Soccer Betting Strategies on BetfairI was a full-time Betfair trader for nearly four years and although I predominantly traded the financial markets, I also made quite significant profits from the football markets. Now this wasn't achieved by placing bets on teams I thought would win, in the traditional way, but by using the betting exchanges to trade the prices. For example, if I think a team's price on the exchanges has drifted out too far in comparison with the bookmakers' prices (Oddschecker is an excellent odds comparison site), then I will look to trade it. In this case I will be looking to back it at the current price and lay it back later at a lower price for my initial stake plus a bit extra to guarantee a profit whatever the outcome.

To demonstrate my point I will use an example taken from my site. In the recent FA Cup match between Chelsea and Colchester, Chelsea were available to back at 1.14 on Betfair a few days before the match, yet they were trading a lot lower with the bookmakers, ranging from 1.07 to 1.11. You would expect the prices on the exchanges to be slightly higher but at 1.14 this was double the price of the lowest bookmaker price.

Therefore at a generous price of 1.14 and expecting a drift inwards, this was a solid potential trading opportunity. As it turned out this price did indeed come in and a day before the match Chelsea were now available to lay at 1.12. So if you had backed Chelsea for say £100 at 1.14, you could have layed them back at 1.12 for say £102. This would have guaranteed a profit of £1.76 if Chelsea won (£100 @ 1.14 = £14) - (£102 @ 1.12 = £12.24), or £2 if the match resulted in a draw or Colchester win (£102 - £100).

Now obviously these profits sound very small, but if, like me, you trade in the thousands these profits can be quite substantial and can build up nicely over time. For example, if your initial stake in this example was £1000, then your guaranteed profits would have been £17.76 if Chelsea won, or £20 if they drew or Colchester won. Also, you wouldn't essentially be risking your £1000, because as you are using it for trading, you should always trade out, and therefore even if the price moves against you, you would only lose a small amount.

This was a good trading opportunity, but I should point out that opportunities like this do not exist in every match. Often you may only find a few good opportunities every week, but I can guarantee that there will always be potential trades out there.

About the Author

Jim Buccini is a former full-time Betfair trader who has produced a website detailing proven profit-generating tips and strategies. For more information click here.