Bet/Lay bookies

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Right guys - im looking to getting into the laying of football matches before the start of the season starts due to the amount of times the draw has messed me up. Ive had a look at Betfair, but it doesnt seem to make much sense for me and i dont understand where they get my estimated amount of winnings from etc. I pretty much get the liability part.

So if anyone could post examples explaining it all for me that would be spliffing ol chaps. Also any recommended bookies for this would help aswell. Cheers

[crowie]

Kiko,

It works like this.

Say you see Belarus v Scotland and Belarus are priced at 2.20 to back, 2.25 to lay. You think Scotland will get at least a point (aye, I know!) but you want the draw on your side. You decide to lay Belarus.

Now there might be £100 on the lay side asking for 2.25. You fancy taking £10 of that money. You simply hit the lay price, and it asks you how much of the money available that you want to take.

If you fill in the £10 then thats what your winning are going to be (before commission). Your liability would be £12.50.

The other option is that say the prices on Betfair are 2.15 back and 2.25 lay. You don't actually have to lay at 2.25, you can hit the lay button, drop the odds down to 2.20 and offer to take £10 of punters money. Hit the enter button and your request to lay £10 appears on the back side at 2.20. Its just like requesting a better back price than available, where your money would appear on the opposite lay side.

If you have the confirmation option on, on Betfair, then just have a play about with it, you will be a bit away from actually placing a bet. Hit the lay button, enter an amount you want to win, you will see your liability etc.

Betfair have a demo, I haven't used it, but I would imagine it will also go through the laying of bets. Just remember that whatever figure you enter when your going to lay is the amount your going to win, before commission.

As for bookies, well IMO, stick to Betfair and Betdaq. Some bookies offer prices on teams not to lose or not to win but these prices tend to be no where near what you will get for the same option on the exchanges.

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Thanks Crowie - cleared up a couple of things for me there. I will have a look at the demo, as i dont want to get involved, make a cock up then have hundreds coming off my bank account,lol

[crowie]

Yep, know what you mean, those first few tentative lays are always the worst. Two tips I would say, keep the extra level of confirmation before you actually process the bet on (it should be already unless you have switched it off). It will always give you that final chance to check a bet before processing.

Secondly, always check the liability amount as thats whats going to be coming out of your account straight away to cover any potential pay out.

One final tip.

Call up a football match market, any one. You will see the home, draw and away prices. Above the first team and just next to the "View P/L" tick box is a little link that says "Settings". Click it.

You will have 3 tick boxes in the pop up box. Tick the bottom one "Show a seperate future position" and save it.

Now click the lay side of any of the 3 selections and enter an amount in the Backers Stake box. You should immediately see on the market part of the screen the team you would be potentially laying with a red minus figure and the other two options with a green figure showing the profit if either of these two selections end up being the result. This is before you have even submitted a bet and will give you a picture of your liability (for the team your laying) and your profit (for the other outcomes).


This little option is also good if you want to close out of any bet where you have a bet already on. It shows you exactly where you will go to on each selection if you were either backing or laying them. Try and play about with it the next time you even put a back bet on. Stick your bet on as normal and then select the lay side of each of the 3 outcomes and see what your position would be if you were to lay them, as I mentioned above.

Helpful if you want to "go green" on all outcomes