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Back bet: you get paid if the outcome HAPPENS
Back is the simple one, the same thing you've always done in normal betting. You pick an outcome and say this will happen. India will win, 55+ runs will come in 6 overs, Kohli will hit a fifty, anything at all. In a back bet your maximum loss is always your stake, never a rupee more. The profit formula: profit = (odds - 1) x stake. Look at the table:
| Back Bet | Odds | Stake | Profit If Won | Loss If Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back India (Match Odds) | 2.00 | 1,000 | +1,000 | -1,000 |
| Back Australia (Match Odds) | 3.50 | 500 | +1,250 | -500 |
| Back Over 55.5 (6 Over Runs) | 1.85 | 1,000 | +850 | -1,000 |
| Back Draw (Test Match) | 8.00 | 200 | +1,400 | -200 |
See that? Put 500 on at 3.50 and a win pays (3.50 - 1) x 500 = 1,250, plus your stake back. Lose and only the 500 is gone. Simple. The exchange screen shows this exact calculation live under the blue button, so you never have to work it out yourself, but you should still know the formula so you're never betting blind.
Lay bet: you get paid if the outcome does NOT happen
Now the thing that makes an exchange special. Laying means you've become the bookmaker. You're saying this will NOT happen. India will not win, 55+ runs will NOT come in 6 overs. Another player backs that outcome and you accept their bet. Your profit is their stake, and your risk is liability = (odds - 1) x stake. This liability concept is exactly where new players make their most expensive mistakes, so study the table carefully:
| Lay Bet | Odds | Stake | Liability (Risk) | Profit If Outcome Fails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lay India (Match Odds) | 2.00 | 1,000 | 1,000 | +1,000 |
| Lay Chennai (Match Odds) | 3.00 | 500 | 1,000 | +500 |
| Lay Favourite (Match Odds) | 1.50 | 1,000 | 500 | +1,000 |
| Lay Under 55.5 (Session) | 4.00 | 250 | 750 | +250 |
Look at the second row. You lay Chennai at 3.00 with a 500 stake. If Chennai lose, you win 500. If Chennai win, you pay out (3.00 - 1) x 500 = 1,000. In other words, at higher odds the risk on a lay can be far bigger than the stake. So burn this rule in: on a back bet watch your stake, on a lay bet watch your liability. Laying a low priced favourite is cheap on risk, as the third row shows, laying 1,000 at 1.50 leaves a liability of only 500.
When does a lay come in handy? When you think the favourite is overrated. In every match one team soaks up the public's money and its odds get pushed artificially low. Laying that team is the bread and butter of experienced exchange players. Second use: in an 8 team tournament you want to say this team will NOT win it. With a bookmaker that would take 7 separate bets, on an exchange a single lay does the job.
Matched and unmatched bets: understand this too
Two things can happen after you place a bet on an exchange. If money is standing on the other side at your price, the bet gets matched instantly and it's locked in. If not, the bet goes into the unmatched queue and waits for someone to come to your price. You can cancel an unmatched bet or change its price at any time, no penalty.
There's a smart use for this too: you can place a bet at a better rate than the current price. The market's at 1.92 but you want 2.00? Put your back in at 2.00 and leave it. If the odds get there your bet matches on its own, if they don't your money comes back. Just watch one thing in-play, on big moments like a wicket falling the odds move so fast that your unmatched bet gets left behind. So keep your price a little flexible in live trading, being greedy for one or two extra ticks sometimes costs you the whole move. Partial matches happen too, 600 of your 1,000 matched and 400 unmatched, both show separately on screen, so don't panic when you see it.
