A cricket exchange in Bangladesh allows individuals to bet against each other on cricket matches, instead of placing wagers through a traditional sportsbook where the odds are set by a bookmaker. In this article, we will provide a list of the top cricket exchange websites available, offer some tips and strategies for betting on cricket, and provide a detailed comparison of cricket exchanges and sportsbooks.
What is a cricket exchange?
A cricket exchange is a betting site that allows individuals to bet on cricket events and markets against each other, as opposed to betting against a bookmaker’s sportsbook with predetermined odds. The cricket exchange charges a small commission fee for its services, which is typically lower than the commission charged by traditional sportsbooks. This means that you can get more competitive odds on the cricket exchange.
Unlike traditional betting sites, the odds on a cricket exchange are not set by the bookmaker, but rather by the collective betting activities of hundreds or even thousands of customers. The odds are determined based on the quantity of customers who are placing back bets and lay bets. Back betting involves betting on something to happen, while lay betting involves betting on something not to happen.
Did you know that Betfair, the most popular cricket exchange in Bangladesh, played a significant role in the evolution of mobile betting? Their app was actually the first of its kind on the Apple store!
Apoorva Raha
How to Use Cricket Exchange sites ?
Using a cricket exchange is a straightforward process, no more complicated than placing a wager on a traditional sportsbook. To get started, simply sign up to the cricket exchange of your choice by accessing their website or app.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be asked to provide your personal and financial details, which will be securely held by the operator with strict measures in place to protect your information. You’ll also need to make a deposit to fund your account, being careful to ensure you meet any thresholds required to qualify for welcome bonuses. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of any bonus you claim before proceeding.
With your account funded, you can then place your bets. Unlike traditional betting sites, the odds on a cricket exchange are represented as decimal values. Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with decimal odds – understanding them is straightforward and potential returns should be clearly displayed before you confirm your bet.
While there are many different markets available across various sports, your ultimate choice will depend on whether you want to place a back bet or a lay bet. Back betting involves betting on an outcome to occur, while lay betting involves betting on it not to occur.
TIP: To minimize risk, it’s recommended that you select markets with dropping odds. Odds on a cricket exchange are updated in real-time, so be sure to monitor any changes carefully.
Placing a Back Bet on a Cricket Exchange
Placing a Back Bet on a cricket exchange means that you are placing your wager on a particular outcome to happen. For instance, if you are betting on Bangladesh to win against India in a cricket match, your placed bet will be matched by another customer who is punting on Bangladesh to not win the match. You will win if Bangladesh wins, just like you would have had you bet on the same outcome on a traditional sportsbook. It’s how the markets are determined, and who you are betting against, that distinguishes a cricket exchange from a fixed-odds platform.
In terms of how it works on a practical level, it’s quite simple. Here’s a quick breakdown of how to place a back bet on a cricket exchange.
- Sign up to the cricket exchange if you haven’t already.
- Make a deposit.
- Select the cricket match you wish to bet on.
- Click on “back” next to the selection you are interested in. You should be able to select your stake at this time (some exchanges may have you press the odds yourself).
- Confirm your bet on the bet slip. This is also where you should be able to see any potential returns.
How Lay Bets Work
Lay betting is the opposite of a back bet, where you place your wager on an event not to happen. For example, in a Premier League matchup between Liverpool and Arsenal, you can bet on Liverpool not to win. Depending on the available odds, laying a wager may provide better value than placing a back bet. It all comes down to using your best judgement.
If you lay a bet and the outcome happens as expected, you win. In the example above, if Arsenal wins or if Liverpool draws, your wager would be successful as you would have bet against the other punters backing Liverpool to win.
Laying a bet is straightforward and similar to back betting. Here’s a quick guide:
- Sign up for your chosen betting exchange through their website or app.
- Make a deposit.
- Find the market you want to bet on.
- Click on “lay” next to the market you want to bet on. If this does not work, you may need to click on the odds themselves. Ensure your stake is to your liking.
