Betting exchanges
- Sports betting in cryptocurrency and Indian rupees, minimum deposit from 300 INR
- Mobile betting app compatible with Android & iOS devices, there is a mobile version of the site
- Rich betting markets for cricket, eSports, football
- Personal account with bet statistics for strategy development
- Accepts Indian rupee
- Rich menu in cricket betting
- Extensive bonus program
A betting exchange is a relatively new term for sportsbooks and has been known since 2001. If we compare it with traditional bookmakers, that category of betting services is very young. For a long time, the Betfair platform was one of a few and led the market. It still keeps being the major player in the industry.
Though, as the IT sphere develops better and better, we see more and more bet exchange sites. For example, you might see such names as Betdaq, Finspreads, GeneSweep, Hubdub, Intrade, IPredict, Smarkets, Sporting Options, etc. And Indian platforms provide even more bet exchange to supply the demand.
People prefer such sites because they can wager against players, not the house. And because the odds are more profitable, thanks to a small fee instead of a sportsbook margin.
Last but not least: if online bookies ban you for often winning too significant sums, then you can place bets on bet exchanges! And no one will stop you from earning a good income.
Though, these services can be a little complicated compared to traditional online sportsbooks. That’s why we made an article to help understand it. The guide and rating of the best betting exchanges will help you choose the best variants for your sports wagering.
What is a Betting Exchange?
The exchange betting site proposes another model for bettors. The traditional and online sportsbooks work like this:
- a customer backs an outcome (makes a bet that an outcome will happen);
- a bookie lays (stakes that an outcome won’t happen).
But the exchanges offer customers opportunities both to back and lay outcomes. You could hear a liability term – an amount that might be lost in the worst case.
Most such services profit on commissions. They are calculated by the formula: a percentage of net customer winnings on each event\market.
The exchange betting sites allow pre-match and live stakes. The live feature is usually accessible only for sports events with good TV coverage, such as football, cricket, basketball, tennis, etc.
Here’s the main difference between exchanges and sportsbooks:
- Back & Lay stakes;
- Fractional & Decimal odds;
- Overrounds, Back & Lay book %;
- Market liquidity & Stake limits;
- Commission;
- Cash Out & Multiples;
- Inplay Trading, Live Score Betting;
- Ability to trade the market;
- Greening up & Taking out the red;
- Exchange bots.
Let’s learn more about these points, what they mean, and what functions they perform.
How do Betting Exchanges work?
In a nutshell, betting exchange sites provide bets made by players, not by a house.
A back bet means someone supports an outcome: “a team, a horse or athlete will win in that market.”
A lay bet means the opposite: “that selection won’t win .”They can be placed differently:
- a straight lay stake – an opposite to a back bet;
- a lay to liability – restricting the liability to the stake.
Some exchanges use bid and ask terms – the same thing you could see on financial platforms.
Fractional and decimal odds, what does it mean? Our kind of betting platform usually uses these 2 odds types.
- Decimal odds include a bet amount. For example, you see a 4.0 figure and bet 1 dollar. In the case of winning, you get your stake back (1 dollar) plus 3 dollars of profit.
- Fractional odds look like a ratio of the sum (which you can win) compared to the stake. For example, you see 11/10 and bet 10 dollars. Then you get back 10 dollars plus 11 dollars of profit.
Overround is a sportsbook percentage for the back and lay bets. The back or lay book overround is always slightly more or less than 100%.
Market liquidity is the money amount available for both sides of the market. Suppose you make a bet, which needs to be matched immediately on the opposite side of the market. The money for matching goes from the accessible liquidity. After matching, both bets turn into the “traded volume.”
So, stake limits depend only on the liquidity of the markets, i.e., what’s available at the current moment. Any English Premier League betting market has from 1000 to 100 000 dollars of liquidity now, and the digits rise with more player bets.
A traded volume can be huge. For example, at the end of an English Premier League game, you can see some 3 – 7 million dollars of volume. Most of that volume is live trading and live score betting.
The commission is a small fee that exchanges take on winning stakes payouts. It’s usually from 2 to 5%. Still, some sites can take 0% in specific markets for the promotion—the fee changes depending on overall winnings, player VIP status, the event location, etc.
Cash-out is an option to withdraw a stake before the result of the event. Betting exchange sites in India and globally might suspend cash out for any reason, be it VAR, a red card, or a penalty.
