Betting Less than £2

Not as far as I know, looks like you're only option is to give away a whole 2 quid :)

not sure if this helps but

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_J8ry2iKw

and also bots like betbotpro allow every stake from 1p to £1.99

no the video doesn't help - did you read the OP's message at all?

Also bots betting at less than £2 have to first bet the minimum amount before adjusting the stake, so again as the odds are already 1000 that wouldn't work here.

I think one of the reasons is that if people bet really low amounts it doesn't make Betfair anything. Add to that the fact that due to rounding, you'd be able to bet without paying commission.

It would make sense in the scenario the OP mentions though. bet 50p to free up £500 or something.

I think I will pass on the option to give away £2 - it would only free up £15 for me anyway.

If removing £2 limit would allow people to bet without paying commission by splitting bets into lots of 9p bets, then wouldn't people already be doing this in cases where the odds haven't reached 1000? So I am not sure whether I should believe that explanation for the £2 limit being necessary. Don't they accumulate all profits and losses on a market before calculating commission anyway? Furthermore, I won't pay commision on a 1p loss anyway but would pay commision on a £10 profit so there is no loss to betfair in this particular situation; they are just being annoying.

I won't be holding my breath while I wait for one of:

1. Betfair abolishes £2 limit as it is unnecessary and annoying. Or

2. Betfair makes 1p bet for me circumventing £2 limit in some way as a one off gesture. Or

3. Betfair to allow bets at 1100 to 1 but does not allow anyone to lay at those odds. This would allow anyone to bet any amount including less than £2 at 1000 when odds have already reached 1000. Displaying bets at 1100 would probably be a bad idea so display of 1100 odds bet would have to be suppressed. OK that would probably be too much of a annoyance for them to do this. Or

4. Temporary suspension of £2 limit. Maybe just for one hour each month. Or

5. Adjusting £2 limit so that either bet amount or potential winnings have to be greater than £2. I think this possibility should make the most sense to betfair if option 1 is in some way (that I cannot see) a bad idea for betfair. Or

6. Adjusting the limit so that it requires potential winnings to exceed £2 with no restriction on the bet amount. OK I think this would be a very unpopular change preventing anyone betting less than £200 at odds of 1.01 (though it is circumventable through contortions).

or maybe some other solution.

I can't argue it is terrible important so I won't be surprised to see betfair ignoring this.

It's "minimum bet abuse" and if they catch you, you'll be warned first and then suspended.  Only their skimbot is allowed to match amounts under £2... in theory.

Back first with 2.01 stake and lay 2.00 and hope of course that the lay-bet get matched. The extra pennys should worth the risk or not?

>"It's "minimum bet abuse" and if they catch you, you'll be warned first and then suspended.  Only their skimbot is allowed to match amounts under £2... in theory."

What is minimum bet abuse? Splitting a bet into lots of bets that give 9p winnings? That AFAICS doesn't work they accumulate the net winnings and charge commission on total.

Making a single bet for less than £2? Get real. They can quickly trawl system for such bets and warn everyone that has done it.

Or was this a joke I didn't understand?

>"Back first with 2.01 stake and lay 2.00 and hope of course that the lay-bet get matched. The extra pennys should worth the risk or not?"

Not sure if you haven't understood it is a complete no hope bet literally giving away 1p rather than hoping for a £10 win or if you are talking about something different.

Betting £2.01 on Cain to win presidency when he has withdrawn and has less than 1 in a million chance then trying to lay £2 at 1000 is a bad idea. £2 lay will never get matched (especially as there is £94 queue) and this would cost me £2.01 instead of the 1p I am willing to give away. I want to give away 1p not for the potential £10 gain but to free up £10 of funds which I could bet elsewhere while I wait for expiry which is a long, long way off. I suppose it is possible that £15 freed up stake money might be expected to win more than the £2/£2.01 loss before expiry of US president market if I was a particularly good trader with high expections of winnings. Unfortunately I am not that confident in my ability though I will bear it in mind if I find a really good opportunity.


If you are talking about something different (ie not my desired 1p bet on Cain at 1000):

What's the point? If it is worth the risk to bet 1p then it is worth the risk to bet a bit more; amounts have to get much larger before size of bet should impinge on assessment of the risk.

Making both a lay and bet at odds that are very close together increases your risk considerably as the odds might move and you get one bet matched and not the other. The potential gain is limited to a very small amount based on the net 1p bet while the downsize risk is much larger based on £2.01 bet or £2 lay. So better to just bet the 1p if you are able. You are able to in most circumstances but not when there are lay orders already placed at 1000 to 1.


Ho hum so many electrons on wanting to give away a penny.

Some might conclude that if you don't want to hold your position or free up money by reducing your profit by £2, then you may be in the wrong game. :)

I once made hundreds in a long term event by bridging the gap between people who wanted their money back and people who wanted free money laying something that couldn't happen at 1000.

I was laying around 300 and backing around 800, as it was a long term market, there was not the usual rush to lay 1000, as it would lead to a tiny return and there was no way to use that liability to trade elsewhere in the market.

Can't really get my head around the reason for farting about wit this, however the way to do it
is to lay the field, in the market of interest, early doors.

Lay £2.00 at 1.01 (keep in play). Change to £2.01 then cancel your £2.00 bets.

You now have the whole field laid at 0.01p.

When the time is right for you, change 1.01 to 1000 on your choice and submit.

AP, he wants to back , not lay.
  Only way to get around the mimimum bet in the case is to put in the penny back @ 1000 before that pick becomes a 1000 shot.
  Easy to do if you know you want to do this if and when your lay goes to 1000.

Silly old me Eddie, I shouldn't come on when I'm still half asleep!

Look after the pennies....