Betting Exchanges vs Bookies

The cluster focuses on comparisons between peer-to-peer betting exchanges like Betfair, where the platform takes a commission regardless of outcomes, and traditional sportsbooks that adjust odds, ban winning bettors, or limit stakes to ensure profitability.

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Keywords

IS CDC BetFair DRF i.e USD wikipedia.org NBA bets betting bet odds win sports house money markets players

Sample Comments

Lxr Jun 24, 2016 View on HN

Not on Betfair, it's an exchange. They make money either way.

Y_Y Mar 24, 2019 View on HN

People can offer bets, those with differing views can take the bets. You can even make a market with floating odds like BetFair used to.

TimTimTim Jul 30, 2014 View on HN

Things like BetFair let you place bets both sides (unlike some shops like Ladbrokes where you are betting against them). This allows you to track the current betting prices and create situations where no matter the outcome you can make money.There are a few places on the net explaining this in more detail.

pclmulqdq Sep 27, 2024 View on HN

Many sportsbooks actually do not run that way. The name "sportsbook" implies that they do, but that is an older style of betting that has fallen out of favor. Modern sports books usually use fixed odds set by an oddsmaker (in modern times, algorithms set by the oddsmaker), but those odds are allowed to float with the probability of the outcome changing. I believe they take supply and demand into account, but you actually are betting against the house. That prevents the kind of trading

ghnyujryjh Aug 10, 2010 View on HN

Someone should inform the bookies! Then they'll be able to change their odds so that however people bet, they'll end up winning over time.

xanados Jan 6, 2013 View on HN

This betting site has a really stupid betting system. It appears that the amount of money you receive isn't based on a pricing of the bet, as is done on all real prediction markets, but based on a simple payout of all the bets received on the other side of the bet by the end of the bet date. This system has two practical consequences: 1. You can't determine the markets current probability estimates from the current state of the market, as you can with priced markets. 2. You should never bet unti

znkynz Oct 1, 2024 View on HN

Bookies don't take stakes from habitual winners. The "market" is rigged.

missedthecue Jul 2, 2022 View on HN

Probably makes sense for sports betting companies.

Ferret7446 Sep 25, 2025 View on HN

This makes no sense at all. You shouldn't be gambling against the platform, you should be gambling against other users. The platform profits equally whether you win or lose, since they take a cut per bet, not per loss

quickthrower2 Oct 22, 2017 View on HN

I've worked for an online bookie. I've also worked for an outfit that bets (on horses mainly).The online bookie will indeed ban or limit winning accounts or anyone they suspect of cheating or betting smartly. Anyone betting large amounts dumbly gets taken out to nice dinners etc.The company that bets on horses bets using exchanges, because bookmakers would tend to kick them out. The abstract of this paper is pretty much 101 to those guys who do some advanced stuff I can't ta