Eurovision odds + how to bet on Betfair

The betting on Eurovision is hotting up folks. Betfair has taken more than £400,000 in Eurovision bets. For the latest Betfair Eurovision odds click here.

Otherwise read on for a tutorial on using Betfair. It will teach you how to back (placing a bet) as well as how to lay (aka offering a bet).

This will come in very handy because Big Brother 6 betting action is just around the corner, and that really is three months of tremendous fun.

Betfair Is A Person-To-Person Betting Exchange

I offer you a bet. You offer me one. We both set odds we feel comfortable with, based on the how we think Eurovision (or Big Brother) contestants will do.

Eurovision Odds Are Likely To Be Higher On Betfair

Because there is no bookmakers’ margin, and maybe because amateurs like us are setting the odds, Betfair reckons that it provides 20% better odds than the traditional high street bookmakers.

And you can get a lot better than that, if you’re quick. Get the laptop out for tomorrow night’s Eurovision final and watch closely. Because as we mentioned, Big Brother 6 betting is only days away.

SIDENOTE TO BIG BROTHER FANS: We’ll have Big Brother odds updates throughout the day, and if you are interested in entertainment and TV betting then sign up to our betting alerts email now. We’ll walk you through it.

‘Lay’ a Bet (Offer A Bet To Somebody Else - You Set The Odds)

The best bit of offering bets (called ‘laying‘ a bet - look for the pink LAY column) is that you can effectively win by choosing a loser. You can win money by saying: "She has a crap voice and has bugger all chance of winning."

You’ll have to offer odds, so there’s a risk involved, but as we’ll outline, a long shot can become an odds on favourite (at which point you start offering bets - you are hedging your bets).

And by hedging your bets you can win before an event has reached its conclusion, no matter what the end result.

So, Betfair, allows you to win by backing a winner, or win by laying a loser.

The Joy of Eurovision Betting on Betfair

Eurovision betting is fabulous on the night, because the odds change during the course of the event, reflecting performances and later, when the countries announce their votes, public opinion.

You bet in real time, making the most of your position as the odds change.

The more right you are, the better the chance to cash in.

When To Start Laying Bets

Let’s use a couple of examples. If you want to back Javine, the UK entry, then she’s available at 60 (59-1).

Put £10 on at 60 and you have £600 to play with. And if Javine does well, and the odds fall, then you start laying bets. Maybe she’ll pull in a load of votes at the start (she won’t, but…).

Her odds will maybe fall as low as 5 (4-1), just behind a few clear leaders.

At this point you could offer (lay) a bet for £50, paying out £150 and giving the punter his £50 if you win. But you win £600 too, less that £150 = £450.

Example

We often like to pick an outsider that we think will do better than expected, to get a potentially large amount of winnings in the event of a dramatic shift in public opinion.

In Big Brother last year, as Nadia’s ashtray apocalypse peaked with screaming and fights, she drifted out to 50. People on Betfair didn’t fancy her chances at all.

But she won.

And her odds on the final night fell to 1.5, so you could have offered somebody a bet of £100 to win a maximum of £50 (and their £100 back).

So if you took a position on Nadia for £20 @ 50 then you’d have won £1,000, less the £50 you paid out to the guy who took the 1.5 bet. That’s £950. Good work, mister.

And if Nadia had lost, you’d have won that guy’s stake - £100. Less the £20 you stuck on Nadia to win.

That’s £80, and not only is it £80, it is £80 because she lost. In this eventuality, if anybody else wins, you win.

And this would have been before the event has ended too. Quids in.

Cool, huh?

It happened too, you just had to make the right call.

When you do this among the company of others you can bask in the glory of winnings as a show reaches its climax, while rubbing your flatmates’/friends’/partners’/pets’ faces in it.

Winning money IS being double right, as Bez would tell you.

So, reader, Betfair is worth checking out for the ability to win on all results by hedging your bets. You trade positions. Buy high odds and sell low ones. In that order.

It really isn’t difficult at all, even if you have never used Betfair before, which is a no brainer (even if you just want to have a little bet and not bother with hedging your bets - 20% better odds, remember?).

The tricky bit is in knowing which outsiders are in with a chance.

But you’ll know that already, and certainly by tomorrow night, right?

***hecklerspray readers can sign up with Betfair now for Eurovision betting and next week’s Big Brother - odds coming soon***

Join our Big Brother Betting Club by emailing bigbrotherbetclub@gmail.com.

Good luck, Eurovision fans!