Since Betfair is by far the most popular sports betting exchange we will use that example to explain the general workings of an exchange. Other exchanges operate in much the same way although the presentation may be somewhat different.
Anyone coming to Betfair for the very first time is likely to be fairly bewildered by the overwhelming amount of information displayed. However it takes just a short while to see how things are laid out in a logical manner, and you can soon find your way. You can go to your sport of choice and take things from there. On the main page for horse racing, for example, you find a column on the left, and clicking on the top entry enables you to view all the races for the day, i.e. “todays card”.
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Also on the main page, in the centre, is an overview of the various meetings of the day and you can click a specific time at a certain meeting to again display a race card. You can also toggle between various countries to see all the meetings for that day in the different countries. These include Great Britain and Ireland, USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, and South Africa. On the right side of the page you see a column with links to various sports, both horse racing and others, which are actually in-play at the moment. Betting in-play is not generally recommended for those new to betting since the odds can change very fast, but it can be turned to advantage using certain tactics and strategies. Betting in play is also hazardous since there is always a slight delay when watching a live coverage, and even seconds can make a big difference in a horse race!
There are usually also several large displays on the main page relating to various offers to encourage you to put your money down, and these might be in the form of cash back if your horse falls, or your stake returned if your football match finishes without any goals having been scored, for example.
It is very easy to open an account with Betfair. You need to be over 18 years of age and then fill in the required information on the sign-up form. This will include your date of birth since the exchange is responsible apparently for confirming that you are over 18, plus your country where you permanently reside, your address, telephone number, and email. You then choose a user name and password, plus a security question and answer in case you lose or forget your login details. Once your account is open you need to deposit funds and Betfair can help you limit your deposits initially so that you do not get carried away and bet more than you can really afford. Deposits can be by credit or debit card, by bank transfer, or by means of PayPal.
Betfair keeps a log of all your bets and you can access all the information plus your account profit and loss by going into your account page. Your account summary shows your current exposure and your overall balance. The exposure is the sum value of unsettled bets. Your account statement keeps track of all your transactions, bets made, and commissions. You can also see your profit and/or loss for a specified time period.
The commission taken from winning bets by Betfair is 5% as standard but is reduced depending on your volume of bets. The more you make the less commission you pay, and the system is based on points earned. Unfortunately your points are set so that they depreciate by 15% per week so you need to regularly use the site to get the best commission deal.
Betfair has a learning page that tells you all about how to use the website. It is very useful for the newcomer, with various videos showing how to place both back and lay bets, plus a guide to in-play betting. It also explains the cash out facility, asking for a price, about spreads and totals, plus some advanced trading ideas. It is well worth going through all the videos before actually risking any money!
One factor that sets Betfair apart from most other exchanges is their amazing amount of helpful information on site. In addition to their learning page already mentioned there are a number of other helpful categories of information or pages.
They have extensive statistics available on many sports, plus a page dedicated to various writers giving their views and tips on popular sports. For football they have both Premier and Championship tips with in depth analysis and opinions from well respected names. They have a similar page for rugby covering international and other important matches, with good previews and some recommended bets.
Other similar pages cover formula 1 motor racing, golf, tennis, US sports, cricket, boxing, greyhounds, horse racing, darts, and other diverse sports which are less popular.
Would you believe that there are over 6000 different markets to bet on at Betfair! You can choose the markets you want and customize your betting by using the “My Markets” facility. With this you can select the markets you use regularly and disregard the rest.
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