Betfair Official Blog

Betfair SP launched - and the returned books are punter-friendly

An average of 26.5 per cent better odds on winners on day one of Betfair SP

Betfair launched its own SP product today - and the returned books were stunning.

The worst percentage book returned in any of the races was just 102 per cent.

And in the first race, it was a staggering 95.7 per cent, where the Betfair SP was better on all 10 runners, even after the maximum commission rate of 5 per cent was factored in. Four of the seven races returned less than 100 per cent books.

A £10 bet on the seven winners at the traditional SP would have returned £471.20. But at the Betfair SP, with the maximum commission rate factored in, backers would have netted £596.22 - a difference of some £125.02.

The last winner on the card, Dado Mush, was returned at 28-1 on course, but at [40.18] at Betfair SP.

Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "We are thrilled with the way the product has performed, and been received and used by our customers.

"The worst percentage book we have returned is just 102 per cent, and the best 95.7, so the value to be had at Betfair SP is there for all to see.

"In fact, it is the openness and transparency of the product and returns that we are particularly keen to promote. All the information is made available to our customers."

Betfair's Director of Horseracing Stephen Burn added: "We are delighted with the way our customers have taken up the opportunity to back and lay the Betfair SP. It's early days but already the prices look very competitive compared to the traditional bookies.

"Any punter backing every winner at Southwell for £10 with Betfair would have collected £125 more than if placing the same bets with the industry SP - that's nearly 27% better odds even after deducting our maximum 5% commission. The biggest over-round returned on any market was 102% so if day one is an accurate indicator the markets look robust and punter friendly.

"We're rolling out the SP option on a few more meetings tomorrow and expect to be covering all UK racing from Friday onwards. Within weeks we'll be offering a Betfair SP on Irish racing, then UK place markets and shortly after that we'll return an SP for other sports."

Betfair SP mastermind Steve High said: "We didn't see any major problems technically and we were particularly happy that the calculation of SPs didn't slow down the process of turning in-play."

The SP will be rolled-out on the Ludlow, Taunton and Wolverhampton markets on Thursday, December 13th.

Betfair SP percentages returned

1st race: 95.7 per cent
2nd race: 99.1 per cent
3rd race: 100.8 percent
4th race: 98.6 per cent
5th race: 102 per cent
6th race: 100.8 per cent
7th race: 98.4 per cent

Prices of winners

SP Betfair SP

Commit To Memory 3-1 (decimal price of 4) [4.4]
Longoria 13-8 ([2.62]) [2.69]
Kylkenny 5-1 ([6.0]) [6.7]
Dancing Deano 9-2 ([5.5]) [7.0]
Dart 1-2 ([1.5]) [1.59]
Ingleby Arch 9-2 ([5.5]) [7.2]
Dado Mush 28-1 ([29.0]) [40.18]