A betting exchange is a marketplace that allows people to exchange bets with each other.&nbsp; It’s the stock exchange of sports betting and is vital to <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">betting strategies like Matched Betting</a>.

In this article, you’ll be guided through how a Betting Exchange works, how to profit from it and which Betting Exchanges are available.

A Betting Exchange allows customers to buy (known as a back bet) and sell (known as a lay bet) on the outcome of sporting events.&nbsp; In simple terms, it’s a platform where bettors are able to place bets against each other.&nbsp;

We have mentioned sporting events but the exchange isn’t limited to just sporting events and can offer odds on things like who will win the next general election.

For the purposes of Matched Betting, having the option to lay against the outcome of an event makes it possible to lock in profits.&nbsp;

With standard bookmakers you’re limited to the odds the bookies offer and can only place back bets.&nbsp; This means that traditional bookmakers such as Paddy Power and Coral effectively accept any <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-liability-in-matched-betting">liability</a> and lay the bet themselves, betting exchanges are a different beast.

You’ll often find that the odds at a betting exchange are higher than a bookies.&nbsp; This is in part due to bookies wanting to give themselves the upper hand and make larger profits.&nbsp; The other element to this is the fact that betting exchange odds are determined by customers betting against each other in a free market with odds at 100% and no margin needed.&nbsp;

When you first use any exchange, it can seem very overwhelming with new terminology and a different layout to what a traditional bookmakers might look like. However, it’s not as intimidating as you might think and will soon become second nature once you’re accustomed to Matched Betting.

One thing to keep in mind is that by default, the betting exchange will display odds in a decimal format rather than the usual fractional odds. This won’t cause any problems though, as each bookmaker also provides an option to display <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-are-betting-odds-determined">odds</a> as decimals.

When placing a back bet at an exchange, you are doing the same as you would at a normal bookies. You are betting on a specific outcome happening.&nbsp;

In this example, let’s place a back bet on Scotland to beat Croatia in a UEFA Nations League match at the <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">Matchbook Betting Exchange</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Here, you are placing a £10 bet on Scotland to beat Croatia at odds of 5.8.&nbsp; You just need to click on the blue box and the betslip will open allowing you to place your stake. Once you have entered your stake, you just click the green tick box and you bet is complete.

If Scotland win, you will be paid £38 from other exchange users who placed a lay bet against Scotland winning, plus you will get your stake of £30 returned to you.&nbsp;

Of course, if you think the odds on offer are a little low, you are able to use the + option in the bet slip to request higher odds. If you do this, you will probably have to wait to see if any other exchange users are willing to lay at those odds. If they do, you’re good to go and your bet is placed.&nbsp; However, this might not always happen which would result in your bet not matching and your stake is returned to you.

Note - You will normally have to pay a small percentage of a winning bet to the exchange.&nbsp; However, Outplayed have teamed up with Matchbook to offer customers <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">0% commission charges</a> on any winning bets. &nbsp;

This is the opposite of the back bet we just covered in that you’re betting on an outcome not happening this time.&nbsp; Using the above example, this would mean placing a bet that Scotland don’t win the match.&nbsp;

Here, you are placing a £10 bet on Scotland not to beat Croatia at odds of 7.2.&nbsp; This time&nbsp; you need to click on the pink box and the betslip will open allowing you to place your stake. Once you have entered your stake, you just click the green tick box and you bet is complete.

If Scotland win the match, you will lose £62 at the exchange and those funds will be used to pay other exchange users who placed a back bet on Scotland winning.&nbsp; However, if Scotland lose the match, you are refunded your £10 stake back.&nbsp;

As with the back bet, you have an option to increase or reduce the odds you’d like using the + and - options in the bet slip.&nbsp; Again, you may have to wait to see if any other exchange users are willing to back at those odds.

What Is Liability On The Betting Exchange?

When you are laying bets, you will frequently see the term liability and money associated with it. So, what is liability and how does it work?

In simple terms, it’s how much you stand to lose if your lay bet loses on the exchange.

With back bets at a normal bookmakers, the bookie takes on the liability of a customer's bet winning.&nbsp; However, on the exchange those placing back and lay bets are effectively the bookmakers.&nbsp; By placing a lay bet, you are basically taking on the liability of paying another exchange user if their bet wins and yours loses.&nbsp;

How is liability calculated?

The equation is the lay stake multiplied by the lay odds, minus the lay stake. So, using our free bet example from earlier (England v Estonia), let’s say Stephen (a normal punter) backs Estonia to win on the betting exchange and Sophie (Matched Bettor) lays the Estonia win. Estonia played really well and managed to beat England. Stephen is over the moon as he put £20 on at odds of 6 which means he gets £120 back which includes his £20 stake.&nbsp; That leaves Sophie with a liability to pay which would be used to pay some of the winnings to Stephen.&nbsp; Sophie’s liability would be calculated like this:

£16.67 (lay stake) x 6 (lay odds) - £16.67 (lay stake) = £83.35 liability

Sophie (Matched Bettor) is also very happy as she backed £20 on Estonia to win at Coral but she also did a lay bet for Estonia not to win. This means that Sophie got £100 back from Coral (because she used £20 credits) less her liability of £83.35, giving her £16.65 profits for a few minutes of effort.

Had England won, Stephen would have lost £20 which the exchange would use towards the return of Sophie’s £16.65.

It’s also worth noting that any liability is taken from your balance immediately and will be held by the betting exchange until the event has finished so if you don’t have enough funds in your exchange account, you won’t be able to place the lay bet.&nbsp; Therefore, before you place a lay bet, you must ensure that you have enough funds in your betting exchange balance to cover the liability.

