The last traded price (LTP) on Betfair is the price at which the most recent bet on a selection was matched. It tells you where a backer and a layer last agreed, not where you can bet now. The best back and lay prices on the ladder are the offers still waiting, and they can have moved a long way since the last trade.
How the last traded price is set
Every time a back and a lay are matched, that price becomes the LTP. With illustrative prices for one runner in the half hour before a race:
| Minutes to the jump | What happened | LTP | Best back / best lay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $60 matched at $7.40 | $7.40 | $7.40 / $7.60 |
| 18 | $12 matched at $7.60 | $7.60 | $7.40 / $7.60 |
| 9 | Nothing traded; offers moved | $7.60 | $6.80 / $7.00 |
| 3 | $450 matched at $7.00 | $7.00 | $6.80 / $7.00 |
At nine minutes the LTP still says $7.60, but the most anyone will let you back at is $6.80. That is the difference between an implied chance of 1 / 7.60 = 13.2% on the stale figure and 1 / 6.80 = 14.7% on the price actually available.
LTP vs the best back and lay prices
| Last traded price | Best back price | Best lay price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The price of the last matched bet | The longest price you can back at now | The shortest price you can lay at now |
| Can you bet at it now? | Only if it is still on offer | Yes, up to the money shown | Yes, up to the money shown |
| Changes when | A trade is matched | Offers are placed, taken or cancelled | Offers are placed, taken or cancelled |
A trade happens when someone takes an offer, so the LTP is set at the back or the lay price of that moment. In a busy market those are one tick apart and the LTP is a fair summary. In a thin one, with a wide back lay spread, it can land at either end of a big gap.
Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Why the last traded price can be stale
- Nothing has traded for a while. Offers can move without a single bet being matched, as at the nine-minute mark in the table, and the LTP stays where the last trade left it.
- The last trade was tiny. A $12 bet sets the LTP exactly as a $450 one does. The average traded price weights each trade by its size, and total matched shows how much money the trades add up to.
- The trade took an old offer. Someone can be matched against an offer left on the ladder after news broke, printing a price the rest of the market has already moved away from.
- The market is thin. The next trade can come from either side of a wide gap, so the LTP can swing several ticks on almost no money.
Reading it sensibly
Three checks turn the LTP from a guess into evidence:
- Is it at or between the current best back and lay prices? If not, treat it as history.
- How long ago was the last trade, and how big was it? A large, recent trade says more than a small, old one.
- What does the volume say? Compare the LTP with the average traded price and the money matched on the runner.
For a fair-price reference, the midpoint of a tight back and lay spread usually says more than the LTP, because it describes offers that are live now. How back and lay prices fit together, and what each side risks, is in the lay betting guide.
On the Terminal, Betfair back and lay prices sit beside 40+ bookmakers. They are read on a repeating cycle, so each is shown as at the time displayed and can trail the exchange itself, and B337 does not place exchange bets.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A price that looks out of line may already have moved, an exchange price is an estimate rather than a known chance, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.