What is Tennis Trading?
What can I trade on a tennis match?
Every tennis match that is available to trade on betfair exchange provides the opportunity to trade in several markets including: match odds, set betting, 1st set winner, 2nd set winner, total games etc. Generally the best trading opportunities are provided by markets with high volatility and those markets are always the “Match Odds” markets, of each particular game. Of course, the more popular a match-up is the more traders it will attract. If a tennis match-up is popular it means that two favorites are battling for the win and thus there are higher chances of a balanced encounter. The more balanced the tennis match is, the more momentum shifts it will provide and thus, more opportunities to Lay low and Back high or vice versa are encountered.
What are back and lay bets in betting exchange?
Lay bet
Laying a bet means you are betting on something not to happen – a match not to end in a draw, a horse not to come in first, a rugby team not to win by over 7 pts etc.
It might sound new, but you’ve probably been doing it unconsciously for years. Have you ever had a bet with a mate? It might have been over a game of pool, or on a football match on TV. Two opposing sides, two opposing opinions. He’s backing his team – if they win, he wins. If they lose, you win – you’ve effectively layed his bet by betting on something not to happen.
With Betfair you can not only lay any selection, but also choose the price you want to take, and how much you are prepared to risk. The shorter the price you wish to lay, the less money you have to risk compared to your potential reward. Laying the Tie in the market below at 13.5 might sound safe, but for every £10 you want to win, you have to risk £125 – high risk and low reward. The market says Europe at 1.9/1.91 are much more likely to win, but to win £10 by laying that outcome, you only need to risk £9.10.
Back bet
A ‘Back’ bet is a bet on something to happen – a horse to win a race, a football team to win, a person to be evicted from Big Brother etc. It’s just like the bet you’d regularly place with a traditional bookmaker or tote, or even with your mates.
How to trade betfair markets?
A trader has to “Back” a player before he expects his odds to contract, this means that the player will have a good run in the tennis match. He will successfully close the position, by “Laying” once he feels that the momentum of the backed player is fading.
The other way around if a trader feels that a tennis player will under perform at a given time during the tennis match he will open a position with a “Lay” (he bets against that player, expecting the player to have a bad run). After the player’s odds drift, the trader will close his position and perform a successful exchange by “Backing” the same player at higher odds, thus resulting a green-up (or a profitable trade).
All green trades and red ones.
The largest tennis trading markets are currently provided by Betfair.com, but there are also other betting exchanges like betdaq and matchbook. Betdaq is becoming more and more popular because of low commissions, which is only 3% compared to betfair`s 5-6.5%. They are the 3rd party that organize and administrate the tennis trading markets. When a trader makes back or lay bet on exchange, he is practically buying or selling odds from another trader operating in exchage . Basically, for a tennis trade to occur you need the exchange and at least two traders that are judging a tennis match in opposite ways. It’s obvious that all players in a tennis trading market aim to earn profits. This means that in order for an exchange to happen a tennis player has to be judged differently. This way the trader that assumes that, for example Andy Murray is playing better than Novak Djokovic, will “Back” Murray. with the intention of “Laying” him at a later stage of the match. In the same time another trader that feels that it’s Djokovic’s momentum, will aim to “Lay” Murray with the hope to “Back” him at higher odds and thus generate profits. Whoever gets it right will achieve a green trade (profitable trade), while the other will have to settle with a red trade (a loss).
What is in-play tennis trading?
All the above situations have been presented for in-play tennis trading. That’s trading during live tennis matches. Tennis exchange also occurs before a match starts, but volatility is low before going in-play and there are no significant price changes, which means that it is significantly harder to make profits before the first serve. Successful trades can be made during live tennis matches in only a few seconds as price fluctuations are very high and numerous opportunities arise. Professional tennis traders usually back and lay tens of times during a match, whenever they spot a profitable trading opportunity.
Conclusion
Tennis trading is an exchange that allows a trader to buy and sell players’ odds, during live tennis matches, in order to obtain financial profits once the position is closed.
Tennis trading can be a very profitable money making opportunity. However, you need a lot of experience, perseverance and discipline in order to succeed. As in any trading activity, whenever you expect to earn a lot of money, do consider that there is also the opposite way around. The big difference though between trading tennis and trading on Forex or Stock Markets is that you know that a tennis market will end at some point, depending on the rules of the match. It will end either after 2, 3, 4 of 5 sets are completed. So you know what if you are on a losing streak, you need to close your position before the match ends. If you risk and wait for a last minute comeback you can lose your entire stake.
