Does anyone STILL use betfair?

[G-Man]

I used to love betfair but use it very rarely these days. Seems to have got worse over the last year (no longer in the BMR Green List). Most concerning and the main reason players bet with them was the great odds - this is not the case anymore. The ability to lay, means betfair is a vital cog, but I do feel that they have really lost momentum, and should have been the true sport betting giant, always offering the fairest odds on every event - not the case. The fixed odds product and push towards casino, games and poker shows which way they are heading. No exchanges have come close to rivalling them, and betdaq are currently in talks to sell to Ladbrokes.

Matchbook is making a lot of noise lately, does anyone has any experience here?

 

[quincunx]

I don't have experience with Matchbook,but they need to cover more markets more quickly to compete with Betfair.Quite a few small guys are trying,but it needs someone with a lot of advertising/marketing power [although someone really clever could try].
Betfair are their own worst enemies.What they don't appreciate is that the exchange part of their business,while not that profitable,is what entices people on to their site.The company is run by a bunch of bean counters with no imagination.When a real challenge to them does come,they could be too far gone to fight it.If I knew of a good challenger,I'd invest in it.

 

[Hareeba]

Yes, I still use Betfair everyday.
You may well be right in regard to the level of liquidity not being what it once was for sports. Liquidity does however improve significantly close to game start times though. And one very often overlooked advantage of an exchange is that you can ask for the odds and stake you wish to bet. You can't do that with an online bookie. If realistically priced most of the time that bet does still get matched I find.
Betfair is really the only option I have left for betting on UK racing as I've been limited to peanuts or closed down at all other agencies which offer it.
Regular users get significant commission discounts which does still keep Betfair's effective odds competitive with bookies.

 

[Hareeba]

With regards Matchbook:
I use the primarily for US sports but as with Betfair find that liquidity is lacking until close to game time.
They are fairly decent for tennis also.
However they do suffer from a severe lack of sports and markets as compared with Betfair. Even for US sports, e.g. no 1st half NBA totals.
Their platform is slow and seems to be quite buggy.
I use Moneybookers with them and have always found withdrawals to be prompt but annoying in that they limit them to $2,500 and a total of $5,000 per day.

 

[Corner]

I still use Betfair. Having been limited to peanuts or had my accounts closed at all reputable bookmakers covering UK horse racing, I haven't much choice. It may not quite have the reputation that it used to or give quite the same impression of caring about its customers, but Betfair is still very much better than the other exchanges in terms of liquidity, markets offered and the ability to trade out or have your money taken when you ask for a price.

 

[G-Man]

I forgot how important it is for UK horse racing.

Seems that everyone uses them as there are no real viable alternatives in the market.

 

[peleus]

I am actually trying to test them out. Let's see how this goes in the long run by the way.

 

[steve1845]

I used to betfair for everything I did because I don't think Betdaq or Smarkets are good enough alternatives. I've been using matchbook during the 0% commission on football promotion but only really on match odds while continuing to use betfair for markets such as correct score and first goal scorer because of liquidity. I don't like matchbook's site at all but the payouts have been fast and the commission difference outweighs the poor site imo.

 

[Magpie28]

I use Betfair nearly every day and it's rare that I find a corporate bookie (in Australia) that offers better prices. Not sure why people think their prices aren't competitive... most of their high-liquidity markets run at close to 100% whereas the corporates are up around 115% on a good day. I won't stop using them till the corporates are prepared to take some risks to win me over.

 

[bogdy06]

I am using Betfair especially for football bets. I've started to use them since 2010, when i've read a review about them on checkyourodds.co.uk , and i can say even they sometimes have not the biggest odds, i still place my bets with them perhaps out of habit. I am satisfied how the site looks and work. For other sports i'm using others bookies, but for football , most time i'm using Betfair.

 

[shirtless]

I used Betfair a lot But changed to ibet24seven.com to use multiple books.

 

[mile]

BETFAIR was the best thing to ever happen.But they have killed the on course market;the tax they charge up to 65 percent is like daylight robbery.Since it was introduced betfair has declined badley.