Exchange Frequently Asked Questions

The Exchange is a peer-to-peer betting marketplace that allows individuals to bet on and trade the outcome of events. Crucially, it facilitates ‘lay’ betting, which is betting on something not to happen. For example, Manchester United NOT to win.

Yes. The Betfair Exchange is the world’s largest sports betting Exchange, and we share liquidity, markets and bets with it. This means there is already a global pool of customers you can bet against, and we also incorporate key Betfair technology into our Exchange platform.

Your bets are placed against other customers of PokerStars or Betfair who want to bet on the opposing outcome to you. We create the markets on our Exchange and then match all the bets together.

Better Odds: as bets are placed against other individuals, the odds available are usually better on the Exchange than with a traditional sportsbook.

Lay Betting: the Exchange allows you to bet on something not to happen (lay), as well as betting on something to happen.

Set Your Own Odds: the Exchange lets you submit your own odds into a market rather than taking a fixed price from a bookmaker. If another individual wants to take the opposite position to you at those odds, the bet is on. If not, your bet and odds will still be entered into the market, from where another individual could take the bet.

Liquidity: the Exchange shares liquidity with the Betfair Exchange, meaning there are always plenty of markets to bet on and customers to bet against.

Transparency: the amount of money available to bet for or against a selection is always displayed inside each odds box, meaning you can always see how much will be available for you to bet on any selection. There are no hidden restrictions or market limits outside of these amounts.

Winners welcome: whether you bet for fun or are a professional, you’re welcome on our Exchange.

Trading: Exchange betting allows you to trade an event, market, or selection, by amending, adding to, or even flipping your position and bets as odds change throughout an event.

Yes. While the concept of share trading is to buy at low prices and sell at high prices, with sports trading, it’s to buy (back) at high odds and sell (lay) at low odds, or lay at low odds, then back at high odds.

No. Trading enables you to place more bets and take more positions without needing to put down extra money. The Exchange uses an exposure model that allows you to use potential profit from existing bets to reduce or increase your liability when placing further bets. Read our Trading Guide here.

Placing a bet on what you believe will be the outcome of an event. Back bets are the blue odds boxes onsite.

Placing a bet on what you believe will NOT be the outcome of an event, i.e. what will not happen. Lay bets are the pink odds boxes onsite.

Back bets and lay bets get matched together if a price (the odds) is agreed that an event will or will not happen.

Back and lay bets that do not get agreed will stay unmatched. Unmatched stakes and odds are displayed in the white odds boxes onsite.

If the bets get agreed, or part of the bets get agreed, the bets will become matched or partially matched. If they do not get agreed, the bets will lapse and be cancelled, either at the start or the end of the event.

Keep at In-Play’ lets you keep your unmatched bet open when the event starts, as unmatched bets get cancelled by default at the start of the event.

If your bet has been matched, you will not be able to cancel it and we will not be able to void or cancel it for you. This is because the bet has been successfully agreed with another individual.

If your bet has been partially matched or is unmatched, you will be able to cancel the unmatched bet or the unmatched part of your bet. You can do this from the My Exchange Bets section or the bet slip.

Stake is the amount of money you place to back or lay a bet, whereas liability is the amount of money you could lose on the bet. For back bets, your stake will be the same as your liability. For lay bets, your liability could be more or less than your stake, depending on the odds of the selection you are laying. Check our helpful guide on laying bets and liability.

Unfortunately, the Exchange is not available in all countries. To see if it is available to you, look for the Exchange toggle within the Sportsbook header. You will also only be able to use the Exchange via the URL (for example, .com or .eu) that you registered your PokerStars account on.

Commission is a small percentage of money that is deducted from winnings to pay for the service and upkeep of the Exchange. Commission is usually 6.5%, though we reserve the right to set different rates in different countries or for specific customers.

It takes into account all your bets on a market, rather than individual bets, and so is only ever charged on markets you have made a profit on, never your losing or break-even markets.

You can check your individual commission rate on your Account Statement page in your Exchange account when logged in.

For a full summary, please read the Charges section of the Exchange General Rules.

The Exchange General Rules can be found here.

There is no maximum bet limit. The maximum stake will depend on how much money there is available in the market to back or lay your selection at the desired price.

£/$/€/C$ 2

There is no fixed maximum payout.

The minimum odds to back or lay are 1.01. The maximum odds available are 1000.

No, the Exchange is for singles only. Accumulators and system bets can be placed on the sportsbook.

No, we create the markets for individuals to bet on.

Yes, please see here to find out how.

You can find any Exchange rules related to VAR here.

You can enter your desired odds and stake for the selection and submit the bet into the market. It will then either be matched by another person or remain unmatched.

No, the Exchange only supports decimal odds.

Yes, most markets are supported with Cash Out and Partial Cash Out. It may not be available at times where there is low liquidity (money) in a market. More information on Cash Out can be found here.

No. Any reduction in exposure will be credited back to your account after placing a successful Cash Out bet, and any profit made on the market will be paid when the market is settled. More information on Cash Out can be found here.

No. 

Yes

A bet may be voided for several reasons, in line with our Exchange Rules.

Yes, you can manage your language from the same list of languages we have on the sportsbook.

You can view Exchange bets within the My Exchange Bets section. Sportsbook bets can be viewed in the sportsbook bet slip/betting history.

Yes, view your betting Profit & Loss page in the Exchange.

Yes, funds will be debited from and credited to your main balance.

No, if you have an existing account, your username and password can be used to login to the Exchange.

Yes. This will allow you to set a limit of how much you are ok with losing in a specific time period.

No. If you have applied a Sports stake limit on your account, this will apply to Sportsbook bets only and not Exchange bets.

Yes. If you self-exclude from PokerStars, you will be excluded from all our products, including the Exchange. If you wish to exclude yourself from the Exchange only, you will need to contact us via the Help Center.