Do Betfair trade their own markets ?

[Archangel]

I have often wondered are Betfair actively trading against their own customer order flow. It would make sense in play for example where there are time delays for them to jump the queue so to speak and take advantage of that.

[ODPaul82]

I would assume that they would offset some of their liabilities from the sports book onto the exchange, but that is purely an assumption.

[gstar1975]

They "seed" the markets at a loss.

[Derek27]

I have often wondered are Betfair actively trading against their own customer order flow. It would make sense in play for example where there are time delays for them to jump the queue so to speak and take advantage of that.

Jumping the queue would be cheating, I'd be surprised if they did that.

[Kai]

I have often wondered are Betfair actively trading against their own customer order flow. It would make sense in play for example where there are time delays for them to jump the queue so to speak and take advantage of that.

Jumping the queue would be cheating, I'd be surprised if they did that.

I see no evidence of it, any user can technically cheat to get ahead

But BF has a problem if exchange mechanics are regularly abused, so there is no point anyway

[jimibt]

I have often wondered are Betfair actively trading against their own customer order flow. It would make sense in play for example where there are time delays for them to jump the queue so to speak and take advantage of that.

i would very much doubt it would be worth the effort. the compliance and auditor trail must be pretty tight on this stuff. penny pinching is not outside their remit i know, but trading the markets with insider info would just land them in court and on the wrong side of hefty fines for irregularities.

[Archangel]

I dont know what the consequences would be for Betfair in doing this or under what remit the authorities would have to investigate them. Its Betfairs exchange, they can make their own rules about how it operates. People could say its unfair but thats not against the law.

[decomez6]

Its Betfairs exchange, they can make their own rules about how it operates. People could say its unfair but thats not against the law.

what happens to all the deposits laying around in your BF account?
Betfair can do whatever they deem fit .
They operate like 'Banks` without the red tape.
they could easily use that money to trade under the disguise of crossmatching .
since when do you see the referee actively play the ball ?
FREE markets should be Free from interference and for that reason ,
yes BF are actively trading their own markets .

...reduction factors, BF freezes and technical problems should all be money back guarantees .

[The Silk Run]

Its Betfairs exchange, they can make their own rules about how it operates. People could say its unfair but thats not against the law.

what happens to all the deposits laying around in your BF account?
Betfair can do whatever they deem fit .
They operate like 'Banks` without the red tape.
they could easily use that money to trade under the disguise of crossmatching .
since when do you see the referee actively play the ball ?
FREE markets should be Free from interference and for that reason ,
yes BF are actively trading their own markets .

...reduction factors, BF freezes and technical problems should all be money back guarantees .

I believe you are correct with that statement. I heard unofficially several years ago they do indeed have their own in-house Trading Team !!!

Perhaps Peter would be willing to clarify this.

And probably moving funds around likened to Casino Banking.

[conduirez]

Its Betfairs exchange, they can make their own rules about how it operates. People could say its unfair but thats not against the law.

what happens to all the deposits laying around in your BF account?
Betfair can do whatever they deem fit .
They operate like 'Banks` without the red tape.
they could easily use that money to trade under the disguise of crossmatching .
since when do you see the referee actively play the ball ?
FREE markets should be Free from interference and for that reason ,
yes BF are actively trading their own markets .

...reduction factors, BF freezes and technical problems should all be money back guarantees .

I believe you are correct with that statement. I heard unofficially several years ago they do indeed have their own in-house Trading Team !!!

Perhaps Peter would be willing to clarify this.

And probably moving funds around likened to Casino Banking.

If they don't Paddy Power might, and if it applies they would not have to contend with the 5 second delay, or market suspension, their money would probably jump to the front of the queue as well.

[jamesedwards]

I've never seen any evidence of Betfair pushing to the front of the queue or avoiding in-play delays.

[Euler]

I've not seen any evidence of Betfair trading their own markets.

The only thing I'd say, is that they overused cross matching and that makes me feel really uncomfortable. XM often gives the impression of something being there when it isn't and that can create the feeling that the market is being front run. I'd prefer if they just made the market free flowing and had no XM. IMO the market worked much better when there was no XM.

As mentioned above they do seed early markets, but lose money doing that. So they contribute to the ecosystem via that method.

I've won a lot of money on both Betdaq and Betfair. But for that reason, neither Matchbook nor Smarkets want me as a customer or our customers, generally speaking.

[decomez6]

Its Betfairs exchange, they can make their own rules about how it operates. People could say its unfair but thats not against the law.

what happens to all the deposits laying around in your BF account?
Betfair can do whatever they deem fit .
They operate like 'Banks` without the red tape.
they could easily use that money to trade under the disguise of crossmatching .
since when do you see the referee actively play the ball ?
FREE markets should be Free from interference and for that reason ,
yes BF are actively trading their own markets .

...reduction factors, BF freezes and technical problems should all be money back guarantees .

I believe you are correct with that statement. I heard unofficially several years ago they do indeed have their own in-house Trading Team !!!

Perhaps Peter would be willing to clarify this.

And probably moving funds around likened to Casino Banking.

Trading being an individualistic endeavor , makes it easy for BF to get away with a lot of which would normally be seen as
Bet -'unfair'.
The gap between the losers and winners is huge ! everyone believe they have an edge and will get rich or die trying.
even Peter who is constantly working hard to bridge that gap is constantly over ridden by lack of majority support.

Traders lack a common 'Edge' makes it harder to have a common ground and consensus on who is the industry spokesperson .
Peter is Without a doubt the Best Candidate But he is actively Trading and from his experience , people are already entrenched in their own Beliefs. Why not Trade that BIAS instead of trying to change them ?

He is answered some of the questions on this video https://youtu.be/7muosBa15fA?si=H0CjpPTYwEVJpE8j
what happens to your money at BF.

for the rest of us we are to work out an edge in the whole fog of probabilities. May be even become a BF Market Maker.

[conduirez]

The link is to a thread 10 years ago, exactly the same topic, but interesting to read as the arguments are quite the same as in this thread.

viewtopic.php?t=9349&start=45

[Kai]

There's been a lot of repeating threads over the years