- Your bet should now be available on your bet slip showing any potential returns, ready to be confirmed.
Matched Betting
Matched betting involves placing multiple bets to cover all the outcomes of a match and ensure a risk-free approach, using free bet promotions and bookmaker incentives. You must have an account on two or more cricket exchanges. For example, if you place a back bet on a cricket team to win a match using a free bet, and a lay bet on the same cricket team to not win while wagering the right amount of funds to ensure that you will not incur a loss, you have placed a matched bet.
How To Choose a Cricket Exchange
There are a lot of elements to consider when choosing the best cricket exchange for you. Here are our top tips for deciding which to use.
VALUE
Want to sign up to a cricket exchange? Then ensure that you’re getting value for money. Picking the best cricket exchange offering the most valuable odds is the best way to start. You can judge for yourself by using an odds comparison service or simply by looking at them yourself across the board. Our research has discovered that Betfair Exchange offers the most competitive odds on our chosen markets (cricket matches). Timing can be everything in terms of getting the best price for your wager, especially when using an exchange where the value can fluctuate.
Our Recommendation: Betfair Exchange
WELCOME OFFER
As a new customer, you always want to grab the best welcome offer available. Top cricket exchanges often offer a lucrative number of free bets as part of this bonus, and the best exchanges are no different. During our research, we found that Betfair Exchange and Matchbook were equal in terms of their welcome offer for new customers. Both operators provided a risk-free bet worth up to £20, which could be refunded in full if your first wager was to lose. It is a fairly standard welcome offer as bonuses go in the industry, but still stronger than that of their rivals. If we were going to pick just one, though, we would go with Matchbook for the strength of their overall product and the improvements that have been made in recent years to their cricket exchange.
Our Recommendation: Matchbook
RANGE OF MARKETS
A good cricket exchange will have a solid range of markets, but the great ones will have extensive betting options for their customers. We don’t want to see simple wagering options for the result when we line up our stakes – there should be access to the top range of betting markets that are available when using a traditional sportsbook. Fortunately, the cricket exchanges that we have highlighted in this guide provide this level of access when betting on cricket matches. Once again, Betfair Exchange and Matchbook meet all of our criteria in terms of the scope of their betting markets, providing more than the outright results with betting options, including over/unders and handicap wagering. This time, we give the edge to Betfair Exchange because of their longstanding expertise.
Our Recommendation: Betfair Exchange
COMMISSION
All cricket exchanges will take a commission for their part in allowing you to bet against another punter through their site or exchange app, but not all exchanges are equal in terms of the percentage of their cut. The best cricket exchanges will only charge a small amount, taking a percentage of your funds if your bet is successful. If they take more than this, then it is in your interest to avoid those operators. We ourselves found that Matchbook and Smarkets were two of the best in this regard, charging their customers up to 4%, but in a lot of cases, only 2%. BETDAQ was also intriguing by removing their commission on Saturdays at the time of writing, although it remains to be seen whether this promotion is a permanent move. Meanwhile, Smarkets provides a bonus of 0% commission for loyal customers – the offer that stood out to us the most.
Our Recommendation: Smarkets
Cricket Exchange Offers
Whether you’re a new or existing customer, you’ll want to receive the best offers and bonuses from your chosen cricket exchange. These can come in the form of several options, although they are not quite as lucrative as offers provided by sportsbooks and casinos.
The best offers we have seen in regards to free bets come from Betfair Exchange and Matchbook, who grant their new customers a £20 risk-free bet on their first wager. Others such as Smarkets and BETDAQ offer smaller amounts as part of their welcome bonus, which may make you consider alternatives if you desire a more generous sign-up offer.
Free bets are often part of welcome packages offered by the best cricket exchanges, but another alternative is reducing the amount of commission they take from your winning bets. The top operators in the industry are competitive in terms of the percentage they will take from your successful bets. The lowest we have seen is 2%, but they will attempt to lower this further for a period of time, which can see these levels drop to as low as 0%. In the past, we have seen these kinds of promotion from Matchbook, BETDAQ, and Smarkets.
