What is a lay bet?

Lay betting or too ‘lay a horse’ is an option on a betting exchange such as Betfair Exchange that allows you to play the role of a traditional bookmaker, essentially betting against a horse or betting that a horse will lose a race.

This can be seen in the below image, with the red number showing your potential loss if that horse wins, and the green numbers your potential win if those horses win the race. The horse with the £255 liability is the horse with the lay bet (the one we won’t to lose!)

WHY HAS LAYING A HORSE TO LOSE BECOME POPULAR?

One of the main reasons it has become popular is because it offers greater flexibility than traditional horse race betting. And sometimes it can be difficult to pick the winner of a race and a lot easier to pick a horse that won’t win. And of course, it can be very profitable, you get much better odds laying the first favourite in the betting than backing it to win. And bookmakers, as we all know, make their profit from losers especially a losing favorite. On average, favourites win 35% of horse races.

WHICH BETTING EXCHANGE SHOULD I LAY A HORSE WITH?

Betfair Exchange is the world’s largest online sports betting exchange, and is the preferred choice for anyone interested in winning money from lay betting because it is usually able to offer better odds than Betdaq. You can also, safely and speedily, place lay bets from your Android or iPhone by downloading the appropriate Betfair Mobile betting app. Betfair deduct 5% commission from net winnings only, on Betdaq commission is 2%.