G'day

So, new to all of this and have discovered betfair and lay betting.

From what I saw of the demo, you are allowed to bet on a horse NOT placing first. I'm thinking, hmm this could be easy money . How many times have you bet on a horse to win and it doesn't come in?

Just looking at Sandown Race 1, it has Lay odds of 85 for No 8 Gatekeeper. Going off the tab odds its listing win odds of about $11 so not a favourite to win. Surely it can't be as simple as just betting on the horse showing the highest win odds for a lay? Like in some races there are horses showing $30 for a win, so market sentiment is that this horse will not win. So based on betfair lay betting I'd bet a lay on that horse and then laugh all the way to the bank?

Am I missing something, coz it can't be this easy?

You are right, it isn't that easy.

If you wanted to win $100 you lay the $30 chance.

If it loses you win $100

If it wins you lose $2900....do'h.

__________________
All generalizations are dangerous.

it seems to me betfair is letting you be the bookie. and we all know how much bookies make (ie lots!).

sure bookies serve to lose more, but they tend to win more than they lose right?

Still that $30 chance is highly unlikely to win....

I guess to minimise your liability you lay bet horses in the teens? Since they are not likely to win but in the off chance they do, you aren't out too much?

On betfair Gatekeeper is going for 26 unit for a win and 90 to lose. I just don't get it, how can it be at such long odds for both? Surely if its at long odds to win then it should be a short odds to lose since thats likely to happen? Also selecting the lay bet for Gatekeeper and staking 2 units my payout is $180 and my liability is $178. How are you working out the liability?

It seems to me that if all I need to bet is 2 units to win 180 units on the log shot as I'm betting on it to lose then its the road to easy money? Tho I have my doubts. I'm obviously missing something.

well gatekeeper came in last... so if i understand correctly based on the betfair odds for a lay i would have won $180 for only $2 outlay... pretty good.

NO you win $2 less 5% comm. The 90/1 (lay price) is the prise you give to someone else, so you lose $178 if it wins.

The back price is the odds you want
The Lay price is the price you give to someone else.

ok so if i want to win $100 i "Stake" 100. So I get 200 back if I win the bet? Or if I lose the bet and the lay odds are 90, I have to pay 9,000?

How do I know my odds for me to win on a lay bet? Do I just get the back odds when I win the lay bet? Are there no odds for my win for a lay bet? So effectively I just back what I stake plus my original bet? So its a 100% return? (E.g bet 100, Return 200, Profit 100)?

Pengo


....buddy ...ive been looking for you....missed ya pal.

Lets pretend your a bookmaker (you are laying) and i'm the fearless punter.
You have a horse @ $20 that i wanna bet on. I give you $10 and you ....being the bagman yell out to your boss "$10 on the 12 @ 20's"
you now write me a ticket that says Loulou $200 ($10x $20 odds)
you have my $10
If the horse wins i come back and get $200 off you. The result is you are down $190.
If the horse loses i dont see you again and you have in your pocket
.....how much of my hard earned ???? .......... $10.

When converting all that to betfair you type in the backers odds ($20) and then the backers stake ($10) this will auto sum next to it and read $200 << this is what you will be up for when Lou lou wins. You wil also see all the other horse have a little $10 next to them in green. that means if any of them win you win $10. you will also see $200 in red next to loulou's name which means if it wins you are down $200.
trial it with 1 horse for $6 and see what lights up

pengo

preferably try on Adel race 3 number 1

>>> but tell me when : )

oh i see this makes sense as far as the matched bet stuff it talks about. So I need there to be someone else out there willing to bet 100 or 100 betters betting 1 unit for me to win 100 if I stake 100? Or does it have to match it to someone who is staking exactly 100 units? So betfair doesn't pay me like TAB does? Its just other punters?

So effectively if I lay bet I don't need to put up anymoney coz I'm the bookie?

Thanks for the rundown King. I don't have an account with betfair just using the guest login to check it all out.

errrr...no!

Go back to the example>> if you did offer the $20 odds and let someone on for $10 you need to have the $200 in your account to cover it.
When you hit the bet button to finalise it all it will automatically deduct the $200 from your account << even though the race hasnt run yet.
Think of betfair as your mates girlfriend >> who holds the money << whilst the bet you have with your mate on who can eat 5 hotdogs the fastest is finished.
They are the mediators who hold the money.
You have to put the money up front and out of your account until the race is over, If you win and the horse loses you will get back the $200 + $10 of the punters losing bet back into your account.
You cant offer odds and bet unless you have the money that you can give to betdfair to hold until the race is over.
THis stops you from making lays all over the place with a bank balance of $0. If you lose those bets and all those horses win how would they get the $$$ of you? >>> you have to have it in the first place then pass onto betfair as the holders / mediators when applying each bet.