The betting EXCHANGE concept was first developed by Betfair.

Betfair is the world’s largest betting exchange based in the UK. Your potentials on the Betfair exchange:

  • You may bet that the outcome WILL TAKE PLACE (Back) or WILL NOT TAKE PLACE (Lay);
  • You may propose and create your own odds;
  • You may place In-Play bets;
  • You have access to a full scope of innovative services and projects (such as access to all exchange services via programs (web-service betfair api);
  • You are playing ONLY with other exchange participants;
  • ALL PLAYERS ARE UNDER THE EQUAL CONDITIONS.

What benefits does the betting exchange have?

Unlike usual bookmakers who set their own odds on events, Betfair does not set odds or bets on events. The exchange only provides a platform for betting between players. This has three main benefits for players:

  • On average, the odds are 20% higher

If you want to place a “Back” bet, the offered odds will be much better than the odds of usual bookmakers, because the exchange players place bets among themselves and form the odds themselves. As a result, players get favorable conditions for placing bets and better odds in comparison with bookmakers.

  • Back or Lay

On the betting exchange, you may place traditional “Back” bets, but you may also place an alternative bet against the win (“Lay” bet) by offering your odds to other players. The “Back and Lay” betting options have their advantages and allow you to trade on the exchange. The essence of trading is to accept a bet at a lower odd and to place a bet at a higher one. As a result, you make a profit with any match outcome.

  • In-Play bets

Betfair offers a wide range of highly dynamic and exciting trading markets – live betting markets. Trading starts with the event beginning. You may place Back and Lay bets right up to the final whistle of a football match or the last second of a horse race.

Betfair history

Betfair was founded in August 1999 by Andrew Black and Edward Rey for commercializing their own betting technology that had been developed the year before. The company revolutionized the betting market and became the world’s first betting exchange.

How the betting exchange works?

A betting exchange is a kind of bookmaker that uses technology of offering the best odds to its players. Betfair does not set its odds in a way that traditional bookmakers do. The players form the odds themselves. Imagine two friends making a bet while watching a football match, and an independent observer holds the funds until the end of the match. The betting exchange operates on the same principle: our users place bets with each other, while Betfair accepts and calculates bets.