So what does Liability look like on the Betting Exchange?&nbsp; Let’s have a look at the <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">Matchbook Betting Exchange</a> as an example.

In this example, we have opted to place a lay bet on Cardinal Point in the 14:50 race at Yarmouth. Once you click on the odds of 8 (7/1) a bet slip appears on the screen.&nbsp; You can then enter your stake of say £10 and it displays the liability of £70.&nbsp;

Placing this bet can only result in two outcomes:

What Is Liquidity On The Betting Exchange

When placing any type of bet on a betting exchange (back or lay), there has to be enough money in the market that you’re looking to bet on. The good news is that the betting exchanges are very transparent with showing customers this.&nbsp;

Again, using an example from the Matchbook Betting Exchange, let’s look at how they display the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-liquidity">liquidity</a> in a sports market:

The liquidity available for each team or competitor is always displayed underneath the odds. So using this example, if you decide to lay £10 on Cinnodin at odds of 3.7, you will be fine and the bet will be fully matched and done as the liquidity available is £17.&nbsp; However, if you wanted to place a lay bet of £20 there isn’t quite enough money in the market to cover the full lay bet.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In this instance, the exchange would match £17 and the remaining £3 would remain unmatched until more funds enter the market from bettors.

TIP: The liquidity tends to increase substantially as the event time gets closer. Therefore, don’t panic if you are trying to lay a bet quite early on as there’s still plenty of time for other bettors to throw their funds into the pot.

What’s In It For The Betting Exchanges?

Given that the betting exchange customers are funding payouts for winnings and liability, how does a betting exchange actually make any money?&nbsp; In return for customers getting higher odds than the normal bookmakers, the exchange will charge a small commission percentage on any winnings.&nbsp;

Customers will place either a back bet or a lay bet and should the outcome be a winning bet, the exchange will take their share in commission which is usually between 2% and 5%.&nbsp; However, there are various offers provided by some of the betting exchanges where customers can enjoy zero commission for specific periods of time and this will be covered a little further on.&nbsp;

Who is the best Betting Exchange in the UK?

There are four main betting exchanges in the UK: Betfair, Smarkets, Matchbook and Betdaq. They fundamentally offer the same type of service yet differ in other ways and offerings.&nbsp;

As mentioned earlier, the exchanges make their money by charging commission. These are the current commission rates for each of them.

That’s the main four main betting exchanges but what do each of them offer?

Originally formed in 2004, Matchbook offered low commission rates but their target markets were only North American sports. It was in 2011 when things started to ramp up for Matchbook when they had new owners.&nbsp; One of which was Matthew Benham, a very wealthy finance expert and professional gambler who also owned two football teams, Brentford and Danish team FC Midtjylland.

Similar to Smarkets, Matchbook is predominantly a betting exchange. However, they do offer Matchbook Zero which is a sportsbook that only covers horse racing and football.&nbsp; The difference between Matchbook Zero and other sportsbooks is that they don’t add a margin or edge and offer 100% odds. The Matchbook Exchange doesn't always cater for all sporting events the way Betfair does, but&nbsp; they do tend to have very good liquidity on the ones they do offer.&nbsp; Their user interface does seem a little more modern and less cluttered and overbearing than their competitors. They also offer an excellent podcast and provide great guides too.&nbsp; As with their competitors, there is a very good App to use when you’re on the go.

New customer offer – Matchbook currently offers the longest <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">0% commission offer</a> to all Outplayed members.&nbsp; Again, this is activated upon deposit and the deposit must be via debit or credit card. They do offer various alternative promotions where a customer can place different value bets to get free bets in return.

Thanks to Outplayed teaming up with Matchbook, all Outplayed customers can enjoy 0% commission long term basis. Customers can take advantage of this great offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">here</a>. &nbsp;

Betfair is the longest running and largest betting exchange in the world and considered by most to be the market leader by some distance.

Betfair was formed in 2000 and was the brain child of Edward Wray and Andrew Black.&nbsp; It completely revolutionised the gambling industry with its new offering of a betting exchange where customers could act as the bookmaker. Some years on in 2016, Betfair and Paddy Power merged and now both sit under Flutter Entertainment who also own many other brands including Sky Bet.

So, what do Betfair offer its customers?

Unlike the other betting exchange operators, Betfair also offers a huge separate sportsbook that, like other normal bookmakers, has some good new customer offers.&nbsp; The good news is, the available betting markets on their sportsbook are also available on the exchange giving them the biggest selection of available markets out of all the betting exchanges.&nbsp; Another big advantage to Betfair is that they have so many customers, the liquidity (money in the market) is more often than not, much higher than their rivals. You can find out more about Liquidity <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-liability-in-matched-betting">here</a>.&nbsp;

Sometimes, customers need to place bets during an event (betting in-play) and Betfair are second to none in that arena as their markets and software are so responsive. One additional feature that Betfair offers is a dedicated Each Way market on Horse and greyhound races. Most of their competitors only offer a place market.

They also offer new exchange customers a <a href="https://promos.betfair.com/promotion?promoCode=acqfree20joinn3&amp;prod=90">sign-up promotion</a> of bet £20 (using a debit card) on their exchange and they will refund £20 to your balance as cash if your bet loses.

The only negative to using Betfair is they charge the highest commission of all the exchanges at 5%.&nbsp; There is an option for customers to change that to the basic plan of 2% within the rewards section of their account. However, opting to use the basic plan would mean any free games, rewards or offers are removed.