Unfortunately, there are downsides to promotions provided by cricket exchanges. For one thing, they are not as frequent as offers you may find on regular sportsbooks, and the potential of 0% commission will often be fleeting, as the operator will have to take their cut at some point. Therefore, it is crucial that you capitalize on these offers when they are available.
Risks and Rewards of Cricket Exchanges
There are benefits to using cricket exchanges, and there are elements of risk. The best cricket exchanges ensure that their customers receive the benefits of premium value on their odds and a wide range of betting markets while reducing the negative aspects of the system in the process.
The rewards for using a cricket exchange is the value you can find in your betting odds. Since you’re not betting against a bookmaker, you can define the price yourself if you can find a punter on the other side of the coin. It can be more lucrative betting on the exchange if you’re savvy enough with your odds and markets. Knowing when to bet and what markets to target are crucial to securing a sizeable profit when using a cricket exchange.
You also have the advantage of laying bets, which are not available from traditional sportsbooks. Lining up a wager on an event not to occur can be more beneficial and lucrative, especially on events such as cricket matches, when leading contenders can have very narrow odds to win. Betting on the other side of the coin for a loss on their part can increase your profit margins.
The risk element is always a factor when gambling, so you must always weigh up all your options before finally placing your wager. Some bets on the exchange may require a minimum stake, which might sway your opinion about lodging your bet. If you surpass a threshold regarding your stake on a certain bet on the exchange, it might not be accepted by the site in question.
When laying against a bet with long odds, you might be susceptible to a hefty payout if the selection wins rather than fails. If you were to place a £1 on a 20/1 team or player to lose, and if they were to win, you would be liable to get paid out up to 20 times your stake.
Cricket Exchange Trading Tips and Strategies
When it comes to using a cricket exchange, you should always do your research and fully understand the concepts of backing, laying, and matched betting. Keep in mind also that different cricket exchanges come with varying commission rates.
If you are looking for high-stake liquidity, the best cricket exchange for back bets in this regard is Betfair, while Smarkets is the best for lay bets. To mention yet another operator, BetConnect are a rather new cricket exchange platform, having been launched in 2018. They are accepting commission-free lay bets, making their platform a rather intriguing prospect, to say the least.
Cricket Exchanges vs Sportsbooks
As a summary, we’ve laid out the main differences between cricket exchanges and conventional sportsbooks below.
Exchange Commission vs Bookmaker
Margin Sportsbooks have in place a margin of profit called the bookmaker’s margin through which they earn profit. Meanwhile, exchanges charge a commission fee on winning bets that usually appears as a percentage (e.g. 2% or 4%).
Odds
On a traditional sportsbook, the odds are fixed by the bookmaker themselves, and how competitive they are depends on the popularity of the betting market in question. On the other hand, at cricket exchanges, you set the odds yourself, though the quality here also depends on the popularity of your chosen market, as you’ll have to find someone to match the price you’re offering.
Backing & Laying vs Fixed Markets
A sportsbook does not involve the concept of backing and laying. Players bet on the outcome of an event as is provided by a betting site, and the platform has direct control over placed bets. In contrast, at a cricket exchange, you can choose to back or lay an outcome (i.e. wager on something to happen or not to happen respectively). In a sense, you’ll be acting as the bookmaker yourself.
How do cricket exchanges make money?
The main way that cricket exchanges make money is by taking a small commission on winnings. The exact amount varies between exchanges, but it is generally between 2% and 5%.
This is much the same business model as a poker room taking a rake in exchange for providing a safe and secure platform for players.
It is important to make sure you factor in this commission when deciding to use a cricket exchange to back bets. The odds may be better, but it is important to make a like-for-like comparison to a traditional sportsbook to see which option would secure you the best net profits.
