Betting exchanges are really nothing more than the evolution of peer to peer betting, which was something that first began to become popular with the general public in the United Kingdom in mid 2000, when a website called Flutter.com first hosted it. At its very basic level it is the simplest form of online gambling in the sense that you are betting against other players just like yourself. What’s more, regardless of whether you are participating in sports betting or spread betting, football betting or any other kind of Internet betting, the ability to bet between each other is the primary purpose and goal of these sites. Perhaps the most important reason for their popularity is the elimination of the bookmaker and without the middleman there is more opportunity to make money from spread betting or sports betting.
Peer to peer betting exists and thrives on liquidity and ease of use and sites make their money by being so user friendly that customers prefer betting exchanges over many other methods. It means people can place a bet and remain fairly confident that they are going to be paired against someone who has bet almost exactly the same, which means the risk of losing excessive amounts of money is extremely low. As a result, peer to peer betting has become the man in the street’s choice of sports betting and Internet gambling, because it does not require large amounts of money to get started. Instead, the exchanges make money by charging a commission based on the percentage of net winnings. As a result customers never have to put up large amounts of money and risk losing it all against the odds of the bookie.