I have experience with a few of them, I wrote this as I've been transitioning between a few of them.
It looks like ya'lll have experience with NITROGEN so I'll leave them off (not really an exchange anyways).
Betting exchanges have been around for a couple years. They've always been not-quite good enough and I have generally reverted to using conventional books. Background:A betting exchange is more like a stock market then a book. Users can add offers into the order-book and other users select them. A conventional book will average a pre-set, forced juice/vig of around -110%, and $500-$3000 limits. At an exchange, the odds and limits are dependent on the user base. In general this means better odds. If someone wants to bet $100,000 on Kevin Garnett to get >8 rebounds, a book-maker would want the chance to double check your odds. Exchanges don't offer this risk-mitigation, and can increase risk to the market makers, who are also users.If you're interest in betting exchanges, go research them before reading this review. Disclosure:After having used all of these sites, I created this account to help get more action to a specific site and discussion as that project moves forward.
The future of the industry most likely being that each exchange will eventually have the same odds, and things like user interface, fees and counter-party risk will determine where the volume goes. My review reflects my personal experience. I see it as a two-horse race at the moment for the best odds/volume. Augur is a dark-horse but there is incredible difficulty with the project and I think it is headed in the wrong direction. Betfair is a DQ due to KYC, but otherwise it would be a distant #3, based on its fee structure. I will come back and update if anyone wants to write additional reviews.
Fairlay.com
Type: Custodial
Closest odds: PinnacleFees: 0.4% of total pai
dReview: I have used fairlay for several years. There is an enormous volume of sports and props. This is both a pro and a con. I personally use the "search" function to find the games I want which requires typing in a team name and sometimes scrolling to the second page just to find the main spread/moneyline. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that one user has created an app which more neatly displays the games (and includes the same wide variety of props).
Pros:-API is available for advanced users-Tight lines and low fees-prompt grading-Wide variety of prop bets-Apps available which help present games and even include parlays (!)-As it is a centralized book, there is no ETH Gas fee-Users can make thier own markets - I did this in the past successfully and unsuccessfully. It is generally OK to do but you will have to push your own volume to it.
Cons:-Does not accept US customers-Funds must be deposited into the website-Difficult to navigate website-Low volume with the exception of MAJOR event-Occasional bugs: *When MAKING offers, there is a significant time lag between the offer being accepted and it appearing in your orderbook; up to 5-10 minutes. The mBTC can be seen leaving your available funds so you know an order is matched, but it is unclear what order this is *when TAKING offers, there is a very small window of time for the MAKER to pull his funds back; this makes matching difficult at times. Final Points:-Wide variety of options-Live betting available by BOT -Roughly 50% success rate and mediocore lines; I would NOT reccomend an individual user trying to MM live.
Degens
Type: Non-custodial (ethereum dApp)
Closest Odds: Vegas/Pinnacle/BetfairFees: 0.25% of total paid
Review: They were previously available as a dAPP called sports-crypt. I noticed my "make" offers were coming in significantly ahead and so I have had ~50% acceptance on fair make offers in NFL/Prem/NHL/NBA at roughly +105 average for a coin flip. They recently went through an air-drop to all past users which has picked up traffic and odds have been very tight.
Pros: -API is available for advanced users
-Tight lines and low fees-prompt grading
-non-custodial of funds.-Betting available in wEth and DAI
-Very easy to use interface
-No KYC or email requirement
-No fee for "make" markets
-Provable history for cappers who want people to tail their pics with "SPY" option
Cons:-No props, exotic bets, parlays etc. (Difficulty with a decentralized exchange)
-TAKE offers and payouts require a gas fee. This has varied from $0.2 to $1.5 depending on TXN type and ETH congestion. There have been large ETH spikes this year.-No option to create a market-Difficult to do bonuses/promotions-Live betting availability is based on users; major events available at Half-timeFinal points-Degens is currently my 'main' book because I see a path forward on the cons. I also have had good success tailing some of the better punters. -Grading is currently guided by API/verification. I personally have never had an issue. Regarding gas fees, the magnitude of this "Con" is the state of the ETH market. For a punter with a $100 unit, betting 1-5 units would average maybe a $250 bet. The $1 gas fee will effect both a win and a loss since it is paid during the "take" stage of the bet. lets look at a $250 bet for now:Odds On centralized exchange (-110): Pays $225Odds on degens (-105): $249+1 (fee) wager pays: $237 - $1 (claim) - $1.2 (fee) = $235. This comes out to just over -106.
Augur
Type: Decentralized (ethereum chain)Closest odds: You can't find odds this bad anywhere. Review: I will come back and write more about Augur and my experiences upon request. I do not recommend getting involved as it has quite along way to go and is heading in the wrong direction at the moment
Blocksport:Vapor-ware, looks like its dead
"Thunder-PICK"I need to do some research but it looks most similar to fairlay. I just heard about it from a punter on MMA yesterday. The lines looked VERY off of the free market so i wonder how much volume they get.
Polymarkit/PredictitThese don't have sports so I haven't used them. I believe they worked OK for the election. Allegedly its unclear how much slippage there will be when placing bets >$100.
