Betfair is the largest online betting exchange and one of the largest sports betting websites in general. In addition to a betting exchange, the website also works as a regular bookmaker with odds set by the company.
The website started operating in 2000, initially working only as a betting exchange. A few years ago, the option of betting with fixed odds for those who prefer the traditional way of placing bets was added. However, the betting exchange remains the most preferred platform by Betfair customers. It is because it has its advantages and you will get acquainted with it in the content below. Ultimately, choice whether to place bets on the betting exchange or in the bookmaker is yours, and perhaps the best option is to combine both ways depending on the situation.
What is the betting exchange?
If you have bet on sports so far, it is likely you have done it this way: You enter your bookmaker`s website, you see the odds that are obviously set by the bookmaker and that you cannot change in any way, you choose one of them and place a bet. However, it is not how is done when pacing bets in the Betfair betting exchange. Its founders made a real revolution at the turn of the century by allowing their customers to compile the odds themselves without the intervention of the bookmaker.
Thanks to the betting exchange, you can both accept the odds of another customer and offer your own. The website system always displays the highest odds offers for a certain bet type. If you are pleased with the odds, you place the bet and that is all. If you want a higher odds, you can set it as an offer, but in this case you will have to wait for someone else to accept it.
The other major feature of the betting exchange is that you can place bets “For” and “Against” a certain betting market. What does this mean? Let’s imagine the market for the first player to score of the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. One of the bets on this market is “Cristiano Ronaldo” for example. In the traditional bookmaker’s format, you can place a bet for Cristiano Ronaldo to be the first to score in the match. At the same time, the betting exchange gives you the chance to place a bet “Against” Cristiano Ronaldo to be the first to score. This bet will be winning if Ronaldo is NOT the first to score in the match. The same way you can also place a bet “Against” a certain team to become a champion, “Against” a draw in a football match, etc.
The betting exchange has two main advantages over traditional bookmakers:
● More options, greater variety and dynamics of bets
● Higher odds
While the first advantage is typical considering the characteristics of betting exchanges, many people do not know about the second one. And in fact is just as typical. Bookmakers take a solid profit percentage from any market to compensate possible losses. Such losses can occur if customers massively bet on one team and they win. The betting exchange has no way to be at loss. Bets are placed between the players and the organizer, Bet fair in this case, simply supports the platform.
Betfair only takes a small percentage of the customer’s net winnings. But even taking this percentage in to account, the winnings on the betting exchange remain more profitable than the winnings in any regular bookmaker.
Betting exchange Bonus
On Betfair exchange, you are entitled to a free 20 Euro bet upon your sign up. The terms of this bonus are very simple – you place a bet at amount of at least 20 Euro and if it is not winning, the company will refund that 20 Euro in your account.
Betfair Sport
In 2013, the company made one of the biggest steps in its history by adding a traditional bookmaker in its platform where the odds are set by the website and the choice of whether or not to accept them is yours.
Betfair 365 bookmaker odds cannot be compared to those on the betting exchange, but they are not bad either compared to other bookmaker’s odds offers.
The bookmaker part of the website can be considered as an addition to the betting exchange as there is not enough interest on the exchange for all sports events. Gamblers in general do not pay serious attention to bets on lower level events or less popular events, and this is a problem on the exchange as it is not possible to form a good market – i.e., there is no one to accept your odds. In cases like these, you can always turn to Betfair Sport and place a bet against the bookmaker.
Betfair Sport has its own bonus, separate from the betting exchange. Its amount is three free bets of 10 Euro, for which you need to make a deposit of only 10 Euro. You only give 10 Euro and you receive 30! Betfair registration: cricket trading, football – soccer tips.
Casino
Betfair will also please you with a full-featured casino that started operating in 2006 with over 180 games developed by the elite software companies Microgaming, IGT, Playtech and NetEnt.
The casino offers a live casino where you can play the most popular casino games in the world with real dealers. As it is done by a live streaming video you will need a fast internet connection.
Mobile betting at Betfair
If you are the smartphone kind of internet user, you will be very pleased with Betfair great App for Android and iOS phones. They provide users with everything they need for online betting and design and navigation are easy to use even by the new customers.
Register
The company has developed applications for all of its individual services:
● Sports bets
● Arcade games
● Live casino
Other Betfair features
● Live betting and Live sports events (both on the betting exchange and in the bookmaker)
● Cash Out (closing the bet before the end of the sport event you placed bet on)
● Acca Edge (insurance of your multiple bets – the bookmaker refunds the bet amount if only one match in it is not winning)
● Price Rush (when placing bet on the exchange, the bookmaker automatically checks other odds offers and if there is higher odds than the one you have accepted, places the bet on it)
