How Do Bookies Lay Off Bets
If you are just starting as a bookie or if you are already an established bookie with numerous players that bet with you then you will all but definitely be using a pay per head website to book your action.
Sure you could be using paper and pen and taking wagers thru text and a phone call from your players but this is a ton of work and there is no way you would possibly be able to offer anywhere near the amount of wagering options that a PPH service could.
These services provide you with a website with updated up to the second odds on thousands of sporting events and props every day. They take care of all the technical aspects of the lines so that you as the bookie can focus on acquiring more players and managing your payments and collections with your players.
Lay betting is an option on exchanges like Betfair where bettors can play the bookmaker, offering odds to sell a bet instead of to back a bet. It is one component of matched betting, where punters both back. Unfortunately, at this moment in time, bookies have the right (legally but not ethically) to make various restrictions on your account such as; 1) ban your participation in promotional offers.
In a nutshell, matched betting uses maths to guarantee that you will keep a large percentage of the free money and, by doing so, profit off of bookies. Matched betting works on the Back and Lay principle. A back bet is the one you place for a particular outcome to come true – for example, you bet. Balancing The Book. The actual term ‘bookmaker‘ simply comes from the practice of laying bets, and more specifically, the recording of these bets in a ledger or book, hence ‘making a book’. When making a book, the bookie is simply laying. Lay betting is betting against a result. If you look at any online bookmaker, they are laying every single bet on their site. It is then up to the punter to decide whether they think a certain outcome will happen,.
One question that often comes up with bookies is how they go about balancing the bets they receive. The easy answer is that if a bookie wants to balance their book then they would need to have a personal account where they would be able to make bets themselves. So for example, if a bookie has 10k on the Patriots and only 2k on the opposing side, that means they are exposed 8k on the Patriots, and if they wanted to layoff or hedge some of the 8k risk they could bet a certain amount on the opposing team.
However, it must be acknowledged that having a balanced book is not something that is going to be that common, because to successfully have that you would need to have thousands of players betting with you and even if you had that many players the public still generally bets the favorites in most games in a lopsided amount.
So even though in theory it would be nice to always have a balanced book and just collect the juice and not have any risk, this is not something that in reality can be achieved all the time, unless you are constantly laying off action. However the whole premise of being a bookie is to take risks, and the bookies that make the most money are not the ones that layoff action, but are the ones that instead leave their book unbalanced and take the risk that the public will be wrong more cases than not, which over the long term is what happens in this industry.
But if you are truly worried about the risk of having an unbalanced book and laying off at least part of the action, then using a pay per head service such as AcePerHead.com is the perfect service to use because they have a wager alert feature that you can set on your account.
This feature allows the bookie to either place a phone number or email so they can receive bets based on the parameters they set. So, for example, you can set up an alert to get every bet from every player or you can set it to just get alerts on certain wagers over a certain amount and on specific players. Then using these alerts the bookie can lay off bets on his personal betting account. Or a bookie can use Ace’s exposure report and see a detailed report of how much action the bookie has on each game and he can then use that information to determine if he wants to
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Most of the major bookies now let you “cash out” your accumulators but that may not be the best way to secure the profit. If you have a betting exchange account you can lay bets off to get a potentially bigger profit or cover your stake.
Lay bets are different to traditional types of bet and can often be a good way to boost your winnings on a wager.
They’re becoming increasingly popular with more advanced punters and are regularly used when using a Matched Betting strategy.
Only a select number of outlets offer lay betting, so if you’re looking to get in on the act then you need to pick your sites carefully. At Betting Apps, we know all you need to know about lay off bets, and below you’ll find our complete guide on what they are and how you place them.
Betting Exchange Apps
What Are Lay Bets?
Lay bets are a type of bet that are exclusively offered by betting exchanges as opposed to traditional Android or iPhone betting apps and basically work on the basis that you make a bet against a specific outcome happening.
For example:
Let’s say you wanted to bet on a football match between Liverpool and Everton. If you were to place a bet at a regular bookmaker, you’d be placing a wager on a team to win. In this instance let’s say Liverpool.
With a bookmaker such as William Hill, you would make a ‘Back’ bet on Liverpool, as you would be backing them to win the game.
However, in a betting exchange like Betfair, you can place a ‘Lay’ bet which means you would be betting against them, meaning you would win the bet should the match finish a draw or Liverpool win the game.
How Do Bookies Lay Off Bets This Week
This ultimately means two outcomes are in your favour and one isn’t when playing this particular Lay bet.
How To Lay Bets Off To Secure Profit
Placing a lay bet is relatively easy, however, you need to find a betting exchange that will offer the ability to do so.
If you haven’t got an account with a betting exchange just yet, not to worry. Check out the list of betting exchanges in the table above, select one and register for a new account. You may also be fortunate enough to pick up a new customer deal in the process.
Once your account is opened you can begin to place lay bets. There are a number of reasons for why you would do so. Most commonly that’s as part of a Matched Betting tactic, although you can also benefit from placing a lay bet when playing an accumulator in-play.
In Matched Betting the idea is simple, it’s about covering all outcomes with value. In the case of the latter, it’s a lot more interesting and offers a solid way to earn some returns.
The way to do this is by first finding a bet that’s winning that you want to lay off. This works best when you’re down to the last game, make sure you have a note of the odds and your stake.
Now you need to calculate how to lay it off, start by going to backlaybettingcalculator.com and open the calculator. Enter the details of your accumulators’ odds, stake and the lay odds for the final game. Then hit calculate and it will tell you the exact lay stake. Remember to add the relevant commission level for your chosen betting exchange app.
The amount locked in is almost always higher than the “cash-out” option from the bookies, just make sure you double-check the numbers so you’re getting the best profit.
For Example:
From the images above we created an example of how this is done using the iPhone calculator app.
In this scenario, we have backed an acca at 50.00 (£5 at 49/1) and we have one game to go. The odds for the lay is at 1.5, with lay odds appearing in red, so we’ve added these details to the calculator.
If we let it run the acca is set to return a £245 profit, but if we’re nervous we can lay £166.67 at 1.5. Remember this is a lay so the liability is £83.34, which you will need to have in your account. If we place the lay we are secured a £161 profit regardless of the outcome. With this example showing a 5% commission rate by the relevant exchange bookmaker, net profit of £153 is the actual amount returned, regardless of outcome.
Choosing when to place a lay bet in this scenario is always down to your own judgement. You might decide it’s the best time to lay off if, for example, the team takes the lead and it’s 1-0 with 10 minutes. You’d still lay off at that point and make a profit. The odds will probably be around 1.18 so we’ve added this as an example. If added to the calculator you can now get a £206 profit.
It’s always worth checking the odds to lay on bets if you feel nervous. It’s your choice if and when you do it but it’s good to cover it as there’s nothing worse than losing a big acca to a last-minute equaliser!
Where To Place Lay Bets
You can only place lay bets at betting exchanges. Generally, these are a little few and far between, particularly in comparison to the number of standard iPhone and Android betting apps on the market.
We’d always recommend Betfair, Betdaq or Smarkets Exchange. They’re our most trusted Exchange bookmakers. All three betting Exchange providers offer a large number of markets to place lay bets on and every major fixture across football, horse racing, and many other sports are available.
You can ultimately place a lay bet on any sport and any market. If the betting Exchange is offering lay bets, then you can use the methods above to cover all bases and make a profit.
How Do Bookies Lay Off Bets
They give you that extra safety net, and if you need that in your gameplay, then using lay bets is definitely for you.