Betting exchange: the advantages for the bettor
The advantage for the bettor is that he does not have to challenge a bookmaker, he will not have problems with bans if he is a winner.
Furthermore, in the betting exchange platforms, in general, much higher odds than the market average are offered, as prices are offered and established by other users.
The main betting exchange platforms (Betfair) retain a commission for the service (usually 5% calculated on the profit of the winning bet).
Ben Michaels (pro trader): "strategies to start winning with the Betting Exchange"
From today we will start a series of interviews with professional sports traders of international level of the Betting Exchange.
But I have to make a premise and I have to admit, this is one of the few interviews that doesn't leave me numb, but it causes me a whirlwind of emotions, because today I'm about to introduce you to one of the English sports traders from Betfair that I respect most: Ben Michaels.
I consider him a kind of teacher. When I landed in Malta many years ago, I already knew the mechanisms and functioning of the betting exchange but I was unaware of the hundreds of techniques and strategies that could be applied on Betfair on the back and lay.
At the time, the exchange was not yet operational in Italy. I learned most of them thanks to him. Online the material was very meager, there were only outdated strategies.
His feedback was invaluable in getting into the heads of professional sports traders and also understanding how they think and operate on the markets.
His work was also precious to direct my energies on the right techniques, always starting from the assumption of the eternal search for the expected value of the shares.
Compared to other pros, Ben Michaels had the merit of sharing his experience, largely with tons of material first on his SportTradingLife blog (one of the very first blogs on the exchange) and then on Youtube on his channel (which has the same blog name). He then also created paid platforms.
"Lay the draw was the first strategy I applied in the Betting Exchange"
LDF: Welcome to Imtrader, it is an honor to host you on our blog. Raise us a curiosity: what strategy did you start with in the Betting Exchange and what strategy do you suggest today to start understanding how sport trading works?
BM: Good question. When I started studying football markets, the strategy that was in vogue at the time was “ Lay The Draw ” (bank the draw, also called LTD).
On the surface, this strategy - in the early years - was very easy to follow, because no one really knew what the correct in-play odds of the tie should be and it was easy to lay the X and then bet on a very high odds after the first goal.
LDF How have the markets changed?
BM Today the markets are much wiser and more efficient. So the odds are much more realistic especially after the first goal the market reacts with the right odds.
Unfortunately I missed the gold rush with Lay The Draw, because when I entered the market there were now too many bots and I couldn't take advantage of inefficient prices. But I didn't lose faith and I adapted my strategy to Lay the draw in the second half .