What is a betting exchange?
A betting exchange is a marketplace where people bet against each other instead of against a bookmaker. This first lesson explains who is on the other side of your bet, what the exchange itself does, and why that changes the prices you see.
When you bet with a bookmaker, the bookmaker is your opponent. It sets a price, you accept it, and if you win the bookmaker pays you from its own pocket. A betting exchange is different. The exchange does not take a side at all. It runs a marketplace in which one person who thinks a team will win is matched with another person who thinks it will not, and it takes a small commission from whoever ends up winning.
Two sides to every bet
Suppose India are playing New Zealand. Rahul believes India will win and is happy to stake ₹1,000 at odds of 1.85. Priya believes India will not win and is willing to take Rahul's bet, which means she will pay him ₹850 if India win and keep his ₹1,000 if they do not. Rahul has placed a back bet; Priya has placed a lay bet. The exchange puts the two together, holds the money, and pays the winner when the match is over.
That is the whole idea. Every price you see on an exchange is simply an offer from another user. The blue column shows the best offers from people wanting to lay (which you can back), and the pink column shows the best offers from people wanting to back (which you can lay). Lessons 2 and 3 take each side in turn.
What the exchange actually does
- It matches bets. When a back offer and a lay offer agree on a price, the two are matched and become a bet.
- It holds the stakes. Both sides' money is set aside the moment the bet is matched, so neither can fail to pay.
- It settles the market. When the event is over the exchange decides the result according to its published rules and moves the money.
- It charges commission. Usually a percentage of your net winnings on a market. This is how the exchange earns; it has no interest in who wins.
Why the prices are different
A bookmaker builds its profit into its prices: add up the chances its odds imply for every outcome and you get well over 100%. On an exchange the prices are set by users competing with each other, so the gap is usually much smaller. The exchange earns from commission instead. That does not make exchange betting profitable for you; it means the price more closely reflects what the crowd believes, and you pay for the service separately.
What it is not
An exchange is not a way to beat the bookmaker, and it is not a game you play against the house. The person on the other side of your bet has looked at the same match and reached the opposite conclusion. One of you will be wrong, and the exchange earns either way. Over time most people who bet lose money, on exchanges as everywhere else.
The exchange on winzap.vip describes itself, at the time of writing, as offering back and lay betting, live odds, in-play betting and cash out. This course explains what those words mean; it does not tell you what to bet on, and Winzap Click runs no exchange itself. You must be 18 or older, and 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.