The Power of Betfair Trading

I’m going to take an in-depth look at Betfair Trading and work out whether or not it really is as powerful as ‘Professional Traders” let on. I’m going to look at the basics of Betfair trading, some popular trading systems as well as the dangers of Betfair Trading.

Betfair Trading Basics

There is one simple core principle to Betfair Trading:

Back High, Lay Low 

If you can back an outcome at high odds and then wait for the odds to drop to then lay the same outcome at lower odds then you can lock a profit in… 100%

For example, if you were lay Chelsea to win a football match at 2.4 with £20 and then the team they were playing scored. The odds might increase to 3.2. You could then back Chelsea to win with £15. This would lock a profit in of £5 regardless of the outcome. Chelsea could win, draw or lose and you would still see a profit of £5!

Popularised Betfair Trading Systems

Like the Martingale System is to staking plans, the following two trading systems are the most common and most recognised ways to trade the Betfair markets and most importantly, the football markets:

Back the Draw – This is a trading system that involves backing the draw at the current market price and then waiting for the game to commence. After a set period of time (and a lack of goals), the trader would then lay the draw at a lower price as the odds drop to then ‘green up’ and lock a profit in on that particular football match.

Lay the Favourite – Similar to the previous system, this involves laying the favourite before the match and then waiting for the game to start. Again, after a set period of time (and once again, a lack of goals), the trader would back the favourite once the odds have increased by x.xx to ‘green up’ and secure a profit no matter what the outcome.

There are of course several trading systems and hundreds of variations to these systems that involve fall backs and complex staking plans.

The Dangers of Betfair Trading

It’s all sound rather promising, I know, but that doesn’t mean it is without dangers. There are in fact a variety of problems with Betfair Trading which I have listed below:

• Harder than it Sounds – The concept is simple but it’s easier said than done. It’s not a simple case of trading on every match in any league whenever you want for easy money. You have to analyse the matches. You have to look for the perfect trading situation. There are a variety of ways this can be done such as looking for clear favourites that you do not deem clear favourites. The odds will be noticeably low and you can therefore lay with a low liability and increase your chance of being able to green up with a back bet.
• Saturation – Something some traders complain about is saturation. With more and more people trading on the Betfair markets, the prices are being dragged down which causes profits to also be dragged down. The more people who trade, the lower the amount of movement in the market. One way to combat this is to trade in the less popular markets. Don’t stick to the English Premier League for example.
• Experience Required – Not necessarily a danger but something to certainly bare in mind: Experience! The more you get, the easier you will find trading opportunities.

Of course, you can apply those dangers to a range of betting styles BUT I am simply making it clear that although Trading on Betfair sounds promising and has it’s perks, it does come with some problems.

So there you have it, a brief look at Betfair Trading, how it is done, some well-known systems and the dangers of it.