Prior to 1999, punters had the choice between bookmakers and the Tote as far as racing was concerned. Betting on football was limited to bookmakers, football pools, and fixed odds coupons.

When formed in that year, Betfair brought a new dimension to punters; they could literally bet against each other instead of pitting their wits against a bookmaker. As millions of punters could not be expected to apply for bookmakers' licenses, Betfair acted as a middle man, reserving (ring-fencing) the liabilities from accounts funded by both parties. 

They returned winnings to one party after taking their cut (commission) for providing the radical new ‘service'.This meant that the bookmakers' over-round was replaced by a virtually 100% book, subject to the deduction of commission. 

In general, this led to higher odds being available; better for backers, but particularly bad for the new breed of layers, many of whom quickly found that it was not the get rich quick scheme they had envisaged. It was now a battle between two bettors (albeit a loose term in this context) with opposing views. 

The odds were in effect bartered until a point was reached that both parties were prepared to accept.

Not being a bookmaker had disadvantages for Betfair.

They included the following.

#1. It could not offer fixed odds without a bookmaker's permit.

#2. Bonuses, promotions, and free bets could not be awarded. They had no funds of their own in this sense with which to fund them, and could not impose the liability on another punter.

#3. Multiple bets were not possible.

In 2012 Betfair took the step to become a bookmaker.

Betfair could now offer services associated with a traditional bookmaker as well as its established Exchange format.

They expanded their offering substantially to include an online casino, poker and hundreds of slot games.

It could also offer a punter the choice between Exchange odds (on the Exchange) and Fixed odds (on Sportsbook). 

All are available from the same login and don't need to be funded independently.

Exchange & Sportsbook Difference | Summary

The most fundamental difference is of course that Sportsbook is a bookmaker and you will be unable to place a lay bet through this part of the site.

On Sportsbook, punters are guaranteed liquidity by Betfair (the bookmaker), so bets do not rely on being matched by a punter with an opposing view. If accepting odds already displayed on the exchange, you are matching an offer, so both bets are deemed to be matched.

Odds will be different. With Betfair acting as a bookmaker in the Sportsbook scenario, there will be a built-in percentage in the market, similar to a traditional bookmaker. Unlike on the Exchange, the punter pays no commission on winning bets as this has been replaced by the over-round in the market.

 In Sportsbook, the odds are now set by Betfair, although they will move in line with market trends. From this, it follows that, as a punter, you can't offer your own odds on Sportsbook in the same way as you could on the Exchange.

Bonuses, promotions, and free bets may now be offered on Sportsbook. Refunds and cash credits are the only options available on the Exchange.

Multiples are available on some Sportsbook markets, but not on any Exchange market

You Only Need 1 Account Registration to Use Both

Yes, you require only one account with Betfair to use either the Exchange or Sportsbook.

• Desktop/PC/Laptop - All accessed in a single window
• Mobile App - There are separate apps for Betfair Sportsbook and Betfair Exchange