What is Lay Betting?

Laying betting has been a popular revolution in the last few years, and isn’t like your traditional bookmakers, where you’re betting on something or someone to win. A lay bet is betting against something or someone winning. In football terms, laying Everton is betting against Everton winning, so if they draw or lose, you win your bet.

Lay betting is commonly associated with horse racing; betting against horses winning. But there’s nothing to stop you from making a success of it in a football. I’m sure you’ve bet on a team in the past and they’ve let in a late equaliser that’s annoyed you. If you lay the opposition team to lose instead of backing your pick to win, then you’ll win that bet even if your choice concede that late equaliser.

Football example:
You lay Everton to win at Chelsea with odds of 10/1. You stake £500 against Everton winning.
With odds of 10/1, as Everton are very unlikely to win at Stamford Bridge, you will win £50 if Chelsea win OR draw this game.

Horse racing example:
You lay My Will at Aintree with odds of 10/1. You stake £500 against My Will winning. With odds of 10/1, competing against another 39 runners, you will win £50 if one of those other horses wins, regardless of My Will finishing or not.

As you can see, the odds are upside-down. You layed Everton/My Will at 10/1, but you’re actual odds are 1/10. Laying football teams and horses that have no chance of winning is all well and good and you can build up a good bank over time. But laying favourites is where you can make the big bucks. So if you think Hull City can get anything from the Emirates or Fulham can get anything from Anfield then you’re making a good start 😉

Betfair is the most popular betting exchange out there, and they have a Help page explaining lay betting in more details, including videos.