Smarkets Exchange Guide

Smarkets are one of the most technologically advanced betting exchanges globally. With industry-leading commission rates, they pose a serious threat to Betfair in the betting exchange sector.

This guide will help you set up a Smarkets Exchange account and introduce you to their platform.

Smarkets commission rates

Betting exchanges make their money by charging commission on winning bets, usually a small percentage of your winnings.

Smarkets charge 2% commission as standard on net winnings for any given market, which is an industry low. You will not be charged commission on net losses.

Smarkets sign up offer

Smarkets are currently offering new customers a £10 bonus to get things started. Sign up and deposit £20 with a card or bank transfer, and Smarkets will refund your first £10 of losses in cash.

Click here to get this offer, and you should see a page that looks like this.

Hit ‘CLAIM £10 BONUS‘, and you’ll see the following registration form…

There’s no promotion code required to claim this offer, so complete the form and hit ‘CONTINUE‘.

Once you’ve entered the last few bits of info, hit ‘SAVE DETAILS‘, and you’re all set!

Depositing funds

Depositing funds with Smarkets is pretty much the same as with any bookmaker.

Click the ‘DEPOSIT‘ button from the drop-down in the top right corner if you’re using the site’s desktop version. If you’re using the mobile site or app, you need to click your balance in the bottom right corner and select ‘DEPOSIT‘.

You’ll see many payment methods available, including debit cards, instant bank transfer and Apple Pay.

Smarkets homepage

The Smarkets Exchange is very user-friendly, and finding your way around should be pretty straightforward.

If you’re looking for a particular event, you can use the search box at the page’s top (desktop) or bottom (mobile).

Smarkets list all available sports down the left-hand side of the desktop homepage, and they showcase the top markets in the centre. Say, for example, you want to look at the markets for Romania v Iceland; you can select it here.

Smarkets markets

Once you’ve selected an event, you’ll see a page that looks like this.

The available markets are listed down the centre of the page.

More often than not, though, it’s the Full-time result market you’re looking for, so let’s take a closer look at that now.

Smarkets Exchange explained

Smarkets split all markets into two halves; a green half and a blue half. The green column displays the best available back odds for each selection, whilst the blue column displays the best available lay odds.

Matched betting is all about placing lay bets that match your bookmaker bets, so it’s the blue column you’re interested in.

The monetary values underneath the odds represent liquidity, which is how much is available to back or lay at those particular odds.

How to lay a bet on Smarkets

Laying a bet on the Smarkets Exchange is pretty straightforward.

You find the selection you want to lay and click the corresponding blue button. So, if you wanted to lay Romania, you would click the ‘1.62‘ button…

Smarkets will add the selection to your bet slip. You then need to enter the amount you wish to lay in the ‘STAKE‘ box and click ‘PLACE TRADE‘ (mobile) or ‘SELL‘ (desktop)…

I’ve entered a lay stake of £10. As soon as you enter your lay stake, Smarkets will display your potential profit or loss for the possible outcomes on the left-hand side.

As you can see, the liability for this lay bet is £6.20.

So, to clarify here. You are betting against Romania.

If Romania win, you’ll lose £6.20 to the backer.
If Romania lose or draw, you’ll win the backer’s stake of £10.

Final words

That’s pretty much all you need to know about the Smarkets Exchange, and it is a fantastic platform for placing lay bets.

Don’t worry if you’re still a little unsure of things. Betting exchanges can take a bit of time to understand, and that’s perfectly normal.

Everything should click into place once you get started and complete your first couple of offers.