Betting Systems - How Lay Betting Systems Work!

Betting Exchanges such as Betfair have become increasingly popular, mainly because they offer a unique service called the lay betting system. This has enabled them to quickly establish themselves as a modern alternative to the traditional bookmaker. One of the many reasons for their huge success and popularity in recent years, is the ability to use lay betting systems (take bets), thereby enabling individuals to conduct their lay betting system activities without any involvement from a traditional bookmaker.

By offering their customers the 'lay betting system' facility, betting exchanges allow individuals to play the role of bookmaker as part of their service. This offers a real alternative to the traditional bookmaker method of the 'back betting system' by allowing the unique advantage of using the 'lay betting system'. Betfair is undoubtedly the largest betting exchange in the world.

Lay betting systems, playing the role of a bookmaker - let me explain!

In really simple terms, lay betting systems on a betting exchange offer you the opportunity to form an opinion using your own judgement, by using a lay betting system to predict the outcome of a sporting event that you consider will not win. This is known as the 'lay betting system'.

No longer is it necessary to only back winners for you to collect your winnings, you can now place a lay bet using the betting exchange lay betting system. This puts you in a unique and extremely powerful position of being able to make money from the world of losers, by using the power of lay betting systems and the betting exchanges.

Let me explain, here's an example of how to use lay betting systems combined with the power of the Betfair lay betting system...

Let's say, you have been watching the progress of your favourite football team very closely throughout the season. They are playing at home and you feel absolutely certain and confident in your own mind that the game cannot possibly end in a draw.

Betfair are showing lay betting system odds on the outcome as follows:- Team-A 5/2, Draw 2/1, Team-B 5/2.

Here is an explanation of how lay betting systems work using Betfair laying odds of 2/1:- The lay betting system draw odds in this example are 2/1 therefore if you lay bet say £10 on the draw then...

If the result of this football match did end in a draw then you would lose £20 (2 x £10).

If this football match did not end in a draw and you used lay system betting to lay bet the draw, by playing the role of a bookmaker, then your profit would be £10 because you would get to keep the £10 stake money (minus a small commission taken by Betfair).

Lay betting systems on Betfair explanation: Using lay system betting in the above example is exactly the same as placing a £10 bet at odds of 2/1 with a traditional bookmaker but with one vital difference. A traditional bookmaker will keep your £10 stake money if the bet loses, but if you use the Betfair lay betting system then you will get to keep the stake money, in just the same way as the bookmakers have always done.

Thrill and excitement of using lay betting systems on the betting exchanges is now available on almost any sporting event that you can imagine. You name it and you can probably lay bet the outcome. This might be football, horse racing, cricket, rugby or maybe golf, in fact new lay betting system markets are being made available all the time.

Let me show you another lay betting system example - if we take a look at horse racing this time we can discover how to stack the odds very much in the lay bettors favour, instead of the opposite being true when using the back betting system.

BACK BETTING SYSTEMS: Imagine a horse race with say 12 runners. If you have a 'back bet' using the betting system in the traditional way, in order for you to win, you would need to find the winner of the race. Therefore, with 12 runners in the race you would only have 1 horse running FOR you (the one you have bet on to win) and ALL the other 11 horses would be running AGAINST you. If any one of the other eleven horses actually go on and win the race then you lose your stake money in the traditional way (this is referred to as the 'back betting system').

LAY BETTING SYSTEMS: Using the same horse racing example as above with 12 runners. If you used the lay betting system to lay bet just one single horse in a race by using a betting exchange such as Betfair, the odds will be very much stacked in your favour, simply because with lay system betting you create a situation where only one horse is running AGAINST you (the horse that you have lay bet to lose the race). If any one of the other 11 horses actually go and win the race, then you win your lay bet (this is known as 'lay betting' or 'lay betting system') because you have put yourself in the unique position of having ALL of the remaining 11 horses in the race actually running FOR you.

I realise that if you know absolutely nothing about the subject of lay betting systems and betting exchanges, all this may sound a little confusing to you. However, if you take the time to learn more about the fundamentals of lay betting systems, the potential profits are there for the taking, but like everything else in life you must fully understand what you are doing.

Let's face it - you must agree that picking a horse to lose in a 12 runner horse race is much, much easier than trying to pick the winner of the race. I hope you can see the possibilities here, by making sure that the odds are stacked very much FOR you when using the lay betting system, instead of AGAINST you when using the traditional back betting system.

-Lawrence Taylor-