Smarkets Review | Commission | Sports | Markets | Odds

Smarkets

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Sports & Betting Markets

Betting exchanges work differently to bookmakers in that instead of betting against a bookmaker, you are betting against other users. As there is no bookmaker to take a cut, you’ll find that the odds on betting exchanges such as Smarkets are a lot better than those offered on bookmaker websites which can be a big advantage. Instead, betting exchanges make their money by charging a commission on bets. With Smarkets, they charge customers 2% of net winnings. If you make a net loss on a market, you will not pay any commission. For many years, one of the main attractions to Smarkets was the low commission charges given that Betfair Exchange charged customers 5%. However, in October 2019, Betfair introduced Betfair Rewards which gave customers the option of just 2% commission, albeit giving up certain privileges such as being eligible for promotions. 

You’ll find a range of sports and markets which you can bet on at Smarkets. There is a bigger selection at many bookmakers but most users won’t find this an issue with sports such as football, horse racing, American football, basketball, boxing, golf, rugby and more available. There is also a good selection of ‘Current Affairs’ and ‘TV & Entertainment’ markets where you can bet on the next Bank of England governor, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner and more. Although there isn’t as many sports and markets available compared to some bookmakers, the higher odds is a good enough reason to consider placing your bets with Smarkets.

As Smarkets is a betting exchange, you can place both back and lay bets. Back bets are the kind of bet you would generally place with a bookmaker and when you are betting on something to happen. For example, if you backed Liverpool to beat Arsenal, your bet would win if Liverpool won and would lose if Arsenal won or the match ended in a draw. However, if you placed a lay bet on Liverpool, which you can do with Smarkets, your bet would lose if Liverpool won and win if Arsenal won or the match ended in a draw. When you place a lay bet, you are betting on something not to happen.

SBK – Fixed Odds Bookmaker By Smarkets

In 2019, Smarkets launched SBK which is a fixed-odds bookmaker that claims to offer better odds than other bookmakers. SBK is only available via the SBK app and the account is linked to your Smarkets account meaning that you can use the same balance across both the fixed-odds and exchange services. You can read more about SBK in our SBK Review and find out more about how to claim the SBK Welcome Offer.

In-Play Betting

In-play betting is available on Smarkets for a wide range of sports. Again, you won’t find as many in-play markets as you generally would with a bookmaker but there is still a reasonable choice. For example, for football matches, you can bet on the match winner, HT/FT, first/last/anytime goalscorers, correct score, handicap betting and more. The in-play odds at Smarkets are also generally a lot better than with a bookmaker. However, they do update a lot faster than with a bookmaker as the are affected by which bets other users place.

You can place back and lay bets on in-play markets just as you would pre-match, with the odds shown in the green boxes being the back odds and the odds shown in the blue boxes being the lay odds.

Live Streaming

Smarkets does not currently provide any live streams of sporting events. However, you will be able to view a range of in-play stats such as possession %, the number of attacks, shots on target and more. There is also a graphical representation of what is currently happening in an event which can give you a better idea of whether you should place a certain bet at that time. For example, if you can see that one team has a corner, it may not be a good idea to place a bet on the other team scoring the next goal.

Customer Service

Smarkets offers customer support via live chat, email and through their Twitter account. Live chat support is only available to registered users who are logged in but it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Smarkets Twitter account is a good source of information for when there may be issues with the site. Although this isn’t very often, they do keep customers up to date through this channel. 

Upon testing, live chat support were quick to respond and answered our questions without any issues. We also received a response to our email query within an hour which is excellent.

Smarkets App

Downloading the Smarkets app is a must for anyone with a Smarkets account. You can log in quickly using the touch ID on your phone and you’ll have instant access to your account and betting markets. It can be a great way to quickly compare the odds to those offered at a bookmaker and see if you can get more value by betting through the exchange.

The Smarkets app is easy to use with navigation made simple by listing all the major sports in the main menu. Popular events are also listed on the homepage for quick access.

The Smarkets app is available to download for free for both Android and iOS devices from the associated app stores.

The Website

The Smarkets website is simple to use but if this is your first time placing bets on a betting exchange, there will be a few new features you will not have seen before.

The layout of the website is generally the same as you would expect from a bookmaker with a list of sports in the sidebar and featured events taking up most of the homepage area. There is also the option to search for a specific event or competition using the search field at the top of the page.

