Trading on the Betting Exchanges

July looks set to be a quieter month ahead of the new football season, which starts in August. It gives us chance to recharge our batteries and maybe consider other means of boosting our bottom lines. I just wanted to let you know about a new trading guide I’ve just published, which has been written by Professional Trader, Caan Berry.

You can find the new trading guide here or under the ‘TRADING’ tab on the main menu above.

What is trading?

In principle, trading on the betting exchanges is much like trading on the stock exchanges.

The objective is to back or lay a selection at the betting exchange and then close out our position to lock in a profit.

We need to either back high and lay low or lay low and back high.

Have I got what it takes to be a trader?

Trading is not something that will appeal to everyone, but due to our experience of using the betting exchanges, it’s something that may interest a few matched bettors.

Trading is a completely different ball game to matched betting though. There are no risk-free profits. It’s a case of learning to read the markets in order to spot profitable opportunities.

Trading can be extremely lucrative, far more so than matched betting, but it’s not easy and takes dedication.

Why learn with Caan Berry?

Caan is a Professional Betfair Trader and undoubtedly knows his stuff.

He’s one of the best in his field and has gained a solid reputation since launching his site back in 2011.

Caan has two guides and a video package to offer, which teaches you everything you need to know about becoming a successful trader on the betting exchanges.

Read the guide

Caan’s insight into betting exchange trading »

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Matt Kirman – Matched Betting Blogger

Since 2014, I’ve blogged over £85,000 worth of profit, and made it my mission to make matched betting accessible to everyone.

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Tchaitcho
Guest user

How do you prevent getting banned on exchanges as trading activities are quite clear when you keep backing and laying on the same outcome. Would it not be risking the most valuable matched betting tool (your exchange account)

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Reply June 30, 2017 at 9:56 am
1. GG
  Guest user
  
  Betting exchanges are not exposed to the outcome of an event so they will never ban you, you are betting against other individuals with the exchange acting as intermediary
  
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  Reply June 30, 2017 at 10:11 am
2. Marcus
  Guest user
  
  I dont think exchages ban you do they? They just impose that ridiculous 20% charge that Matt mentions in the blog.
  
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  Reply June 30, 2017 at 11:33 am
Dave_Jones
7

Exchanges don’t usually ban you. In the case of BF for example the will often gub you from offers from their Sportsbook if they consider you will not be profitable to them long term, but you will still be free to trade on their exchange.

At one time it was possible to open more than one BF account in your own name however if BF think you are using this facility to manipulate markets then you will be banned. Of if you have opened more than one account in different names for the same purpose then again you will be banned if they catch you.

BF have also recently tightened up on the use of their data. Many new traders like to start off in practise mode, if your manually trading, and make the odd real bet you shouldn’t have a problem. People who like use automation (trading bots) however need to be careful if they do a lot of testing with practise mode, as they are now quite likely to be charged (I think its around £300) for data usage. Some guys have already fallen foul of this new rule. If you don’t pay the fee then you wont be allowed to trade on the exchange.

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Reply June 30, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Al
Guest user

I suppose that one should spend more time in front of the computer while doing bet trading than match betting. Am i correct ?

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Reply June 30, 2017 at 5:43 pm
1. Thomas
  Guest user
  
  Think so chap. I’ve been matched betting for nearly a year now, spend about an hour every evening on it but feel trading would be more time. Very keen to try trading but worried it’s going to eat into time, unless anyone can convince me otherwise..
  
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  Reply June 30, 2017 at 8:04 pm
Dave_Jones
7

@ A1 and Thomas, your both correct in your assumptions. Learning to trade takes a lot more time than Match Betting. In addition to the time spent actually trading in front of your screen (you cant trade from work having a quick look at a smart phone now and again like you can match betting). You need to spend time studying the markets, this can be watching videos, gathering stats reading books etc. Learning to trade is not something to go into thinking its an easy way to make a few quid. Its nothing like match betting where with a little bit of effort and some common sense the money starts rolling in from day one.

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 8:08 am
Paul
Guest user

Trading is a lot more complex than matched betting, definitely needs more time and dedication.

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 10:09 am
happyhomer
3

I would replace “In principle, trading on the betting exchanges is much like trading on the stock exchanges.” with “In principle, trading on the betting exchanges is much like gambling”

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 10:45 am
1. DBLLP
  Guest user
  
  Those two sentences read exactly the same.
  
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  Reply July 3, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Steve
Guest user

For what it’s worth I started trading about six or seven years ago – the learning curve is a tough one, I was convinced the entire market was watching just me so it could move against me as soon as I took a position. I gave up for a few months it was that bad.

The one thing that I found hard – learning to take a loss when the market moves against you, scratch trades or a small loss is no different to the QL in matched betting, part of the deal. I used to watch those videos from people like Bet Angel and see these guys hit a position, market moves perfectly for them, and off they jump – green up, and profit sorted. If only.

