Betfair Swing Trading: How I Made £40.26 In Ten Minutes [Video Post]

Swing trading on Betfair gives the most lucrative return-to-stake ratio possible. It’s the sweet spot that every successful trade wants to master.

Simply put – swing trading on Betfair is the ultimate strategy for many traders.

Now I am not going to pretend this is easy, however, it isn’t insanely difficult either. This is personally one of my most profitable trading strategies to use, over the years I have taken thousands of pounds in profit from swing trading on Betfair.

In today’s article, I want to give you an insight into how I approach the horse racing markets with this strategy.

The areas we will be focusing on are as follows:

• What Betfair swing trading is?
• Why it should be a point of focus for you?
• Swing trading indicators
• Tips and tricks to improve your swing trading
• Written and video examples of successful swing trades

Swing Trading on Betfair Explained:

My definition of Betfair swing trading is:

“The process of backing and laying a specific outcome at significantly different prices for an above average profit”

Here’s an example from a race that I traded previously.

In the above image, you can see a profit of £98.53 was made trading the favourite El Camino. You can see the odds on this horse shortened quite quickly. This enabled me to make back and lay bets in order to lock in a profit. I will explain this trade in more detail later on in the post, I just wanted to highlight the potential profits you can make from successful swing trading.

This is the difference between swing trading and scalp trading. Profits from a single trade can be much larger on a swing trade.

The potential upside to successful swing trading on Betfair is obvious. A fortune can be made in a short amount of time. However, on the flip side, you can also lose money very quickly in a fast-moving market.

Swing trading definitely requires patience. Self-control is a must and you need to be prepared to spend some time learning about how the horse racing markets function.

Why is swing trading on Betfair difficult?

Odds on Betfair rarely ever move in one straight line. In fact, it’s quite normal for a price to bounce around and go in the wrong direction before continuing on its true path. Unfortunately, that doesn’t sit well with us as human beings. Being sat in a swing trade while it bounces against you isn’t a great feeling at all.

Overcoming that urge to close out the trade too soon is an art in itself. This is where experience and having a good understanding of the markets come into play. Small directional changes will always happen however when it comes to swing trading on horse racing you need to be prepared to hold your position at times.

As the saying goes “knowledge dispels fear”.

Why Use Swing Trading As Your Strategy?

The image below is another example of a swing trade in the horse racing markets (this time at Ripon). It was a decent move, although I had to resist that urge and sit on my hands toward the end!

Click the image to enlarge.

I remember this trade vividly as it was a good learning point. Ultimately I believed that this horse would continue to shorten and had backed it at various price points. However the market stalled and showed some signs of reversing, I held my position for what seemed like an hour although in reality, it was a couple of minutes. I hadn’t used a huge stake, although looking back, maybe I should have.

In the end, I second-guessed myself and exited the trade. Shortly after “Rivington”  continued to shorten in price and if I held onto the trade the profit would have been much bigger. Overall I think my actions were the right thing to do at the time. Maybe a little “market noise” scared me into thinking I’d lose a chunk of profit which prompted my exit.

Ultimately however managing risk is probably the important part of any swing trading strategy on Betfair. It is very rare that will get the perfect entry and exit on a trade, which is important to remember.

On the profit and loss in the image, I’ve underlined my main entry and exits in green.

1. Backing the horse at odds of 8.0
2. Laying the horse at odds of 6.6

You’ll see at times there’s a little scaling in and out with a scalping strategy too (quick one or two-tick trades). These were based on how I felt about the price action at that point in time. Reading the flow of money is a real help.

Overall for an initial stake of £150 and ten minutes trading, I made a £40.26 return. This profit is also tax-free, which is a huge bonus.

What Indicators Prompted This Trading Entry?

Let’s break down my thought process behind this trade and then I will give you a live video example!

1. First off, I’d had a look at the market for a minute or so without getting involved. This step of the process is wildly under-rated. We want the market to do the heavy lifting for us, so taking your time to analyse the information on offer (and as it evolves) is crucial.
2. Bookie’s odds were checked just to see if there were any standout moves. A couple of prices in the market looked pretty weak, as the odds drifted this runner had shortened but only slightly. Bookies odds were a little shorter than Betfair, nothing unusual.
3. I thought on it a little and watched money entering the market, whilst doing nothing with my mouse. Initially, I entered for half my stake at 8.0. Initially, it didn’t really look like a move was imminent. But then a little flurry of cash appeared, supporting the existing sentiment.
4. The market started to ‘form’ and so I went in for another £75 catching the last few quid at that price. Almost instantly I was a tick or two in hand. I was thinking of taking part of my position out to move my green/red crossover. If it had not moved a little more I may have been tempted – often this is a good trading tactic to settle your emotions.

