Telephones

Introduction

Backing and Laying

Placing a Bet

Laying a Bet

Extracting a Free Bet

Backing and Laying

At the core of the matched betting process are the concepts of backing and laying. Backing an event is the familiar process of betting on an event to happen. You place a stake on an event (or "selection") and if the bet wins, you receive a certain amount of winnings depending on the odds of that outcome. The higher the odds are, the higher returns.

Laying a bet is traditionally the preserve of the bookie. Essentially, this is the action of taking a bet. If the bet wins, the bookie has to pay out, otherwise they get to keep the stake money. However, with the advent of betting exchanges, it is now possible to "be the bookie". That is you can take bets on an outcome. They overall effect here is that you can bet on an event not happening.

So what's the point of this? Simple. It lets you place a bet with a traditional bookmaker, but at the same time you can "lay" the bet - that is bet on the outcome not happening. By doing this, you get a payout regardless of the result. For example, consider a simple football bet. Let's say the match as Liverpool vs Arsenal. If you place a bet on Liverpool winning at the bookie, you would then lay Liverpool to win at the exchange - this is effectively betting on Liverpool not to win (i.e. to draw or lose). So, the match has three possible outcomes:

1. Liverpool win: you win at the bookie, but pay out at the exchange
2. A draw: you lose at the bookie, but win at the exchange
3. Liverpool lose: again, you lose at the bookie, but win at the exchange

It's important here to note the difference between laying a team to win, and backing the opposition. Win you lay Liverpool to win, you are backing them to draw OR lose.

<- Prev Next ->