Back And Lay Betting Sites
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Free Online Back/Lay Betting Calculator Our free online Back/Lay betting calculator calculates the correct Stakes for backing and laying the same selection for the same Net Profit, whether the selection wins or loses. This is commonly known as trading out, greening up or Back/Lay arbitrage. Lay betting is an option on exchanges like Betfair where bettors can play the bookmaker, offering odds to sell a bet instead of to back a bet. It is one component of matched betting, where punters both back. Voted for by Lay Back & Get Rich readers, my Betting Oscars have now been running since 2012 – and are much sought after by product suppliers who want to earn your votes! That’s right, these coveted awards are presented to whoever you declare to be the very best! You can look through all the previous winners by clicking here.
Looking to bet a team NOT to win? Check out our list of the best Lay Betting Sites and get quick information on the best strategy to follow at betting exchanges. It’s very simple. When you back your bet, it means that something will happen and if you lay your back it means that something will not happen. Here is an example.
If you’re interested in placing ‘lay bets’ as well as the more traditional ‘back bets’, then you will need to look for an online betting exchange rather than a traditional online bookmaker.
Online betting exchanges differ from traditional sites in that they allow punters to bet against one another and it is this which makes both types of bet possible.
Best Betting Exchange: Betfair vs Betdaq
There are only two main exchanges worth considering, Betfair and Betdaq, and the major differences between these are explained below:
| Feature | Betfair | Betdaq |
|---|---|---|
| Liquidity | As by far the largest betting exchange in the world, Betfair’s liquidity is second to none. Their high volume of punters ensures excellent liquidity for popular events and even smaller events still boast better liquidity than can be found elsewhere. | As the second largest exchange in the world, you might expect Betdaq’s liquidity to be almost as good as Betfair. That is unfortunately not the case, however, as Betdaq are still far smaller than their main rival and as such you may struggle to get your bets on when it comes to lesser events. |
| Range of markets | Users of the Betfair Exchange can choose between upwards of 25 major categories of market. These include almost every sport under the sun as well as other special events. Numerous competitions are covered for the biggest sports and even smaller events boast a large number of different types of market. | Users of the Betfair Exchange can choose between upwards of 25 major categories of market. These include almost every sport under the sun as well as other special events. Numerous competitions are covered for the biggest sports and even smaller events boast a large number of different types of market. |
| Live Streaming | Horse racing and some other sporting events (including football) can be streamed live through Betfair Live Video. The available sporting events are free to view for all customers with a funded account, whilst horse races can be watched if a customer has placed a minimum £5 matched bet on that race. | Horse racing and greyhound racing only, with races available to be watched by customers who have placed a bet of at least £0.50 on the races. |
| Promotions | My Betfair rewards program offering the chance to earn bonuses and free bets every month of up to £100 in value. | Promotions rarely offered – currently zero running. |
| Opening Bonus | £100 free bet bundleNew customer offer. Place 5 x £10 or more bets to receive £20 in free bets. Repeat up to 5 times to receive maximum £100 bonus. Min odds 1/2 (1.5). Exchange bets excluded. T&Cs apply. | Up To £1,000 Cash BackUp to £1,000 commission back at the end of the first 30 days as withdrawable funds. Standard 5% commission rate applies. Not available to API, RDT or Trading Tool customers. 18+. T&C's apply. |
What is an Online Betting Exchange?
Now that you know the main differences between the two biggest betting exchanges around, it is worth taking a moment to consider just what is meant by the term ‘betting exchange’. In essence, a betting exchange is a forum in which punters can bet against one another and therefore can place one of two different types of bet.
What Is Back Bet?
The first type of bet possible through a betting exchange is a ‘back bet’. This is essentially the same as a traditional bet, in that you are betting that something will happen. You might bet, for instance, that Manchester City will win the Premier League, that Lewis Hamilton will win the next F1 Grand Prix or that snow will fall in London on Christmas Day.
What Is A Lay Bet?
The second type of bet available through a betting exchange, meanwhile, is a ‘lay bet’ and this is something very different entirely. In fact, it is the opposite of a ‘back bet’ in that you are gambling on something not occurring. Such a bet, therefore, might be that Manchester City will not win the Premier League, that Lewis Hamilton will not win the Grand Prix or that snow will not fall. What a betting exchange essentially allows you to do, therefore, is to play the bookmaker to another punter’s ‘back bet’ and to win if their bet fails.
Betting exchange trading is possible because you're able to back and lay the same outcome at different points.
As a football trader, you will attempt to predict major events - such as goals - which move market prices in a particular direction. This price movement is what will allow you to back high, lay low (or lay low, back high) in order to lock in guaranteed profits.
Once you understand how backing and laying for profit works, the sky is the limit. A proven football betting system will grow your bank over time and it's even possible to back and lay on Betfair for a living.
First things first though, here is back and lay betting explained step-by-step.
What does Back and Lay Mean?
