One mistake I find all the time, in a 2-outcome market (tennis match, Over/Under 2.5 goals and so on) is that people don't want to lay, even though the odds are better.
For example, assume the odds on offer are:
Roddick To back 5.50, To Lay 5.75
Federer To back 1.19, To Lay 1.21
Now this is a simplistic example, but it shows my point. Ignoring the amounts available to match (assuming plenty for each one), someone wants to back Federer. So many times people will come steaming in and just back the 1.19 . I have seen this myself when watching a market such as this. All of the action will be on backing the 1.19 (you can see the amounts changing rapidly), while laying Roddick @ 5.75 just sees no action because the amount available stays the same.
If you stop to think about it, what happens if you lay Roddick @ 5.75? If you work it out (1 divided by 4.75, then add 1), laying Roddick @ 5.75 is the equivalent of backing Federer @ a fraction over 1.21 .
Equally, laying Federer @ 1.21 is the equivalent of backing Roddick at just over 5.76, so people wanting to bet on Roddick should lay Federer in this case.
This is a small point, and quite often the odds to back do work out as better. You should always check though, as every little percentage can make a difference. People's stupidity on this issue always amazes me.
Like for example, you'll see someone trying to back a player @ 1.10. There's no money to match, but they post it up, yet if you look, you see you can lay the other player @ 11, which equates to the same thing, yet people don't see it.
Hope this helps
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