Betfair. Yes or No

Do you use Betfair

  • Yes

    Votes: 26 89.7%

  • No

    Votes: 3 10.3%
  • Total voters
    29
Why not Gear? I`m seriously thinking of closing my account, just curious to find the percentage of players on here that use the site and if not why not?
 
Why are you thinking of closing your account.In the early days I thought I was doomed to lose on betfair and everything I backed seemed to drift.
The main lesson I have learned is that late money tends to be informed money-I try to do most of my bets less then 5 minutes before the off.
Having said that I am disappointed the way inrunning betting has gone,the commission rates I can live with but the wekly decline in commission points is shocking at 15%.
I would consider at least a partial move to betdaq.
 
Will definitely be stopping my Betfair account shortly. they are determined to rip off successful punters.
 
Before Betfair if I fancied something i`d ring up whichever bookie the price was with and back it. End of. Now I find myself messing about too much. Example, I backed Conduit for the Leger on 27th August at 7.4 basicaly because I thought Frozen Fire was Arc bound and Look Here was a bit of a ropey proposition as she`d not run for so long and missed the Yorkshire Oaks. I figured the race would cut up like the King George did and I`d have a tasty bet on a horse who would start 4/1 or so. Didn`t work out like that of course, and when the ground became an issue and FF was confirmed I laid the bet off. Sensible in theory and i`m not second guessing myself but pre Betfair this bet would have been on the books like it or lump it. I`ve had a terrible flat season and this sort of thing makes me yearn for the simpler days.
 
60% Betfair (80% of which would be horse racing and Asian Handicaps)
30% Regular bookies
10% Spreads

...would be my estimate without looking at records. I tried Betdaq for a few months but I couldn't find the liquidity away from racing (even for small stakes - so many huge percentage books).
 
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Euronymous said:
Why not Gear? I`m seriously thinking of closing my account, just curious to find the percentage of players on here that use the site and if not why not?
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The weekly decay did my head in. I could earn up to 2,000 points in a week where I was punting heavily. Two weeks away and the work was undone. I hate not being able to bet snide each way too. Betfair is great if you can spend time in front of it but when your working (and I cant log in when working) its of no use to me.

I now have around 4 main accounts. I click on oddschecker and bet away. I much prefer it and withdraw any winnings as opposed to Betfair where I was always trying to build a tank. Also for golf betting Betfair is useless and that's my most consistent bet all year round.
 
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I use Betfair for information on prices but don't punt with them. Historically I did punt with them but found for the bets I wanted to make I could do so with fixed odds and didnt lay off, as has been mentioned.

There have been ups and downs of course, but works at the moment!
 
I fell out with Betfair over customer service issues, but I tried WBX however they have no in running markets, and dont bet on Irish, and overseas racing - UK only.

Is there a viable alternative to Betfair? i.e one that covers ALL the main racing markets and has in running? Do Betdaq?
 
Good example of the decay rate. I have not had a punt on Betfair for 3 weeks. €100 on Europe at 2.06 returns me €100.91 after commission. 11/10 available with Paddy Power. This is a market where liquidity is at peak with 4 figures back & lay either side.
 
At Cheltenham this year the value was with bookmaker early morning prices as opposed to betfair.That was before commission was taken into account and there was also the safety net of double result.
Several times this year Powers have gone bigger then the betfair lay price.
 
I use prob 60% Betfair, 30% PP, and 10% Tote when betting online
I stick to those regardless of prices so I can keep track of where I am!
If I used several bookies to get a marginally better price I'd get in a right pickle, and at the sums I bet it wouldn't be worth doing
 
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Overall I lost around £300 on the Arc but because my place bet on Youmzain came in I find myself still paying commission. Four fucking markets they had on this race. Ridiculous.
 
That's not on is it? I've come out of the day well ahead backing entirely on Betfair, but I have been back almost exclusively to my old ways of betting e/w and FCTs on PP lately (after hardly betting for a while).

PP are very competitive and even though their prices are often not the best they do a lot of 'will pay at SP if the price is greater' which is great for small punters like me, and they also pay an extra place on big h'caps which suits me

Many of the bigger bettors on FF have been using Betdaq esp since Sept 22nd and they have noticed a huge increase in liquidity lately esp for in-running markets

By the way I jujst got the following message, as I'm sure we all do:

<< Please allow 3 - 5 working days for funds to appear in your card account.
Your Betfair account has been debited byGBP........ >>

Why the hell does it take 3-5 days for money to move and where is it in the meantime??
Are they carrying it round in sacks ffs - that might be quicker! Drives me mental
when I were a lass, it only took two days to clear a cheque, and that was when it was all done by hand!
 
