Overview of Betting Exchanges

To take part and use the system used by our site you will need to join a betting exchange. If you are unfamiliar with exchanges please read below for a brief overview.

On the exchanges you are betting with other people and bookmakers. As the title suggests you are 'exchanging' both bets and lays. The exchanges themselves have to charge commission to stay in business because they are not taking the bets like traditional bookmakers, only facilitating the betting transactions. Commission is charged on winning bets only and is definitely one factor in comparing exchanges. Other things to consider are liquidity and range of market. It will probably be worth reading through the various T's & C's on each site to find one that matches you the best. The most commonly used exchanges are listed below.

Betfair's commission starts at 5% and can be as low as 2%. Commission is deducted from winnings only. The commission rate is based on a points system based on the cumulative total profit or loss of each bet you make. The more this is the more points you get and the lower your commission becomes. Your points balance does decay however at 15% per week so periods of reduced activity will see your rate go back up again..The exact details and some examples can be found on the Betfair site in the Help section under "Commission points scheme".

BetDaq commission starts at 3% and can be reduced to 2%. The commission also works on a decaying profit/loss points system very similar to Betfair although the levels of activity to reach the lower commission rates are less than those required by Betfair. However the commission rates are only set at 3%, 2.5% and 2% so for most normal punters your rate will stay at 3%.

Other exchanges are available, but I believe that the above two are about the best around.