Archive for category Betdaq
Betdaq API problems
Posted by Peter Webb in Betdaq on February 2nd, 2012
Just sending this out in case anybody has any automated spreadsheets running on Betdaq Angel today.
The Beqdaq API has a problem this afternoon and things are not working as they should be. Please double check any thing you have running.
We altered Betdaq to the issue quickly and they are onto it.
[EDIT : Betdaq now have a fix for the issue and will be deploying it after today's racing]
If you want to become aware of these sorts of things the instant they happen, follow us on twitter so you get the news as it happens: -
Friday 13th unlucky for Betfair
Posted by Peter Webb in Betdaq, Betfair on January 13th, 2012
Just days after their latest ‘upgrade’, the Betfair site crashed again. How incredibly frustrating! I’ve lost count of how many times the site has been down over the last year and each time the site is upgraded it seem almost certain now that a major crash follows.
If you want to trade today, why not give Betdaq at go. BetDaqAngel is the same Bet Angel platform you are familiar with but it’s compatible with Betdaq. Best of all its 100% free. It includes a link to Excel so you can automate your activity. We gave it a major overhaul last year to bring it up to date, so if you haven’t used it recently, download it and give it a try.
Ladbrokes in talks with Betdaq
Posted by Peter Webb in Betdaq, News on January 9th, 2012
Not as dramatic as it first seems when you read the headline, but interesting nonetheless: -
For the full story click on the following URL: -
If you fancy giving Betdaq a try download BetDaqAngel. It’s top notch trading software for Betdaq and it’s free. It received a major upgrade last year. Lots of clever features including an Excel link that allows you to trade multiple markets simultaneously from a spreadsheet.
Will Betdaq take off this year?
Posted by Peter Webb in Bet Angel, Betdaq on January 7th, 2012
What an open question that is! I’ve stuck up a poll on the right that you can give me your answer on.
For years Betdaq has been a much weaker market than Betfair. In 2008 it got a boost when Betfair increased charges. A few vendors, including Bet Angel, rushed to make their applications Betdaq compatible. But the majority didn’t however. This rush to Betdaq was short lived and things very soon, sort of, carried on as normal. I say sort of, as some people who tried Betdaq or took the time to develop stayed, me included. It was quite an easy decision for me as, through past experience, I knew that having more than one feather in my cap always paid dividends and having two companies competing for my business was better than one.
Things have been improving slowly over time and but got a big flip again last year when Betfair changed charges again. Once more people said they would do more business on Betdaq, but will it be different this time?
One thing that has changed this time is that there has been a sustained increase in business on Betdaq and that has provided more opportunity, as I have mentioned often in the blog. I think some of this has come around because some larger players have been forced to really make it work this time. We have also done our bit by completely overhauling Betdaq Angel, it received a major upgrade in the middle of last year. That brought it up to spec with the Betfair version, spreadsheets, Guardian and all. It’s been completely free since we introduced it in 2008, so if you want to see more activity on Betdaq; spread the word. Because it’s free you have no real excuse to not download and use it!
From my perspective, I was around at the very start of Betfair so I know the characteristics of a ‘young’ market. Therefore, I am getting better and better on Betdaq, I am often getting similar results on both exchanges (see below for the last race, last week). But to be ideal it just needs a bit more of the ‘right sort’ of activity to bring into play additional strategies. If that happens then I think we could hit an upward cycle.
Your individual circumstances will vary and therefore I suggest you use both exchanges, I do. It’s most important that you use something that suits your style or needs and gives you the greatest opportunity. But it will interesting to see if Betdaq really gets going this year. What do you think?
Satisfying chaos
Posted by Peter Webb in Betdaq, Betfair, Horse Racing on December 27th, 2011
OK, yesterday didn’t seem that chaotic in the end, just a bit frustrating. I had to wait ages to find races that really set themselves up nicely, but eventually I did and they were OK. But it was a little dull overall.
Kauto Star lit up the day when I took a few races off to watch the King George VI produce a bit of history. What a great horse we have been treated to and it looks like we could be seeing an interesting Cheltenham gold cup now as well. Lets hope we get a big field and a competitive race.
Not my best result of the day, but a decent result came out of this market on Betdaq. I’ve been doing more work on Betdaq recently and will publish more information on the blog. Market conditions are improving all the time and I recommend using both exchanges where possible and for your own benefit and needs but also to increase competitiveness in the exchange market. If we have people fighting over our business maybe we can get a fairer deal. But obviously for me every £100 on Betdaq is worth the equivalent of £250 on Betfair, so it’s really worth me pushing hard for a result and sacrificing time on Betfair. As my activity is net accretive to the exchange I am also creating opportunities for others. As I get better at managing my risk I am probably creating some value for others. Today I had to exit a position that I made a mess off, I was still in profit but wanted to dump it and start again. I offered it many ticks higher on Betdaq than the best available price on Betfair. Any body active on both would have seen this and could get value from it or arbed it. The opportunity is there if you look, quite a few hundred quid as well!
This week looks pretty reasonble with the holiday cards increasing the scope and capacity of the racing. I reckon it should be a good week.
An ‘interesting’ Saturday
Posted by Peter Webb in Betdaq, Betfair on November 28th, 2011
Well that was an interesting Saturday. I sort of got the feeling that the day may not go as planned right from the off.
Went shopping with the kids to stock up the office and got back a little late which left me no time to put the stuff away. I just had to dump it on the stairs. Sat down to the early start and immediately realised there was a problem… The Internet was at a virtual standstill. I tried all the various thing you do, router reboot, PC reboot but nothing was really having the desired effect. I had backup plans in place, so I continued to use those while I rooted out the problem. It looked like general Internet issue.
So after the third race I dashed back home to trade from there, but that connection was also having issues. It seemed to a ‘local area’ issue. So back up plan three kicked in and I started trading in earnest. That was going OK until Betfair started to creak and buckle at 3pm.
Anybody who has been on the markets for anytime knows that when the feature race of the day in the winter coincides with the start of the football it creates conditions that have delivered a few Betfair crashes in the past. Saturday was no exception. I think we were lucky on Saturday as we sort of got fair warning. The site sort of fell to bits in pieces.
When I realised we had a problem on our hands I instantly switched to Betdaq, which was working well anyhow, and just focused the remainder of my time on there. As a result I had another good session on both exchanges. On quite a large number of occasions now I am ending up net net ahead on Betdaq vs Betfair, that probably wont be the case for you unless you are paying 60% I guess. I know some of the other sports are weaker in liquidity terms on Betdaq but it was the same when Betfair was growing up and eventually activity spilled out to these other sports. I guess time will tell, but conditions are improving and it’s likely, as more people arrive on Betdaq, additional strategies and sports will come into play. I’m ready and waiting!
Back on Betfair we eased back in with a non API connection mode. From the number of emails we got in support we should point out publicly that you must be on the very latest version of Bet Angel for the non API mode to work correctly. We often have to recode this and that means old versions of the software may not be able to log in via non API mode. You have two choices, use mode 0, full API mode, or download and use the very latest version. Check with support first though, so we can give you direction.
Anyhow, I managed to get through the session and headed off to the ATP world tour finals in London courtesy of Betdaq, thank you! Even that didn’t go to plan as there was a power cut on the Jubilee line and I had to find my way to North Greenwich in an indirect and roundabout way. I did manage than however, just in time to see the doubles match start. From there my day started to become a bit easier and relaxed, and I was able to reflect on a stressful, but successful day.
