Liability and commission: what a bet really costs
Two numbers decide what an exchange bet costs you: the liability you put at risk and the commission the exchange keeps from a win. This lesson works through both with worked examples, including why commission is charged per market rather than per bet.
A bet on an exchange has a price tag in two parts. The first is the money you put at risk, called liability. The second is the commission the exchange keeps if you win. Neither is hidden, but both are easy to misjudge, and together they decide whether a bet that "looks fine" is actually sensible.
Liability: what you can lose
For a back bet the liability is simply the stake. Back ₹1,000 and you can lose ₹1,000. For a lay bet the liability is the backer's stake multiplied by (odds - 1). Lay ₹1,000 at 3.50 and you can lose ₹2,500.
The exchange takes the liability out of your available balance the moment the bet is matched, so the money is already set aside and cannot be used for anything else until the market settles. This is why laying a few outsiders can lock up a balance far larger than the stakes suggest.
Commission: what the exchange keeps
Commission is a percentage of your net winnings on a market. Three things follow from that sentence:
- It is charged only on wins. Lose a market and you pay nothing.
- It is on profit, not on return. Back ₹1,000 at 1.85 and win: the profit is ₹850, and commission is taken from that ₹850, not from the ₹1,850 return.
- It is per market. If you have several bets in the same market, your wins and losses in that market are added up first, and commission is charged on the net figure.
The rate is set by the exchange. In the examples on this site we use 2% because it is a round number; the real rate on any exchange, and any discounts or extra charges, are published by that exchange and are the only ones that count. On winzap.vip the commission and rules of its exchange are shown on that site.
Why per market matters
Imagine you back India at 1.85 for ₹1,000 before the match and later lay India at 1.50 for ₹1,000 as the price shortens. If India win, you make ₹850 on the back and lose ₹500 on the lay: net ₹350, and commission is charged on ₹350. If India lose, you lose ₹1,000 on the back and win ₹1,000 on the lay: net zero, no commission. Netting per market is what makes trading a position (lesson 8 onwards) possible at a sensible cost.
The effective price
Because commission comes off the profit, a price of 2.00 at 2% commission is really worth 1.98: you risk ₹100 to win ₹98. A price of 1.10 becomes about 1.098. The effect is small on short prices and larger on long ones, and it is always there. The odds converter shows the effective price for any commission rate.
Put the two together
Before any bet, you should be able to answer two questions: "How much can I lose?" and "If I win, how much do I keep?" The back & lay calculator answers both for the back and the lay side at once. If either answer surprises you, you are not ready to place the bet.
Next: matched, unmatched and the ladder, which explains what happens between pressing the button and having a bet.
Information only, 18+. Real-money online gaming is restricted in India: see the lesson on the law.
18+ only. This lesson is for information, not advice to bet. Responsible gambling.