Multiple markets aren’t the best thing on exchanges. Accumulator wagers should be listed and traded as individual ones, and players can’t make their multi-bets. That’s the limit inbuilt like betting exchanges. So, players can’t take doubles, trebles, and other accumulator stakes standard for traditional online sportsbooks.
In-play (live) trading is the most popular activity on exchanges because they provide better conditions than bookmakers. Most bet exchanges provide convenient live stats, scores, data, and tools.
Trade a market means that players can repeat trading for as long as they want. You make a bet, find a matched opposed bet to it – that’s what trading means. These sites provide a vast selection of markets, and events, so the opportunities are without limits.
Greening up and Taking out the red – what is that? It’s 2 ways how to lock a profit and minimize losses. The same procedures you might see in financial markets. Profits on betting exchanges are in green, and losses are in red, which is why the names.
Bettors can hold several positions on multiple selections. So they can use some stakes to hedge others. Usually, players deploy specific software for these operations.
Betting bots are program code, software to place bets automatically. A player sets a list of rules, and the program reads it and makes wagers following it. Some platforms have their in-built APIs, and some only develop them. Also, you can use third-party bots and apps like BfBotManager, BettingDev, TheBetEngine, etc.
Though a bot doesn’t mean 100% winning, it only helps to minimize risks.
How to Use a Betting Exchange?
So, with all that knowledge, how to use the exchange for betting on fav sports?
If you are a novice or prefer how sportsbooks work, then you can place a back bet.
- You find a column with odds made by layers. It’s the list of offers which can be interesting for you.
- Click on the lay odds which you think are most possible.
- Select an amount and submit your stake.
You see, the process is much like a process of betting in common sportsbooks. Note that your stake can be returned as unmatched, partially matched, or fully matched. Usually, the platform finds stakes that match yours, so don’t worry.
How to make a lay bet?
- First, check your risks with liability calculators. Enter your stake, odds, and commission to learn what sum you risk losing with specific odds.
- Checking the liability, you can enter your bet.
- You can alter the odds! Because the lay bet means you take a bookie role and can place your odds.
An exchange betting app system shows the offers. So you click on any price you like, then with arrow keys, change the odds. After that, submit it. Your wager will be placed in the market, and the system will search for matching stakes.
Note that other players might not match the stake. And also, the odds changes constantly and rapidly.
Features of a Betting Exchange
Usually, a betting exchange in India has features and tools to help players make bets.
Look on the page of a betting site. Here, you see sports, events, current odds, and the liquidity available at the moment. The boxes with odds are of different colors, for example, blue and pink.
Any market has rules. Press in “i” icon to learn them.
The best cricket exchange also can propose these options:
- a Match Me button – tap it to find a match faster;
- a Lay bet calculator – it helps to count the risks;
- the Rewards System, much like VIP or loyalty programs in sportsbooks.
Advantages of a Betting Exchange
Most exchange betting sites in India earn money by taking a fee – commission. The main difference is the players can place lay bets, making their odds to trade markets. So, you can:
- find better odds than in sportsbooks not only in the back but in lay stakes columns;
- differ overrounds;
- use the liquidity;
- trade markets;
- use bots and other software.
The multiples are usually doubles or trebles, but you can’t select outcomes and make your accumulator bets. You need to choose them from the exchange offers made by other players.
The betting exchanges in India can provide main and extra bets. You can check their profitability with odd checker services. Such sites or apps give you a comparison of odds proposed by leading sportsbooks. So, you can decide if an exchange offer is more profitable than the sportsbook one. Indeed, you can use odd checkers and arbitrage tools to compare the different odds listed on the exchange.
Many players are attracted by these incredible odds, which are more profitable for players; sometimes, they are better up to 200% than the odds in sportsbooks. Also, you can use bots and tools for live betting. Plus, you have no limits on wagering. That’s the main reason for choosing that kind of betting.
Betting Exchanges FAQs
Are Betting Exchanges legal in India?
Yes, they are primarily legal because operators get international licenses, such as from Malta, Curacao, and Great Britain. The Indian laws have no references to online betting exchanges working overseas. So, it’s presumably legal activity.
What is the difference between Bookmaker and Betting Exchanges?
The sportsbooks provide odds, and you can select them. But on the betting exchanges, you can make odds yourself. Also, the odds on exchanges move faster than on sportsbooks; that’s why you get more opportunities for profits.
Which exchange is best for betting?
The best exchanges in India could be well-known world operators and young companies. Look for sites that provide many tools, guides, and convenient designs.
