Advanced Options and Tricks on Betfair

This post outlines some of the things you can do to fine tune your use of Betfair. It is mainly aimed at people who use Betfair for arbing, although some of the tricks can be used for matched betting.

Betting Less than £2

The minimum bet at Betfair is £2, but occasionally it may be useful to place less than this, for example if you have made a mistake. Betfair do not like you doing this, so it is wise to do it sparingly.

eg to place a bet of 50p:

Place a lay bet of £2 at 1.01 (for a back bet use 1000)

change the stake to £2.50. 2 bets will appear , one for £2, one for 50p.

cancel the £2.

move the 50p to the required odds.

There is a video illustrating this technique here.

Keep Bets

Sometimes you may feel that it is worth queuing to get matched at a better price – this is risky and only recommended if you are happy with the risk. In markets which will go in play on Betfair it is wise to insure yourself against forgetting about your bet by selecting “keep bets” on the unmatched betslip, as shown below.

For horse races this has the added advantage that if there is a non runner your bet is automatically kept in the queue at the revised odds after the reduction factor has been applied. You need to select keep bets individually for every bet you want to keep. If you don’t and they are still unmatched they will be cancelled when the market suspends, either to go in play or if there is a non runner.

Australian wallet

Due to the rather strange laws about betting in Australia, the only way Betfair are allowed to have markets on Australian sports is by having a completely separate Australian wallet. This means that you can’t bet on any of the Australian markets unless you have funds in this wallet, even if you have funds in your main wallet at Betfair. Transferring is quick and easy, but even so it can cost you an arb, so if there is a big sporting event that you are likely to want to bet on in Australia, it is wise to load up your Aussie wallet in preparation.

Note that Betfair need you to complete KYC details in order to withdraw from the Aussie wallet – see http://kyc.betfair.com/index.html for more information.

Shared Liability

Betfair charge commission on overall winnings on the market, not on individual bets. Therefore it is advantageous to find arbs on as many selections in the same market as possible, whether they be horses (but be aware of rule 4) or correct scores, or even football teams. You can even very occasionally get into the excellent position of an “all red” screen, where whatever happens you will win money and pay no commission. Be careful however, not to back too many outcomes at the same bookie – they don’t like it!

An example of the advantage:

I place 2 £50 arbs at different bookies on horses in the same race. I lay £53 on each. If one of the horses wins I win the amount generated by that arb, but I also win £53 at Betfair and lose only £50 at the bookie on the horse that doesn’t win. Providing that the p&l figure on the losing horse is red, I will pay no commission on this market. So I win an extra £3.

You will also find that because the stake on the 2nd horse balances some of the liability on the first, backing 2 in the same race releases some money into your Betfair account as long as the liability on the 2nd horse is less than that on the first. This is useful if you have only a small bank.

Voided and Cancelled Bets

Sometimes bets are voided, for example if you bet on a non runner or a tennis match in which someone is injured in the first set. These bets do not appear on your Betfair account statement and you may wonder what has happened. Although if you go to Current Bets in your account you can find a section which says “voided” they do not appear here. You need to go to Betting History and look in there.