10 years after the launch of the Betfair Exchange, Smarkets delivered their exchange.&nbsp; Unlike Betfair, Smarkets is purely an exchange and doesn’t have a sportsbook element. Their user interface and App are both very slick.&nbsp; Smarkets are very data driven and provide customers with a host of live odds data, graphs and statistics.&nbsp; On first appearance it can seem a little bit mind blowing and may feel like information overkill.&nbsp; However, it’s there to help customers and a lot of exchange traders make good use of the data.

As detailed earlier, <a href="https://smarkets.com/promotions/bonus/">Smarkets only charge 2% commission</a> which is as low as it gets with the exchange standard rates. However, new customers are offered the chance to sign up and receive 0% commission for 60 days.&nbsp; The 60 day offer becomes active once a new customer deposits £10.&nbsp; Please note, the offer won’t work with all payment types such as PayPal and Skrill.

Betdaq was founded in 2000 by Dermot Desmond, an Irish entrepreneur. However, they didn’t launch their betting exchange until September 2001 and were the second company to launch an exchange offering to the public. The launch didn’t go as planned and their plan to target the high-rollers with markets detailed in dollars backfired. This derailed their efforts to catch up with Betfair.&nbsp; In February 2013 Ladbrokes bought BETDAQ with the intention of adding an exchange to their existing sportsbook (the opposite way that Betfair did it). Bizarrely, in November 2021, BETDAQ was sold back to Dermot Desmond.

So, on to the modern day, is today’s BETDAQ Betting Exchange any good?&nbsp; The simple answer is yes.&nbsp; As with Betfair, they offer an exchange, a sportsbook and casino games. They offer everything that Betfair does and to be fair, a little more with FREE trading tools on their website. Add this to the fact that they also offer a lower commission rate of 2% and they are a highly attractive option.&nbsp; As you might expect with Betfair having the lion's share of the exchange market, the liquidity in the BETDAQ markets very rarely hits the heights of Betfair.

New customer offer -&nbsp; As with Smarkets, BETDAQ offer <a href="https://promotions.betdaq.com/0comm100/">0% commission</a> upon deposit but for a slightly longer period of 100 days (debit card only deposit). Interestingly, they also have an alternative sign-up offer <a href="https://www.betdaq.com/promotions/1kcb_landingpagetab">here</a>.&nbsp; Customers can choose to get their first month’s commission back as withdrawable funds but the maximum you can get back is £1000.&nbsp;

How To Make Profits From A Betting Exchange

One way to make money from betting exchanges is to use them for Matched Betting purposes. For matched bettors, the exchanges are an essential tool that enables them to lock in profits.&nbsp; Let’s now look at how this is possible.

When new customers join Outplayed.com, whether that is just for the <a href="https://outplayed.com/">FREE TRIAL</a> or as a subscription, they are provided with detailed guides and videos on how to complete the sign up offers from the relevant bookmakers in order to make a profit.&nbsp;

Completing your first sign up offer can seem a little daunting but you’ll be guided from start to finish and each offer should take approximately 15 minutes to complete on average.&nbsp;

So, where do you start? Well, as part of your Matched Betting armoury, you’ll be given access to various tools but one of the important tools to begin with is the <a href="https://outplayed.com/products/oddsmatcher">Oddsmatcher Tool</a>. This will show you the latest back odds from over 100 bookies and lay odds from the betting exchanges to provide the best odds available at that time.

For the purpose of this example, Coral is the chosen bookmaker and they are offering new customers £20 in free bet credits when they bet a £5 stake.&nbsp; Your initial £5 bet is known as a qualifying bet. In order to find a suitable qualifying bet, use the Oddsmatcher Tool and filter the search for the Coral Qualifying Bet option (highlighted) to return all the bet options available for this stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To the left of each result, you’ll see a small calculator symbol (highlighted above), when you click on this it will tell you the details of what you need to back and lay and the possible outcomes as per the below example.

Please note, it’s totally normal to expect a small loss of a few pence when doing qualifying bets but it’s nothing to be concerned about as you’ll make that money back when you use the free bets.

Paul Trevor

What Is A Betting Exchange?

There’s something about gambling that holds an irresistible appeal for humans. For as long as there has been civilisation, there has been betting of some sort - and for as long as humans have pitted ourselves against each other in physical competitions, other humans have made bets on the result. Horse racing (and betting on horses) in particular has <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/horse-racing-history">an established history that goes back to ancient times</a>, at least as far back as Ancient Greece, over 2500 years ago.

Sports betting is, then, one of the oldest forms of entertainment in the world, though it looks a bit different nowadays. The majority of betting now takes place online through online betting sites, and it’s easier to get into sports betting than ever before.

But is it really possible to make reliable profits from sports betting? Is there anything you can do to improve your success rate, beyond going for a likely selection and hoping for the best? And can a beginner wade through the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-terminology-101">overwhelming jargon</a> to become a successful sports bettor? Well, there are quite a lot of people who do make consistent profits from sports betting, but it’s important to be aware that it isn’t risk free. It also requires strict self-discipline to avoid falling prey to the tricks used by bookmakers to encourage bettors to gamble riskily, and sufficient funds to ensure you can weather any downturns in your fortunes.

For a safer option that offers guaranteed profits, . It works by taking advantage of the various offers bookies regularly promote, to allow you to lock in a guaranteed profit, with none of the risk of traditional sports betting - so long as you do it right. We’ll go into more detail about Matched Betting later on, but if you already think this sounds like the strategy for you, you can <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register#1">go straight to our free trial</a> and start making your first profits from Matched Betting.

