Betting exchange
The peer-to-peer betting exchange, minus the order book.
A betting exchange got rid of the bookmaker but kept the trading floor. Poll keeps the peer-to-peer part and drops the rest: no order book, no waiting to be matched, no strangers. You set the line with your friends.
Where an exchange still feels like a market
The order book sets your price
You take the best odds on offer, and those odds are moved by traders running models. Your opinion does not set the line. The book does.
No listed market, no bet
An exchange lists events much like a bookmaker does. If your bet is not listed, or nobody is quoting it, your order just sits unmatched.
The other side is a stranger
Matching is anonymous. Being right against someone you know, which is the entire fun of it, is not on the menu.
How it works without an order book
- 01
Write the question
Any yes or no question. Name the two sides in your own words and set the stake. There is no list of approved markets to pick from.
- 02
Share the link
Send it to the group chat. A private bet opens only through that link, so it stays between the people you sent it to.
- 03
Everyone stakes to join
Taking a side means putting the money in. The stake is held until the bet settles, so nobody is owed anything at the end.
- 04
The group calls it
Everyone who wagered votes on the result and the majority decides. The pot pays out onchain, with no bookmaker taking a cut of the line.
What Poll drops from the exchange model
No order book
You do not post odds and wait for a match. You write the question, send the link, and the people you sent it to take the other side.
You set the line with friends
The question, the sides and the stakes are agreed between you. Nothing moves because someone traded a second before you did.
One fee, not a commission model
There is no commission ladder tied to how much you trade. Poll takes a small percentage of winning payouts only, and cancelled or tied bets carry no fee at all.
Questions people ask
Is Poll a betting exchange?
Honestly, no. An exchange like Betfair matches back and lay orders between strangers at market odds. Poll takes the peer-to-peer part and drops the exchange: you write the bet yourself and send it to specific people.
How do odds work without an order book?
Nobody quotes a price. The two sides agree the question and their stakes between themselves, and the winners split the pot. The peer-to-peer betting guide walks through the mechanics.
What about liquidity?
The honest trade-off. A big exchange can match you in seconds on a big football match. Here nothing happens until someone you know takes the other side, and in return nothing sits unmatched, however niche the bet.
Does Poll charge commission like an exchange?
Not in the exchange sense. There is no rate card tied to your trading volume. Poll takes a small percentage of winning payouts only, and cancelled or tied bets refund in full with no fee.
See it with a real occasion
The same bet, applied to something your group actually argues about.
- Telegram groupsTelegram group betting poolAdd Poll to the chat, open a cash bet, and let members wager and settle without leaving Telegram.
- Fantasy seasonFantasy league side-pot trackerRun weekly rivalries and season-long challenges as separate private cash bets.
- Draft dayFantasy league buy-in collectionCollect the league buy-in up front so the commissioner stops chasing anyone on Venmo.
- Season longFantasy punishment and last-place betsBack who finishes bottom, with the stake settled by the group instead of argued over.
- Matchup weekFantasy football side betsPut a cash side bet on the league mate you play this week, settled when the week ends.
- KnockoutNFL survivor poolRun the weekly knockout as separate private cash bets: one pick a week, last one standing.
- Game dayNFL squares poolKeep the 10x10 sheet where it is and run the cash bets around it on Poll.
- Fight nightUFC group betting poolCreate one private cash bet for the fight-night question your friends cannot agree on.
- Office footballPremier League sweepstakeTurn each fixture into a separate private cash bet for the work group chat.
- PreseasonPredict the Premier League tableCall the title, top four and the drop before kickoff, each as its own private cash bet.
How Poll compares
Against the other ways people do this, including where they win.
- ComparisonPoll vs WagerLabWagerLab tracks virtual bets. Poll settles real cash.
- ComparisonPoll vs RounderSame argument. One of them pays out.
- ComparisonPoll vs FinalCallA tracker remembers. It does not pay you.
- ComparisonPoll vs BroThrowOne suspends you. One already has the money.
- AlternativePolymarket alternativeTheir team picks the markets. You pick yours.
- AlternativeKalshi alternativeAn exchange lists contracts. You have an argument.
- No longer availableBetU alternativeThe app is gone. The bets do not have to be.
- ComparisonPoll vs a group chat and a spreadsheetThe chat is fine. Collecting is the problem.
- AlternativeWagerLab alternativeUnits are fun. Cash is the point.
- AlternativeBettorEdge alternativeA marketplace lists markets. You have an argument.
- No longer availableKutt alternativeBetting there is paused. Yours does not have to be.
- ComparisonPoll vs BetOpenlyA scoreboard settles one. Your group settles the other.
- ComparisonPoll vs BettorEdgeNo house either way. Different other side.
- AlternativeReBet alternativeTheir coins are virtual. Your argument is not.
Related guides
- Bet with friends online, from one shared link
- A betting app built for the whole group
- Peer-to-peer betting, with no house in the middle
- Bet against your mates, not the bookie
- A betting app with no house edge
- Peer-to-peer gambling, with no house to beat
- The app where you can bet on anything
- A poll with friends, where the answers count
Settle it properly.
Write the question, share the link, and let the group decide.