With the legalization of sports betting in America two years ago, the industry is booming and the market size is projected to reach US$59.6bn in 2020. The impact of the global pandemic will no doubt have a negative effect on the market but when all the major sports resume, it will pick up from where it left off.
For betting enthusiasts, there is a whole world of “betting exchanges” online and depending on what you want to do as a punter, they could be perfect for your needs. BETDAQ is just one example of a betting exchange – for a review of how well BETDAQ stands up, check out https://www.bestbettingsites.co.uk/betdaq/.
So, what is a betting exchange, and what makes it a more appealing option for bettors?
What is a Betting Exchange?
If approached professionally, betting is one of many ways to grow your income in the modern digital age. From the point of view of most punters, though, placing a bet is fun and not something that requires intensive thinking or work. But the reality is that there is a complex system of commercial imperatives and business plans in place behind any betting provider’s storefront or website. For players and providers alike, it can be interesting and useful to understand how these systems work – and how they can be structured or used for maximum advantage.
It’s worth understanding that there are always two sides to a bet. When a bet is placed at a typical bookmaker, the player bets on one outcome, while in essence, the bookmaker bets on all the other outcomes or takes on the risk of losing if the player’s outcome is victorious. A betting exchange doesn’t do that. Instead, it pairs up players who are willing to bet against one another.
Say you’re convinced that the Kansas City Chiefs will win Superbowl LV. You could go to a bookmaker and ask for the odds on this happening. You pay upfront, and if the Chiefs fail, you lose. If they do win, the bookmaker loses because they have to pay you. At a betting exchange such as BETDAQ, you’re actually placing the bet against another person, not the bookmaker, through the use of a market-based system.
What do people use Betting Exchanges for?
On the face of it, some people may question why betting exchanges exist. After all, if bookmakers are willing to offer odds on the outcomes of so many different sporting, political and other events, why would someone head over to a betting exchange? Online betting exchanges like BETDAQ have a crucial role to play, and that’s because they permit users to engage in what is known as “lay betting”.
Lay betting refers to the practice of betting on a loss rather than a victory. If you want to bet that a team or player will win, you can use a betting exchange to find someone who will back the opposite – or vice versa. There are many advantages to doing it this way. It means, for example, that if your preferred bookmaker doesn’t offer any odds on the outcome you’re predicting, you’ll be able to find someone at the exchange who can.
And if you’re concerned that your bookmaker might be ripping you off by factoring in potential profit to their odds, an exchange could solve this. At an exchange, each potential opposing bettor – or “layer”, as they are sometimes called – is incentivized to not do this because they want to make sure someone will take them up on their offer. The marketplace-style system at an exchange, thus, removes the bookmaker’s power and drives down costs.
BETDAQ is a prime example of a betting exchange, and it offers exchange functions for everything from
the English Premier League games to lesser-known events, such as darts and greyhound racing. This illustrates how useful a betting exchange can be. Many mainstream bookmakers might shy away from having odds – or at least, not quite so many odds– on these less well-known sports. But because betting exchanges are driven entirely by mass market demand for odds rather than the top-down, market-shaping approach used by many bookmakers, niche sports are well represented and offer customers a chance to enjoy a flutter on the sports they know best.
Ultimately, betting exchanges are best conceptualized as one type of odds provider in a complicated landscape of bookmaking and betting. Betting exchanges such as BETDAQ simply have a different offering to typical bookmakers. Instead of just offering the chance to bet on a winner, exchanges can connect you with people who are willing to bet the other way. For those who are looking for more affordable betting, a wider selection of odds and more, a betting exchange could be the way to go.