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about sports betting, from the sports most frequently bet on and how betting odds work, to more complex subjects including betting strategies and bankroll management. Whether you’re a total newcomer to sports betting, or an experienced bettor looking to refine your strategy, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to bet on sports as safely and profitably as possible.

Sports betting is, as it sounds, the act of betting on sports. In its simplest form, a sports bettor wagers their money (the stake) on an outcome of a sporting event - e.g. that a team will win a match, or a competitor will win a race. If they’re right, the bookmaker pays them a return on their stake, according to the odds at the time they placed their bet. The higher the odds, the more money the bettor wins - but also the less likely they are to do so.

There are a huge number of types of bet, which can quickly become very confusing to a newcomer. Leaving aside the very most complex ones, which are best tackled by experienced sports bettors, here are some of the most common:

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-single-bet" target="_blank" title="">Singles bet</a>

The simplest and most straightforward type of bet - you’re betting on one outcome at a time, at the odds listed on the betting site. For example, you might bet that Manchester United win their next match, or that Emma Raducanu wins hers.

As it sounds, a multiples bet involves betting on more than one thing at once. There are endless possible combinations of bets, but a couple of main types of multiples bet:

This is a bet on a statistic within a match, for example on the number of goals within a match. You can bet if, say, there are over 5 goals within a match - and if that is indeed the case, you’ll win.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/handicap-betting" target="_blank" title="">Handicap bet</a>

This type of bet is one of the most confusing to newcomers. It involves giving one team or competitor a head start over the other - so for example, you might bet on one team with a handicap of -1, meaning that they’d have to win by at least 2 goals for you to win your handicap bet. Similarly, in tennis, you might add or subtract a game or even a set from a player’s final score for a handicap bet.

The idea is to even out matches where one team is the strong favourite, making it more worthwhile to bet on their opponent. There are two major types of handicap betting, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-asian-handicap">Asian handicap</a> and <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-european-handicap">European handicap</a>, so make sure you understand the difference before you try your hand at either one.

Bear in mind also that <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-does-handicap-work-in-horse-racing">handicap in horse racing</a> works very differently - although it is roughly based on the same principle of balancing out competitors with large <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-read-horse-racing-form">disparities in performance</a>.

These are usually found in horse racing, but can also be made on sports such as greyhound racing or golf, where a ‘place’ market may be offered. Place betting means betting on a competitor to finish within a few places of the top, the number of paid places depending on the number of competitors in the event. Horse races will often have 3 or 4 paid places (though sometimes more!), while golf tournaments may pay out on the top 3, 5, or even 20 places.

An each way bet is a bet on both the win and place markets, so you get a payout whether your selection wins or just makes one of the top places. The places won’t pay out as much as a win, but some bettors place each way bets to help mitigate potential losses. The downside is that your stake is effectively doubled (as you have one bet on a win, and one bet on a place), meaning that if your selection doesn’t even place you lose twice as much.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-spread-betting" target="_blank" title="">Spread betting</a>

For many people, this is a very confusing concept, so you should only place a spread bet if you’re confident you understand how it works. In spread betting the degree of accuracy of your bet determines your winnings - or your losses.

For each market, a bookie will offer a particular ‘spread’ - a prediction of what the outcome will be. The customer then bets on whether the outcome will be higher or lower than the spread, and their winnings or losses depend on the accuracy of that bet.

Although spread betting is most common on football, there are also markets for spread betting on horse racing, basketball, and other sports as well.

As they sound, in-play bets are placed after an event has already started. The benefit of in-play bets is that you already have some idea of how the match is going, which you can use to make an educated guess as to how it might turn out.

The downside is that you have to be quick! The odds change constantly over the course of a match or race, so you need to be on the ball to lock them in. This can potentially lead to mistakes or poor decision-making, as you have to act so swiftly.

There are an incredible range of possible bets, often combining multiple bets in different ways, for the more experienced bettor to dabble in. Check out our <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/types-of-bets">comprehensive guide to types of bets</a> to find out everything you need to know about more obscure bets, like <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-work-out-a-lucky-15">Lucky 15s</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-heinz-bet">Heinz bets</a> or <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-yankee-bet">Yankee bets</a>.

Before you start sports betting, it’s important to understand <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-read-betting-odds">how betting odds work</a>. Betting odds represent the amount somebody can expect to win in the event of their bet being successful. The higher the odds, the more a bettor will get if they win their bet, while lower odds will result in a much more modest return.

Betting odds are also a representation of probability. Higher odds mean that an outcome is considered much less likely to occur, while low odds will indicate that a team or player is the favourite to win. However, it’s important to note that <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-betting-sites-make-money">bookies add on a margin</a> to their odds to ensure a profit, and that they <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-are-betting-odds-determined">adjust odds to encourage balanced betting</a>, so you can’t rely on odds to indicate the true probability of something happening.

There are a few types of betting odds, some easier to read than others, and each is prevalent in a different part of the world. If you’re based in the UK, you’ll mostly come across fractional and decimal odds, but as you might also encounter American moneyline odds we’ll explain how they work too.

The traditional format for odds in the UK, fractional odds indicate the amount you will win depending on your original stake, with the first number showing your winnings, and the second your stake. For example:

2/1 odds indicates that for every £1 staked you will win £2 (equal to 3.0 in decimal odds and +200 in moneyline odds)

With decimal odds, you simply multiply your stake by the odds to calculate your total return (including your original stake) on a bet. For example:

3.0 odds means that if you bet £1, you receive a total of £3 if your bet wins (equal to 2/1 in fractional odds and +200 in moneyline odds)

Moneyline odds come in two different formats, depending on the likelihood of an outcome. For an outcome that is more likely than not to occur (i.e. a favourite), moneyline odds are expressed in the negative, while for an outcome that is less likely to occur (i.e. an underdog), the odds are expressed in the positive.

