Bet exchanges explained

A betting exchange is a marketplace, not a bookmaker. Understanding that one difference explains almost everything else — the better odds, the ability to bet against an outcome, and why exchanges do not close winning accounts.

A marketplace, not an opponent

With a bookmaker you bet against the company. It sets the odds, builds in a margin, and — famously — may limit or close the accounts of customers who win too often. Its interests and yours are directly opposed.

On a betting exchange you bet against other people. The exchange matches someone who wants one side of a bet with someone who wants the other, and takes a small commission on winnings. It does not care who wins, which is why exchanges generally do not restrict successful customers and why the odds are usually better: there is no bookmaker's margin baked in.

Backing and laying

A back bet is the familiar one — you are betting something will happen. A lay bet is the one exchanges make possible: you are betting something will not happen, playing the bookmaker's role for a moment.

Every matched exchange bet is one person backing and another laying. When you see two columns of prices, that is what you are looking at.

What is bet trading? works through both with worked numbers, and explains how taking both sides at different prices is what turns betting into trading.

Commission

Exchanges make their money on commission rather than on margin: a percentage of your net winnings in a market, charged only when you win. Rates differ between exchanges, and the headline rate is not always the whole story — some apply a higher rate to the most profitable accounts.

Commission is why the best available price is not always the best net price. A slightly shorter price on a cheaper exchange can pay you more.

Liquidity

Liquidity is simply how much money is waiting to take the other side of your bet. It is the practical limit on exchange trading: a bet is only a bet once someone matches it.

• Deep markets — top football, televised racing — match instantly, even for large stakes.
• Thin markets can leave part of your stake unmatched, or move the price against you as you fill.
• Liquidity is not evenly spread: an exchange that is thin on racing may be deep on politics.

Choosing an exchange

The honest answer to "which exchange is best?" is "for which market, on which day?" One exchange usually has the deepest book overall, but the others regularly show a better price after commission — value and liquidity move around.

That is the problem BetTrading.net was built for: connect more than one, see their prices side by side, and act on whichever is genuinely best at that moment. The pricing page sets out which plan supports how many connections.

For the specifics of each exchange — current commission, how to get API access, sign-up requirements and any restrictions — see the exchange pages in the application's help guide: the exchanges at a glance.