Price improvement on Betfair means your bet is matched at a better price than the one you asked for. The price you enter is the worst you will accept, and if a better offer is already waiting, the exchange matches you at that better price instead. For a back bet better means higher; for a lay it means lower, which cuts your liability. The rule behind it is often called best price execution.
A worked lay with price improvement
With illustrative prices, you ask to lay Runner 4 for $70 at up to $6.40. Backers are waiting with $45 at $6.00 and $40 at $6.20, so your lay takes the best offers first:
| Matched | Price | Liability |
|---|---|---|
| $45 | $6.00 | 45 x (6.00 - 1) = $225 |
| $25 | $6.20 | 25 x (6.20 - 1) = $130 |
| $70 in total | about $6.07 on average | $355 |
At the $6.40 you asked for, the same $70 would carry 70 x (6.40 - 1) = $378 of liability, so the improvement is $23 less at risk. If Runner 4 loses you still collect $70, before commission. The average price is (45 x 6.00 + 25 x 6.20) / 70 = 425 / 70 = $6.07.
A back works the other way. With illustrative prices, ask for $3.10 or better while $3.30 is on offer, and a $50 bet is matched at $3.30, winning 50 x (3.30 - 1) = $115 instead of 50 x (3.10 - 1) = $105.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Improvement changes the price, not the result, and a lay matched in full still pays its whole liability if the runner wins. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
When price improvement happens
- You type a worse price than the best on offer, to be sure of a match.
- The price moves your way between seeing it and your bet arriving.
- Cross matching builds a better price from offers waiting on the other runners.
Price improvement never goes to an offer waiting on the ladder. A waiting offer is matched at exactly its own price, and any improvement goes to whoever takes it. Whatever part of your request finds no offer within your limit waits too, and unmatched bets explains what happens to it.
The limit still matters. In a thin market, a $150 lay at up to $8.00 on the ladder above takes the $85 waiting at $6.00 and $6.20, then the next $65 from whatever waits higher, up to $8.00.
Price improvement vs slippage
| Price improvement | Slippage | |
|---|---|---|
| Measured against | The price you asked for | The price you expected |
| Direction | Better | Worse |
| On a back bet | Matched above your price | Matched below the price you saw |
| On a lay bet | Matched below your price | Matched above the price you saw |
| Usual cause | A better offer was waiting | Thin markets, delays, moving prices |
One back bet can show both: matched below the price you saw but above the limit you set. The slippage entry works through one.
Prices on the Terminal
Price improvement is an exchange idea, because a bookmaker sets each price itself. The Terminal shows both kinds side by side, fixed prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports and Betfair back and lay, read on a repeating cycle, so check the price in your bookmaker or exchange account before betting. B337 does not place exchange bets. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them. How a lay is struck and settled is in lay betting.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Prices move between screen and bet, and there is no guarantee of profit. Responsible gambling covers limits and support.