Smarkets — Betting Exchange Review
Pros
- Commission is materially lower than Betfair's standard rate
- Interface is far easier to learn than the incumbent's
- No premium charges layered on successful accounts
Cons
- Liquidity is a fraction of Betfair's outside headline markets
- Sport coverage is narrower
- Thin books make large stakes difficult to match
The Trade Against Betfair
Smarkets competes on two things: a lower commission rate and a better interface. It loses on the thing that usually decides the question, which is liquidity.
That trade is worth taking in a narrower set of circumstances than the marketing implies. A lower commission on a bet that cannot be matched is worth nothing, and on markets outside football's main competitions and the biggest racing, the book is often too thin to fill a meaningful stake.
Commission
The commission rate is well below Betfair's standard, and unlike the incumbent there is no additional charge applied to consistently profitable accounts. For a high-volume bettor operating on thin margins, that difference compounds into real money over a season.
The saving is only accessible where liquidity allows the bet to be placed at all, which restricts it in practice to the markets where Smarkets is strongest: major football matches, main racing, and the largest political and event markets.
Interface
Considerably better than Betfair's. The order book is readable, position and liability are shown clearly rather than requiring interpretation, and the mobile experience is coherent rather than a compressed desktop layout.
For someone learning how an exchange works, this matters. The mechanics of backing and laying are conceptually simple and made needlessly opaque by a cluttered presentation; Smarkets does not do that.
Liquidity in Practice
The practical test is whether a stake can be matched at the displayed price. On a Premier League match result market, generally yes. On a Championship correct score market, generally not.
A bettor whose stakes are modest and whose interests sit in the main markets may never encounter the ceiling. One placing larger stakes or betting in secondary competitions will hit it constantly, and will end up back at Betfair for exactly the reason Betfair's position is hard to attack.
Verdict
The better exchange to learn on and the better one to use where liquidity permits. Not a replacement for Betfair for anyone betting outside the main markets or at size.
Running both is the sensible arrangement for a serious exchange bettor: Smarkets first for the lower commission, Betfair when the book is not deep enough.