I got back into it by laying ‘odds on’ horse racing favs very early – my theory being that the price couldn’t drop much further protecting my downside, and I could take advantage of an easing off as the event gets closer and the market starts to balance out a little. My early mistakes were spotting something priced high believing it would shorten – two seconds later the market moves out and you’re into a loss. Then….and here’s where it really goes wrong….I’d think I’d leave it and trade off in running. Big mistake.

Trading can be very profitable but be prepared for a lot of scratch trades or small loss when the market moves against you (and it will) – it takes time to get decent at it.

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 10:47 am
mark smith
Guest user

Nice comment Steve. I’ve recently been trading Tennis. And have learnt that you have to have a plan going in to the trade and if it doesn’t work get out. If it does work let profits run. Also keep stakes small.

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 2:49 pm
Dave
Guest user

Whathever you do, don’t trade on horses unless you have real time live feed with no delay. You will lose more than you win. lost around £300 trading on them.

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 8:14 pm
Dave
Guest user

buggers also set traps for ppl to back/ lay on horses that have already lost (make you back them) / won (make you lay them)

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Reply July 1, 2017 at 8:19 pm
Steve
Guest user

In reply to your comment there Dave….with horses I’m done and dusted one way or another before the off, no way do I let them go ‘in running’ anymore – an early learning mistake that carried a price tag – not just money but confidence. I’m happy to share my strategy here – I like short priced favs in handicaps and take my position when there isn’t too much money in the market – the money starts flooding in about 10 minutes before the off and it’s during that time I trade off (unless there’s a profit to be made earlier) – if it’s a loss it’s a loss. My strike rate is pretty good – but we’re talking small percentage points here – if I make 10% that’s a good trade to me but most of them are nearer 5%.

Marks comment is also interesting because tennis is an ‘in play’ trade, same as football – the markets aren’t going to move that much until something happens. With that in mind I have traded F1 – the last trade being Hamilton last week – that Azerbaijan circuit is a bit of a challenge, plus all of the other possible outcomes – and Hamilton was priced as low as 1.4 pre-race at one point as I recall. A decent lay opportunity with limited downside risk and plenty of time to trade out if you need to.

I enjoy trading and it’s been ok to me since the pain of the early days – one piece of advice I’d give is maybe not to be sucked into the ‘look how easy it is to make money’ hype – because it isn’t.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 12:07 am
Richard Bond
Guest user

My advice to anyone wanting to trade is to not bother with the horses.
The markets have changed so much now that taking any position in the market is just gambling.
The markets used to be more predictable before the off but now since the launch of bots and automation as well as other influinaces including market manipulators its become very volatile and your better of doing back to lays.
I’ve noticed that a few fulltime traders are offering courses and you have to ask why?
Why offer a course if they are making so much trading?
The truth is a lot of the full time traders are not cutting it anymore and their systems are just not producing the profits they used to.
I found it soon became very boring looking at the ladder interface and with the markets changing so much I’ve moved on to another sport and haven’t look back since.
The biggest problem I found was having big amounts dumped in at random times and found this to be the bookies releasing huge amounts of liabilities which is impossible to predict and take advantage of and having an effect on every horse you can’t help but be affected by this.

Find a sport you enjoy,rack your brain and don’t give up.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 8:59 am
Dave_Jones
7

Thanks for sharing your strategy Steve, its fairly rare that anyone gives away much information about what they do, which is understandable because its quite easy for edges to disappear once everyone knows about them, here are a couple of questions for you.

1. Are you not worried that after reading what you have written your edge might also disappear?

2. Do you use form at all in the selection of which runners you are going to trade, or do you just use the price?

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 9:57 am
Steve
Guest user

Very good point in there Richard – I had an email some time back offering a course from a trader making £2000 per day. If I’d found a strategy to make £2000 a day (or anywhere near it) I’d be keeping my mouth well and truly shut. I’m a big subscriber to what was once referred to as the ‘Zip the Lip’ theory IE. if you’ve got something good going keep your mouth shut.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 10:00 am
1. Richard Bond
  Guest user
  
  I bought the the Betfair scalper course out of interest as the guy’s promise was he is there to help you succeed as a Trader etc etc and all I found were videos on backing the fav before the off.
  I thought fair play to him if people want to hand over their money and after about 3-4 weeks he added another part to the course and was now asking for more Money!
  I think I paid about £40 -£50 for a course that had the promise of our best interest being number one but then he showed his true colours by trying to extract more money by uploading more videos and charging more than the original price.
  This guy apparently trades for a living and make hundreds a day but at the same time wants to take advantage of people who are chasing a dream he created in a few videos of him having some successful trades.
  
