Beyond the basics: exposure, hedging and reading the price ladder on an exchange
The article above gives you the vocabulary: back, lay, liability, matched and unmatched. This section is for the moment after that, when you are looking at a live market with a bet already placed and wondering what the numbers on the screen now mean. It covers how the exchange calculates what you can lose across a whole market, how to close a position before the event ends, why prices move in fixed steps, and the mistakes that catch almost every new 99exch user at least once.
As always, a line about who is writing: 99exch.in is an ID provider and authorised agent for 99exch (99exchange) IDs. We do not run the exchange or set its prices, and nothing below is a way to guarantee a profit. It is a way to understand exactly what you are risking, which is the foundation of every calm decision.
Exposure: what the market screen is really telling you
Once you have a bet in a market, the exchange stops thinking in terms of individual bets and starts thinking in terms of your position: what you would win or lose on each possible outcome, with every matched bet in that market added together. The small green and red figures beneath each selection are that position. Green is profit if that selection wins; red is loss.
Consider a cricket match with three outcomes: Team A, Team B and the draw. If you back Team A for ₹500 at 2.0, the screen shows +500 under Team A and -500 under both Team B and the draw. Now suppose you also lay the draw for ₹200 at 5.0. The lay adds +200 to Team A and Team B, and -800 (200 x 4) to the draw. Your combined position becomes +700 on Team A, -300 on Team B, and -1,300 on the draw.
Two things follow from this that the article above does not cover:
- Your worst-case figure across the market, here -1,300, is what the exchange reserves from your balance. It is not the sum of your stakes. Available balance falls by the largest red number, not by every bet added together.
- A bet that looks small on its own can move your worst case a great deal if it lands on the outcome where you were already most exposed. Always look at the position figures, not just the bet slip, before confirming.
Learning to read those figures at a glance is the single most useful habit for anyone moving beyond the first few bets. On a demo ID you can place a handful of bets and watch the numbers change with no money at risk.
Closing a position early: the idea behind hedging and cash out
Because an exchange lets you take both sides of a market, you can close a bet before the event finishes by placing the opposite bet. If you backed a team and the price has shortened, laying the same team at the new lower price can lock in a profit whichever side wins. If the price has drifted against you, laying can cap your loss. The cash-out button on many platforms does exactly this automatically; doing it by hand simply gives you control over the stake and the price.
A worked example with round numbers. You backed Team A for ₹1,000 at 3.0 before the match. Team A starts well and the lay price falls to 1.5. You now lay Team A for ₹2,000 at 1.5.
| Outcome | Back bet (₹1,000 at 3.0) | Lay bet (₹2,000 at 1.5) | Net position |
|---|
| Team A wins | +2,000 | -1,000 (liability 2,000 x 0.5) | +1,000 |
| Team A does not win | -1,000 | +2,000 | +1,000 |
The lay stake that produces an equal profit on both sides is your back stake multiplied by the back odds, divided by the lay odds: 1,000 x 3.0 / 1.5 = 2,000. If you had laid a smaller amount you would have kept more upside on Team A and less protection on the other side; a larger lay would tilt the other way. There is no correct answer; it depends on how much certainty you want to buy.
Three cautions. Hedging is only possible if your lay is matched, so in a fast in-play market the price may move before it fills. Commission on your net winnings still applies. And the example works because the price moved in your favour; if it moved against you, the same technique locks in a smaller loss rather than a profit, which is often the wiser choice than hoping.
The price ladder and why odds move in steps
Exchange prices do not move smoothly; they move in fixed increments called ticks, and the size of a tick grows as the odds grow. Near even money the steps are tiny; at longer prices they become larger. This is why you may find you cannot request a price of, say, 3.07: the ladder simply does not have a rung there, and the platform will move your request to the nearest valid price.
A typical ladder looks something like this (the exact bands are set by the exchange and may differ):
| Price range | Step between prices | Example valid prices |
|---|
| 1.01 to 2.0 | 0.01 | 1.85, 1.86, 1.87 |
| 2.0 to 3.0 | 0.02 | 2.10, 2.12, 2.14 |
| 3.0 to 4.0 | 0.05 | 3.05, 3.10, 3.15 |
| 4.0 to 6.0 | 0.1 | 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 |
| 6.0 to 10 | 0.2 | 6.2, 6.4, 6.6 |
| Above 10 | 0.5 and larger | 15.5, 16.0, 16.5 |
Why this matters in practice: the gap between the best back price and the best lay price is called the spread, and it is measured in ticks. On a liquid IPL match odds market the spread is often a single tick. On a small kabaddi market it might be several. A wide spread tells you that matching at a good price will be slow, and that closing a position later may cost you more than you expect.
Partial matching and the average price
When your stake is larger than the money available at the best price, the exchange fills as much as it can and leaves the remainder unmatched. If the market then moves and your remaining stake is filled at a different price, your position shows an average. A ₹1,000 back with ₹600 matched at 2.0 and ₹400 at 1.96 gives an average price of roughly 1.98 on the full stake.
You have three choices with an unmatched remainder:
- Leave it. It sits in the queue and fills if the market comes back to your price. During a live match this can happen suddenly after a wicket or a boundary.
- Edit it. Change the requested price to the current best price and it fills at once, at slightly worse terms.
- Cancel it. The reserved money returns to your available balance immediately.
One point that surprises people: an unmatched bet does not disappear when the market suspends. Depending on the platform's rules, in-play suspensions may cancel unmatched bets or keep them. Check the "keep" setting if your platform offers one, and check your unmatched list after every suspension rather than assuming.
