Exchanges.....are there any credible alternatives to Betfair?

H

harry

At the Start
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Apr 16, 2005
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WBX, Betdaq etc?
Do any of you on here use these regularly or are they non starters?
Is there any new ones on the horizon or is Betfair going to continue with its monopoly?
 
Blue still rules supreme over Purple in terms of liquidity, but I've also got an account with the latter as back up to Betfair in case of a Blue crash. Not that I'm a big player by any means but just common sense insurance.
 
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Have long held a Betdax account, but it's probably 2-3 years since I last used it, as there was never any liquidity in there markets I wanted to play in (F1 mainly).

Wasn't there some talk of Ladbrokes starting an exchange? I still hold-out hope that baldy Fred will transform the Tote into an exchange-model. High turnover/low-margin is a much better arrangement than the current model.
 
But they've also introduced their own brand UI that sits atop it. Betdaq UI still there too - for now.
 
At 3%, there was some argument for using Betdaq and Ladbrokes exchanges. But since they've raised the rate to the standard 5%, it's hard to see any justification for using them -- taking into consideration the low liquidity and the fewer markets available.
WBX has even worse liquidity -- ie, virtually none. Resultingly, the spread is too big and you'll only get matched by crossing the spread and taking bad-value price.
Smarkets is the one exchange I've actually closed an account with. Only 2%, but the platform is unstable and breaks down far too often. Not worth t.
Don't know anything about MatchBook.

Mush as it pains to say it, I think there is really no viable alternative to Betfair.
 
That is probably so ........... for the Betfair WIN market.
But for the E/W punter, things are not quite so spectacular. Split your stake between the Betfair Win and Place markets and one will find in many cases the overall return to be nearer the bookmakers price.
 
you can't lay bets with bookmakers though..and you are limited what amouint you can bet with bookies

two large negatives i would have thought..along with poor value at long odds

i haven't bet with a bookie for 14 years apart from nipping in for the odd bet when i was working

personally..bookies are of no interest to me..we all bet differently don't we?
 
EC1 said:
you can't lay bets with bookmakers though..and you are limited what amouint you can bet with bookies

two large negatives i would have thought..
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Cannot argue with that -- you are absolutely right !
I'm a huge fan of betting exchanges, I should add. They revolutionised my betting back in 2002, and I've been using them ever since.
(I'm just pointing out the imbalance of the Betfair Win-only market for E/W punters and the effect of the 5% comm on winnings which are aspects often overlooked in hymns-of-praise to Betfair). :rolleyes:
 
I would think Horse betting would have no equal to Betfair in the win markets.

Football betting has a few, Betfred, Lads and Paddy give good offers, VC, Coral, Hills are useless for big firms.
 
oh no..i wouldn't heap praise on Betfair Ice..its there..i use it because its the best option for me.

there is no perfect way to bet..but i don't buy that bookies have many advantages over exchanges..if they do then maybe someone could point them out
 
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Not particularly........though I guess I'm probably talking about ante-post horse-racing markets, in the main.
 
EC1 said:
do you remember Flutter Harry?..were they the first and then Betfair bought them out?..i can't remember now
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Not addressed to me, but I remember them well ! :rolleyes:
Betfair bought them out in order to close them down. Flutter was good, quick, and half the commission rate of Betfair's. Betfair was afraid of them.

Incidentally, anyone remember Ian D's Backandlay.com?
 
icebreaker said:
Incidentally, anyone remember Ian D's Backandlay.com?
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Yep....he'd often forget to put up an F1 market until I told him there was a race on! B&L was killed-off by the new Gambling Act and the cost of a securing an appropriate licence, as I recall.
 
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