There are many potential ways of winning money on the betting exchanges but essentially it comes down to just three basic methods:

The first method is by trying to lay (or back) a complete book. This means that you try to lay (or back) all possibilities within a single market to make a guaranteed but usually small profit whatever the outcome. This can be particularly difficult especially in a low turnover market and you will probably need to anticipate which way the market is going to move in order to get all of your bets matched. If you can consistently predict which way a price is going to move you are probably better off going with the second method anyway.

The second method is to back a selection at a higher price then lay it at a lower price (or lay at a lower price then back it back at a higher price). This method works best when playing the favourite as this is where most of the money ends up going. For instance in the match odds market on Betfair for a live game there is often over a million pounds matched before the kick off. If you could predict that the favourite would shorten in the last few hours before the match is due to start (as often happens) you could back £1,000 at say 1.95 then a few hours later lay £1,021 at 1.91 and you would then make around £21 profit regardless of the result.

The third method is simply to to back or lay whenever you think that you are getting value for money. This is where the Soccer121 ratings can help you to win. The Soccer121 ratings are supplied via an Excel spreadsheet into which you put your required markup (say 10%) and your payout (say £100). The Lay and Back odds are automatically generated for you together with the calculated stake. You can then compare these odds with the actual odds on offer on the betting exchanges such as Betfair, Betdaq or IBetX and place your bets accordingly.