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I think this needs some expansion tbh. I hear lots of people claim that they are successful punters but want to close their BF accounts because the exchange is getting greedy but I'm unconvinced by the logic.

I'll state my case here ~ I think Betfair are moderate at best in terms of customer service and at times they can look like amateurs in their market maintenance; the quality of their telephone service is apparently in decline and they don't seem to give a monkeys about how their customers perceive them. However, the only reason I would take my business elsewhere is if I could get a better return on my bets elsewhere. Period. End of. You get the drift.

So when people tell me they are closing their accounts with Betfair, I struggle to believe that they have found an outlet which provides better returns on their investment, unless that investment is modest. My conclusion is that some genuine punters who bet too rarely or to limited stakes are being snookered by the commission and realise that shopping around at best prices will offer better value, while many other punters are simply unable to make the game pay and are using the new charges as an excuse to flounce off. I haven't met anyone yet who has convinced me that they are betting in big sums but will do better elsewhere, or for that matter anyone who has convinced me that they will be paying 20% based on their business. The other option is that punters know they will be worse off for closing their accounts with Betfair, but choose to do so on moral grounds. Yeah, right! ;)
 
Colin Phillips said:
"Why the hell does it take 3-5 days for money to move and where is it in the meantime??"

Earning them interest I would think.
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Surely this is a crime perpetrated by the banks though? I have only once had to pay a cheque into my latest bank account and that took eleven days to clear despite being deducted from the other account within 24 hours. I complained and was told that this was perfectly normal practice.
 
rorydelargy said:
I think this needs some expansion tbh. I hear lots of people claim that they are successful punters but want to close their BF accounts because the exchange is getting greedy but I'm unconvinced by the logic.




So when people tell me they are closing their accounts with Betfair, I struggle to believe that they have found an outlet which provides better returns on their investment, unless that investment is modest. My conclusion is that some genuine punters who bet too rarely or to limited stakes are being snookered by the commission and realise that shopping around at best prices will offer better value, while many other punters are simply unable to make the game pay and are using the new charges as an excuse to flounce off.
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I did think about closing my account but ultimately that would be admitting failure. Funny thing is I was emailing them in June after New Approach won the Derby because I didn`t know how to withdraw money I hadn`t deposited - I was in front with them for the first time. It`s not the commission its the laying that`s killing me. I need to go old school.
 
Any betting account tends to take anything up to 5 days to clear funds, the same as any refund on a debit or credit card. It generally has nothing to do with the individual firms procedure, who will do at least one run a day (often late at night) when all funds requested to be returned are sent through in a job lot. The delay in processing comes from the banks, as per. If you bank with the same bank as the betting firm that you use, you will receive the funds far more quickly. The Stan James group bank with HSBC so funds from one of their firms goes into my account almost immediately since I too bank with one of the HSBC group. Likewise, some funds clear more quickly from some betting companies again depending on who the firm themselves bank with.
 
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LUKE said:
Why are you thinking of closing your account.In the early days I thought I was doomed to lose on betfair and everything I backed seemed to drift.
The main lesson I have learned is that late money tends to be informed money-I try to do most of my bets less then 5 minutes before the off.
Having said that I am disappointed the way inrunning betting has gone,the commission rates I can live with but the wekly decline in commission points is shocking at 15%.
I would consider at least a partial move to betdaq.
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I've got to agree with Luke ala the late money on Betfair..It's the late money that is significant, I've found this out the hard way. 99% of my betting is done via Betfair, I dabbled on WBX but found it terrible to be honest.
 
Interesting point SL. Anyone know who Betfair banks with? LOL

Late money does talk on BF but also leads to cramped odds. I prefer to bet earlier then if something comes well in, I might have a saver on it to cover any poss losing stake. Sometimes money coming late is just lemming loot! - and best ignored

Euro, your problem is easily solved - stop laying! It's the way to the poor house unless you have v good 'inside' - and you have to risk a mint to win anything substantial, unlike backing
 
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