One of the best ways to profit in any form of gambling is to find the best value bets. Betting exchanges are one place where you can often find value bets. If you consider what bookmakers offer, they organize bets in such a way that no matter who wins, they profit. In a two horse race, in theory, fair odds would be 2/1 for runner A and 1/2 for runner B. The only person to profit in that exchange is the person who selects the winner.
For bookmakers, if a lot of people bet on runner B, they will shorten the odds, let’s say to 1/3 in an attempt to make the bet less attractive. At the same time, Runner A’s odds should drift to 3/1 to make that bet more attractive. Bookmakers don’t want to make a loss. However, that scenario doesn’t take into account the bookmaker’s profit. To make a profit, the bookmaker needs to further reduce odds so runner B could become 2/7 (1/3.5) while runner A’s odds are 5/2. No matter who wins, the bookmaker now has the odds in their favour.
Betting exchanges are slightly different. There is no ‘bookmaker’, as such, setting the odds. In fact, you can be the bookie and set the odds yourself. Because there is no bookmaker taking a cut, the odds should be a little more realistic. In fact, there are times when punters will offer good value odds because they strongly believe in a certain outcome.
As an example, in tomorrow’s football, Manchester City host Manchester United. These are always tough matches and even the bookmakers struggle to find the best odds. In tomorrow’s game, City are at 15/8 and United 6/4. If you strongly feel that City will win, you could look around for odds that are better than 15/8 on the exchange.
If you can’t find better odds then you could offer your own odds on United to win. If you offered 7/4 you may find people jumping at those better odds. Yes, you are accepting odds of only 4/7 (the reverse of 7/4), but those odds are for United not to win so – if the match is drawn, you still win as United have not won the game. With betting exchanges, you can find real value – or create your own!