How Much Do Betfair Traders Make

At first glance, Betfair trading may look complicated. But if you take time to understand how it works, it can offer you great opportunities to up your sports betting experience and earn significantly higher profits.

Betfair Trading

Betfair trading is just like trading on the stock market, only the commodities being sold aren’t copper or coal but betting odds.

It is basically a marketplace for gamblers to buy and sell bets - back or lay - of any sporting event. This became a revolutionary concept as it allows an average bettor to become both the punter and bookmaker.

Many people undertake this betting trend as it offers better chances of winning. Betting exchange offers more competitive odds compared to the traditional bookmaker because of its peer-to-peer nature where the market is also determined by supply and demand.

Theoretically, the price of the odds offered on Betfair should reflect their value and should offer greater deals to those who bet or trade in them.

The basic principle in Betfair trading is to back high and lay low. You can bet on a good price and trade out if the price shortens, then you can make a “green book”. That means your profit is guaranteed regardless if your bet wins or not.  

Back and Lay

Betfair works just as if you’re betting at a traditional bookmaker, but what sets them apart is the back and lay, such as in matched betting, options.

Back betting means to wager on something to happen, such as for a football team to win, while lay betting means to bet on something that will not happen. Punters can lock in guaranteed profit in a market through 'lay-to-back' and 'back-to-lay'. 

Odds offered in Betfair in every game, say for a football match, are in flux. Odds always change before and during the game, hence the price is also volatile. Such volatility can give you better opportunities. For example, if you backed on draw and its price lowers, you may lay the draw and ensure a profit regardless of the outcome of the game.

It’s also notable that the prices in bookmakers update much slower than in Betfair while it changes faster in Betfair.

Betfair trading is profitable

Yes, Betfair has been and will always be profitable! In fact, there are even people who went as far as quitting their jobs to spend all their time trading and studying the market. If you search it on the internet or join various Betfair Trading Community forums, you’ll get to read or hear different testimonies from professional traders and the likes who are making money out of it.

Some professional traders say you can win daily from £10 up to £1000 or more with both luck and the right strategies. Others also believe that you can possibly earn £100,000 in trading.

In an interview, a trader mentioned that his biggest win in Betfair trading for a day was $4800 while his biggest loss was only $1500. Generally, a $100,000 total earning is achievable in trading, though it can go higher or lower than that depending on several factors, such as your country location and your appetite for risks. For example, your possible income may be limited in Australia because of the liquidity of the markets you’re trading in. In Australia, some horse races may only turnover 90,000 on Betfair, unlike in the United Kingdom that can turn over 5 million.

Another Betfair trader you may be interested to know is Peter Webb, founder of Betfair trading software Bet Angel. Peter boasted a £250,000 betting bank and billions of turnover - which may sound unrealistic but is actually possible. Peter Webb said that while it’s impossible to identify the exact amount a trader can make, you may see the potential. For example, if you have a starting bank of £1,000 and be able to turn at least 0.5% on the average per market, you’ll earn £5. What more if you turn a higher percentage.

Mounting data posits that a professional trader can earn up to $84,140 on average and about $25,000 commission per year.

Some Betfair trading strategies

While Betfair trading isn’t really as complicated as it sounds, it wouldn’t mean anyone can just expect to make decent amounts without having a full understanding of how the exchange works as well as the strategies every punter should know. 

One of the strategies that professional traders suggest is to set targets of how much you want to earn, say for a month. But you should remember to set a realistic and achievable amount.

For example, your target for a week is £1000 and you trade 5 markets, you have to pull out a trade of £200 without losing in order to achieve your target. While a £1000 target is possible, it may be a bit of a task.

To make it more attainable, you can trade on more markets if you’re going for a £1000 target. Forget about mega trade and aim for smaller but consistent gains. So collapsing your objectives and making £1 each out of the markets, for example, you may have up to £2 on 1 particular market, under £1 on another, up £5 and another £4, and so on. That’s a better way to aim for your target that’s more manageable and reasonable.

As they say, Betfair is for the “thinking men,” the punters who love analyzing and understanding how trading works. If you haven’t tried trading yet, it’s never too late to try. Betfair trading offers greater opportunities and, of course, better income.

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