Starting Price (SP)

What does SP stand for?

When placing a bet on Horse Racing you can select from two available pricing options - the price the selection is at time of placement or the Starting Price (SP).

Starting Price means that whatever odds your selection is at the start of the race are the odds you will receive for your bet. If betting is available during a race, then the (SP) will be the last available odds for the selection.

(SP) isn't available for Ante Post bets, where the Ante Post price must be taken. For more info on Ante Post, click here.

Exchange: Why Betfair Starting Price (SP)?

Betfair's Starting Price (SP) is based on bets placed by both backers and layers in any market - there is no margin for profit built in - and that's why we think it will give you much better odds.

The Betfair Starting Price will be determined by balancing bets from customers who want to back and lay, so because it's other customers placing the bets and because there is no margin for profit built in, you are far more likely to have better odds than the bookies' SP.
The Betfair Starting Price will be calculated exactly to ensure the fairest and most transparent odds possible for both backers and layers.
The Betfair Starting Price does not need to account for a profit margin but instead is calculated at the start of an event by looking at the relationship between the amounts of money requested at SP by opposing customers and by looking at unmatched Exchange bets.

Exchange: Can I request to 'Take Starting Price (SP)' on an unmatched lay bet if my liability is less than £10? (Minimum liability)

Yes, but at the off if the liability on the bet is less than £10 the bet will be cancelled and will not be included in the SP reconciliation.

For example:

As an Exchange layer I decide to lay a horse for £5/5 EUR @ 2.0. It is trading at 3.0 so my bet is unmatched.
I then request to 'Take SP' at the off if my bet is still unmatched at 2.0.
The system will allow this request but if unmatched at the off it will lapse.

Also, for example:

If a customer asks to lay £50/50 EUR at 1.5, convert to SP if unmatched, and £40/40 EUR gets taken leaving £10/10 EUR lay at 1.5 the balance will cancel at the off.
It will not convert into an SP lay bet as the revised balance at the off was less than the minimum £10/10 EUR liability allowed for SP bets.
Customers will be made aware of this at the off.

Exchange: Can I see the amounts of money to back and lay at Starting Price (SP)?

You can indeed. SP bets shown in the runner information pop-up, which you can see by clicking the graph icon next to each selection in the market view.

In the Traded Table next to the graph, you will see two new columns, backers' stakes and layers' liabilities at SP.
Amounts requested with an odds limit will show in these columns next to the respective prices with backers' stakes showing as blue and layers' liabilities showing as pink. (Note this is the opposite to Exchange bets in this table where backers' money shows in pink under "To Lay" and vice versa).
SP bets on which no price limit was specified will show at 1.01 for SP back bets and 1000 for SP lay bets.
The Far Price will give you an indication of the balance between SP backers and SP layers.

Exchange: Can I see roughly what price I am likely to get before the off when I bet at Starting Price (SP)?

Yes. You will not know what the Betfair Starting Price is until the event starts, as additional bets placed before then will affect the calculation of the price. However Betfair will offer two calculations of the projected SP:

Projected SP - which indicates what the SP would be if the market were to suspend now, this is also known as the 'Near Price' calculation.
Near/Far Odds - The closer it is to the start of the race, the more accurate these prices are likely to be due to more liquidity and up to date information.

If there is no money wagered at the Starting Price, then the system would find the system would find the halfway point between the best available odds to back and lay and show this as the projected SP.