Betfair.com.au is a betting exchange which allows you to back a winner or ‘lay’ a loser. So in theory then they provide markets for picking the loser of sport as much as the winner. The UK version of Betfair puts you against other punters, so you can bet on the football by accepting odds offered by other Betfair users. Also you can offer odds for other Betfair members to accept.
We’re not sure that it works the same way in Australia (eg. for afl betting), the info on their website goes some way to try and explain it:
What is different about betting on Betfair?
Back or lay
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 a conventional bookmaker.
When you “lay” it, you are betting against it winning. For example, if you’re betting in a market on which team is going to win the Premiership and you lay Man Utd, then if they win you pay out. This is what bookmakers traditionally do.If you are a UK registered customer you are betting through the UK exchange, which means that your bets are being matched by other Betfair customers. In this case, although Betfair knows who is on each side of every bet matched, you never know who you are betting against, as it may be a number of people matching your one bet. If you are registered with Betfair from outside the UK you are betting directly against Betfair rather than other Betfair customers , but in all cases your privacy and the confidentiality of your bets is maintained by Betfair’s secure site.
Choose your odds
If you want better odds than are currently available, you can place an order for a better price, but bear in mind that if your price is unrealistic your bet is unlikely to be accepted. Note that the odds available often improve nearer to the ‘off’ (or when the event starts) as interest and betting activity in the markets increases.
Betfair Company
The Betfair company describes themselves as follows:
The Betfair group of companies (’Betfair’) offers a global portfolio of gambling products and services. This includes the world’s leading betting exchange (a concept pioneered by Betfair), which is provided in the UK. Betfair’s other betting platforms include a bookmaking operation provided from Malta and a second betting exchange in Australia. Separately Betfair’s established gaming products include Betfair Poker, Betfair Casino and a number of exchange-enabled games. All of these are offered from Malta.
Betfair is a licensed gambling operator in the UK, Australia, Malta, Italy, Austria and Germany.
So that’s a brief overview of who Betfair are and how their products work in theory. If that system sounds appealing to you then check them out. We’ll review some of their products, especially for afl betting, later on when the AFL Season starts again. We’re also currently trialling the Betfair Affiliate system so we’ll post our thoughts on that too soon.
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