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Man of Mystery

I opened my Betfair account on 22nd April 2003. I was one of the first subscribers to Adam Todd's BetTrader and was a founding partner of JuiceStorm.com on 17th February 2007.

Latest posts by Man of Mystery (see all)

• The TopTrap Greyhound Profit And Loss Account On Betfair - March 17, 2022
• Betfair Best Execution – 11 Requested & Filled At 320 - January 16, 2022
• BTB System e-book - March 13, 2015

Racing can suffer badly in a freezing winter with even some of the “all-weather” tracks unable to cope, and many UK and European football matches will be cancelled as well. Whether you are a serious arber trying to keep your commission rate down or a matched bettor wanting to do more offers, this presents a problem. I have no magic answers to this, but hopefully I can help a bit by pinpointing some sports you might not have considered.

Always check for rules differences before you bet on any sport – there are articles on rules differences for popular sports in our Knowledge Base.

Foreign football – obviously some of these matches will not be affected by the weather, but you should be aware that if you place large bets at value odds on the very minor leagues, the bookmakers are likely to retaliate by limiting or closing your account. The advice is always stick to the major leagues, even if it is frustrating to do so. Markets such as half time/full time, over/under and correct score are all perfectly safe to arb, handicaps and asian handicaps are ok if you understand what you are doing. For more information on these, see this post.

Rugby is safe as far as I am aware, providing that you stick to UK and International matches. Liquidity isn’t great on rugby though.

Darts and snooker are winter sports which are safe to arb, providing that you stick to the match odds markets, and make sure that there are the same number of options at Betfair and bookie (just occasionally some tournaments have a draw option although this is not the normal format for these sports). Avoid markets like most 180s as these can have rules differences.

January sees the start of the new tennis season. Although tennis carries a massive warning about rules differences, there are some bookies which have the same rules as Betfair and are perfectly safe. These include Betfred, BGbet/Corbettsports, Eurosportbet, Extrabet, Skybet, Sportingbet, Totesport and Unibet. Set betting is safe at most bookies (avoid Gamebookers and Partybets) as the market is voided if the match is not completed.

Cricket is another sport which can be useful, although you should be aware of the implications of the tie. This is much less likely to be a problem in test matches, which can safely be arbed. Avoid 20/20 cricket as there can be rules issues if it is decided on a bowl-out or similar.

Although we do not currently have oddsmatching software for some of these sports, they are listed on http://www.oddschecker.com and other odds comparison sites. Liquidity can be low until near the start of the event on some sports, although tennis is often not too bad.

One word of warning – some of these sports may require you to use the Australian wallet at Betfair:

Important information regarding Betting on events taking place in Australia:

Bets placed on events taking place in Australia are covered by our Australian licence. Before placing any bets on this market it is important that you understand the regulatory requirements imposed by the Australian regulators and how they might affect you.

The Australian Wallet:

You will need to transfer money into the Australian Wallet before you can bet on any event held in Australia. Any funds held within this wallet may only be used on Australian markets. Help on how to transfer funds between betting wallets can be found here.

Before you can withdraw money from your Australian Wallet, you must meet the Australian regulator’s requirements for Identity Verification. If you haven’t done so within 90 days from your first transfer into the Australian Wallet, it will be suspended and you will not be able to use any funds in it until the validation is complete.

If you are betting on sports which might be based in Australia, you should always have the rules tab set as your default at Betfair. (To do this, click “more options” underneath the refresh button on Betfair, and in “Help Display” untick “display Bet Help as my default). The rules tab will show the Australian flag near the bottom for Aussie markets, and will also have a red warning saying “Please read before placing a bet on this market”. ALWAYS make sure you have sufficient funds in your Aussie wallet before you place your bet at the bookmaker. You will not be allowed to use the money in your main wallet to lay your bet, and although transferring funds is quick and easy (using the “transfer” button next to the main wallet), it wastes precious time and this can be expensive.