So, what is so great about exchange wagering ? Well, let me tell you a few things in this brief introduction to exchange wagering.
First of all, whenever a 'trade' on a betting exchange is made, just like in the stock market, there is a buyer and a seller which will be referred to here as a backer and a layer. The backer is betting on a horse to win and the layer is betting on a horse to lose. A trade is made when a backer and layer 'match' prices on the exchange and the price agreed upon at the time of the trade is then locked in.
What this does is give players so many more options getting involved in a race. One can back and lay the same horse while perhaps locking up a profit if backing the horse at a higher price than laying the horse. Sometimes, you can lay a horse on the exchange at a lower price than a horse will go off in the pari-mutuel market and one can use that as a hedge as well.
For many years, I have often heard at the track or at an OTB regarding a short-priced favorite or horses people just have a negative view on that they wish they could just bet against horses instead of figuring out who was going to win. Exchange wagering finally gives players an opportunity to take advantage of negative views on individual horses.
While surely the takeout will be higher in the USA than 2%-5% which is taken out of winning wagers in the UK, with lower takeout, fluctuating odds, and occasional inefficient markets...backers can often times find much greater value (bigger odds) through exchange betting than they can find elsewhere.
Over the past few years, I have spent some time over in the UK and I greatly enjoyed playing the races via exchange wagering. I look forward to it coming soon to our country and talking about it much more in this space in the weeks and months ahead.