A traditional bookmaker takes 'back' bets. You back an outcome in a betting market and the bookie pays out if your bet wins.
However, betting exchanges - such as Betfair - allow you to 'back' or 'lay'.
As well as being able to 'back' an outcome, you can also take on the traditional role of the bookmaker and 'lay' it. In other words, your bet wins if the outcome of an event doesn't happen.
For example, let's say you are interested in betting on the winner of the Premier League.
You can see the back and lay odds below:
On Betfair, back odds are displayed in blue and lay odds are pink.
In this example, Arsenal are the current favourites to win the Premier League with back odds of 2.48. This means that if you back Arsenal with a £10 stake, your return will be £24.80 (£14.80 profit) if Arsenal go on to win the title.
A lay bet is the exact opposite, so you are betting on something not to happen.
If you lay Arsenal, you are betting on Arsenal not to win the Premier League. If any one of the other 19 teams wins the title, your lay bet wins.
Lay Bet Liability
When placing a back bet, you can never lose more than your stake. However, when you lay a bet, the liability can be a lot more than your stake and you must be fully aware of the risk before placing your bet.
In the Premier League example, Arsenal are 2.48 to back and 2.52 to lay.
If you decide to lay Arsenal for a stake of £10, you will win £10 if any other team but Arsenal wins the Premier League. Just as you stand to lose your stake when backing Arsenal, a lay bet is opposite so you win your stake if Arsenal don't become champions.
If Arsenal do go on to lift the trophy though, your liability will be determined by the lay price and, again, it's the opposite of backing.
In this case, it would be (£10 x 2.52) - £10 = £15.20
Backing and laying are simply opposites:
- Back Arsenal with a stake of £10 at 2.48 to try and win £14.80
- Lay Arsenal with a liability of £15.20 to try and win £10
When placing a lay bet, your liability is always removed from your account balance as Betfair has to assume the worst case scenario - that you lose your bet. Therefore, you can never risk losing more than the money you already have in your Betfair account.
Once the Premier League winner has been decided, the market will be settled. Bear in mind that you may have a large liability tied up for many months if you get involved in long-term trades.
Lay Bet Calculator
Our bet and lay calculator - also known as 'hedging' - helps you to calculate back and lay stakes quickly and easily in order to lock in profits.
It's free to use and worth adding to your bookmarks. You can even add it to your own website, if you have one!
Back Vs Lay
In the example above, laying Arsenal produced a larger liability than the potential profit. However, if you always lay under 2.00 then you will stand to win more than you risk losing and many Betfair laying strategies aim to take advantage of this.
Spend some time watching the Betfair markets and see how prices move - even without goals.
For example, the 0-0 price at kick-off will be a very high price to lay, but by half-time it's often a third of the starting price. This movement is called 'time decay' and it continues all the way to the final whistle unless a goal is scored.
If you're patient, you could lay 0-0 in a game with a team desperately trying to score as time runs out and - rather than risk many times your stake - make sure that the risk/reward is in your favour.
It's much better than sweating on a goal because you couldn't wait to get into the trade and created a huge liability!
Back And Lay Betting Sites
Lay the draw (LTD) has been one of the most popular football trading strategies for many years.
It's a very simple way to get started with Betfair trading and - if you're patient - it can be very low liability. There are plenty of lay the draw strategies to take advantage of at various points during football matches and most professional traders use it a lot.
Making money on Betfair is all about backing and laying at the right times.
For example, at the start of the 2015–16 season, Leicester City were available at a huge price to win the Premier League but their odds were much shorter as they closed in on the title.
Euro 2016 provided a profitable trading opportunity too.
Unsurprisingly, the favourites were the traditional powerhouses of European football - Germany, France and Spain.
Further down the list, however, there were opportunities to back up and coming teams at high prices.
Iceland were one of the major surprises during qualifying, finishing in second place in Group A. As they recorded a string of stunning results during - including wins home and away against the Netherlands - their odds to win Euro 2016 started to steadily drop.
It was a fantastic back-to-lay opportunity, with traders who backed Iceland earlier at odds of 500/1 able to lay at much shorter odds in order to lock in a profit.
Iceland drew Portugal, Hungary and Austria in Group F of the Euro 2016 finals, with the top two from the group going through to the next round, as well as the best third-placed team.
It was a test for them, but their fantastic success in qualifying showed how capable they had become at international level in recent years. Greece's historic success at Euro 2004 proved that smaller countries can thrive at the European Championships and, even with the new reorganisation to a 24 team event, Iceland had a chance.
Before the tournament began, Iceland were priced on the Betfair exchange at 100 to win Euro 2016, meaning a £10 back bet on Iceland would have resulted in a profit of £990 should they have taken the title.
Once Iceland qualified from Group F, their odds dropped substantially, meaning it was then possible to place a lay bet to lock in a good amount of guaranteed profit. After their win against England, their odds came down even further.
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