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Laying in betting exchange

Contrary to bookmaker and totalisation systems, betting exchanges offer the opportunity to lay, which is to bet that a selection will not occur. This is the position bookmakers have traditionally taken when offering a bet to somebody to back that the outcome will win.

For example, if someone thinks Team A will win a competition, he may wish to back that selection. A bookmaker offering the punter that bet would be laying that selection. The two parties will agree the backer’s stake and the odds. If the team loses, the layer/bookmaker keeps the backer’s stake. If the team wins, the layer will pay the backer the winnings based on the odds agreed.

As every bet transacted requires a backer and a layer, and the betting exchange is not a party to the bets transacted on it, any betting exchange requires both backers and layers. Of course, the distinction is moot: A layer is always simply backing that the event will not occur. Laying the home team is the same as backing the visiting team to win or draw. Laying one horse in a race is just the same as backing any of the other horses to win.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.