How To Understand Lay Betting For Matched Betting

Lay Betting And Its Uses

For those that have followed my blog, you will no doubt know that matched betting is my forte so to speak. I have made in the high four figures from matched betting and continue to earn 3 figures or more per month.

I still believe that matched betting is one of the biggest side hustles out there and if time and effort are put in then £1500 per month can be earned on a regular basis.

The main part of matched betting is to understand back and lay betting. Without understanding back and lay betting you are going to have a hard time making any profit.

When I started matched betting I had no idea what back and lay betting was. I had never stepped foot in a bookmakers or placed more than a couple of online bets per year.

However with a little patience and learning how to match bet using back and lay betting I was able to get to the point where I was earning several hundred pounds per month on top of my full-time wage.

This was due in part to the help of the guys over at Profit Accumulator who are experts in the ins and outs of matched betting and who help thousands of people like me earn extra money.

They really showed me the way and if you are looking to earn a few hundred extra pounds per month then you cannot go wrong signing up with the guys over at profit accumulator.

Some of my posts may contain affiliate links. This simply means if you purchase something after clicking one of the links I may receive a commission at no extra cost to yourself. Many thanks for the continued support.

What Is Back Betting?

Back betting is the sort of betting you may be familiar with. It is the everyday act of placing a bet on the team or event you think is going to win. You are essentially backing that event to happen.

For example, I support Manchester Utd (For My Sins) So if I put a bet on that Manchester Utd are going to beat Chelsea then I am backing Manchester Utd to win. This is where the term back betting comes in. You are backing Utd to win so it is a back bet.

Back betting is done up and down the country and across all online platforms all of the time by lots of people who don’t even realise that technically what they are doing is a back bet.

What Is Lay Betting?

Lay betting is technically the opposite of back betting. WIth back betting you are betting for a result to happen, For example, a win. With Lay betting you are betting that the result will not happen, Ie a loss or a draw in the case of football. You are betting against the result so Laying the bet.

Remember I am a poor Manchester Utd fan. If I lay a bet against Manchester Utd Vs Chelsea then I am saying that they won’t win. This could also include a draw as they are not winning if they draw.

Lay betting is not done at normal online bookmakers. It is done at what is called an exchange. An exchange is almost identical in look to an online bookmaker website it is just set up slightly differently.

You may have heard of Betfair. If you have placed a bet before online then I am guessing you would have heard of them. They also have an exchange that can be accessed through the same site. There is just a tab at the top that switches the site between a sportsbook and an exchange.

Betfair was the worlds first exchange and continue to be one of the leading exchanges online. Smarkets is another great exchange that I use regularly.

Betting exchanges allow you to place lay bets and this the only place you can place that kind of bet. When placing a back bet at a bookmaker you are placing a bet on odds set by the bookmaker but when placing a lay bet at an exchange you are essentially placing a bet against another bettor that that event won’t happen.

What Is A Betting Exchange?

As I said above betting exchanges are where you can lay your bets. The first betting exchange was Betfair but many have followed since. I use Betfair and Smarkets for any lay bets I place. Smarkets is laid out in a much better fashion for beginners in my humble opinion.

Effectively you are betting against other bettors when placing a lay bet and this is why you need an exchange. With a normal bookmaker, the bookmaker takes a risk in the fact that you might win, Whereas the betting exchange has no risk as it is one bettor betting against another. The exchange makes a small commission from any winnings and this is how an exchange makes its money.

With a betting exchange, you have far more choices than a standard bookmaker which makes it much more interesting when placing your lay bets.

5 Best Betting Exchanges

Betfair:

The original exchange and the main one I use on a day to day basis for lay betting. Betfair was founded in 1999 and continues to be the world largest online betting exchange. There is a tab on the top left of the page, Make sure it is set to Exchange and not a sportsbook.

Smarkets:

Smarkets I found was really good for new matched bettors. Although there sometimes isn’t as many options as there may be with Betfair I found that for people new to lay betting the colour scheme worked better for me and the layout of the site was clear and concise.

Betdaq:

Betdaq has a nice low commission on winning bets and in some certain markets, they don’t even charge a fee. They have a great Livestream if you are watching your bets live and I have had no issues with them at all.

Their usability is one of the top features for me as some of the exchanges out there can be exceptionally confusing especially for newcomers.