For a favourite, the odds indicate the amount you have to bet in order to win £100 (or, as they’re more commonly used in the US, $100). For an underdog, meanwhile, the odds indicate the amount of profit you’ll make if you bet £100.

+200 odds means that if you bet £100, you’ll make £200 in profit if your bet wins (equal to 2/1 in fractional odds and 3.0 in decimal odds)

-200 odds means that you need to bet £200 in order to make £100 in profit if your bet wins (equal to 1/2 in fractional odds and 1.5 in decimal odds)

Although the fractional format is the traditional one in Britain, many sports bettors find it much easier to use decimal odds, which allow for easy comparison of odds. If you’re employing any kind of betting strategy or searching for the best value odds, it’s crucial to be able to easily identify whether odds are worth your while taking, and that’s much easier with decimal odds.

On betting sites, you can usually change the odds format from the settings page, which is something we’d recommend doing before you bet with any bookmaker.

When it comes to betting, sports are definitely not equally popular. Football and horse racing dominate the sports betting landscape, and although you can place bets on other sports, you may find it’s harder to find good odds - or, if you’re Matched Betting, harder to find a good lay on the exchange.

As the most popular sport in the UK, it’s no surprise that football is also the most popular sport for betting. During football season, football markets will dominate bookie sites, with enormous volumes of money being staked on each day’s matches.

The most common bets on football are on the full time result (<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/do-football-bets-include-extra-time">which doesn’t include extra time</a>), but the list of markets available on the highest profile matches are almost endless. <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/want-more-profits-from-matched-betting-2ups-are-key">2UP bets</a>, where your bet is paid out if your team goes two goals up at any point in the match, have gained a lot of popularity in recent years, but punters will bet on pretty much any statistic you can think of in the hope of snagging themselves a win. <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/first-goalscorer-bets">First goalscorer</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-scorecast-betting">scorecast betting</a>, and goal line betting are all popular forms of betting on football.

Below you can see just a few of the ‘special’ markets available on Bet365 for an upcoming Tottenham v West Ham match.

Horse racing has been intrinsically linked with betting for most of its history, and that connection is still going strong today, whether on or <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-off-course-betting-mean">off-course</a>. For most people, a ‘day at the races’ means making at least a couple of bets on those races, and online betting has made it possible to recreate that experience on a daily basis if you’re so inclined.

Horse racing is somewhat unusual in that the odds are, to an extent, regulated. The <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-sp-mean-in-horse-racing">starting price (SP)</a> is the official odds at the start of a race, determined by the prevailing odds over a range of bookies at that time. The benefit of this to bettors is that many bookies offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/best-odds-guaranteed-in-matched-betting">Best Odds Guaranteed</a>, which means that your selection is paid out at the SP if this is higher than the odds at the time you made your bet.

As with football, there are a lot of ways to bet that are specific to the sport. Accumulators and exotic bets are especially popular among horse racing bettors, and there’s a vast range of options for laying money on races in different ways. Lucky 15s are a common type of horse racing multiple bet - and with <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/lucky-finder">the right software</a> to give you hints as to profitable selections, can result in huge returns.

Tote betting (also known as pool betting) is also popular. Here, all bettors on a particular event (usually a race) contribute to a pool of money, which is then divided between those whose bets were successful (after the bookie’s cut has been taken). This means you don’t know in advance how much you stand to win, but it does often end up being quite similar to the prevailing odds at the time.

Because, as any owner will attest, horses are especially prone to injury, the bookmakers have developed rules to deal with horses being pulled from races. Rule 4 dictates how the return on a bet will be affected if another horse pulls out of the race, and it’s important to be aware of the potential effects of a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/rule-4-deductions-explained">rule 4 deduction</a>, as it can have an unexpected impact on your profits.

Tennis is another popular sports betting option in the UK - and has <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-courtsiding">courted some controversy</a> in its betting history. The most popular (and most straightforward) betting market is the match winner, but you can also bet on the correct score, individual sets and games, and the overall tournament winner. Just be aware that tennis betting has some pretty specific <a href="https://outplayed.com/tennis-retirement-rules">retirement rules</a>, which could affect your betting success.

The four Grand Slams - Wimbledon, The US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open - are the biggest tournaments in the year, and they attract the highest volume of bettors.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/darts-betting-guide" target="_blank" title="">Darts</a>

Although darts is a somewhat niche sport in the UK, it has a passionate following, and consequently a surprisingly large pool of bettors. Straight betting on the winner of a match or tournament is the most common form, but gamblers can also choose to bet on the number of <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-match-treble-in-darts">match trebles</a>, place darts handicap bets, or <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-does-each-way-betting-work-in-darts">each way bets</a> on a player’s overall position in a tournament.

NBA, for those not in the know, stands for National Basketball Association, and is the biggest basketball league in the world. While basketball isn’t nearly as popular in the UK as across the pond, betting on the American game is increasing, whether that’s placing straight bets, handicap bets, or spread betting. If you’re betting on an NBA game, it’s worth being aware that there can be some complex rules regarding overtime, so make sure you know whether overtime is counted in the bet you place.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/esports-betting-guide" target="_blank" title="">eSports</a>

eSports, the competitive playing of video games, is one of the newest sports in existence, so much so that people often have concerns about <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/is-betting-on-esports-legal">whether it’s even legal to bet on it</a> (spoiler: it is, in the UK at least). eSports gambling has grown as swiftly as the sport itself, and it’s now quite common to find betting sites with eSports betting markets available.

If you’re a fan of other sports, don’t worry! There’s a market for pretty much every sport you can think of, so if your sports knowledge is hyper-focused on, say, cycling, you can still put it to good use in your betting. Most bookies have a full list of sports available on their websites, so you can choose the sport that most appeals to you from there. Whether you’re keen to bet on <a href="https://outplayed.com/snooker-betting-guide">snooker</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/golf-betting-guide">golf</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/t20-cricket-super-over-rules-for-matched-betting">cricket</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/boxing-betting">boxing</a>, American football, <a href="https://outplayed.com/ufc-betting-guide">UFC</a>, F1, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-virtual-sports-betting">virtual sports</a> or <a href="https://outplayed.com/greyhound-betting">greyhounds</a> you won’t have any trouble finding a bookie willing to offer a market.

Many bookies will also have regular offers on less popular sports, to encourage their customers to bet on them. This means you may be able to take advantage of these offers to make guaranteed profits through Matched Betting, despite them being relatively niche in the world of sports betting.

One of the best alternatives to straightforward sports betting, where you run the risk of losing no matter how systematic you are, is Matched Betting. This strategy allows you to entirely remove the element of risk and to make guaranteed profits, provided you make your bets correctly.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting" target="_blank" title="">What is Matched Betting?</a>

Matched Betting works by taking advantage of the offers and bonuses offered by bookmakers, designed to lure new customers. By betting both for and against the outcome of an event, you’re able to turn a free bet into guaranteed profit.

Most offers run along the lines of ‘Bet £10 and get a £10 free bet’. By matching the first bet, you break even - and you’re then able to make a profit on the free bet.

This does take away some of the excitement of traditional sports betting, but in truth that’s not a bad thing. The thrill you get when an unlikely punt wins is exactly what can draw you into unsafe gambling; by taking away the element of uncertainty, Matched Betting can help you to stick to safe habits and avoid emotional betting.

Matched Betting is also one of the easiest ways for beginners to get into sports betting, as it requires very little in the way of sports knowledge. You don’t need to know or care which team is more likely to win a football match, as you’ll make the same amount in profit no matter what happens.

Other Strategies For Successful Sports Betting

Stephanie Sorrell

Sports Betting Guide: From Beginner To Pro

Gone are the days where football fans could only bet on whether a team is going to win or not.&nbsp; The <a href="https://outplayed.com/football-betting-guide">football betting</a> markets have never had so much variety to choose from.&nbsp; One such variety is Goal Line betting or Over/Under betting as it’s also known.

This <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/types-of-bets">type of bet</a> involves predicting the number of goals that are scored during the match irrelevant of which team wins the game.&nbsp; If you think there are likely to be a few goals in a match but aren’t sure who might win, a Goal Line bet might be right up your street.

During this article you'll learn what a Goal Line bet is, how it works, the different types of Goal Line bets and the pros and cons of Goal Line bets.

Goal Line bets allow punters to bet on the number of goals that will be scored in a football match.&nbsp; However, you aren’t restricted to betting on the exact number of goals. Bookies set a Goal Line which is set at 2.5 goals as standard and you have to decide if the total number of goals will be more or less than 2.5.

Obviously, scoring half a goal is impossible but the bookies use these goal lines so you can only win or lose.&nbsp; So, if you thought there would be three or more goals scored between the two teams, you would bet on over 2.5.&nbsp; Alternatively, if you think it will be two or less goals, you would bet on under 2.5 goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Let’s break it down as an example where the bookie has a Goal Line market of 2.5 goals:

Why Is The Goal Line Betting Line Set At 2.5?

The number crunchers at the bookies have determined that not only is this the most popular goal betting option, but it’s approximately the average based on historical data.

Number crunching doesn’t need to be limited to the bookies though, customers can do their own data analysis to assess the probability of over or under 2.5 goals in a given match. If you really wanted to get down and dirty with the stats, you could consider the following when placing a Goal Line bet:

Knowing this level of information can only enhance your chances of making the right predictions on your Goal Line bet.

Fact: In the 2023/24 Premier League season, there were 1,246 goals scored.&nbsp; This amounts to 3.28 goals per game.&nbsp; Of the 380 games played that season, 244 had more than +2.5 goals scored in them.&nbsp; That’s a whopping 64% of the games played, had over 2.5 goals scored in them.

Looking at these figures, you would rightly think that always betting on over 2.5 goals is the way forward. Again, this is where a bit of research helps because individual team’s stats might suggest otherwise.

Whilst 79% of Tottenham’s league games (30 matches) in the 2023/24 season had three or more goals scored, Everton only managed to score three or more goals in 42% of their games on just 16 occasions.

You now know how the basic type of Goal Line bet works but your options aren’t just limited to one market.&nbsp; There are other types of Goal Line bets that you can add to your betting strategy so let’s have a look at what all of the Goal Line markets are:

This is the industry standard bet which we have already explained where a bettor predicts if there will be either under or over 2.5 goals scored in a football match.&nbsp; Some bookies will refer to this as the Goal Line market whilst others call it the Over/Under Goals Market and it’s usually in the goals section of a match.&nbsp;

Let’s look at real example of this market for a UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal and PSG.&nbsp; Navigate to the game and then click on the Goals tab as highlighted.&nbsp; The Goals Over/Under is the first market you can see and shows the industry standard Over/Under 2.5 goals market.

