New to Betfair or simply looking for a basic explanation for a bunch of keywords that you’ve come across along your wagering journey? Our betting glossary is here to help.
Below you’ll find what we believe are essential terms and phrases for mastering The Game Within The Game.
Arbitrage
Is a process through which gamblers aim to make a profit by betting on all possible outcomes of an event, at different odds. Arbitrage betting involves taking advantage of the variation in odds offered on the Exchange or by different bookmakers and calculating an appropriate stake level that will ensure any losses are covered by winnings in all potential outcomes.
Asian Handicap
A type of football market where two teams are given a handicap – positive or negative – before the game starts. The handicap is a figure such as +0.5 or +1.0 or +1.5, or -0.5 or -1.0 or -1.5. This figure represents a goals head-start or a goals deficit awarded to the teams before kick-off.
Back Betting
Placing a back bet is the traditional form of gambling – you believe a result will happen and bet on it happening, at odds you want to take. On the Betfair Exchange, bettors placing these bets are called ‘backers’.
Betfair Starting Price
The Betfair Starting Price (BSP) is the odds you get on a horse at the start of a race based on bets placed by backers and layers in the race market.
Commission
Commission is the amount you are charged by Betfair on your net winnings on an Exchange market.
Dutching
The process of backing a number of outcomes for a particular event, in order to ensure the same amount of profit if any of your selections win.
Drift
If we say a selection in an Exchange market is on the drift or drifting, it means the odds on the selection are getting longer. Moves like this are brought to life on Betfair Live — a tool used by punters to observe if money is for or against a particular outcome.
Favourite
The selection that the markets sees as the most probable winner of a given event. The quoted odds reflect the extent to which the choice is favoured.
Futures Betting
Odds for the winner of a specific future event often posted far in advance of it occurring. Examples include the AFL Grand Final winner, the Super Bowl winner or the Melbourne Cup winner.
Green Book
Achieving a green book means creating a position on a market where you eliminate any risk and put yourself in the position to profit regardless of the outcome of the event.
In-Play Betting
In-play betting – or ‘in-running betting’ on racing – involves placing a bet on a particular outcome after the event has started.
Lay Betting
Lay betting is betting on something not to happen. For example, if you Lay Manchester United to win, your bet will be settled as a winner if they lose or if the game ends in a draw – so two outcomes are playing in your favour. In racing terms, if you Lay Nature Strip, you are betting on any other runner in the race to win.
Liability
When you place a Lay bet your ‘liability’ is the amount you are risking if the event you are laying wins.
Liquidity
The liquidity is the amount of money available for you to bet (back/lay) at the relevant odds on a selection on the Exchange. You can bet all or part of that amount.
Matched Betting (or Promotional Arbitrage)
Taking advantage of odds variation and promotions across bookmakers to make lock in potentially risk free profit.
Overrounds
Term to describe when the betting percentage of a market is above 100% and therefore providing an advantage to the bookmaker and the opposite to the bettor.
Trading
Similar to what you would see in the stock market, but on the Exchange. Trading involves placing multiple Back and Lay bets on the same market, with the hope of profiting from the fluctuations in odds.
Third-Party Tools
Betting applications such as Bet Angel and Gruss that allow Betfair users to bet faster and with more information than other Betfair platforms. Popular with traders, these programs access the Betfair API directly.
Congratulations! You have now finished the Betfair Basic Tutorial and you’re ready to place your first bet on the Betfair Exchange.
To continue your learning journey and progress to the Intermediate Tutorial, click here.
