When you place a bet at an Australian sports betting site, you are backing an event to occur. You’re backing a horse to win a race, a team to win a match or a player to defeat their opponent.
But did you know that Betfair allows you to do the exact opposite? It’s known as lay betting.
Lay betting is when you’re betting against an event to occur. You’re betting that a horse won’t win a race, a team won’t win a match or your player will lose to their opponent.
It’s a perfectly viable and reasonable way to bet, and it’s unique to the Betfair Exchange.
On the Betfair Exchange, when you place a lay bet, you are effectively acting as the bookie and offering a price that other people can place a Back bet with you.
To place a lay bet, click in the pink Lay column on the Betfair Exchange and enter the profit you would like to make and the site will display your risk (liability). By clicking on the odds already displayed, you are accepting the odds set by the punter who wants to place the corresponding Back bet at that price. If you want the odds more in your favour, just enter the odds you would like and wait until a punter matches your price on the exchange.
Here’s an example of how Lay Betting works:
Say you think Richmond won’t be able to win the 2020 AFL Premiership.
You log on to the Betfair Exchange and see that they are currently available to Back at $5.40 or to Lay at $5.50. You decide you want to profit $100 by laying Richmond at that price.
Your liability is $5.50 x $100 - $100 = $450. So if Richmond win, you’ll lose $450, however if any other team wins, you’re set to make $100.
Lay betting is especially popular with sports traders. Often they will back and lay a particular market multiple times to continue to improve their position on an outcome.
Just make sure you have enough funds in your Betfair account to cover your liability or you won’t be able to place the lay bet.
Check out this video for more information on lay betting:
To read more about Betfair, check out our Betfair Review page, and if you want some more help with back and lay betting, or any other sports trading strategies, head to our Educational section or check out the Betfair Hub.
