We touched on the ability to set your own odds in advantages of the Betfair Exchange piece, and gave you a brief rundown of how to do this when talking about placing a back bet or a lay bet.

Now, we’ll go a little deeper into the subject; reasons to set your own odds and exactly how to do that.

Reasons to Set Your Own Odds on the Betfair Exchange

1) Why wouldn’t you take better odds? It’s safe to say that we always want the best odds possible, and if you set the odds a touch higher than what’s currently on offer there’s a chance that somebody on the other side of the bet will go for it and match your bet. Better odds means more profit when our bets win so it’s a no brainer to try and attain them on the Betfair Exchange.

2) Advanced inplay betting – If you like to bet during a race or a game, the strategy of waiting for odds to hit a certain level before placing your bet is something you’ll be familiar with already. For example, you know a horse doesn’t travel all that well in the early stages of a race and could be deemed to have a lesser chance at that point than pre-race. In this case, rather than sit around waiting for the odds to increase, you can simply ‘place an order’ at the odds you want and wait for the bet to be matched.

3) Advanced cash out – Similarly if you want to cash out once you hit a certain payout you can do the same thing. This can be useful when you’re backing strong travelling horses who tend to look like serious threats during a race but their finishing effort might not be as potent as often seems likely. For example, you can back said horse at 8.00, watch the odds start to shorten to 4.00, and then lay the bet off for a profit. There are numerous ways in which it can be worked in favour of the punter.

How to Set Your Own Odds on the Betfair Exchange

Setting your own odds on the Exchange couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is add your selection to your betslip, whether it’s a back or a lay bet, and then type in your desired odds in the Odds box.

In this case, I don’t fancy the 1.91 offered odds on Royal Line to win the 4.00pm at Kempton this afternoon, so I’ve changed the field and requested odds of 2.00. After placing the bet, I have to wait for it to get matched. Although, it’s worth remembering that not every bet will get matched – you always need somebody on the other side of your bet to be willing to take your price.

More in this series:

What is the Betfair Exchange?
Back and Lay Betting Explained
Advantages of Using the Exchange
Placing a Back Bet on the Exchange
Placing a Lay Bet on the Exchange