Football Betting, Odds and Tips with BetFair Betting Exchange

For punters looking for reliable and trustworthy source to do their online sports betting with, betting exchange BetFair offer a great alternative to your regular online bookmaker services. First of all, there is the welcome bonus to enjoy, and at BetFair you get a £25 free no loss bet when you open a new account with the betting exchange. This means that after you have deposited your first funds to your account and made your first bet, if that initial bet loses then BetFair will refund that lost first stake up to the value of £25. BetFair is known at the world’s biggest betting community, and this is because a betting exchange works in a slightly different way to an orthodox online bookmaker. Yes, you can go in and make all your bets, just as you would normally, but behind the scenes you are not betting against the bookmaker, you are betting directly against other punters, anonymously of course.

There is a different bit of lingo to learn, as you will be laying and backing odds instead of just having a good old punt on fixed odds. When you lay a bet, you are betting that a certain event will not happen. So if you don’t think that Manchester United will win the forthcoming Community Shield, then you would lay a bet on that event not happening, which is basically the stance from where bookmakers come from. The other side of the bet would be the backer, who would think that Manchester United will win, and when those two parties get together on a betting exchange, then you have a bet. When the backer comes to an agreement with the punter laying the bet, then you have an active bet. That is all that is needed for something to work on a betting exchange, as long as you have the two parties agreeing on any bet then you can have a punt as normal. This is one advantage that a betting exchange has over a regular online bookmaker, as you can probably find bets that you may not be able to pick up at your regular bookie. For the Community Shield, Chelsea can be backed at 1.76 and Manchester United can be backed at 2.06 to win.

So, if you are looking for somewhere to go to do your Barclays Premier League football betting for the new season, then BetFair may well be worth a visit. Everything that you would expect to find on an online bookmaker you can find on the betting exchange BetFair. Calling up the Barclays Premier League betting page, you are presented with a list of the opening fixtures and their match odds, as well as a very handy Outright Winner Odds on the same page. Here we can see Chelsea as favourites to win the Premier League, and you can back them at 2.8 to have boss Carlo Ancelotti to guide them to retain their title. Manchester United can be backed at 3.8 and deep pockets Manchester City can be backed at 6.4. The race for the title seems to have a new kid on the block, as City have overtaken Arsenal in the pecking order. Just as Chelsea started out by paying for the best players on the transfer market, Manchester City are looking as if they are looking set to follow in their footstep and being perceived as a massive threat.

So what of the prices for the opening fixtures of the new season? Let’s take Chelsea v West Brom for a starting point. You can see that Chelsea can be backed at 1.18 to beat West Brom (who can be backed at 22) and there is also the third option of the draw to back at 8.6. But if you need a little more help in order to make your betting selections, then you can click on form stats to help you make your mind up a little easier. You can also click a link to see the full market prices if you want to go a little deeper in your submarket betting for the individual markets. BetFair also stream live football action straight to your computer through their live video service, and you can quickly gain access to other features such as BetFair Multiples and those all important stats pages which can help you plan your betting strategy. Football betting at BetFair of course is much more extensive than just the English Premier League. Again, you can find leagues and tournaments from right around the world.

BetFair Premier League Betting Odds
Liverpool (2.66) v Arsenal (2.96) with a draw at 3.4
Man Utd (1.29) v Newcastle (13.5) with a draw at 6.2
Aston Villa (1.76) v West Ham (5.5) with a draw at 3.75
Bolton (2.3) v Fulham (3.5) with a draw at 3.4
Sunderland (2.22) v Birmingham (3.7) with a draw at 3.35
Blackburn (2.9) v Everton (2.64) with a draw at 3.4
Nottingham (2.6) v Man City (2.98) with a draw at 3.5

Again you will notice little difference between the betting exchange that is BetFair or any regular online bookmaker, as the basics are the same. You may well find after signing up for a new account there, you will find that you have more betting options in terms of markets to explore. Simply put, if you can match someone’s bet or you can get your bet matched, then you can probably pick up odds on things you wouldn’t find normally. All other sports are there already organized in the left hand navigation menu, which drives the site, and the site itself is a very clean and easily navigable place to go and do your betting with. There is even more aside from the sports book as you can enjoy the BetFair Financial Trader, Arcade, Poker and Casino if you want, which come with their own array of promotions. But focusing back on football betting, there are live scores to keep you up to date, as well as forum where you can engage in betting chat with other keen punters. BetFair is a great place to have in your betting arsenal, and of course, just as there is no harm in having more than one bookmaker which you have signed up for, there is no harm in having a betting exchange account as well.