Betting Exchanges and Sportsbook: What’s the Difference?
This article outlines the differences between a bookmaker and a betting exchange, as well as outlining why betting exchanges offer more value, more opportunities to trade your position, and less rigidity since they allow you to set your own odds.
Betting exchanges have disrupted the industry, with more and more bettors realizing the value of using an exchange instead of traditional bookmakers.
Put simply, an exchange acts as a platform for bettors to trade the outcomes of certain events, such as sports, political events, or current affairs. It differs from traditional sportsbooks since they allow bettors to bet against each other rather than against a bookmaker.
Betters are thus no longer limited by the odds set by bookies and have the option to back a certain outcome; an exchange allows users to go head-to-head against each other by either backing or laying.
If you are familiar with traditional bookmakers, betting exchanges can appear daunting at first. However, once you appreciate their differences, how they work, and their substantial benefits, you will understand why betting exchanges are the best choice for any level of bettor.
Better Odds Mean More Value
When betting with a bookmaker, you can only bet on the odds they offer; their odds include their margin, which can sometimes be as high as 20%. These margins mean that bookmakers price markets in their favor, creating unfair odds.
In comparison, a betting exchange offers more competitive odds due to its nature as a peer-to-peer platform.
Therefore, the market is driven by supply and demand, resulting in better and more competitive odds compared to what you would get from a bookmaker. This means you can win more while betting the same amount if you choose an exchange over a bookmaker.
Commission vs. Betting Margin
Gambyl and other betting exchanges charge a fee (commission) to facilitate peer-to-peer betting on the exchange.
Gambyl charges an industry-low 5% commission rate on your net winnings for any given market. If you make a net loss on a market, you do not pay commission.
In comparison, bookmakers effectively make money by balancing their books in a way that theoretically allows them to make money irrespective of the results, either by building in a margin or rounding up their odds.
By not relying on margins, betting exchanges can offer a much fairer representation of each outcome’s true probability, understanding what betting odds represent. Therefore, even when factoring commission into the odds, Gambyl often offers the best price across the market.
Back and Lay
When betting with a bookmaker, your only option is to back the winner. Betting exchanges, on the other hand, allow their users the ability to both back and lay an outcome, enabling bettors to act as their own bookmakers by setting odds for an event or to act as the customer by backing the odds set by other users on the exchange.
These unique abilities give you the ability to trade positions much like a broker would on the stock exchange, assessing the market as the event moves from pre-game to in-play, in turn giving you more opportunity to find value and make a betting profit.
Once you understand how simple it is to place either a back bet or lay bet on an exchange, you’ll have the perfect opportunity to take advantage of a new way of betting.
Setting Your Own Odds
Bookmakers restrict you to the odds made available for betting, which have been set by the oddsmakers.
Instead of being limited to these pre-determined prices and only having the option to back the result, the betting exchange facilitates users in going head-to-head against each other and creating their own odds – one backing and one laying.
Want better odds? Just set them, and, if they are reasonable and another user is willing to take them, you will be matched.
Trade the Market
In principle, trading on a betting exchange is identical to trading on the stock exchange. Instead of buying and selling shares, traders back and lay the outcomes of an event; it’s not necessarily based on how much sports knowledge you have, but, rather, the movement that will likely occur in the market.
The goal of trading out of the market is to guarantee a profit, reduce your exposure, or cancel a previously matched bet on the same market.
While bookmakers do offer the ability to use their cash out button, this is restricted to certain events and has an additional built-in margin.
Betting Exchange: No Limitations
Betting exchanges do not employ the tactics commonly used by bookmakers, such as bet cancellations, account closures, and stake restrictions, because the exchanges act as an intermediary for users to back and lay; therefore, they are not concerned with the outcome of the event.
When betting with an exchange, the amount you can bet is determined by the liquidity (the amount available to bet in a particular market). All winners are welcome, and accounts are never closed.
Apply this to betting
Whether you're a casual player, serious sports bettor, or a trader, a betting exchange is the shrewd choice of a platform for placing your bets.
Betting exchanges give bettors more freedom to bet, ensure better odds, and won’t restrict your account, unlike traditional bookmakers.