Betfair and Betdaq have been the most popular online betting exchanges. Which one is better? Here are my pros and cons for both.

Liquidity.

Well, Betfair still holds the first position in regards to traded volumes. You will find that amounts of money available on Betfair are higher then on Betdaq. It’s not a critical difference unless you bet thousands of pounds in a single bet though. Medium traders will not have any problems with liquidity on Betdaq.

Software and Bots.

Before, when Betdaq was not so popular, Betfair has got leadership in it’s API development and there were much more bots for Betfair than for Betdaq. Nowadays this difference is not so big, Betdaq API is well designed and many companies offer their software in two versions – for Betfair and Betdaq, like Betsender. Some vendors even provide their Betdaq software for free. But I have to admit that because of Betfair’s popularity, vendors still develop more bots for Betfair than Betdaq. You still can find a good Betdaq bot though.

Fees and Charges.

This is where Betdaq is better than Betfair. Although, both exchanges have the same base commission of 5%, Betfair have additional commissions which may be hidden and not too clear to all traders. First, is Betfair’s transactions and data charges. You will not not be charged if you bet on Betfair’s website, but you can be badly surprised if you decide to bet or trade with Betfair bots. Betfair will charge you for excessive data requests and this can turn out in a considerable amount of money. Second, is Betfair’s premium charges. Successful traders who make consistent profits are liable for these premium charges which Betfair takes out from winnings. Although, most of people are not about for this, many top traders have big concerns for this rule. Both Betfair and Betdaq have a system of discounts depending on your betting activity. Betdaq sometimes run special promotions, for example, at the moment all UK and Irish in-play horse racing events have 2% commission.

Deposits and Withdrawals.

Both exchanges have similar rules for deposits and withdrawals. You can deposit with PayPal, debit and credit cards, bank transfers and other electronic methods. One rule applying here is that you must withdraw to the same source that you used for deposit. Almost all deposits and withdrawals are free or have a small commission around 1.5%.

Look and Features.

Personally I prefer Betdaq for it’s professional look and less aggressive ads campaigns. One other Betdaq’s advantage is more options and features available through the web interface. For instance, you can choose odds format (decimal, fractions or american), back or lay all selections at particular price, single click betting, trading history, free tips and many others. Also the minimum stake on Betdaq is £0.5 against £2 on Betfair.

Other thoughts.

I remember Betfair crashing several times. Markets were suspended and traders were unable to trade in-play. There were problems with long delays, Betfair freezed and worked slow because of high volume of requests at times of big events like Cheltenham festival. Hopefully it’s all fixed and will not be a problem in future. I don’t know if such problems were on Betdaq though, because I spent most time with Betfair.

My conclusion.

I think if liquidity is not critical, you should seriously consider Betdaq as your betting exchange. There is a lot of trading software for Betdaq at the moment and many of them are free.  Betdaq does not charges hidden fees and is more friendly to users. If you can’t find a software with required features or liquidity on your 1st place, you should look at Betfair.