What is the secret to real long-term profit at Betfair? My ten years of experience and constant testing would say that you are using Betfair trading strategies.
An increasing number of events and markets on Betfair now have an ‘In Play’ option. To clarify what this means, let’s take the example of a football match. In a traditional bet, the market freezes once the game starts and we have to wait for the final result to know if we have won or lost. In Play, gambling means we can literally do that. We can wait until the game has been played for a while before deciding which way to go. Or, more excitingly, we can start with one bet and then place others to earn profits on Betfair as the match progresses.
A similar strategy is possible in horse racing and many other sports and events, but the fast-paced nature of these means that some form of wagering may be necessary. You can of course use a betting bot for football, but the nature of the game means that manual trading is also possible.
One of the oldest and most common strategies is to ‘lay the draw’. As the name suggests, this involves betting on the draw (betting that the match I won’t do it end in a draw) before kick-off. We then place Betfair trade bets as the game unfolds. Ideally, one team will score a goal and the odds are that the match will end as a tie turn. This gives us the opportunity to place another bet and secure a profit.
The final position to be in is often called ‘greening’ and many experienced traders see this as the real Betfair secret. Anyone familiar with how the site works will know that green indicates a winning position. By combining bets, it is possible to ‘green’, which means that whatever happens and whichever team wins, we will still make a profit.
I have tried many strategies and have come to the conclusion that the football (or soccer) markets are the best place to make profitable trades with Betfair. The wide range of markets opens up many opportunities. For example, we can back the next team to score a goal, the final score, even the score at half time. All of this creates options.
When I teach people to trade, I encourage a “on paper” approach at first. Observing the impact of changes during play is key to long-term gains. Understanding how probabilities change is a key skill.