This is identical to the +/- 2.5 goals market in terms of how the bet works but it provides bettors with more <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/first-goalscorer-bets">goal scoring</a> options.&nbsp; Again, you don’t need to predict who will win a match, just how many goals you think there might be.

The Goal Line markets outside of the 2.5 goals market can range from 0.5 up to 8.5.&nbsp; However, it is rare to see odds being offered on Goal Lines over 6.5 and even if they do, the odds will be extremely low.&nbsp; This is mainly down to the fact that the majority of football matches don’t have that many goals scored so most of the time it would be a sure bet and the bookies don’t enjoy giving money away.

There are times when using the Alternative Goal Line market might appeal to bettors.&nbsp; For example, if a Premier League team is playing a team from League Two in the FA Cup and the Premier team put out a strong side, it might be worth looking at the odds from the higher Goal Line market such as over 5.5.&nbsp; Alternatively, if there was a local derby between two evenly matched teams, you could look at what odds are on offer for under 1.5 goals.

It really is a case of studying the markets to make an informed choice as to which Goal Lines you think will be more likely to succeed.

Using the same match, here’s how the Alternative Goal Lines market looks.&nbsp; Using the same navigation as before, head to the Goals section and the Alternative Goal Lines available are displayed underneath the standard Over/Under 2.5 market. As you can see, Bet365 are offering a market for up to 7.5 goals but the odds for the upper end of goals scored for the under market are very low. This is due to the fact that a high score is unlikely.&nbsp; Always look at the odds as they usually paint a picture of what to expect, but not always.

Please note that some bookies will provide an Alternative Goal Line market separate from the 2.5 goals market but others will put all the markets together in one place.

To emphasise this point, let’s have a look at the same match between Arsenal and PSG but with Paddy Power this time.

Unlike Bet365, Paddy Power has all the Goal Line betting markets in one place, including the over/under 2.5 goals market. One thing you might have noticed is that Paddy Power have padlocks on some of the above markets.&nbsp; Unlike Bet365 who offer very low odds on under markets of 5.5 and above, Paddy Power doesn't want to risk allowing people to bet on these markets as it’s extremely likely that there won’t be six goals scored.

This is where the Goal Line bets get a little more complex compared to the standard over/under market.&nbsp; Please don’t confuse this type of bet with <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-asian-handicap">Asian Handicap betting</a> as this is a different market.&nbsp; Sometimes you will see Asian Goal Line bet markets and Asian Alternative Goal Line bet markets, similar to the standard Goal Line bet markets.

You are still betting on how many goals will be scored using the over/under technique.&nbsp; However, instead of the bet winning or losing, Asian Goal Line betting usually provides a third outcome of refunding your stake.

Not only will you see similar options to the normal Goal Line bet offering, but you will see other variations that offer full goal options such as over and under 2 goals.&nbsp; In this instance, an Asian Goal Line bet of over 2 goals would work like this:

To place this type of bet you head over to the Arsenal v PSG match on the bookies website, but this time you need to click on the Asian Lines section instead of the Goals tab. Here you will see the Asian Alternative Goal Line options and the bet of over 2.5 goals. Once selected, just place your bet as normal.

It doesn’t stop there as there’s another twist to the Asian Goal Line betting market. At some of the bigger bookies and on the more popular leagues and competitions, you will often see two sets of figures separated by a comma such as 2.0, 2.5 or 2.5, 3.0.

This is where Asian Goal Line betting takes another step up and you are now splitting your bet up into two parts.

Using the same example as before, let’s have a look at what the bet will look like when we choose 2.5, 3.0 in the Asian Goal Line market:

By choosing this bet, you are splitting the bet up so that half of the stake is being put on over 2.5 goals and the other half on over 3 goals. But what are the possible outcomes from this bet?

PLEASE NOTE – The stake amount you enter is the total stake so if you were to place a stake of £10, £5 will be wagered on the over 2.5 goals part and £5 on the over 3.0 goals part.

Advantages &amp; Disadvantages Of Goal Line Betting

Goal Line betting can be a great addition to your betting strategy and has the potential to be profitable.&nbsp; Here are some things you should consider when placing Goal Line bets:

Pretty much all types of bets come with potential mistakes to avoid.&nbsp; Let’s have a look at things to be wary of when placing Goal Line bets:

Goal Line bets are a flexible and fun way for football lovers who fancy a bet without having to predict the correct score or the match winner.&nbsp; The standard Goal Line betting markets are a great way for <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">novice sports bettors</a> to learn about this type of bet before considering more advanced Goal Line bets.

For those with a good knowledge of the game, this can be a great option to leverage your expertise to your advantage.&nbsp;

Remember: Do your research, avoid the common mistakes and don’t run before you can walk. Goal Line bets can be fun if approached in the right way.

What Is Goal Line Betting?

eSports are one of the newest sports to hit the mainstream, and their growth has been astronomical. From a relatively niche activity twenty years ago, they’ve become a worldwide phenomenon, attracting millions in sponsorship and enormous audiences as they’ve done so. And, as with any sport, as eSports have gained attention, so has <a href="https://outplayed.com/esports-betting-guide">betting on eSports</a>, with rapidly increasing numbers of bettors putting their money on <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/is-betting-on-esports-legal">eSports</a> players in recent years.

Just how dramatic has this been? We’re hitting the statistics to find out.

eSports are the competitive play of video games. Once regarded as a bit geeky, eSports have now become pretty mainstream - although the hours upon hours of training required to become a player proficient enough to compete might still be considered somewhat on the geeky side.

eSports tournaments take place both remotely and in person, and between both individual players and teams, depending on the game in question. Multiplayer games have, of course, been around in video games for a long time, but as platforms such as YouTube and especially Twitch got going, it was possible to bring those contests to a wider audience.

