Betfair Trading: How to Trade Football Matches Profitably

Unlike traditional football betting, Betfair trading allows you to lock in profits regardless of the final result of the match.

In this post we will guide you through the world of Betfair trading, exploring its benefits, risks, and strategies for success.

Whether you're a seasoned trader or a beginner, you're sure to find some valuable insights and tips for making the most of your Betfair trading experience.

What is Betfair Trading?

Betfair is the worlds largest betting exchange. It allows customers to place bets against each other, rather than against a bookmaker. 

It's exchange model creates a peer-to-peer betting system, allowing its users to act as both the punter and the bookmaker.

The biggest advantage of trading football matches on Betfair over traditional bookmakers is that it often offers better odds. This is because the odds on Betfair are determined by supply and demand, rather than by a bookmaker's profit margin.

Another key difference is the ability to trade bets. With traditional bookmakers, once you have placed a bet, you are locked in at that price. With Betfair, you can buy and sell bets at any time, allowing you to lock in profits or limit losses.

Betfair offers a wide range of markets. In addition to the match result and over/under goals markets, Betfair offers markets such as Asian Handicap and Correct Scores. This variety provides traders with many opportunities to profit in different ways.

Overall, Betfair offers a unique betting experience that differs significantly from traditional bookmakers. However, it also carries risks, such as market volatility and the need for discipline. A low risk system such as Assured Soccer Profits allows you to trade football matches using Betfair successfully.

Trading or Gambling?

There are a number of differences between trading and gambling; perhaps the most obvious is the mindset of the individual.

When trading any sporting event on Betfair, the ultimate aim is to “green up”.

As a trader you will open your position either before or during the event, then look to reduce your liability attached to that position given certain events in-play. 

Those events may be goals, cards, market movements and time decay. Once you have secured your profit then sit back and relax. A profit on Betfair is shown as a green figure, which is where the term “greening up” comes from.

As you can see from the example below a profit has been secured on all possible score outcomes.  A football trading strategy such as Assured Soccer Profits makes the Correct Score market much lower risk and allows you to grow your bank safely irrespective of which team scores!

If things don't go to plan, you can accept a managed loss rather than chase a profit. Being disciplined enough to accept these small losses is perhaps the most difficult skill to learn.

You will have set up your trading plan with a strategy and the very second that that strategy is abandoned in the hope of ‘just one more goal’, then you become a gambler.

Sometimes that goal will be scored, but often it won’t be and the loss will be considerably more. It’s all about managing risk.

You will accept a number of small profits in order to increase your trading bank. However a gambler takes risks. They might grow their bank faster but when losses occur, they will be bigger and more damaging.

In football, as with life, there is no such thing as a certainty. With Betfair trading, the match can be traded in order to produce a profit no matter what the final result.

Trading with reasoned, manageable risk can produce consistent profits over many years.

Betfair Trading for Beginners

There are a number of ways to define trading. You've probably heard the saying, "buy low, sell high".

Perhaps the simplest trade to understand is in the retail sector. Your local supermarket will buy cans of beans from a supplier and then offer them for sale at a higher price. The difference is their profit.

With football trading, the commodities are goals and time. Each game lasts 90 minutes and in that time, the market prices will be constantly changing. This allows traders to buy and sell positions in a large number of markets in the hope that they can exit those positions later in the game for a profit.

The biggest factor which influences prices is goals. The markets will move depending on which team scores the goal, the time of the goal, etc. Goals are essential and the more there are, the easier it is to trade for a profit.

This is why it is sensible to use a proven football trading strategy like the Assured Soccer Profits system which was launched back in 2011 and is still making consistent low-risk profits today.  

Backing and Laying

A traditional bookmaker offers ‘back’ bets. You can pick a football match and back a certain event to occur, such as the home team to win. However, what if you think that they wont win?

Betfair, offers both ‘back’ and ‘lay’ bets. You can back the home team to win or lay them. As long they fail to win, your lay bet produces a profit.

Betting exchanges match backers and layers, with the winner paying a commission. Every customer is completely anonymous and a £100 back bet may well be matched with more than one layer.

Here is an example of a typical betting exchange market.

You can see that Man City are favourites to win the match against Liverpool. They are available to back at odds of 1.75 and lay at 1.76. You can also see that there is a total of £14663 available to back at 1.75. In the top right of the screen is the “matched” amount which tells us that £1,056,243 worth of bets have already been matched on this market.

If you back Man City for £100 at 1.75, the exchange will take that £100 from your account and match it to a layer who was prepared to offer those odds. This happens in a fraction of a second. The layer’s liability is £75.00 (£100 x 1.75 – less the original £100 stake) and this amount is taken from the layer’s exchange account.

If Man City win, you will have the original stake of £100 returned plus a profit of £73.50 (£75.00 less betfair commission). If Man City do not win, you will lose your stake of £100 and the layer will receive their original liability of £75.00 back plus a profit of £100 less commission.

Professional Betfair Traders

Professional Betfair traders are individuals who make a living by trading on the Betfair exchange. They are typically experienced and skilled in analysing betting markets, identifying value opportunities, and manage their risk accordingly.

One of the key characteristics of successful Betfair traders is discipline. They have a well-defined and tested trading plan and are able to stick to it consistently. They have the ability to remain calm and focused during periods of market volatility, avoiding impulsive decisions that could lead to significant losses.

Professional Betfair traders carefully manage their bankroll, using staking plans and stop-loss orders to limit losses and protect their capital. They have a deep understanding of the risks associated with their chosen markets and strategies, and are able to adjust their trading plan accordingly.

By using a variety of strategies and tools to identify value opportunities and manage their risk, they are able to consistently generate profits over the long-term.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Betfair trading can be a lucrative and exciting way to profit from football matches. Whether you're a seasoned trader or just starting out, there are many tools and strategies available to help you make informed trades and manage your bankroll effectively.

As we've explored in this blog, successful Betfair trading requires a solid understanding of how the markets work as well as a disciplined approach to risk management and staking. It's important to develop a trading plan that fits your trading style, and to stick to it consistently over time.

A proven low-risk correct score trading strategy such as Assured Soccer Profits will dramatically increase your chances of success and help you to achieve long-term bank growth.