Punters can approach a wager in several different ways. A punter can choose which betting market, game, League, sport, and event to participate in. When making a wager, most punters think about making a wager on a team to win, a group to lose, or both teams to draw. However, punters also can play the bookie by laying a stake with a punter. Applying a chance is the opposite of making a wager and involves betting on an event not to occur.
What Is Lay Betting?
To lay a wager is to place a bet on a particular outcome not to happen. For context, most punters make routine wagers that include a chance on a team to win, both teams to draw, or one team to lose. A punter is essentially making a wager on one out of three outcomes in sports. A punter makes a wager on a product not happening in lay betting. For example, in Arsenal and Barcelona match, a punter may lay a wager on Arsenal to not win the game. If the game resulted in a tie or a Barca win, a punter stands to win the bet. Essentially, a punter has the opportunity to back two out of three outcomes in a sports wager, i.e. win and draw, or loss and draw for any side.
Lay Betting Strategies
Some of the vital lay betting strategies punters include wagers on football leagues, horse races, evenly matched teams, lower odds when compared to bets on the outcome of events, and in some instances, guaranteeing a profit.
1. Wagers On Football Leagues
Punters prefer laying bets on football leagues because predicting the winner of a League at the end of the season from among 20 or more teams is hard. It’s easier to predict who’s not going to win the League rather than who will win the League. Consider a punter laying a wager on Arsenal not to win the League because Manchester City and Liverpool are the leading contenders to win the leagues. Moreover, Arsenal’s inconsistent form also means that the team is unlikely to win the League. A punter can make an educated lay wager and win more often than not when betting on Leagues.
2. Wagers On Horse Races
Laying a horse in a horse race is a good betting strategy depending on the number of horses and jockeys on the race or track. For example, if only six horses participate, a punter laying a horse not to win means the horse has to finish outside the first three positions. The odds of that happening are roughly 50-50, which means a lay wager may not be the best wager to make. However, if more than 15 horses are participating in a race, it can be easier to predict which horse will not win rather than which one will win the race.
3. Evenly Matched Teams
Laying a wager between two evenly matched teams is a good way of hedging your bet on two outcomes out of 3 in any particular game. A punter applying a chance against two evenly matched teams will win the wager in the event of a draw. Draws are pretty common in sports such as football versus other high-scoring sports such as cricket or basketball. Punters can insure their wagers against an unexpected draw result with the help of lay bets.
4. Lower Odds Than Wagers On The Outcome
Punters have lower odds and lower profits when laying a bet versus making a regular bet. Since applying a wager includes making a wager on two outcomes, the house accounts for the extra bet on the odds of the chance. While a punter can make a higher profit by making a regular bet, the risk involved in making a usual bet is also higher when compared to laying a chance.
5. Can Guarantee a Profit
In some situations, punters can make a consistent profit, irrespective of the game’s outcome. However, the conditions, odds, and wager all need to work in favour of the punter for this to happen. For example, a punter lays a bet at the start of a game and places a regular bet at half-time based on how the game progresses.