If you don’t have a betfair account yet then please sign up below and get upto £100 worth of free bets on the sportsbook I’d recommend using matched betting to extract profit from this, then come back and get learning betfair trading!:

https://promos.betfair.com/choose-your-refer-and-earn-offer?referrerCode=F6MPULFQF

Betfair trading is an extremely complex subject. Luckily below I have broken the subject up into separate videos, each looking at a strategy, outlining what it does and how it works, before then showing you an example of me completing the trade myself. Whenever I showcase a trade on my channel I aim to show both the trade winning and the trade losing so you can see what happens either way before deciding if it’s a strategy you want to learn yourself.

What is Betfair trading?

The Betfair exchange was built in the early 2000s. It was built similarly to the stock market, however, the betting exchange does not trade commodities or shares of companies, it instead trades betting odds. You don’t bet against different bookmakers, you trade against other individuals on the market.

As you can see from the image above, you can either BACK – placing your stake on the event to happen, or you can LAY which means you’re placing your stake on the event not to happen. So for example, in the above image we have the draw option, backing the draw means we’re placing our stake on the draw happening. Laying the draw means we’re placing our stake on the result being anything other than a draw, so a win for either team.

As the game goes on the odds will change, they update around every 2 seconds on the page. This is how we’re able to extract a profit. You put your stake in when the odds are high, and sell / trade out once the odds drop leaving you with a profit. With stocks you buy low sell high, on the Betfair exchange you buy high sell low.

This may all sound a little confusing – don’t worry it will all become clear with examples. Below are a range of either strategies, or me showing my match selection. Many traders usually find one or two strategies and they focus on them. Some like to learn them all, however I’d fully recommend you focus on just a small number of strategies that you learn to perfect.

How does Betfair trading differ to normal betting?

The main difference between betfair trading and betting is the mentality of the user behind the screen. You can easily go onto the exchange and place a bet. When the user behind the screen comes onto betfair with a strategy in mind, a predetermined point where you will enter the market and leave the market. With a bet you look to place money on a desired outcome to take place, with betfair trading we trade markets like the Under 2.5 goals market. However while trading we can still extract profit even if the game ends with over 2.5 goals.

It can be a complex learn if you’re someone who bets on the regular. Which is why I’d always recommend if you’re new to betfair trading, use incredibly low stakes, learn how it works, learn the market, then slowly up your stake. Want to know what strategies to get started with? Have a read / watch below and get started!

Strategies

Over 1.5 Goals

The over 1.5 goals strategy in betfair trading is one of the simplest strategies to learn which is why it is ideal if you’re a beginner to betfair trading. The premise is very simple, once you’re in the market all you need is one goal, from either team, then you can cash out for a profit, simple!

Introduction

As you’ll have seen in the video, when it comes to betfair trading I’m a complete beginner, which is why I loved the over 1.5 goal strategy, it’s simple to understand what’s going on and really easy to use even if you’re not familiar with the betting markets. You don’t need a huge range of different triggers to happen during the game, you’re either waiting for a goal, or waiting for your exit point. It is very simple and easy.

Strategy

Simple Example

• Take the total number of goals in the game at the 30th minute and add 1.5. This is then the market you’ll be trading in.
• Add 50% of your stake into the overs market.
• Add an additional 20% as the second half starts.
• A further 20% at the 55th minute.
• The final 10% at the 65th minute.
• If a goal comes at any time in the game cash out.
• If a goal hasn’t come by the 70th minute regardless of the size of loss, cash out.

So what is the over 1.5 goal strategy?

It is very simple, firstly you’re going to wait until around the 30th minute. At this point you’ll take the total goals in the game and add 1.5 to it. This is going to tell us what market we will be trading. 0-0 = Over 1.5 goals; 1-0 = Over 2.5 goals; 1-1 = Over 3.5 goals, and so on. The reason we add 1.5 to the number of goals is to allow there to be some profit, if you’re trading the over 0.5 goals when the game is 0-0, the profit will still be there but it won’t be as much, and probably won’t be worth doing, so adding the 1.5 to the total goals will help you achieve more profit with the strategy.

Once you’ve got the market you’re trading in you’re then going to take 50% of your stake. When it comes to any form of betfair trading you should always have in mind a pre-determined stake, never go over this! That’s how we make sure we don’t just chase our losses. So with your stake in mind you’re going to split that in half, and trade 50% of it at the current market price for Over 1.5 goals (or whatever market you’re in).

