For a long time, sports bettors were limited to only betting on the winning horses, teams, players, etc. with the betting company. The only way you can bet on a non-winning selection is by backing all other outcomes of an event.

In the case of horse racing, this means having to support every other horse other than the one you think will lose, which I’m sure you can appreciate, is a very monotonous affair. Imagine covering forty horse odds at the Grand National just so you can bet that one won’t win!

With the advent of the internet, and sports betting exchanges, all of this has changed – for the better. Now, if you want to bet on a selection that doesn’t win, you can! Just visit a betting exchange like Betfair or Betdaq, and you will find a large number of punters willing to bet against you that the horse, or team, or whatever will win.

So this is a lay bet and basically the opposite of support. Basically what you do by placing a bet is taking the place of the bookie, whose position is usually like this.

How placement opportunities work

When you place a lay bet, your odds are essentially the opposite of what the backer is offering. If you issue 1-3 odds that a horse will not win, you offer 3-1 to anyone who is happy to match bets.

Be careful when placing outsiders! When you bet that an outsider (say with odds of 40.0) will lose, you are basically saying that for every £1 the backer bets against you, you will pay £40 if the horse wins. If the backer bets £100 on a horse with 40.0 and the horse wins, you will be responsible for £4000. On the betting exchange you can say how much you want your maximum liability but even with a minimum bet of £2 you will be in charge of £80 and your winnings will mean nothing!

How to ‘Place’ a football bet

The lay bet is perfect for football bettors. It’s very exciting because there are so many betting options with soccer, such as correct score line, first goal scorer, correct result and so on. Lay bets on football matches are not restricted like horse racing betting.

To place a football bet, all you need to do is:

1. Open an account with an exchange if you don’t have one.

2. Select the soccer betting section and click on the specific event in question.

3. The number of betting markets will now be highlighted. The importance of a football match will determine how many markets will be available. Click on the specific lay bet you want i.e. home win.

4. Decide how much you want to bet and the exchange will calculate what is the maximum liability you can incur.

5. Confirm bets.

The lay bet on the exchange applies to almost every sport out there. Check out Betfair or Betdaq and play their website to find out more about the types of odds available!

This article was written by Marcus Holland – a sports and betting expert based in Hemel Hempstead, England. Marcus graduated from the University of Plymouth with a BA (Hons) in business studies and is the owner of the Compare Bookies website.

Check out the site for more information on sports betting including betting tips, bookie reviews, betting guides, odds matching, sports news, free sports betting and odds comparison services.

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