A LAY bet is when you bet AGAINST a result happening. Most bettors are used to placing BACK bets where they are betting FOR a result happening
Sounds complicated? Well it really isn’t and I’ll explain why.
Let’s take the match between Fulham and Man City as an example. Man City are strong favourites to win. Fulham’s results have improved recently and you think they won’t be beaten by Man City. You therefore want to LAY Man City winning. So how can you do that then?
The COMPLICATED way to LAY a result…
With a traditional bookmaker you would need to place 2 BACK bets – 1) Fulham to win and 2) the match to be a Draw. At the time of writing, the best bookmaker odds available are 10.5 for Fulham to win and 5.0 for the match to be a Draw (the best price for Man City to win is 1.37).
So say you place 2 BACK bets and put £50 on each outcome. Fulham win the match, your net profit is £425. That’s £475 for the winning bet on Fulham less the losing £50 BACK bet you placed on the Draw). The match is Drawn, your net profit is £150 (£200 winnings for the Draw less £50 placed on Fulham). Man City win you lose both your BACK bet stakes, so -£100.
Tip – I’ve shown the odds in the ‘Decimal’ format but odds are commonly shown in the traditional UK ‘Fractional’ format. Click HERE for an explanation
In the example above your profit will vary depending on whether Fulham Win or Draw. You might prefer to place bets so that you win a fixed amount if Man City don’t win. The way to do this is to DUTCH your 2 BACK bets to achieve an equal profit. Your total £100 stake is split £32.26 at 10.5 on Fulham and £67.74 on the Draw at 5.0. Here the net profit will be £238.71 whether Fulham win or Draw. For the total DUTCHED stake of £100 on Man City not winning your decimal price is 3.38
Tip – click HERE for a free DUTCHING calculator from Goal profits.com
The EASY way to LAY a result…
Place a lay bet on a betting exchange like Betfair! In the example below we’re placing a single LAY bet on Man City. There’s a potential loss (Red) of -£100.00 against Man City . There’s a profit (Green) of £263.16 if Fulham win or the match is drawn.
With a maximum risk of £100 from the previous example, you would lose £100 if Man City win the match. If they don’t win the match your profit would be £263.16 (less commission). If we assume a commission rate of 2% the net win would be £257.90 . Equivalent to a decimal price of 3.58 compared to the lower price above of 3.38 via best prices across traditional bookmakers!
Tip – on Betfair ‘Blue’ = BACKING and PINK = Laying. RED amounts are your LIABILITY (if you lose) and GREEN is your PROFIT (if you win)
How do I place a LAY bet on a Betting Exchange?
- Sign up for an account and deposit some funds. The major betting exchange is Betfair and you can sign up HERE. This LINK has details of other exchanges such as Betdaq, Smarkets and Matchbook. It is worth ensuring you have accounts with at least a couple of exchanges to ensure you get the possible possible prices for your bets
- To place a Lay bet on Man City in the Fulham v Man City match, you simply click on the Pink button with a price of 1.38 and enter your stake (see the 2nd image below). If you put in a stake of £100 your liability if Man City win would be £38 and if they don’t you will win (your Profit) is £100 less commission. This is shown on the image below although note at the current time the price to LAY Man City has gone up to 1.40 so the liability to a £100 stake is £40.
Tip – when BACKING on Betfair, your STAKE is the amount you lose if your bet loses (your LIABILITY). When LAYING, your STAKE is the amount you win if your LAY is successful (your PROFIT, less commission)
