Online betting is a really competitive environment. We always felt that BetConnect had to produce an offering that strongly differentiated itself from all other betting exchanges.

In the 10 months since launch, it really has filled a niche as the only proven meeting point for Pros, matched bettors and recreational punters.

The amount of volume going through our platform certainly proves the value proposition of the Transparent Exchange with £2m matched in October and £2.3m projected in November. We’ve certainly exceeded everyone’s expectations – even our own – in terms of how the product has grown.

BetConnect for the Pros

It’s amazing that we can now see a £5,000 racing bet matched rapidly at a time when the market is still very illiquid on other exchanges. It shows there is a market out there for people who want to back and lay proper bets on the horses.

We also see good bets on football matched hours and sometimes a day before the game – this is great news for Pro members.

In traditional exchange markets liquidity does not build up until very shortly before race time or kick-off time – or even once the event has started in so-called “in-play” markets. We’re helping to return liquidity to early prices on horse racing and football. Look out for our campaign #EarlyMarkets on the BetConnect Twitter account.

We’re allowing people to get their bets on at their convenience. We want to help online punters to place a bet in the morning when prices are freely available at all major bookmakers because at the moment exchange liquidity is no longer there.

BetConnect for the Punters

The great benefit from a Punter point of view is they can see the profile of the person sending the bet. As a layer it gives you an idea as to whether you want to take the guy on and lay him or if you think he’s particularly good you might want to back the selection with a bookmaker. And remember this information is always visible to Punters; there’s no option for a Pro to “opt out” of having his career ROI on BetConnect displayed.

We are giving the punter access to bets of gamblers who can’t get their bets on elsewhere. They know they are genuine people who want to have bets down rather than the tipsters who populate social media with betting advice.

BetConnect for Matched Betting

Many of our Punter members use BetConnect for Matched Betting purposes and we are finding that a lot of the sites offering Matched Betting advice are directing their clients to our platform

The advantages are:

• Never pay commission
• £50 in matched bets as a sign-up bonus
• Lay bets at bookie prices
• Back those selections at bigger price
• Take advantage of bookie offers and bonuses

With various offers available online, such as football’s popular “2-Up” deal – which pays out once a team leads 2-0 – and racing’s “best odds guaranteed” incentive, there are also ways in which extra profit can be netted by a matched bettor.

Constant innovations

Over the last six months we’ve made a number of enhancements on the platform. We now allow the Punter to choose which bookmakers they want to see, the type of prices they want to see and the sports they want to see. We have added a feature called Match + More which makes the site more efficient and gives the layer the opportunity to get more of the bet – and potentially make more money, should they want to.

For the Pros we give them the best prices that are available in the industry, we allow them to choose the odds very quickly and they don’t get restricted.

Developments in the pipeline

We’re keen to roll out more of a social platform and look at a way of sending bets geographically. If you are a Welsh fan and England are playing Wales in rugby we could send you the bets of people backing England because they’re more likely to get matched by Wales fans.

There could even be a football team focus. Imagine if you’re a Spurs fan and someone wants an Arsenal bet – if we know your football team that’s great because we will get a lot of natural layers. It’s very easy to implement.

The future couldn’t be brighter for BetConnect. We’re seeing new Punters and Pros sign up all the time and will only continue to grow in the months ahead.

Daniel Schreiber is the CEO and co-founder of BetConnect. New Pro members get 31 days of commission-free betting on sign-up. Existing Pro members can look forward to commission-free betting on snooker and darts from 1 December to 31 January.