Although there are thousands of video games out there, a select few have become cornerstones of eSports. This is partly because certain games are better suited to the eSports format, but even so the success of just a few games is wildly disproportionate. The biggest games, which enjoy millions of viewing hours each week, include League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Valorant, Dota 2 and CS:GO.

Whether eSports can truly be counted as ‘sports’ has been an ongoing debate. There isn’t exactly much in the way of strenuous physical activity involved in the playing of eSports - but then the same can be said of <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/darts-betting-guide">darts</a>, or <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/snooker-betting-guide">snooker</a>. And high level video gamers must have excellent fine motor skills and exceptional reaction speeds to play competitively, both of which are undoubtedly physical skills.

On the other hand, eSports can actually be detrimental to both the physical and mental health of players, given the number of necessary sedentary hours in front of a screen.

Regardless, eSports don’t seem to be going anywhere - they’ve even been considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games. Although they weren’t successful for the 2024 Paris Olympics, a dedicated Olympic eSports Games has been approved, and will take place in 2025 in Saudi Arabia.

eSports have enjoyed dramatic growth in recent years, although Covid has somewhat hampered their rise since 2020, as in person tournaments were kiboshed for quite some time. In 2023, however, eSports were responsible for revenues of $870 million just in the United States, and a total market value of roughly $1.98 billion worldwide.

Source: <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1256162/global-esports-market-size/">Statista eSports market size report</a>

This has increased from $1.64 billion in 2022 - over a 20% rise in just one year! In 2024, meanwhile, conservative projections value the market at $2.06 billion.

Viewership has had a similar dramatic increase. The <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/507491/esports-tournaments-by-number-viewers-global/">2023 League of Legends World Championships </a>had as many as 6.4 million viewers - which, while not quite matching the viewership of the 2022 football World Cup (at just under a quarter of the population of the entire globe, <a href="https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/news/one-month-on-5-billion-engaged-with-the-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-tm">according to FIFA</a>) is still a very respectable audience for a sport still in its infancy.

It’s worth noting, though, that growth hasn’t been entirely linear. The International 2021 remains the tournament with the largest ever prize pool, having given away over $40 million to its winners. Since then, the prize pool has dropped dramatically to only $3.38 million in 2023. This is, of course, still a vast amount of money, but, as its prize pool is funded through crowdfunding by selling battle passes to players, it does indicate that some of the enthusiasm for this particular tournament may have died away.

There are other signs that eSports may be plateauing as well. In the second quarter of 2024, live streaming viewership was actually down ever so slightly, compared to the second quarter of 2023. Admittedly, the decrease was only 1%, from 661 million hours down to 654 million hours, but even so, it’s telling that what was expected to be exponential growth appears to be tailing off.

Source: <a href="https://streamhatchet.com/reports/">Stream Hatchet 2024 Q2 Live Streaming Report</a>

As a general rule, if a sport gains a modicum of popularity it will inevitably attract gamblers, and eSports are no exception. The value of the eSports betting market continues to increase, especially in regions where betting is relatively loosely regulated. In Asia, the eSports betting market is seeing particularly strong growth, in South Korea especially. In the USA, however, eSports betting is only legal in certain states, hampering its rise, and it faces similar restrictions in countries such as Germany, which have stringent gambling regulations.

Interestingly, a large amount of eSports betting is done with cryptocurrency, in stark contrast to sports betting generally. This isn’t altogether surprising, though, given that eSports are inherently reliant on the newest technologies, and cryptocurrency allows for both anonymity and convenience.

eSports gambling isn’t nearly as widespread as <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">gambling on other, more mainstream sports</a>, but is catching up. The size of the global gambling market was $0.43 billion in 2023, and is dominated by East Asia - though other areas are seeing significant growth too. Countries including China, Japan and South Korea have enormous dominance in betting on eSports, with the size of the market reflecting enthusiasm in this region for eSports generally.

In the UK, William Hill, Bet365 and Betfred are some of the biggest players in the eSports betting market, and they will no doubt continue to encourage their customers to bet on eSports. After all, from a bookie’s point of view, the more sports customers want to bet on, the better!

It’s anticipated that eSports gambling will continue to increase, with projected revenue expected to reach as much as $2.5 billion in 2024. The market is expected to continue to grow year on year by 6.72%, which would result in a global market value of $3.5 billion by 2029.

Source: <a href="https://www.statista.com/outlook/amo/esports/esports-betting/worldwide#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20projected%20revenue,US%243.5bn%20by%202029.">Statista eSports Betting Statistics</a>

Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that the market doesn’t always do what pundits expect. After the $40 million dollar prize pool in 2021 for The International, when for several years that prize pool had grown in size, it would have been reasonable to expect it to continue to do so. But as eSports, and eSports gambling, are a relatively new market, they’re also relatively volatile - so projections are likely to involve even more guesswork than statisticians would usually employ.

The rise of mobile gaming, and in betting on eSports via mobile apps, has also contributed to the rise in both eSports and eSports betting. When a gambler can quickly and easily place a bet via their phone, it makes it much more likely that they’ll do so. Online tournaments and events are also becoming more common in the aftermath of Covid - and while this may take something away from the experience of anyone who attends in person, it also means that there’s no limitations when it comes to audience engagement. Both of these factors are likely to contribute to the continued growth of the eSports gambling market.

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Matched Betting

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