[H Wragg]

A few folk in my work have recommended Betfair so I've been having a wee look at the site.
I'm not 100% sure on how the "lay" betting thing works and the online help isn't the best.

What I want to know is how much you win/lose on a bet. My understanding is as follows.

If I lay a team for £10 at 3.00 and they win the game then I will be £20 down.

If I lay a team for £10 at 3.00 and they lose/draw then I will be £10 up.

Am I correct??

Edit:- I'm now really confused. Having looked at it again it appears that if the team lose/draw I will be £30 up, not £10. How can this be? I thought all I was doing was what a bookie does, ie take £10 from the punter and if he wins pay him out £30 (his tenner back plus my £20 (ie the 3.00) but if he loses I put the £10 in my sky rocket, end of story. Where does the £30 come from if I win??

This post has been edited by H Wragg: 10 October 2006 - 18:43

[edinlichtie]

When you lay, you are in effect acting as the bookie.

If you lay (saying the event won't happen) at 3.00 (2/1) then if the team -

wins - you have to pay out at odds 2/1, hence losing £20
draws/loses - you collect the stake, hence winning £10

Hope this makes it a bit clearer..?

-edit-

Remember, the price you lay is the price you are requesting. If you lay £10, that is the maximum you can win, but dependant on the odds you lay at, you could end up losing different amounts. (eg, lay £10 at 4.00, 3/1, you win £10 or lose £30)

-edit 2-

Just to add a wee bit... Your friends recommended well, Betfair is usually the bookie with the highest odds, especially for outsiders in horse races, golf etc.

Don't forget your winnings are subject to commission of 5% (if you layed £10 and won, you'd actually receive £9.50)


ALSO - i can give you a referral code which gets you £20 free into your account, if you haven't signed up yet?

This post has been edited by edinlichtie: 10 October 2006 - 21:27