Posts by Dennis Turner62

Peter Williams37 said:If you can match a lay at 2.00 immediately, you're golden.
If you set a specific odds level and just wait, there isn't a scenario where it becomes more or less than 2.00 when it finally hits—it will be 2.00.

If you set your odds without realizing you could have laid at a lower price, Betfair will execute the trade as if you laid the lower odds, effectively costing you money via cross-matching.

To clarify cross-matching once more: You go back to TIp 1, hit submit, and wait those 5-8 seconds. If the Betfair system sees you could have backed at a higher price because someone on TIp2 is looking to back at a certain level, Betfair will lay their position for an XY amount, which shows up as you having backed at a higher price.

If that isn't clear by now, I'm lost. 🙂

Regards,

I get it now. So, if I'm laying at 2.00 and Betfair sees an opportunity to lay at a lower coefficient, it either suggests it or matches me at the lower one. That’s actually great—I always aim to lay at 2.00, and if the odds drop in my favor, even better. Same logic applies to backing when the odds increase.

Alright, thanks for the info and the help. 🙂

Ha, I suppose I follow you somewhat now.

I would always place a Lay bet at odds of 2.0 with a target profit of $10, then just sit back and wait for someone on the other side to get my bet MATCHED. My question is this: is there any chance that Betfair might adjust the odds—higher or lower—or change my potential profit after the fact? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Peter Williams37 said:Actually, that's not how it works. 🙂
The bottom line is that Betfair will match you at the odds you set—or even higher.
To put it simply:
If you back at 1.5, but you didn't realize that laying the other side effectively means you backed at 1.58, Betfair will show your matched price as 1.58.
Basically, this setup favors the users.

Aha, so if someone backs 1.5 with a $100 stake, there's a chance they won't match at their specified odds, but instead, Betfair might give them better odds—which obviously helps since the payout is higher.

But for those laying 1.5 to win $100, it’s not exactly a win if the odds get bumped up. If they lose, they have to cover a larger liability. Am I right on that, or does Betfair simultaneously lower the potential profit to adjust for the amount the user was originally willing to risk?

Essentially, does Betfair only adjust the odds, or do they also tweak the back stakes and the lay profits?

Peter Williams37 said:Someone said this, or that, etc.
BF cross matching—it's quite simple.
Take an illiquid market, for instance.

Example:
Old system: An illiquid market. Tennis.
Player 1 BACK price 1.4
Player 2 LAY price 2.00

Under the old system—if someone lacks intuition regarding odds—they might try to back P1 at 1.5 for $100. Since they can't match that 1.5, the order sits on the lay side instead... but why bother backing at 1.5 when you could lay at 2.0 and secure a much larger profit?

New system: Cross matching.
Player 1 BACK price 1.4
Player 2 LAY price 2.00

Suppose you want to back P1 at 1.5 for $100. Even without liquidity or the specific odds to match, the $100 doesn't just sit on the lay side at 1.5; it gets matched immediately at 2.00. Why? Because the system recognizes someone on the lay side wants to back P2 at 2.00 for, say, $200.
The system takes $100 from him and displays it to you as if you backed at 2.00.
Essentially, it caters to careless players and such.

Hope that clarifies things.

Regards 👍

I think I get it, but let me recap.

I’m laying at odds of 2.0 for $200 (meaning I'm prepared to lose $200).

And if there isn't anyone on the other side backing at 2.0 for $200, they'll pair me with someone backing at 1.5 for $100—in which case his odds get bumped up to 2.0 while his stake stays the same, and my exposure drops from $200 down to $100. Am I right?

Hm, so there's a chance that if I'm laying to win $200, my position gets reduced to $100.

slywolf57 said:Drop a link or explain where it says that—I want to see what we're actually talking about.

I've been using Betfair for ages, mostly betting against other people—I didn't even realize it was possible to bet against Betfair itself.🤷

And yes, I live outside the United Kingdom.🙂

UK registered customers bet against other Betfair customers. If you're registered with Betfair from somewhere else (like South Africa), you're betting directly against Betfair rather than other Betfair customers. Someone told me this is called "cross matching" with Betfair.

http://www.betfair.com/aboutUs/Regulatory.Information/

Anyway, I almost always Lay at odds of 2.0 with a €10 stake, but it’s hard to get them MATCHED—it usually goes through fine when the odds and stakes are different.

Has anyone here actually placed bets through Betfair.com?

I was going through the instructions, and it says that if you live outside the United Kingdom, you aren't betting against other people—you're betting directly against Betfair itself. I'm curious how that actually works in practice. I understand the standard process: when you bet against other people, your bet gets MATCHED once someone else accepts your odds and stake. But in this scenario, what’s the mechanism when you're essentially playing against the house?