Best Way To Deal With Rule 4 Deductions

Not sure how Smarkets operate, but I think Betfair applies a reduction factor to all horses, based on their odds and the volume of money staked on said horse. You can see what this reduction factor is by clicking the graph on any given race page and selecting the horse you are interested in.

By and large if Rule 4 applies then yes, you will end up having your back and lay odds adjusted by ‘roughly’ the same amount. It only actually becomes an issue though if the horse wins – if not the amount you have laid the horse for will not change, it is the odds you would have paid out on that would have changed.

The above assumes that Rule 4 kicks in after you have both backed and layed a horse… where Rule 4 is more of a thought is when you might have backed a horse but not yet layed it (e.g. perhaps you take a price boost and are waiting for the lay odds to fall back to pre-boost levels…) In those situations you will need to calculate your “new” back odds in order to lay an appropriate amount.

No expert on this rule 4 deductions, but having being matched betting for almost a year I have only had this applied to 1 of my races which was a couple of weeks a go. The horse won and I noticed my return was halved. At first I thought I was on for a big loss but then noticed the odds at Smarkets were adjusted and overall I was in the same position anyway (maybe a £1 or so down) but nothing to worry about in the end.

Before starting matched betting I read up quite a bit, and the rule 4 from what people were making out was a real issue and could cost you lots, but like I say only been hit once with it and cost me next to nothing.