Scalping betting odds on sports is a type of bet trading that involves the trader making small and regular profits from tiny movements in the odds quoted for bets. Scalpers will know that the best place to scalp bets is Betfair. Scalping on Betfair is made possible by third party software providers like Bet Traders. Bet trading software makes one click betting and hedging possible. Any readers who have stumbled open this post and are unaware of Betfair should read our post explaining Betfair.  Scalping like most types of trading is more of an art than a science and needs explanation and guidance.

In the video below, courtesy of a trader called The Badger, there is an example of scalping UK horse racing markets on Betfair. The Badger uses software from Racing Traders called Bet Trader Pro to make the trades.  More on the Bet Trader software later.

Those who need more explanation about scalping should read this section.  Anyone else should go straight to the video to get a real life example of a trader scalping a horse race on Betfair.   Here is the main theory of scalping,

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  • Small profits are made from the difference between back and lay odds on the same selection (same horse in this example).  Always back high (higher odds) and lay low (lower odds).  It doesn’t matter which bet gets placed first.
  • Use software to make the second bet which completes the trade.  The software has a hedging function which works out what stakes need to go down in order to complete the trade and guarantee a profit.  A hedge essentially places bets across all the other selections (in this case horses in the race).
  • Make more winning trades than loosing ones and you have a profit.  Use money management and stop loss techniques to achieve this goal.

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Uk horse racing is a popular market to scalp on Betfair because it attracts lots of money, especially in the first 10 minutes before the race.  Scalping relies on liquidity (lots of money entering the betting market).

This is an example of how to make quick one tick profits using the hedging button to ensure a profit no matter who wins the race. A word of warning about letting the race go in running before the trade is completed; anything can happen when the race starts creating substantial risk of loosing money.  The horse might stumble out of the blocks or could fall which could cause large losses.

You may notice The Badger mentioning that trades get instantly matched and some times he has to wait for a bet to get matched.  One of the most important features of trading software is speed.  A trader wants their bets to be placed at the front of the queue.  If it takes too long to get bets matched profitable opportunities are missed.  The Bet Trader software is brilliant because it has a fully functional free version for traders to get started.  Although the premium subscription is essential because traders have a need for speed.

Learn more about Bet Trader from our Bet Trader review.  For further guidance on scalping visit Racing Traders where there is plenty of discussion on the forum.   Subscribe to the Let’s Compare Bets.com Trading and Investing section using the buttons top right.

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