Lay Betting Explained – A Beginner’s Guide to Laying a Bet

Published: Thu, 04/20/23

Hi 

Lay Betting Explained – A Beginner’s Guide to Laying a Bet

Lay betting is an option on exchanges like Betfair where bettors can play the role of the bookmaker and back something not to happen. Punters offer odds to sell a bet instead of to back a bet. It is one component of matched betting, where punters both back and sell bets on the same game to guarantee a win.

Lay betting allows you to ‘be the bookie’. Rather than backing a selection to win, lay betting enables you to bet on something to not happen.

For instance, you may not know which horse will win a race but you think you have a good idea which horse won't win it. In this instance, a lay bet might be right for you.

Lay betting would allow you to bet on that horse to not win the the race. If any of the other horses wins the race, then you win your bet. If they do however win the race, then, of course, you would lose.

What Does Liability in Lay Betting Mean?

Liability is an important concept to understand when learning about lay betting. When you conventionally back a horse to win, the amount of money you can lose is your stake. For example; if you bet £10 on a horse to win and it comes 3rd, it is only £10 you can lose.

This is different in lay betting.

Think of yourself as the bookmaker. If you lose your bet, the bookmaker keeps your stake. If you win, then the bookmaker has to pay out your winnings. It can be a lot more than your original stake.

This is same as laying a bet. If the selection does win, you have to pay out the winnings. That potential payout is known as your liability. It how much you need to pay out if you lose your bet.

Example:

You lay a horse at 3.00 (2/1)

In this example, if any other horse wins, then you win the losing stake of £10. The horse is priced at 3.00 (2/1). If the horse wins the race, then your liability is equal to the winnings for the backer. This is £20. It is only the winnings you pay, as the backer’s original stake is returned to them.

Why Do Many Punters Avoid Laying Horses?

The reason many punters avoid laying horses is that they struggle to find a regular supply of "safe" lays and they are concerned that a losing run will wipe them out.

We had that problem too here at One Stop Racing until we had an epiphany moment, a very large percentage of horses highlighted as top ranked on our ratings but just a few points ahead of the second ranked were getting beaten!

We now produce a list of potential Lays for our Ratings Members every day as part of the membershop package.

How good are these Lays?

Since we started monitoring them in July over 80% of these have been winning lays.

So far in 2023 there have been 30 Potential Lays and 23 of them have duly lost there respective races a 77% strike rate

That figure would have been a lot better but New Years Day suffered a reversal when 6 horses from 13 went and won, since then there have been 16 winning lays from 17 qualifiers.

Here for example is the list for Wednesday 4th January.
 
Time Track Race Type Card No Top Rated Horse Points Clear Odds Results
12.20 Newcastle Non-Handicap (Class 6) No. 6 Visitant 1 4/1 2nd – Winning Lay
1.40 Dundalk Handicap (Ire) No. 4 Inishmot Prince (IRE) 5 7/2 6th – Winning Lay
1.50 Newcastle Non-Handicap (Class 6) No. 9 Mr Coco Bean (USA) 5 5/1 2nd – Winning Lay
2.40 Dundalk Handicap (Ire) No. 12 Inflection Point (IRE) 3 6/1 4th – Winning Lay
5.15 Dundalk Handicap (Ire) No. 2 Gracesolution (IRE) 3 7/2 2nd – Winning Lay
5.30 Kempton Handicap (Class 6) No. 7 Inclement Weather 5 15/8 3rd – Winning Lay
8.00 Kempton Handicap (Class 5) No. 9 Satin Snake 4 11/4 2nd – Winning Lay

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