How to lay a bet on Betfair and Smarkets

A lay bet is a bet against an outcome. If you lay Arsenal to win, you win the lay bet if Arsenal draw or lose. If Arsenal win, you lose the lay bet and pay the liability. That is the useful little trick behind a betting exchange: it lets you take the other side of the bet rather than asking you to find another team to back.

Betfair describes a lay as betting for something not to happen, and Smarkets uses the same meaning.[1][2] The wording is simple. The screen is where beginners get muddled, mainly because the number entered as a lay stake is not always the most money at risk.

This guide walks through a first lay on Betfair Exchange and Smarkets. The buttons and menus can move, but the checks do not: use the identical event and market, calculate the stake, understand the liability and confirm the whole lay has actually matched.

What laying a bet means

A normal back bet says, "I think this selection will win." A lay bet says, "I think this selection will not win." You are effectively taking the bookmaker's side of that one wager.

Suppose the market is Match Odds for Arsenal versus Chelsea:

• Back Arsenal and you need Arsenal to win.
• Lay Arsenal and your lay wins if Chelsea win or the match is a draw.
• If Arsenal win, your lay loses and the exchange takes your liability.

The market name matters. Laying Arsenal in "Match Odds" is not the same as laying Arsenal in "To Qualify", "Draw No Bet" or a handicap market. Match the event, selection and settlement rules, not merely the team name.

In matched betting, the lay is usually paired with a bookmaker back bet on the same selection. One side wins and the other loses. A calculator adjusts the lay stake so the combined result is similar whichever outcome lands. It is a calculated hedge, not a prediction that the team will fail.

How to read the exchange screen

Back and lay colours are not universal. Betfair traditionally shows available back prices in blue columns and lay prices in pink columns. Smarkets uses green for back and blue for lay or "against".[1][2] Read the column label as well as the colour. A hurried assumption here is an expensive way to discover that two websites have different wardrobes.

Each price usually has another figure beside or beneath it. That second figure is the amount currently available at those odds. It is not your suggested stake. If you need to lay £19.48 and only £7 is available, the rest may sit unmatched or be taken at another price.

Three figures belong in your check:

• Lay odds: the price at which you are betting against the selection.
• Lay stake: what you stand to win before commission if the selection does not win, under the usual backer's-stake display.
• Liability: what you stand to lose if the selection does win.

Smarkets states the standard liability formula as backer's stake multiplied by lay odds minus one.[4] A £10 lay at odds of 4.00 therefore has £30 liability: £10 × (4.00 − 1). Your exchange balance must cover that £30 when you submit the bet.

Some settings let you enter liability instead of backer's stake. Check which mode is active before copying a calculator result. A calculator asking for a £19.48 lay stake does not mean you should enter £19.48 into a box configured to accept liability.

Calculate before clicking

Use the Matched Betting Beast Ultimate Calculator or the calculator supplied with your offer guide. Enter the actual bookmaker stake and accepted back odds, then the live lay odds and the commission rate shown for your exchange account.

Here is a hypothetical qualifying bet. You back £20 at 3.00, can lay at 3.10 and pay 2% commission. The equalised figures are:

• lay stake: £19.48;
• lay liability: £40.91;
• combined result if the selection wins: about minus 91p;
• combined result if it does not win: about minus 91p.

That 91p is the qualifying loss in this example. It may be worthwhile if the bookmaker then awards a larger free bet, but the reward and every offer condition need checking first. The calculation is only as good as the figures entered. If the lay price moves before the bet is matched, calculate again.

How to place your first lay bet

1. Open the correct event. Check the teams or runners, competition and start time against the bookmaker slip.
2. Choose the identical market. For a football qualifying bet, that may be Match Odds. Do not substitute To Qualify or a handicap because the selection name looks familiar.
3. Select the lay price. On Betfair, use the lay side of the market. On Smarkets, choose the blue "against" price. Smarkets says selecting that price opens the contract in the betslip.[3]
4. Enter the calculated lay stake. Confirm that the ticket is accepting backer's stake rather than liability. Compare the displayed liability with the calculator before proceeding.
5. Inspect available money. The market must have enough at the chosen price for the complete stake. If not, wait, use a different suitable price and recalculate, or compare another exchange.
6. Submit and check the status. Open My Bets on Betfair or Your Bets on Smarkets. Do not leave until the complete lay amount is shown as matched.

Smarkets' Your Bets section displays the bet, stake, odds and the amount matched; it also lets you filter partially matched and unmatched bets.[7] Betfair uses the My Bets area for the same essential check.[5]

For an ordinary matched bet, avoid experimenting with "Keep" or "Take SP" on your first attempt. Betfair says a Keep instruction can leave an unmatched bet in the market when the event turns in-play, while Take SP can convert an unmatched racing bet to the eventual starting price.[8] Either can produce a different price or timing from the calculation you intended.

Matched, unmatched and partially matched

A submitted order is not necessarily a bet. On Betfair, an offer can be unmatched, partially matched or matched in full. Until another customer matches it, you do not yet have that bet.[5] Smarkets likewise says that only the matched portion of a partial fill stands.[6]

Imagine you ask to lay £20, but only £8 matches. You have an £8 lay and a £12 unmatched remainder. The bookmaker back bet is therefore not fully covered.

Do not place another £20 lay. That old unmatched £12 can still be accepted later, leaving you with £28 laid in total. Betfair specifically warns that repeatedly submitting fresh orders can result in several bets matching when the market moves back.[5]

How to fix an unmatched lay

1. Check exactly how much has matched and at which odds.
2. Cancel the unmatched remainder if that is appropriate for the market and offer.
3. Leave the matched portion alone. It cannot be cancelled.
4. Use a calculator that supports multiple lays, or calculate the uncovered bookmaker exposure using the matched amount and the new live price.
5. Place only the required remainder, then confirm the combined lay stake is fully matched.

Prices move, so the corrected result may differ slightly from the original estimate. A small extra qualifying loss is usually preferable to guessing and accidentally laying too much. If the event is close to starting or already in play, stop and get help rather than clicking faster.

Betfair or Smarkets for a first lay?

Either can do the job. Our Smarkets versus Betfair comparison explains the current differences in commission, available prices and apps. For this first walk-through, accuracy matters more than choosing a permanent favourite.

Use the exchange that offers enough money at a suitable lay price and gives you a clear confirmation screen. Keep the first stake modest. Once you can identify the lay side, check liability and recognise a full match without hesitation, comparing two exchanges becomes useful rather than distracting.

Where Outplayed helps

Outplayed's Oddsmatcher compares bookmaker and exchange odds, while its calculator works out the back and lay figures.[9] That removes a fair amount of searching and arithmetic. It does not remove the final responsibility to check the event, market, available money and matched status on the exchange.

CALCULATE LAY BETS WITH OUTPLAYED ↗

If back, lay and liability are still new terms, read what matched betting is before placing anything. A ten-minute rehearsal with a calculator is cheaper than learning the word "liability" from a depleted exchange balance.