Once an event has been selected, a list of markets will be displayed. The main difference between betting exchanges and bookmakers as we mentioned earlier is that you can place lay bets on exchanges. Alongside each market, you’ll see the option to place both back bets and lay bets. Back bets are shown in the green boxes with lay bets in the blue boxes. One important aspect to take note of is the liquidity for each market at the current available odds. The liquidity is shown underneath the green and blue boxes. This is the amount which is available to bet at the odds shown in the boxes. Should your back or lay stake be greater than the liquidity at the time of placing your bet, it’s possible that your bet will be either unmatched or partially matched. If you place a bet and there isn’t enough liquidity at your chosen odds, your bet will be queued. Should the odds return to that which you placed them at, then your bet could end up being fully matched.

Overall, the Smarkets website is simple to use providing that you understand back and lay bets and liquidity.

It is possible to cash out your bets on Smarkets in a similar way to how you would with a bookmaker. However, on Smarkets, it’s called ‘Trade Out’. Another difference is that if you trade out your bet on Smarkets, it won’t be settled until the end of the event compared to with a bookmaker where you would receive your returns instantly.

To trade out a bet you have placed with Smarkets, simply head to the market and click the ‘Trade Out’ button. Be aware that if you have more than one bet on a particular market, trading out will apply to all of those bets. However, you do have the option to trade out just some of your stake on that market if you wish.

Online Casino

Currently, Smarkets is a stand-alone betting exchange and doesn’t offer an online casino or any other betting products.

Banking

There are a number of deposit & withdrawal options for customers at Smarkets ranging from card payments to various e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller.

See the tables below for a list of deposit & withdrawal options along with limits and time frames.

Be aware that if you are a new customer at Smarkets and are looking to claim the Smarkets welcome offer, only card and bank transfer payments are eligible.

Deposits

Withdrawals

Account Settings

Languages: The Smarkets website is available in 3 languages which include English, Portuguese and Swedish. A language can be selected by clicking on the language drop-down list in the top right corner of the website.

Odds Format: There are 3 different odds formats available on Smarkets. Decimal, American and Percentage. You may be familiar with decimal and American formats which can be found on many bookmaker websites but viewing odds as percentages may be new to you. When set to percentages, the various outcomes for a market will display the chances they have of winning. 

Smarkets will automatically show you your returns when you enter a stake regardless of what odds format you have chosen but if you would like to calculate your returns manually when using percentage odds, the formula below will help.

(100 / percentage) * stake = return (including stake)

The format of the odds can be changed by clicking on ‘Settings’ and then on ‘Odds’.

Theme: A nice touch by Smarkets is allowing users to choose between website themes. Currently, there are only two themes available. Dark and light. Users can select which theme they wish to use by clicking on @Settings’ and then ‘Theme’.

Responsible Gambling: Smarkets provides a number of options to allow customers to stay in control of their betting.

Deposit Limits: Users can limit the amount of money they can deposit into their Smarkets account on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Loss Limits: Loss limits can be set so that customers can’t lose more than a set amount over a daily, weekly or monthly period.

Stake Limits: Customers can also set a maximum stake which they can place on a single bet at any one time.

Time Out: Time outs are available for short breaks from Smarkets. Customers can opt to take a break for either 1 day, 7 days, 31 days or 42 days at a time. During this time you will not be able to bet or use the Smarkets site.

Self Exclusion: If a longer break is needed, customers can opt to self exclude themselves for a period of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.

Summary

Smarkets is an excellent betting exchange and although Betfair Exchange has recently given customers the option of lowering their commission rates to meet that of Smarkets, it can be a good idea to have more than one betting exchange account as there will be times where you will be able to get better odds on Smarkets. The Smarkets vs Betfair debate will long continue but many users are switching to Smarkets due to the low base rate commission and excellent platform.

The Smarkets welcome offer is excellent and should be more than enough of a reason to register an account but if that’s not enough, the fact that you’ll nearly always find better odds on Smarkets compared to a bookmaker is a bonus.

Click the button below to register an account with Smarkets today.

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Use code COMMFREE to trade with 0% commission for 60 days. Min. £10/€10 first deposit using Debit Card or Instant Banking. Full T&C’s apply.18+. BeGambleAware.org. #ad