Betfair

sternn

I notice people talk alot about betfair on this forum..

What is the difference (if any) between betfair and any other online gambling site eg paddypower/ boyles?

ArmaniJeanss

Wiki can porbably give as concise an explanation as anyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betfair
A bet exchange allows punters (gamblers) to bet at odds set and requested by other punters rather than by a bookmaker.

PAU

They have fantastic odds but they do take a commission.

cson

If you go to the horse racing forum theres a sticky by wb that explains it pretty well.

I'll do my best here;

In bookmaking one sets an overround on the book that is being bet upon. If I gave odds for a coin toss on whether it be head or tails one would normally assume that it would be evens for both outcomes (An overround of 100% - back both outcomes and you can't lose). In order to take a profit a bookmaker would instead offer odds of 10/11 on both, in which case by backing both outcomes you would lose the princely sum of €0.91. (I usually offer 3 outcomes for the laugh - 10/11 Tails, 10/11 Heads and 10/1 the coin lands miraculously balanced on its side)

Thats how your normal high street bookie operates.

Now Betfair is an entirely different kettle of fish. In this instance the punter becomes the bookie and can lay an outcome as much as he wants so long as he has the funds in his account to cover the liability. You can bet to better percentages (overrounds) on Betfair than in the high street as for instance take Arsenal v Sunderland last weekend, I may have thought Arsenal were too short at 8/13 and instead offered 4/5 for them, this you won't see happening in your local bookie. Generally you'll get way better odds on outsiders too, a 20/1 horse in the bookies can often be had at 100/1 or higher on Betfair.

There are a couple of differences too such as betfair commission (which is changing afaik, they want more) and minimum bet etc.

I don't use it much but thats my understanding of it. Maybe a betfair regular could explain the intricacies of it better.

Xavi6

I'm a Betfair user. No real reason why I picked that over any of the others but the odds are generally very good and the commission isn't too bad (at the moment).

wb

Here's that sticky:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054910815

It's getting a little old now but the priniciples remain the same.

I believe Betfair's best selling point is the prices. They are almost always better than the bookie - especially on outsiders.