Betting Exchanges for uk horse racing

The arrival of Betting exchanges for horse racing and uk sports betting, is the biggest shake up to the gambling industry for over 40 years. The concept was the idea of ex city trader Andrew Black who, along with ex bond trader Mark Davis, launched BetFair in June 2000. Betfair is an online betting exchange where people with differing opinions exchange bets. Someone thinks something is going to happen, they back it. Someone else thinks it will not happen, they lay it. The bet is matched and at peak times over 12000 bets per minute are matched. Just like traditional bookmakers, betting exchanges allow trading on a vast range of global sporting , financial, entertainment and political events. The big difference is that the punters are in control of the odds and prices - not the bookmakers.

Blacks model was simple; just like in stock trades [were people who want to buy shares are matched with people who want to sell shares], betting exchanges match people who want to bet on a horse against people who think the horse will lose. So, rather than bet against bookmakers, people bet against each other (i.e. person to person or P2P betting).

Examples of race cards that can be used on betting exchanges : 30/07/05 and 29/07/05.

While betting exchange users choose their own odds, most high street punters get the Starting Price SP). The problem is that the SP is determined on track and can be manipulated by bookmakers to improve their own profit margins.

Probably the biggest betting exchanges is betfair.com, the second biggest betting exchanges is betdaq.com

Person to person betting exchanges are probably the most significant betting development in the uk since the legalisation of off-course betting in 1961. Betting Exchange growth has been substantial over the last few months, a trend that looks likely to continue for some time. This page describes some common questions for horse racing betting.

HOW DO BETTING EXCHANGES WORK ?

When betting with a conventional bookmaker, the bookmaker compiles the odds and the individual bets against the bookmaker. With betting exchanges, the individual acts as either the bookmaker or the bettor. In this case the individual has the choice of either "laying" a bet or "taking" the odds on offer.

HOW DO BETTING EXCHANGES ODDS DIFFER ?

With conventional betting with bookmakers the average over-round of a race is typically 120% (around 2%/runner). With Betting Exchanges the average over-round is 102%. This makes betting exchanges very appealing from a "value" point of view. Because it is the individual who sets the odds. For this reason betting exchanges can offer some quite different and very attractive odds as compared with bookmakers odds.

WHO ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS ?

The primary access to betting exchanges is through the the internet. At the time of writing there are four principal betting exchanges in existence in the UK. These are BetFair [the biggest], BetDaq, GGBet and Sporting Options.

WHAT DOES IT COST ?

The average betting commission is 5% on all winning transactions, though some operators offer incentives for individuals wanting to open new accounts.

WHAT SPORTS CAN BE BET ON ?

Although betting exchanges offer betting on most sports, its Football and Horse Racing that are the most popular.

ARE BETTING EXCHANGES REGULATED ?

Betting Exchanges are registered with the Customs and Excise, the Levy Board and the BHB and hold a bookmakers licence.Bookmakers have argued (and continue to argue) that because individuals are acting as bookmakers, they too should hold a licence. This debate is likely to continue - particularly as the betting exchanges continue to take the bookmakers market share.

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