Laying the favourite versus backing the field
Beginners often ask whether laying a favourite is the same as backing every other outcome. In a two-outcome market, effectively yes. In a three-outcome market such as a cricket match with a draw, the difference is real. Laying Team A is one bet with one liability; backing both Team B and the draw is two bets that need two prices and two matches, and your profit depends on which of the two wins.
Where laying earns its keep is in situations where you have a view that the favourite is overpriced but no strong view about which alternative will happen. The cost is the liability: laying a strong favourite at a short price risks a lot to win a little, and laying an outsider at a long price risks a great deal on an outcome that may still come in. Before laying anything above about 4.0, work out the liability in rupees, write it down, and ask whether you would place that amount as a back bet on the other side. If not, the lay is too large.
The market screen makes this easy to check. After entering a lay, look at the red figure under the selection you are laying. That is your answer.
Common mistakes on a 99exch market and how to avoid them
| Mistake | Why it happens | Fix |
|---|
| Backing when you meant to lay | Blue and pink columns sit side by side; a rushed tap lands on the wrong one | Read the bet slip header before confirming; it says Back or Lay in words |
| Confusing stake with liability on a lay | The stake box is what you type; liability is shown separately | Look at the liability figure every time, without exception |
| Betting during a suspension | A wicket or goal closes the market for a moment | Wait for the market to reopen; a rejected bet is not an error |
| Leaving an unmatched bet forgotten | The remainder fills later at a price you no longer want | Check the unmatched list after every bet and cancel what you no longer need |
| Adding bets without reading the position | Each new bet changes the worst case across the market | Read the green and red figures under each selection before confirming |
| Chasing a moving price in-play | Repeatedly editing to the current price after each move | Decide the worst price you will accept before the match and stop there |
| Hedging too early or too late | Trying to time the perfect price | Set a target price in advance; take it when it arrives |
A checklist for your first lay bet
Do this once, slowly, with a small stake, and the process becomes automatic. A demo ID is the ideal place for the first run-through.
- Open a liquid market such as match odds on a major cricket fixture; avoid thin markets for your first lay.
- Find the selection you believe will not win and tap the pink price beside it.
- Enter a small stake, for example ₹100, and confirm the bet slip header says Lay.
- Read the liability figure. Say it aloud: "I could lose this much." If it is more than you accept, reduce the stake.
- Look at the position figures under every selection to see how the market will settle for you on each outcome.
- Confirm the bet, then check whether it is matched or unmatched.
- If unmatched, decide now whether to wait, edit or cancel; do not leave it to chance.
- After the event, open your account statement and confirm the settlement matches what the position figures showed. If it does not, note the market and time and message our support.
Repeat the process a few times on the demo before using real funds. Once the liability check feels boring, you are ready.
A final habit that separates careful 99exchange users from careless ones: after every session, open the account statement and match each settled bet against the ledger line you wrote before placing it. Unexpected differences are almost always a partial match at a different average price or a lay whose liability you misread, and both are easier to catch on a quiet evening than in the middle of the next match.
18+ only. Exchange betting involves financial risk, and laying can expose you to losses much larger than your stake. Bet only with money you can afford to lose, set limits before you open a market, and read our responsible gaming page for tools that help you stay in control.
Frequently asked questions
What do the green and red numbers under each selection mean?
They show your net position in the market: what you win (green) or lose (red) if that selection wins, with all your matched bets in the market combined. The largest red figure is what the exchange reserves from your balance.
How is my available balance calculated when I have open bets?
Your available balance is your total balance minus your worst-case exposure across each open market. It is not reduced by the sum of all stakes, because bets on different outcomes in the same market cannot all lose at once.
What lay stake locks in an equal profit after a back bet?
Back stake multiplied by the back odds, divided by the current lay odds. For ₹1,000 backed at 3.0 with the lay price now 1.5, the lay stake is 2,000, producing a profit of ₹1,000 on either outcome before commission.
Why can I not enter the exact price I want?
Exchange prices move in fixed steps called ticks, and the step size grows with the odds. If the price you type is not on the ladder, the platform moves it to the nearest valid price.
What happens to an unmatched bet when the market suspends?
It depends on the platform's rules and any keep setting you have chosen. Some cancel unmatched bets at suspension, others keep them. Check your unmatched list after every suspension rather than assuming.
Is laying a favourite the same as backing everything else?
In a two-outcome market, effectively yes. In a three-outcome market such as a cricket match with a draw, laying is one bet with one liability while backing the alternatives is two separate bets with two prices.
Does hedging always produce a profit?
No. Hedging locks in whatever the market currently offers. If the price has moved in your favour it locks in a profit; if it has moved against you it locks in a smaller loss. Both can be sensible.
What is a partially matched bet?
A bet where only part of your stake found a match at the requested price. The matched part is live; the rest waits in the queue until you edit, cancel or the market comes back to your price.
Why did my hedge not fill during a live match?
In-play prices move quickly and a market suspends after every key event. A lay placed at a price that has already moved sits unmatched. Enter the hedge at the current best price if you want it filled immediately, or set a target price in advance and accept that it may not be reached.
Does 99exch.in handle bet settlement?
No. 99exch.in is an ID provider and authorised agent. Settlement is done by the exchange under its market rules. We can help you locate the rules text and escalate a query, but we do not decide results.
The next step after understanding positions is deciding how much of your money any single position should ever represent; our blog has a bankroll guide on exactly that. If you would like to practise the checklist above with no money at stake, the 99exch demo ID page explains how to get one, and the sports betting page covers the markets you will find beyond cricket.