04 Head-to-Head markets / Betfair Education / 19 March 2008 / Leave a comment

The beauty of Betfair is that there is such a wide variety of markets. Horse races can have more than 20 runners, whereas sports like basketball or tennis come down to just two options in the match odds or handicap markets. Some markets will trade millions, others just a few thousand. Profits can be made of all of them, but you have to treat different markets accordingly.

With two-way or head-to-head markets, bookmakers' margins are relatively tight (average of 108%), but that doesn't mean you can't find value on an exchange - it comes down to judgment and timing.

Let's look at judgment. How exactly are you making your selections? Do you do plenty of research before working out a set of prices (or percentages) in your head, or do you use someone else's prices as a guide? There is no single way to profiting on an exchange - there are many different ways to trade. Some people like the constant action, others like to pick and choose where they play. Either way, you need to have confidence in the prices you are using as a basis for your trading.