Back betting explained
A back bet is a bet that something will happen: the familiar kind. On an exchange it comes with a twist: you can ask for a better price than the one on offer and wait to see if anyone takes it.
Backing is the kind of bet everyone already knows. You pick a selection, you stake an amount, and if the selection wins you receive your stake back plus a profit. On an exchange a back bet works the same way; what changes is where the price comes from and how your bet gets accepted.
The arithmetic
Exchange prices are decimal. If you back ₹1,000 at 1.85, a win returns ₹1,850: your ₹1,000 stake back plus ₹850 profit. The profit is always stake x (odds - 1). If the selection loses, you lose your ₹1,000 and nothing more. That is the comfortable thing about backing: the most you can lose is the stake.
Reading the blue column
On the market screen each selection has a blue cell and a pink cell. The blue cell is the best price someone is currently offering to lay, which is therefore the best price you can back at right now. Under the price is the amount available at it. If you want to back ₹5,000 and only ₹3,000 is available, ₹3,000 is matched at that price and the rest waits (or is matched at the next price down, depending on how you placed it).
Asking for a better price
This is the part a bookmaker never gives you. You do not have to accept the price in the blue cell. You can type a higher price and submit your bet. It then sits in the market as an offer, unmatched, until someone is willing to lay you at that price. If the market moves your way, it is matched; if not, it stays there until you cancel it or the market closes. While it is unmatched, nothing has been bet. Lesson 6 covers matched and unmatched bets in detail.
What backing costs
Commission is charged on net winnings in a market. Win ₹850 at 2% commission and you keep ₹833. Lose, and no commission is charged. The exact rate and the way it is applied are set by the exchange you use, and they are the only figures that count.
Try it
The back & lay calculator shows the profit, the return and the commission for any stake and price. Change the odds from 1.50 to 4.00 and watch how the profit grows while the stake at risk stays the same. That fixed risk is why most people start with backing; the next lesson shows the side where the risk is not fixed.
Information only, 18+. Nothing here says which selection to back. Real-money online gaming is restricted in India: see the lesson on the law.
How the Cricket markets are read
18+ only. This lesson is for information, not advice to bet. Responsible gambling.