Ladbrokes:

Ladbrokes have a great exchange. They do have a slightly higher commission on winning bets at 5% however seeing as they are so well known this is a little easier to swallow knowing that they are not likely to go bust along with any winnings you have in your account.

Matchbook:

Matchbook has a 2% commission on net profits for UK and Roi customers and has no commission for losing bets which is always nice not to have to pay out on a loser. Bear in mind that even with matched betting you do get losing bets but always end up in profit.

Back & Lay Betting In Matched Betting

Matched betting is the process of securing bookmakers sign up offers and other special offers and making as much profit as possible without loss due to back and lay betting.

With the help of speciality websites such as Profit Accumulator, you will pick your bets wisely. You will place a back bet on a match on one bookmaker and then find the same match on an exchange of your choice to place your lay bet.

You will place your lay bet at the exchange you have chosen and this means that no matter what the result you cannot lose. You are covering the win and the loss and draw.

Once this has happened the bookmaker will give you a free bet. You will then use this free bet to repeat the same task but with a different match.

This time you are using the bookmaker’s money effectively so you will end up with a profit no matter the outcome.

This is how you use back and lay betting to get profit from matched betting. Without lay betting, you would just be betting like any normal gambler.

Maximising Profit With Matched Betting

Matched betting can be done without anyone’s help. When you have learned the basics you will usually be able to go off and make a few sign up bets and take advantage of the bookmakers sign up offers and you will probably make a few quid.

I made £300 in my first 2 weeks on my own. The main problem for me was the lack of free lay betting calculators and any form of matched betting calculators online.

After a while and when some of the offers were for too much money or were too complicated I realised I needed a helping hand to get to the next level and this is where Profit Accumulator come in.

For a small monthly or yearly fee, you can get access to the Profit Accumulator site which has every single sign up bet imaginable. Over 75 at the latest count.

Not only that but access to loads of matched betting calculators and guides for each bet to help you make the most profit.

There is also access to the profit accumulator forums where you can chat to like-minded matched bettors like yourself who can give you tips on how to make 4 figures per month.

I make no bones about it when I say that Profit Accumulator is the best site for helping you make extra money and you will make 10 times the monthly fee or more with ease. Sign up below and start utilizing your lay betting knowledge to unlock the profit.

What is Liability?

I must admit when I first ventured onto an exchange and started typing amounts in I was kind of scared by this term liability. Every lay betting calculator I entered numbers into had this term. Let me tell you what liability is in the world of lay betting.

Liability in simple terms is the amount of money you need in your exchange to cover your bet should it lose. Of course, you should not panic as if your bet loses on the exchange you would have placed a back bet at the bookmakers so you won’t really have lost anything it just means you will lose that money in the exchange but gain it at the bookmakers.

You cannot place a lay bet if you do not have the liability amount in your exchange.

When you place the lay bet, the bet and the liability money becomes locked away until the bet has finished, Like I said above no need to panic as you will end up with a win either at the bookmakers or the exchange.

As you can see from the above Betfair screenshot, we are in the exchange section which is shown top left tab. In the middle, you can see the back bets in blue and the lay bets in pink. Easy right? On the right-hand side is the bet slip and we have placed a lay bet against Albania vs England.

The liability is shown as £155, This is the bet of £10 times by the odds of 16.5 then minus the original stake of £10. This is the amount you would need in your account before you can place your lay bet.

Laying Off A Bet

When we bettors say laying off a bet it means we have already placed a back bet at say, Coral, for example, We are then going to go and lay the same bet at an exchange like Betfair. We are laying off against our back bet.

Back and lay betting will become second nature to you once you start participating in Matched Betting and the more you learn the more you will earn.

Is Lay Betting Legal?

Yes, Lay betting and matched betting is completely legal and above board and what’s more exciting is that any profit made from matched betting is 100% tax-free too.

Lay Betting And Its Uses

Getting used to all of the terminologies and lay betting and its uses can be a little tricky, to begin with, but trust me from someone who has never set foot in a betting shop or done more than place the occasional bet on the grand national.
If I can do it then so can you.

I have also spoken to several single moms on the Profit Accumulator forums who are making more money than they were in their full-time jobs by matched betting in their spare time.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing about your wins.