Betfair decided to provide and sponsor two courses of how to bet on Betfair, we hope that with these two courses the members have more easiness understanding and how to use the Betfair betting market!

Welcome to Betfair Foundation Course – Part I

Let us begin by the Betfair main table. Navigate to the left hand side column on the screen. On Football choose which game you wish. In this case we will choose the match International v Sao Paulo

On the left hand side, you have the available odds to bet IN FAVOUR and on the right hand side the available odds to bet AGAINST.

The money that appears below is the available amount to be matched by who bets in favour or against.

If we want to bet that Sao Paulo is going to win, we click on the blue square and enter our stake in the right corner of the screen. This will show us our potential profit if we win.
The best current odds are shown in the coloured square. The other odds offered are shown in the adjacent boxes.

If you click in the side to bet AGAINST, you will be betting that Sao Paulo will not win the match and the earning or loss will show up on the square in the right hand side of the screen.

PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to accept the amount that is being offered. If you wish to bet in Favour of Sao Paulo at 3.30 instead of 3.25, you just need to click on the 3.25 square and change the odds on the right hand side of the screen to 3.30. When you click “Submit”, your money will appear on the Betting Against side of the screen and will remain there until a punter who wants to bet Against accepts its odds and matches your bet. This happens on the opposite way when you bet Against.

Betfair Foundation Course – Part II

In this mini-course we will speak about Betfair. Why choose this bookmaker and not others, better known, like for example Bwin or Gamebookers? It’s simply because it’s about making money and the quicker the better. If you have already had the chance of playing in one of the mentioned bookmakers, you possibly share our view that it is all very nice and exciting at first… but in the long run it’s complicated to accumulate earnings.

Furthermore, it is commented in several forums about these bookmakers’ less appropriate behaviours towards players that win substantial amounts. These bookmakers limit the bets when they verify they’re dealing with good punters (Betfair does not act this way) What’s the main difference between Betfair and the remainder bookmakers (for instance Bwin)? While on Bwin you bet “against” the house, on Betfair you bet against other people and not against the house. Whilst on Bwin they pray for you to lose your bet, adjusting the odds to cover their risk, on Betfair you’re betting against other betters, with higher odds, sought by them.

So, how does Betfair makes money?
Betfair charges a percentage (normally 5%) of its profits.

But let us begin.

On the first time you enter in Betfair, the site seems harder than other bookmakers, where you only have to choose the bet, enter the amount and wait …… On Betfair there’s more to do, but it is simpler than it looks, we are talking about ……..Trading

 

- Trading, the magic word! What is it?

We can compare it to the Stock Market. Imagine that you become a bets “broker” and you can buy and sell according to your opinion on the state of the market. Logically the purpose of this option is to bet safe, buying at a good price and selling at another higher price that ensures a earning whatever the games outcome.

To ensure a earning regardless of the final outcome is known as “greenbooking” (think green).

- “Think green”

When we make a good Trading, we buy and sell our bet, and then we achieve a result with safe earning regardless of the final outcome.

An advice, it is important to select at Options the square “Show earnings and losses”. Thus we see our hypothetical earnings, before laying a bet. This way we have a perception before betting.

Case study

The case study will be the match between Federer-Nabaldian. The odds in favour of Nabaldian are very high before the start of the game and it is likely that it will heavily dispute Deferer during a 5 sets game. We are confident that at a given time Nabaldian will play well and the odds decrease enough to be sold.

We bet 15 Euro in favour of Nabaldian with odds of 4.8 and we wait to see how the game unwinds. In fact, the encounter is quite balanced and the odd decreases to 2.55, time on which we decide to sell, betting AGAINST.

We could have betted the initial 15 Euro AGAINST, but in that case we would only have earnings if Nabaldian would win and we would “play at home” (without winning or losing) if Nabaldian would lose.
If we bet a bit more than 15 Euro, e.g. 21 Euro, we are ensuring an earning whatever is the game’s outcome. We always stay on the green!

Tricks and Strategies

- The minimum bet is 4 Euro?

Case study:
We want to bet on Czech Republic as the World Cup winner, but not the minimum 4 Euro, just 1 Euro.

We click on the odd 38 and change de odd amount so that it is much higher and this way ensuring that it stays “Pending”, without being matched.

For example, we put the odds at 500

And click on “Submit”, being aware beforehand that no one will offer the odd of 500 and the bet will be “waiting”

After submitting the bet, it will not be matched.

It is now that we should change the Euro that we betted. All we do is to increase the amount, which will lead to the creation of an independent bet. We will go for 5 Euro.

Afterwards we click “Submit”.
Consecutively, two bets will appear, in one of which we manage to put just 1 Euro.

We will use a 1 Euro bet, adjusting the odds to the offered odds. The other bet is eliminated clicking on the x.

We click “Submit” and we have what we wanted: a 1 Euro bet with the odds of 38 IN FAVOUR of Czech Republic.

Betfair Foundation Course – Part III – THE WHOLE TRUTH about betting “AGAINST” on Betfair

The concept of betting against (Lay, originally) may seem confusing. However, after understanding its mechanics, wagering will never be like before….. The best way to understand the concept of betting Against is to consider that we start having the role of “bank” and that the betted money is not ours but of another player. Let’s see

Despite being us entering the amount on the “Stake of who bets in favour”, it will always represent the amount of someone that’s betting in Favour (we’re betting Against).

Don’t forget that Betfair is a portfolio of bets where bets in favour (Back) are matched with bets against (Lay). Thus, for each bet in Favour that is matched there is always a bet Against.

Let’s see as a case study a bet Against Hewitt with the odds of 1.8.

If Hewitt wins the game it means that who betted Against will lose the bet.

As a result, you will have to pay 8 Pounds to whom betted in favour (the profit of whom betted in favour) You lose 8 Pounds!

If Hewitt loses the game that means that who waged Against wins the bet.
You profit will be 10 Pounds, exactly the stake of who betted in Hewitt’s Favour with the odds of 1.8.

The offered odds can always be changed (you can ask for higher/lower odds). But since the portfolio follows market logic, surrealistic odds will be hard to match.

Betfair Foundation Course – Part IV – Trading

This course is addressed to all of those who wish to understand the trading secrets.
Whether you win or lose – you always make profit. Do you fancy a free bet? Do you fancy profiting with your football club whether it wins or loses? Then, without a doubt, trading is for you and you should keep reading….. What’s Trading?

Trading is not buying or selling indiscriminately. Trading is to decide if the price of an item will increase or to decrease and take advantage of the price fluctuation. An exchange market trader does not buy or sells one coin without the aim of keeping it. The trader only buys one coin with the aim of selling and making a profit.

But what does this got to do with bets on Betfair?

The best way to describe trading is through case studies.

Let’s assume that a horse “Gingão” runs in the 3:30 race in Ascot. On Betfair the odds to wage Against “Gingão” are of 5.0. If you think the odds of “Gingão” winning will increase before the beginning of the race, you should bet first Against “Gingão”. Then, when the odds increase, you should bet in Favour of “Gingão”.

Let’s see the case study:

If you’d lay a 10 Euro bet Against “Gingão”, your liability in case “Gingão” wins (and you lose) would be of 40 Euro ( ( 10 Euro x (5.0- 1.0)) = 10 Euro x 4.0 = 40 Euro. Short, if “Gingão” wins, you lose 40 Euro. If “Gingão” loses, you win 10 Euro.

If the odds for “Gingão” winning increase, let’s say to 10.0, we will bet on “Gingão” but this time to win. If you bet 5 Euro on ”Gingão” to win with the odds of 10.0 and “Gingão” wins, you win 45 Euro (( 5 Euro x (10.0 -1.0 ) = 5 Euro x 9.0 = 45 Euro). If “Gingão” loses, you lose your stake e.g. 5 Euro

Now, let’s analyse the possible outcomes of the race. There’s only two: either “Gingão” wins or loses the race.

Here’s the net outcome of the two bets based in the race’s outcome.

Regardless of the race’s outcome, the profit is the same: 5 Euro.

What happened when you laid your two bets? A bet on “Gingão” was “bought” at a determined price and resold at a higher price with this transaction. What really happened was that a bet on “Gingão” loss was sold for 10 Euro (the bet Against) and that it was bought a bet on “Gingão“ winning for 5 Euro (the bet in Favour). The outcome was a 5 Euro profit. The race’s outcome is not so relevant.

We have been studying a case in which we believe the odds of a horse winning are will increase.

Now, let’s study a case in which we believe the odds of a horse winning will decrease.

Let’s imagine again that “Gingão” runs again on the 3:30 race in Ascot and that the odds are of 5.0. Yet, we now believe that the odds will decrease, so we’re laying a bet on ”Gingão” to win, we wait for the price to lower and then we lay a bet Against “Gingão”.

Let’s see the case study:

We’re betting 5 Euro on “Gingão” winning, with odds of 5.0. The potential profit of this bet is 20 Euro( 5 Euro x (5.0 – 1.0)) = 5 Euro x 4.0 = 20 Euro. For short, if ”Gingão” loses, we lose our 5 Euro stake.

If the odds of “Gingão” decrease, for instance, to 2.5, a second bet can be laid on “Gingão” but this time so that he loses (Against). We’ll bet 10 Euro with odds of 2.5 as “Gingão” will lose. If ”Gingão” wins (and we lose the bet), the liability will be of 10 Euro x (2.5-1.0 ) = 10 Euro x 1.5= 15 Euro. If “Gingão” loses, we win 10 Euro.

Which ever the outcome we’ll always win 5 Euro.