Befair:Type: CustodialClosest Odds: Depends on the sportFees" 5% with possible discounts to 2.5% based on volume Someone who has used betfair will need to write this review
It looks like ya'lll have experience with NITROGEN so I'll leave them off (not really an exchange anyways).
Betting exchanges have been around for a couple years. They've always been not-quite good enough and I have generally reverted to using conventional books. Background:A betting exchange is more like a stock market then a book. Users can add offers into the order-book and other users select them. A conventional book will average a pre-set, forced juice/vig of around -110%, and $500-$3000 limits. At an exchange, the odds and limits are dependent on the user base. In general this means better odds. If someone wants to bet $100,000 on Kevin Garnett to get >8 rebounds, a book-maker would want the chance to double check your odds. Exchanges don't offer this risk-mitigation, and can increase risk to the market makers, who are also users.If you're interest in betting exchanges, go research them before reading this review. Disclosure:After having used all of these sites, I created this account to help get more action to a specific site and discussion as that project moves forward.
The future of the industry most likely being that each exchange will eventually have the same odds, and things like user interface, fees and counter-party risk will determine where the volume goes. My review reflects my personal experience. I see it as a two-horse race at the moment for the best odds/volume. Augur is a dark-horse but there is incredible difficulty with the project and I think it is headed in the wrong direction. Betfair is a DQ due to KYC, but otherwise it would be a distant #3, based on its fee structure. I will come back and update if anyone wants to write additional reviews.
Fairlay.com
Type: Custodial
Closest odds: PinnacleFees: 0.4% of total pai
dReview: I have used fairlay for several years. There is an enormous volume of sports and props. This is both a pro and a con. I personally use the "search" function to find the games I want which requires typing in a team name and sometimes scrolling to the second page just to find the main spread/moneyline. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that one user has created an app which more neatly displays the games (and includes the same wide variety of props).
Pros:-API is available for advanced users-Tight lines and low fees-prompt grading-Wide variety of prop bets-Apps available which help present games and even include parlays (!)-As it is a centralized book, there is no ETH Gas fee-Users can make thier own markets - I did this in the past successfully and unsuccessfully. It is generally OK to do but you will have to push your own volume to it.
Cons:-Does not accept US customers-Funds must be deposited into the website-Difficult to navigate website-Low volume with the exception of MAJOR event-Occasional bugs: *When MAKING offers, there is a significant time lag between the offer being accepted and it appearing in your orderbook; up to 5-10 minutes. The mBTC can be seen leaving your available funds so you know an order is matched, but it is unclear what order this is *when TAKING offers, there is a very small window of time for the MAKER to pull his funds back; this makes matching difficult at times. Final Points:-Wide variety of options-Live betting available by BOT -Roughly 50% success rate and mediocore lines; I would NOT reccomend an individual user trying to MM live.
Degens
Type: Non-custodial (ethereum dApp)
Closest Odds: Vegas/Pinnacle/BetfairFees: 0.25% of total paid
Review: They were previously available as a dAPP called sports-crypt. I noticed my "make" offers were coming in significantly ahead and so I have had ~50% acceptance on fair make offers in NFL/Prem/NHL/NBA at roughly +105 average for a coin flip. They recently went through an air-drop to all past users which has picked up traffic and odds have been very tight.
Pros: -API is available for advanced users
-Tight lines and low fees-prompt grading
-non-custodial of funds.-Betting available in wEth and DAI
-Very easy to use interface
-No KYC or email requirement
-No fee for "make" markets
-Provable history for cappers who want people to tail their pics with "SPY" option
Cons:-No props, exotic bets, parlays etc. (Difficulty with a decentralized exchange)
-TAKE offers and payouts require a gas fee. This has varied from $0.2 to $1.5 depending on TXN type and ETH congestion. There have been large ETH spikes this year.-No option to create a market-Difficult to do bonuses/promotions-Live betting availability is based on users; major events available at Half-timeFinal points-Degens is currently my 'main' book because I see a path forward on the cons. I also have had good success tailing some of the better punters. -Grading is currently guided by API/verification. I personally have never had an issue. Regarding gas fees, the magnitude of this "Con" is the state of the ETH market. For a punter with a $100 unit, betting 1-5 units would average maybe a $250 bet. The $1 gas fee will effect both a win and a loss since it is paid during the "take" stage of the bet. lets look at a $250 bet for now:Odds On centralized exchange (-110): Pays $225Odds on degens (-105): $249+1 (fee) wager pays: $237 - $1 (claim) - $1.2 (fee) = $235. This comes out to just over -106.
Augur
Type: Decentralized (ethereum chain)Closest odds: You can't find odds this bad anywhere. Review: I will come back and write more about Augur and my experiences upon request. I do not recommend getting involved as it has quite along way to go and is heading in the wrong direction at the moment
Blocksport:Vapor-ware, looks like its dead
"Thunder-PICK"I need to do some research but it looks most similar to fairlay. I just heard about it from a punter on MMA yesterday. The lines looked VERY off of the free market so i wonder how much volume they get.
Polymarkit/PredictitThese don't have sports so I haven't used them. I believe they worked OK for the election. Allegedly its unclear how much slippage there will be when placing bets >$100.
Befair:Type: CustodialClosest Odds: Depends on the sportFees" 5% with possible discounts to 2.5% based on volume Someone who has used betfair will need to write this review