Betfair.com

[SBL]

Anyone tried it?
I can certainly vouch as to how easy gambling becomes when you sit watching golf on TV with the laptop going at the same time. Never mind, should get a new dole cheque in a week or so.

[colourblindchameleon]

I hear they give generous prices:) , but they used to concentrate on outrights only! No combination multi-bets on various golf tournaments being held at the same time on different tours!:(...although that might have changed!

[SBL]

There's many varied bets on any comp but I don't see a way to "accumulate"

[Nick Davis]

I use Betfair exclusively for my online betting.

The thing you have to realise with Betfair is that you are NOT betting against a traditional bookmaker. You are betting against various other individuals who have a similar interest in a particualr market as you do. Betfair are the organisation that effectively brings two gamblers (who have opposing views on a market) together to match their bets up. Betfair make their money by taking a cut of the profit of the winning bet.

When you place a bet (i.e. back an event to happen) your bet might not be matched with one single individual who is laying odds on that event....your bet might be spread across two or three other gamblers who are making a market (laying on that event).

I might have £100 to bet on an event at odds of say 25-1. It is quite possible that there is no single other gambler out there who wants to accept that bet. However...there may well be three other gamblers who are willing to acceept a bet of a smaller amount at those same odds. So my £100 might be actually placed as 2 or more seperate bets with different punters in any combination up to a total bet of £100.

As you can see...when you place a bet you actually have no idea which individual has taken your bet.

So...when it comes to accumulators...it would need both yourself and a second party to have the same interest in two markets...and for that other person to be willing to accept the level of bet that you wish to place.

For this reason Betfair only offer a selection of prepicked accumulators for you to bet on, usually only on the major sports. It would be nice to be able to pick and choose a nice "correct score double" but the likelihood of actually finding someone else to match with your bet is pretty low.

The real beauty of Betfair is the ability for the punter to bet on an "in-play market" (where odds change as the match progresses) and then cover themselves as the market moves in their favour to guarantee a profit.

For example...yesterday I had £20 on ManU to beat Portsmouth 3-0 at odds of 9-1. Obviously United scored two quick goals so the odds on a 3-0 victory dropped pretty quickly. Half way thru the first half I bet £25 against ManU winning 3-0 (effectively I was accepting someone elses bet of £25 at 5-1 on Man U winning 3-0) at odds of 5-1, guaranteeing myself a profit.

If the result finished 3-0 then my initial bet would have won me £180 and my covering bet would have lost me £125...a £55 profit. If the result was anything other than 3-0 I would have lost £20 (my initial bet) but won £25 (the bet where I bet against a 3-0 scoreline). I know that woud only have been a £5 profit.

I hope this sheds some light on Betfair and the reasons why accumulators are not commonly available.

[Nick Davis]

The other thing that Betfair dont do well are "each way" bets.

I often like to bet on a golf tournament ofter the third round...placing an each way bet on a golfer who "made a move" during the third round and ended up a few shots behind the leader.

Usually with a traditional bookie these players will typically be at odds of 40-1 to 100-1 (especially if Tiger, Vijay, Ernie are in the lead!!!) and you can have an each way bet where your odds for a place are still pretty good (say 1/5th of the win odds). Betfair only allow you to bet on a top 5 finish and as such you only occaisionally get odds near 8-1 let alone 20-1 on Betfair.

[colourblindchameleon]

Well I had to join Betfair given their generous prices. The discrepancy in betting prices seems to be especially stark in the golf field of betting! I cannot believe the difference in prices compared to the high street establishments :eek: .

Take Azinger for example, 150/1 at W`Hills...330/1 at betfair , and 25/1 to finish in the top 10 ! (prices all before the start on Thursday).

If you like a punt take a look ;)

[Colossus]

I hope this sheds some light on Betfair and the reasons why accumulators are not commonly available.

Clear as mud. A friend uses betfair, and he's tried to explaini it all to me, and I just don't get it. Just as well maybe, as I don't have the money to bet with. If I did, I'd lose a bloody fortune, although my mate could nearly make a living at it.:confusedw: