So
If I open a buy trade, the broker opens a sell.
If the price goes up and I close my trade in profit, will they just give me the money out of their pockets?
If that’s so, how do they get the exchange rates and all that stuff?
That’s basically betting, right?
It’s not really a “trade”. It’s a bet.
Yes, but overall they win.
About 20% (average figure) of their customers are profitable over any 3-month period, but very, very few are profitable over a whole year.
Again, that’s according to the FCA.
The numbers for other, non-FCA-regulated brokers will certainly be less favourable (to customers).
It’s possible but not easy.
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But then it technically isn’t forex since no currency is being exchanged, right?
That’s right. It’s only a bet on forex. All the wording is misleading and borderline dishonest.
They’re not even really brokers at all.
What do you mean by that?
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Are there any REAL brokers
Not in the retail space for anything other than very big accounts (and those traders are all using futures, not spot/CFD anyway).
Retail forex is just gambling.
Those who know that forex is betting love it anyway.
Those who believe that betting is gambling and all gambling is just bad keep their eyes tight shut and ignore the facts and find a way to sleep at night. But they still love it too.
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Oh well
At least I can make money 
Thank you for correcting with the facts. People should avoid giving answers to questions on topics that they’re uninformed about. Let someone who knows answer it.
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But if retail brokers don’t have direct market access, then where DO you get it?
I strongly doubt it would make enough difference to most private retail traders’ performance to be worth seeking out. The majority will still lose money, and most of those who are making money are not using direct market access anyway so they might as well just carry on.
To me the difference between direct market access is like trying to buy 1 loaf of bread per week either from the bakery or from the supermarket (who bought it from the bakery). The bakery aren’t interested in finding customers who want 1 loaf a week, plus the bakery is far away. Or maybe it’s like getting the bus to the Toyota factory to try to buy a car from the manufacturer, when you’ve ridden past 3 private dealerships on the way.
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So
Your broker creates a fake market using real data to make it seem like you’re a BIGSHOT but in reality, your trades NEVER go near the real market.
It all makes sense now
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Fake market is the wrong way to look at it. It’s a market where buyers and sellers can receive the benefits of owning or disposing of assets. The fact that some market assets are simply binding agreements or contracts or debts does not make those markets fake.
Think about the buying and selling of company shares. You could argue this is a real market because you own a fraction of the company, and the company has assets like buildings and machinery and land. But in reality when you buy shares through a broker, none of the money you hand over for those shares goes to the company named on the shares. Is this a fake market too? Or is the question just a distraction?
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As @tommor said above, I’m not sure that “fake market” is quite right, but apart from the “choice of words” what you have said there is absolutely true. 
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In the Spot Forex and Futures market, you are actually trading in the market and you can be held accountable for delivery or receiving of the physical commodity or cash equivalent at expiry if trading Futures or within two days if trading Spot Forex.
Most CFD forex brokers take Spot Forex or Futures market data and add their spread to it and present that chart to their forex traders. So you aren’t trading in the actual market and you aren’t seeing the actual market data. Instead you’re looking at a broker specific manipulation of Spot Forex or Futures market data.
Thank you for that !
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