Backing a Selection at Betfair

Punting on the world's biggest betting exchange can be a little daunting at first, although Backing a selection at Betfair is much like placing a bet with an online bookmaker or a traditional Australian TAB.

The difference with Betfair is you are betting against other punters, not a bookie, and you choose the odds you want to bet on. Betfair, unlike the TAB, offers Fixed odds betting on all Betfair betting markets.

Backing Betting Example

You have decided that Dynamic Dan is a good thing in the main race of the day and your local TAB fixed price has him showing $2.30, but with Betfair you can get the better odds of $2.50. It’s an easy decision – you back Dynamic Dan at the value Betfair odds.

Your stake is $100. Dynamic Dan wins the main race, and your return is $250 – that’s $150 in profit (less the commission charged by Betfair) plus your original $100 stake. If you had placed the bet with the TAB, your profit would have been $20 less (excluding commission).

Betfair SP consistently beats the best Tote and check out our Betfair vs Tab page where odds comparisons are shown for past feature races.

Placing a Bet at Betfair

It's quite simple to place a bet at Betfair and you have the added advantage of being able to Lay horses to lose.

Find your market

All betting markets are listed in the menu on the left-hand side of the Betfair sports homepage. The most popular markets are listed in the middle of the page. Click on the market you want to bet on, then follow the links to the relevant event.

Find your selection

After finding your market, you will see all the available selections listed on the page. To back a selection, look at the blue box to the right of the selection you are interested in. The top number in bold ($3.00) represents the best odds available; the bottom number ($200) is the maximum amount of money that can be bet on that selection at that price at that point in time.

Pick your selection

If you want to back the selection, click the blue box. Your bet (selection and odds) appears on the right-hand side of the page in the Place Bets section. Here you are going to place a $50 bet on Conduit at odds of $3 to win, which return you $150 if he wins, with an eventual profit of $100. If the horse does not win then you lose your $50 stake.

Choose your stake

Click the Your Stake box in the Place Bets section. Enter your stake (the money you want to bet on this selection) in this box. The amount of money you will win if your selection is successful appears in the Your Profit section.

Submit your bet

If you are happy with your selection, click 'Place Bets' at the bottom of the right-hand side of the page. The liability on this bet (the amount of money you risk losing) is listed above the Submit button.

Confirm your bet

A confirmation screen appears on the right-hand side of the page with the details of your bet. The My Bets option is only available when the bet is active. To verify your bet, click 'Yes' at the bottom of the page. Check the confirmation to make sure your bet has been placed.

Statements
Please note that your stake (or liability if laying) on a winning bet is not taken from your account. In other words, if you back a winning selection at odds of 3.0 with a stake of $10, your profit will be $20 (less commission). Accordingly, your statement shows this as a $20 winner.

Laying a Selection at Betfair

The added advantage of Betfair is, as well as backing horses to win, it also allows you to lay horses to lose, and you pick the price! It doesn't get much better than that on the punt. To find out how you can be laying a short-priced favourite that you think can't win, then please visit our Laying a Selection at Betfair page where it is explained for you.

Check out our Understanding Betfair Terms page for a quick Betfair glossary.

Don't have a Betfair Account?
Betfair odds are much better on average than the 3 Australian TABs, and if you continue to bet at your local tote then you are losing money on every bet by accepting poor value odds.

>>> Join Betfair for free here!

With over a million customers wordlwide, Betfair is the number one choice for serious punters. Be like the smart punters and get yourself a Betfair account to win more in the long run.