Betting exchanges make their money by charging a commission that is based upon a percentage of net winnings for each customer during a given event. Given that fact, they also do not have a system of restrictions in place, whereas traditional bookmakers will have locks in place to keep gamblers whose betting activities have had them winning excessively from cleaning house. This is one of the reasons why betting sites have become so popular in recent years, because some of the high rollers who have found traditional bookmakers putting limits on how much they are allowed to win can now turn to betting exchanges and continue wagering. The only restriction that the exchanges generally have is that at least one opposing customer must be willing to match the bets. On top of that, the odds available through betting sites are generally better than those offered by traditional bookmakers, because the middleman is completely eliminated.
Despite the advantages, exchanges do have some limitations. The most prominent is the fact that exchanges are looking to concentrate on liquidity in limited markets. Not to mention, traditional bookkeepers are human beings, and bookies are sometimes willing to allow customers to bet on credit based upon their opinion, while a betting exchange is nothing more than a computer that pushes numbers, and sometimes there is no replacement for human judgment. While both sides of the sports betting arena have their pluses and minuses, it is really up to the individual in question whether or not they want to participate in betting sites or stay with traditional bookies.