What 's Betfair?
Betfair is a betting exchange where you can make Back bets and Lay bets.
The Back AND Lay principle
This is quite simply stating that an outcome both will AND won't happen. You might know this in everyday language as "hedging your bets". In either case you will be both right and wrong at the same time.
When you make a bet with a bookmaker you are betting on something to happen. This is called backing and is the most common type of bet. An alternative type of bet is one where you bet that something does NOT happen.
When you do this you are placing what is called a lay bet.
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A Back bet means you want it to win. A Lay bet means you want it to NOT win. Back AND Lay on the SAME choice to cover every possible outcome and you can't lose! |
For example imagine you are sitting with 2 friends in a busy cafe. Let's call them "Friend A" and "Friend B". You say to Friend A - "I bet you that the next person through the door will be a woman in a red dress".
At the same time you also say to Friend B "I bet you that the next person through the door won't be a woman in a red dress".
In betmaking terms, you have both Backed (bet that something will happen) and Layed (bet that something won't happen). Whoever is next through the door, you can't lose can you? You win your bet with "friend A" if a woman in a red dress comes through the door. If a person of any other description is next through the door, you win your bet with "friend B".
Now imagine you had bet each of your friends £20 in the above example. Since you will both win and lose equal amounts at the same time, you are no better off, but most importantly you are no worse off. This is the essential nature of both the "Qualifying Bet" and "Free Bet" (these terms are explained in greater detail later). Both of these types of bets actually involve 2 bets each i.e. both Backing and Laying, at the same time to guarantee that you win regardless of the outcome. Your win and loss cancel each other out therefore you can't lose and it's not gambling as you know this will happen.
Now let's put another example in betmaking terms again. The event or outcome can be anything you like. For example, Lewis Hamilton to win the drivers F1 championship, or Liverpool to win the FA Cup; but you must both Back (that it will happen) and Lay (that it won't happen) at the same time. You can see that the Back bet is very narrow and relies on one outcome only, while the Lay bet is very wide as it in fact covers every other possible outcome. By both Backing and Laying the same thing e.g. Liverpool to win Wimbledon - we have covered every possible outcome.
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If you "Back" Liverpool to win the FA Cup, you must |
People "Backing" Liverpool, believe they will win - People "Laying" Liverpool believe they won't win. Since we must both Back and Lay on the same, identical outcome, we don't win or lose because either Liverpool or another team will win and our bets cancel each other out. This is the Back and Lay principle. Whenever we talk about a bet whether it's a Qualifying bet or a Free bet, it is essential to both Back and Lay on an identical outcome. This is the way to Free Easy Money. Anything else is gambling.
If you are unfamiliar with bet-making terms it is suggested that you re read the above passage a few times until you have a firm grasp of the principle.
So why do we Back And Lay?
In order to take advantage of the Free Bet and deposit Bonus offers, the bookmakers specify that we must first bet some money with them. By betting with them in this way, the bookie then rewards you with the free bet.
By making Back and Lay bets (which you now know you can't lose) you will have qualified for the free money on offer to you.
This first bet you make is called your Qualifying Bet. By "backing" with one bookmaking company and "laying" with another, one of these companies will win and keep your money. However the other company will lose and pay you money. It doesn't matter which is which.
Your win and loss have just cancelled each other out so you haven't lost your own money.
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Back with one Company e.g. Liverpool to win the FA Cup. Lay with a different Company e.g. Liverpool to win the FA Cup. |
Having just completed your qualifying bet (remember this is 2 bets - both back and lay) you will now be rewarded with your free bet.
You can now repeat the Back and Lay principle as above for the Free Bet. One company will win and keep your free bet money (that's ok, it wasn't your own cash anyway), but the other company will lose and pay you money that was never yours in the first place!
You have just converted a free bet into free cash!!
There are thousands of £'s just waiting for you to collect it from the hundreds of bookmakers that make these offers. All they want is your money.
All you want is their freebet or bonuses.
Who Does What?
Conventional Bookies take Back bets only. There are literally hundreds of them. Think of them as friend "A" who you are going to Back bet with.
Betting Exchanges take both Back and Lay bets , but for our purposes we are only going to Lay bet with them and they are like friend "B".
Since there are less Betting Exchange companies (as they are a newer concept), you will use these companies more frequently to make your Lay bets with. This is not a problem as you will probably use just one or two over and over again.
When you win again and again - and you will, (remember the proof provided in the Betfair Account Statement), you are actually betting against other people, NOT the company. They will not exclude you from their site for winning "too often" as a bookie or casino would (as you are not profitable for them). Exchanges actually make their money via a small percentage of your winnings, so they want you to win too. But don't forget that all the companies including the betting exchanges have free offers, so remember to try them all out - take all the free money on offer to you. It would be rude not to!
The world's largest betting exchange is Betfair. You can join them from here and a free €20 bet will be credited into your account if you are a new customer once you have made some (Lay) bets.
You can see an explanation video for Back and Lay bets :
| Betfair Tutorial - Place a Lay Bet Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!  |
Betfair Tutorial - Place a Back Bet Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115! |
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