Betfair Back/Lay values

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ken1921
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:27 am

Hi

On any market on Betfair you have the best Back price and best Lay price - eg Back = 2.3 Lay = 2.4

How are these values calculated and what determines where the Back/Lay line falls?

Many thanks
Jukebox
Posts: 1576
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:07 pm

The best price available to back at at any given time is the highest currently untaken offer being made by a layer and visa versa for the best available lay price. You can demonstrate it for yourself quite safely. Put a £2 back bet on a runner at some safely high back price and you will see your £2 added to the money available to lay at that price.
ken1921
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:27 am

Many thanks. Do you know of any good video tutorials that explain all of this in detail?
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Derek27
Posts: 25159
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am

Betfair do a few for complete beginners. Just google "betfair for beginners" or along those lines and you should find a few.
ken1921
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:27 am

Many thanks.

Yes I've found a lot of the beginners content and now quite comfortable with much of it - just couldn't find anything on the more under the hood stuff of how the back/lay odds are calculated and how they move etc. I may just have missed it
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ShaunWhite
Posts: 10530
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

ken1921 wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:58 pm
Many thanks.

Yes I've found a lot of the beginners content and now quite comfortable with much of it - just couldn't find anything on the more under the hood stuff of how the back/lay odds are calculated and how they move etc. I may just have missed it
They're not calculated on the exchange. People placing or taking bets moves or sets the prices.
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BetScalper
Posts: 1139
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:47 pm

Maybe it would be good to have the best back/lay amounts on offer but that's gold dust, so don't hold your breath anytime soon.

I wonder why ?
ken1921
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:27 am

Shaun

Many thanks. I suppose the thing I can't get my head round is the dividing line between the best Back price and best Lay price - what determines that point?
weemac
Posts: 1448
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:16 pm

ken1921 wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:53 pm
.......the thing I can't get my head round is the dividing line between the best Back price and best Lay price - what determines that point?
People sitting in front of their PCs, just like you and me.

You want to back at 2.40. I want to lay at 2.30. So the spread is 2.30-2.40

Then other people sitting in front of their PCs join in and put up their own better prices, or take one of our prices. And on and on it goes.

Simples, innit?
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Derek27
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Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am

ken1921 wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:53 pm
Shaun

Many thanks. I suppose the thing I can't get my head round is the dividing line between the best Back price and best Lay price - what determines that point?
The gap between the back and lay price is the area where nobody is/has submitted a bet in that price range.
ken1921
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:27 am

Thanks for all your replies however there is still a bit of this I don't get - I am probably being really dense about this and missing the obvious!

I get everything about the matched and unmatched bets etc but the bit I'm missing is why the 'best' back price and best 'lay' price don't overlap.

So in the example below what would happen if someone layed at 1.59 and/or? got matched or someone backed at 1.62 and got matched??

So I suppose my question is what keeps the best Lay price higher than the best Back price??

Hope this makes sense and thanks for your patience!

S
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weemac
Posts: 1448
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:16 pm

The £67 at 1.61 is someone wanting a BACK bet matched. The words above are not descriptions of the bets below; they are guidance as to which box you should click if you want to Back or Lay.
Last edited by weemac on Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Derek27
Posts: 25159
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am

It's not possible for lay and back bets to overlap because they would get matched. If somebody lays 1.6 for £100 and somebody else backs 1.6 for £75, £75 would get matched leaving a surplus £25 available to lay at 1.6.

In the example you gave, it would not be possible for a lay at 1.59 to get matched because at that moment in time, nobody wants to back at less than 1.61 and there's money available to back at 1.6.

Similarly anyone who backs at 1.62 would get added to the £69 waiting at 1.62, the best backing price available is 1.6.
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ShaunWhite
Posts: 10530
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

In you're example
if someone layed at 1.59 it would be added (unmatched) to that £227 and be available for some one to back if they wanted to go that low.
if someone backed £100 at 1.59... they would be given £14 of it at 1.6 and the rest would come off that £227 at 1.59

if someone backed at 1.62... it would be added to that £69 and be available for some one to lay that if they wanted to go that high.
if someone layed £100 at 1.62... they would be given £67 of it at 1.61 and the rest would come off that £69 at 1.62

The don't overlap because if you ask for a price and it's already available at that price or better, the bet will be matched. The table you've attached shows just the money waiting for someone to accept it.
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ShaunWhite
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i think we were all typing at the same time there. :roll:
Last edited by ShaunWhite on Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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