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  Reply July 2, 2017 at 10:55 am
JOOLS
Guest user

If your going to be serious about trading. You need the proper tools and software. You wouldnt expect an electrician to do his job without the right tools. Software like Betangel where you can offset your position and trade out a few ticks either way, calculate your stake, etc, etc Set up a bot to this for you.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 3:31 pm
mark smith
Guest user

It’s gambling, but gambling can be profitable. Small stakes for example £5 bank per week and protect the bank. Be right more than your wrong. If your any good you will be able to increase the size of your bank over time.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 3:53 pm
chris
Guest user

to trade properly you need software like betangel, gruss, geeks toy or another.
They are all subscription based so you have to pay a yearly fee for them.
bet Angel costs £120 for the year unless you have a 1/3 off code but it does offer a lot more like soccer mystic, tennis trader so it has more built in that shows you in play which way odds are likely to go.
Betangel is owned by Peter Webb hes been trading since Betfair started so hes already making money back selling his software to other traders.

The big difference with them tho is you can get feeds from betfair every 300 milliseconds so see the prices change miles before the betfair website does and your bets are entered into the market instantly and not within a few seconds like they are via the website.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 4:43 pm
1. Richard Bond
  Guest user
  
  There is no time difference if using software or the site when bets or orders are placed.
  Bets are either placed straight away if before the sport or race has started and then a 3-5 second time delay in-play depending on what sport.
  
  I don’t use Betangel anymore and now I actually trade from my phone so depending on how you choose to trade you don’t need software or to be sat in front of a pc all day.
  
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  Reply July 2, 2017 at 5:56 pm
Steve
Guest user

With regards your comment there Dave – I’m playing around with small stakes by comparison to what goes on in those markets, and if 100 people jumped on it they’d be trading in/out at different points – it won’t make much difference. I think it was Richard who made the comment about sizable stacks of money being placed in the market – if 100 of us played with £100 a trade it would make no difference – most of those racing markets hit over a half million pounds before the off.

With regards form if you are pure trading then it doesn’t come into the equation, all you’re interested in is a price movement – if I believe the price will come in I back to lay, if I believe it will go out I lay to back. Worrying about form is not trading – if you bring form into the equation you’re gambling. I had to take a loss today – I watched Sandy Cove drift out and thought I’d spotted a decent time to jump on (the RP forecast had it around 7.0 as I recall), I saw it hit around 28.0 and seemed to level out – I had to bail a point higher which was just as well because it went way out after that (before the off). It happens.

Some interesting comments on here and some very justified caution – it’s not like match betting where you are either certain you can make a profit or have a measurable QL to get a ‘potential’ profit – trading can be cruel because it needs you to make a decision to take a loss or let it ride because you believe your initial assessment was correct and the market will turn in your favour. As a trader you have to get very used to saying to yourself ‘I was wrong, time to take a small loss or a scratch trade’. And we haven’t even touched on the agonies of taking a small loss or scratch trade and five seconds later the market turns in your favour.

Jeeez – just talking about it makes me wonder why I do it. Someone much earlier said it’s gambling, and it is – you’re gambling on the market going the way you need it to. Yes, you may have traded off before the event starts but that doesn’t mean you haven’t lost money – you lose money because you read the market wrong.

I love this site, I think Matt does a cracking job and the forum has some very sharp contributors – but match betting skills and knowledge is a different game altogether – it’s gambling, and the downside risk is now dependent on your discipline to pull the plug on a bad call.

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Reply July 2, 2017 at 9:07 pm
Dave
Guest user

Can anyone point me in the direction of how to access betfair training mode? Going to have a play around before jumping into any training courses here

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Reply July 3, 2017 at 8:02 pm
Dave_Jones
7

@ Dave are you talking about practise mode? If so then you need to have installed some of the trading software produced by third parties such as Bet Angel or Geeks Toy to access this facility. These are subscription based tools, but they do provide a free trial period.

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Reply July 4, 2017 at 7:53 am

What is trading?

Have I got what it takes to be a trader?

Why learn with Caan Berry?

More reload offers – Make £300+ per month

Got a question?
Leave me a comment below…

Tchaitcho

GG

Marcus

Dave_Jones

Al

Thomas

Dave_Jones

Paul

happyhomer

DBLLP

Steve

mark smith

Dave

Dave

Steve

Richard Bond

Dave_Jones

Steve

Richard Bond

JOOLS

mark smith

chris

Richard Bond

Steve

Dave

Dave_Jones

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About

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Trading on the Betting Exchanges

What is trading?

Have I got what it takes to be a trader?

Why learn with Caan Berry?

More reload offers – Make £300+ per month

Got a question? Leave me a comment below…

Never miss an offer!

Got a question?
Leave me a comment below…