Don’t underestimate the power of having a buffer between profit crossover and the trading price. The bigger it is, the clearer you will see the situation. To extend your green zone, trade out a small portion of your position once the price moves in your favour.

Getting Started: How to Swing Trade on the Betfair Exchange

The volatility of Betfair swing trading can be difficult for some. You must resist the urge to exit a good position straight away once you see a small amount of profit. When swing trading letting profits run when you’re in a good position and cutting losses short when you are not is crucial.

Having a plan in mind for when you should exit your trade is key. There are so many variables that affect each situation making it unique and different (particularly in the horse racing markets). But you don’t need to understand the entire market. Focusing on the right areas that move the odds is enough. We’ve got a detailed swing trading tutorial covering all aspects of this strategy in our video course.

For example; when swing trading a horse race, you may want to look at key variables like the last time the horse run.

If a horse hasn’t run in a race for 300 days and suddenly piles of money are driving the odds down, somebody knows something the rest of the market doesn’t?

On the other hand, does it really matter to the market (financially) if Oisin Murphy or William Buick is taking the ride? No.

That’s not to say Jockey and Trainer combo’s don’t unravel in the market, it’s to highlight that a swing in price on Betfair often comes from something substantial. Something that the market hasn’t considered in the pricing yet?

Next, you’ll want to make sure you’re set up properly with the best Betfair trading software available and open to recording results. My advice is to start small, be patient and do some research. Learn about the markets, how they move and why!

Swing Trading Only Requires Small Stakes…

When you understand the pre-movement indicators for a swing in odds, things become significantly easier. You don’t need a huge balance to make a decent return either, as you can see in the YouTube video just below.

There’s more on market indicators at the end of this post although it’s worth noting – we share the highest quality information within our courses and guides.

You can find them by clicking here.

However, this previous swing trade will help you out:

If you’re looking at swing trading on Betfair as a hobby, then be aware that this is a skill that takes time to build up. Trading Betfair for a living is an outcome that takes a while to get to. The rewards however of accomplishing this goal have exceeded my expectations. Consistently being able to make a tax-free income from Betfair is a life changer!

Recent Swing Trading Example on Betfair:

As part of this update, I’ve added in a recent swing trade…

Take a look at El Camino’s price activity on the post below:

A sizeable move, right? Especially when you see the betting forecast was up there at 3/1 (4.0 in decimals) at the market opening.

You can’t use bookies as the only horse racing indicator when it comes to swing trading, although they can assist and reinforce the decision-making process. Typically their betting overround is far bigger than the exchanges, so it’s rarely a leading indicator. However, would it be fair to say there was an overwhelming interest for El Camino in one direction in this instance?

Here’s your answer:

Notice, I didn’t get on the price move all the way up there at 4.5 or 4.0. (This was very early in the market when there was very little money in the market.)

This Betfair swing trade started just above the 3.0 odds mark (see the 3.1 back bet on the ladder).

Taking a swing in price from 3.1 to 2.72 is still a massive move of 30+ ticks. I am not highlighting this move to show off, it’s to make a point – you don’t have to catch the whole move to make good money.

A lot of the value had already been taken in the early markets, but I didn’t want to take the risk (low liquidity, hard to exit the market.) So instead of taking a punt, I only entertained the trade when confirming signs were there. Traded volume was a big pointer in this situation too.

Swing Trading Conclusion

In 2024 there is still the opportunity to profit from swing trading on Betfair. Each day there are usually at least one or two very good opportunities for swing trading (that were very predictable when you have some experience). Sometimes there are fewer, sometimes there are more.

Finding one or two opportunities a day isn’t that hard once you understand what to look for.

If you are trying to find big swing trades on every single race, you will end up losing money. The most successful swing traders think about the long term. They are patient, tactical and deliberate. If you can find a move like this every day for just a small stake it doesn’t take long to build up the bank.

Betfair swing trading is one of the harder horse racing trading strategies to learn. However, it comes with the highest financial reward. As with everything in life, the best results often come from the most difficult discipline. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it!

Swing trading is a long-term approach. Keeping that in mind might make things a little easier…

If you want to keep developing your horse racing trading skills, we recommend the article below!

Recommended: Simple Horse Racing Trading Strategies