The latest Sportsbook or betting exchange in our stop of Australian betting options is Betfair Australia. Check out our full Betfair review below.Betfair Australia is a subsidiary of the Betfair Sportsbook owned and operated out of the UK. If Pinnacle is the holy grail of sports betting accounts for professionals than Betfair is the next best.
They launched in the UK back in 2000 but it wasn’t until 2005 that they received their Australian license and started operating down under.
If Pinnacle is the holy grail of sports betting accounts for professionals than Betfair is the next best.
Betfair differs greatly from regular sportsbooks because it’s a sports betting exchange.
What that means is that it’s essentially a betting marketplace between buyers and sellers.
More About Betfair
As a betting exchange, Betfair the company operate in a different way to bookmakers with punters trading odds against one another.
You can back or lay an option in a wide range of sports with Betfair taking a commission of between 2 and 5% from the winning bettor.
By frequently offering up considerably better odds compared to conventional bookmakers after commissions, the exchanges have in a sense revolutionized a part of the online betting industry.
Because of the Betfair exchange model, there are technically no limits. As long as there is someone on the other end willing to lay the bet you want to back, then it’s pretty much game on!
The number of betting markets on offer however, isn’t as plentiful as some of the corporate bookmakers and the liquidity on some prop markets is often very low due to the fact that there isn’t always someone willing to lay bets in such markets and if they are, limits are low.
Backing and Laying On Betfair
You get to decide whether you want to back or lay a selection and you also get to determine the price and limit you want to back or lay it for.
The example above illustrates the betting interface ahead of Day 3 of the Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan.
You can see that there is up to $23,000 available for punters wanting to back Australia at $1.32.
Read more about Matching Bets On Betfair Here.
Lay Betting
Lay betting is the one thing that Betfair can offer to punters that no other licensed Australian wagering operator can.
This allows punters to become ‘traders’ and build their book out like a bookmaker does.
To read more about Lay Betting On Betfair, click here.
Betfair SP
For the racing punters the interface works the same as sports but has the added feature of the Betfair SP.
This is a terrific product that often beats the price of Top Fluc and Top Tote.
Check out more on the Betfair SP here.
Funding your Betfair Account
If you want to deposit funds into your account, all you need to do is use one of the following methods: Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, BPay, Bank Transfer, Nab, Credit Union Transfer or other services such as Neteller or Moneybookers. Free withdrawals of your winnings can be taken from Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank Transfer, NAB or Credit Union.
It is important to note they do not allow cheques or third-party payments. However, with the huge amount of deposit and withdrawal methods on offer, punters really won’t struggle to manage the financial side of their gambling.
Customer service and support
On top of a very well ran email service Betfair Australia have a live betting line, a helpdesk that takes both live-chat questions and questions over the phone.
Positives
- High limits for Sports and Racing markets
- Super-low margins. Basically 100% markets minus Betfair’s commission
- Great customer service
- In-play betting options
- No one gets restricted, no one’s accounts get closed.
Negatives
- Low limits if you can’t find someone to lay your bet
- Limited amount of markets offered compare to corporate bookmakers
- You often have to wait until close to an event starting to bet due to low liquidity
- Less promotions than the likes of CrownBet, Sportsbet and Ladbrokes
- A basic interface that still has some navigational challenges.
- Placing a bet can be quiet a slow process and at times confusing for beginners.