Betfair Lay Betting - What is lay betting?

Bets.com.au Staff

Editor

Last updated: Tue 25 Feb 2025 01:31

Bets.com.au Staff 25 Feb 2025

Share this article

We cast our eye over the Lay Betting option with Betfair.

Jordan Spieth lines up a putt on the 12th green at the Sheshan International (Getty Images)

Why Lay Bet With Betfair

Sometimes it can be easier to find a horse or sporting team that won't win opposed to finding the actual winner of the race or match itself.

Can't find the winner but you're confident that a certain candidate or even multiple runners can't win? Lay Betting with Betfair is your answer.

What is a Lay Bet?

Lay betting is completely unique to Betfair Exchange. When you place a Lay bet you are betting on an outcome NOT to happen.

You are effectively offering a price that other users can Back Bet with you.

Examples of a Lay Bet include:

Angel Capital NOT to win the Australian Guineas
Carlos Alcaraz NOT to win the French Open
Penrith Panthers NOT to win the 2025 NRL Premiership

What do the Odds Represent?

The odds you will see in the pink column of the market view, the Lay price, is the price that someone wants to place a Back Bet at but is yet to be matched (an offer).

You have the opportunity to take this offer straight away rather than putting your own odds up. Alternatively, you can enter your own odds, and see if it gets matched.

What are the Key Components of Lay Betting?

The three main cores of a Lay Bet are:

Lay odds - the odds which you are prepared to give someone wanting to place a Back Bet.
Backers Stake - the amount you are prepared to let the backer bet with you. This is your potential winnings.
Liability - (Lay Odds) x (Backer’s Stake) – (Backer’s Stake). This is the amount you are risking.

Betfair Lay Betiing article — Can't find a winner? Pick the loser instead. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

An example on Golf:

You don’t think Jordan Spieth can win the US Masters and you see the Lay odds are $8. You decide to Lay Jordan Spieth for a Backers Stake of $50.

This means your liability is $8 x $50 = $400 – $50 = $350. So if Jordan Spieth doesn’t come first, you will make $50 (the Backers Stake).

If Jordan Spieth does win, you lose $350.

An added benefit of lay betting with Betfair is the ability to ‘trade out’ of an earlier bet that you may have had.

Betfair Key Facts

How does the Betfair Exchange work?

The Betfair Exchange profits through charging commissions rather than by including a profit margin like a regular bookmaker does.

A betting exchange provides members with opportunity to bet against each other rather than a bookmaker and Betfair take their clip only off winning punters.

Betting exchanges allow users the flexibility to find odds and markets they want rather than risking a bookmaker who can dictate the stake and price for a selection.