The next step is to wait for a market change. Here you’re either waiting for a goal and if one comes you’ll instantly cash out for a quick profit. Or no goal by the start of the second half. If no goal has come by the second half you’re then going to start adding the second 50% of your stake.

How you add the second 50% is upto you. Some users add the whole 50% at the 50th minute, some add 10% of their stake every 5 minutes from half time. Why do we stagger out our stake with this strategy?

Whereas if you gradually added your stake, you will more than likely have had some of your stake towards the peak just before the second drop. The bigger the drop = the more the profit. Obviously this can be annoying if the goal comes while you only have 50% of your stake in as your profit will then be reduced again, but it will still be profit.

How you split your stake up is completely up to you. When I do over 1.5 goals, I normally split my stake up, 50% 30th minute, 20% start of the second half, 20% 55th minute and the final 10% in the 65th minute. The odds change quite rapidly in all markets when you get into the second half that’s why it can be very beneficial to spread it out.

What happens if no goal comes?

If there has been no goal by the 70th minute, you cash out and take your loss. You might think this is a little early to cash out when you consider how late most goals come in games, however, with the over 1.5 goals strategy, even if you get a goal late on 75th minute +, then you’re not going to be looking at a great profit, in some cases you will still be at a loss because the market you’re in will need another goal before closing.

If you’re doing the over 1.5 goal strategy, and you’re still in beyond the 70th minute then you’ve made an error. Although the loss might be quite large it’s vital you get out of the market so you don’t lose your full steak.

What’s the profit/loss for this trade?

Now because everyone splits their stakes differently and goals come at different times it can be hard to estimate an accurate profit for the strategy. When I’ve been on the losing end of the strategy my losses are normally between 60-75% of my total stake. Whereas my profits have ranged from 5% to 64.5%. However the majority of my profit does tend to be within 5-40% depending on the time of the goal.

Conclusion

Would I recommend the over 1.5 strategy? It depends massively on the team, if the team is an inform team that scores late on and is playing a poor side, then yes, if the team is well known for having 0-0s or the opposition is well known for holding out attacks then no.

This strategy like all will benefit from research, you need a team that scores ideally in the second half, but not beyond the 70th minute. It can be quite a niche team to find. Most goals come in games really late on and this strategy doesn’t allow you to take advantage of that unless you’re willing to risk your whole steak. It can be a profitable strategy, but game selection as always is absolutely key.

If you’ve ever heard of the laying the field horse racing strategy, then you’re going to learn this strategy really quickly. To be completely honest it is a very quick strategy to learn, and as soon as you get your game selection sorted you’re going to be looking at some nice profits!

Laying the Court – Tennis Strategy

Strategy

The strategy is incredibly simple, we’re going to lay both the individuals in a tennis game, at the same odds. The only requirement is that the odds must be below 2.0. The lower the odds you manage to lay at the better the profit will be.

To better ensure your chances of hitting a laying the court, you’re going to want to target either a closely matched game, or you’re going to want to underdog to take the first service, then when their price is low, you lay both of the players at that price and hope the favorite gets back into the game.

I’m not saying this strategy is going to work all of the time, and in fact over the next few weeks I’m personally going to be checking how often this strategy works by keeping track of the odds – so make sure you’re subscribed to the YouTube channel to ensure you don’t miss that video!

If you really want this strategy to be low maintenance you can go onto the match before it starts, enter your lay price, select the liability hyperlink and enter your desired price, then once confirmed select the KEEP option, and save changes. Then you’re done, no more effort is required, you’ll either lose your liability or make a profit if both get matched!

Profit / Loss

The loss is incredibly simple to work out, you’re either going to lose your liability if you’re not matched and not micromanaging or you’re going to lose around 30-50% of your stake if you’re watching the game and cash out in good time.

The profit, will depend on the price you get matched at. The highest I’ve seen get matched was during the Australian open final, as both contestants got incredibly close to winning, the lowest price of both was at 1.03, if you managed to lay both at odds of 1.05, a £10 liability would’ve returned £186.20!

However the likelihood of that happening on a regular basis is extremely low.

Personally, after some extremely brief research, I’ve seen odds of around 1.75 be quite common, sometimes 1.20 can be hit as well. Below I’ve shown what a £10 liability will return depending on the odds you hit.

Returns

1.05 – £186.20 – 1862%

1.20 – £39.20 – 392%

1.40 – £14.10 – 141%

1.50 – £9.80 – 98%

1.75 – £3.27 – 32.7%

1.80 – £2.45 – 24.5%

1.90 – £1.09 – 10.9%

1.99 – £0.10 – 1%