Why use a betting exchange in 2020? Here are 7 reasons why!
Betting exchanges are popular platforms for thousands of punters. But if you’re not using them already or you’re undecided about getting started, here are 7 reasons you should.
Let’s dive in.
7 Reasons to use a betting exchange
- Back and lay betting
- Great value odds
- Start trading
- Profit from bookmakers free bets
- Follow market trends
- Beat the bookmakers
- More flexibility
Back and lay betting
One of the great things about a betting exchange is that you can place both back and lay bets.
What do I mean by this?
You have the option of backing an outcome (back betting) as you would at a bookmaker and you also have the option of betting against an outcome (lay betting).
Lay betting isn’t possible at traditional bookmakers like Coral or Ladbrokes meaning this is a great reason to use a betting exchange in 2020.
For those of you who aren’t sure what lay betting is, we recently put out an entire article dedicated to lay betting.
As we’ll look at later, you can take advantage of strategies like matched betting if you use a betting exchange.
Overall, by introducing new strategies such as lay betting, you’ll make your entire betting strategy more interesting and exciting.
Great value odds
At a betting exchange, you are guaranteed to get great value odds.
Whilst it’s fair to say bookmakers have improved the competitiveness of their odds in recent years, betting exchanges are still ahead in this regard.
Betting exchanges have an inherent advantage when it comes to market odds. They don’t need to build a profit margin into the price meaning punters get better value.
An exchange takes a commission on players’ net winnings so they make money in a different way.
What does this mean for you?
It means you’re going to make more profit should you land your bet. Therefore this is a great reason to use an exchange over a bookmaker.
To give you an example here’s how much more profitable you’d be by using Smarkets (a betting exchange) over other named bookmakers during Cheltenham festival.
Start trading
If you’re into trading, betting exchanges will act as your bread and butter. They’re vital to your success.
There are various trading methods you can use and each individual has their own preferences. However, none of this would be possible if it weren’t for betting exchanges.
They allow you to trade bets in the first place.
Many traders start making money by trading bets at different prices as we’ll see below.
Profit from bookmakers free bets
With betting exchanges, you can use a strategy called matched betting which allows you to make a guaranteed profit from bookmakers free bets and other promotions.
To make your bets risk free so that you don’t lose any of your own cash, it’s important to use a betting exchange to lay your bets.
This is not possible at traditional bookmakers giving you another reason to use an exchange.
Lay betting is incredibly easy and you just need to ensure that you place your bet on the correct market.
Smarkets use a green and blue colour scheme whereas Betfair uses pink and yellow and Betdaq uses green and orange.
Here’s how the colour schemes work:
Follow market trends
With certain betting exchanges, like Smarkets, it’s possible to follow market trends and place your bets accordingly.
This kind of ties into the trading point above, but I think it deserves its own section.
Smarkets were the first betting exchange to introduce graphs allowing punters to see historical data in terms of where the money is being wagered.
These graphs help bettors and traders calculate which way a price may move in order to make a profit.
Is support increasing or decreasing for a certain outcome and therefore is it worthwhile placing a bet or not?
Beat the bookies
Another great reason to use a betting exchange is that you’re effectively beating the bookmakers at their own game.
When placing bets at an exchange, you’re betting against another punter, not a bookmaker. So either you or the other punter is going to win, not the bookie.
In my view, the betting exchange model is a more transparent format which is fairer for gamblers.
The betting exchange simply takes a commission for providing the technology and platform.
More flexibility
Overall, it’s clear to see that betting exchanges offer a more flexible betting platform when compared to bookmakers.
After reading this article, you’ll agree there are many benefits of using an exchange.
Furthermore, betting exchange companies are generally happy to accept any type of gambler on their platform. So whether you’re a matched bettor or a trader, you’ll be safe using a betting exchange.
No more gubbing by the bookies.
7 reasons to use a betting exchange
There you have it, our 7 reasons to use a betting exchange in 2020.
Whilst traditional bookmakers are still great for certain features like odds boosts and accumulators, betting exchanges are certainly worthwhile considering when placing your next bet.
To recap, here are our 7 reasons to use a betting exchange:
- Back and lay betting
- True market value
- Start trading
- Use matched betting
- Follow market trends
- Beat the bookies
- More flexibility
All in all, I recommend you get started with a betting exchange account if you haven’t already.
Have I missed any key reasons? If you think so, let me know in the comments below.