Does anyone know how the automatic bet matching on betfair works? I was watching a game on it which had three

Question

possible outcomes - player 1 wins,player 2 wins or Tie.

Money available for player1 was- Back 3 to 400 pounds,Lay 3 to 400 pounds.

For player2 was also - Back 3 to 400 pounds,Lay 3 to 400 pounds.

For Tie money was less -Back 90 to 100 pounds, Lay 90 to 100 pounds.

That makes an available total of about 1400 to 1800 pounds,yet at the end of the game it showed - "Total matched so far £17".

How is that,when so much money is available on both the Back and Lay sides?

Answer 1

You cannot have £400 willing to back at 3 and £400 willing to be laid at 3 as they would be matched. There must be a difference between the bet and the lay price i.e. 2.95:3 or 3:3.05. If punters are not willing to budge from these prices no bets will be laid, so as regards the first pair of quotations, either the backer has to accept odds of 2.95 (1.95 to 1) or the layer has to offer 3 (2 to1) for there to be a match. Simple.

Edit The answer is still the same. You must strike a match - if the backers and layers cannot meet over a price there will be no business.