The most profitable bots

[spreadbetting]

I always remember a comment from PeterLe on here (for those who don't know he's solely an automated trader who has consistently made very good money year after year on in-running horse racing markets)

He once posted if he were to sell his most profitable bot for £20, buyers would ask for there money back as it was so simple

Wouldn't surprise me , so many people overlook the obvious or only listen if you're telling them what they want to hear.

[ShaunWhite]

I was just thinking about how I could actually automate my trading, & even though I'd class it as simple, & definitely automatable (on a market by market basis) - the code would have to be incredibly long to encompass the whole day, & forthcoming days - i.e. stuff I was ready for, but didn't occur

So it's the not the fact I can't break it down into a basic logic construct - but scaling it into a big logic construct would be hard.

Thats because you're not a systems designer

But your take on automation is askew, You don't have one behemoth that deals with everything, you have many micro instances each dealing with specific scenarios. Often more than one will be involved at any given time, and they might be agreeing or taking contrary positions to reinforce or reduce the net effect of the signals involved.

You need to be satisfied with building one tiny part at a time, letting it settle and than adding more elements.

Btw automation isn't just about speed, it's about doing the same thing absolutely unerringly 247 while simultaneously looking at every selection in every market for every event (in multiple sports) It's like having 20 people all doing your job and thankfully they don't need paying, so if they only bring in £10ea you're quids in.

[ruthlessimon]

Thats because you're not a systems designer

Bitta data snooping here, a bit of P&L fudging there, add the odd formula error - & you've got a recipe for a "fun" afternoon

[Trade 500]

I’m interested in what bots are working for some of you, so far I haven’t heard any and am even more curious now.

Personally, I so far invested 1.5 years into trading, collecting unique data, testing ideas, etc. So far, I came up with only a couple of profitable bots. Here's a very remote hint of what they do:

Horses pre-off trade
Based on certain market metrics, it lays a horse X minutes before the off, then closes the trade at scheduled off time. It does around 10 trades per month: some win, some lose. Given a trading stake of £100, it makes a profit of £20-60 every month. Here's the thing: I tested this for 12 months with £2 stakes. It performed really well every month with the exception of Jun-Aug. Only last month, after a year of testing, I was confident enough to raise stakes. Going well so far.

Greyhound value betting
Based on certain market metrics, it backs a greyhound to win the race. It places 200+ bets every month. If you bet £1 per dog, you can expect at the end of the month to be up £10-20. Bear in mind that almost every month at some point this strategy finds itself down £10+ because of losing streaks. What matters is the bottom line after hundreds of bets at the end of the month. Again, this has been profitable every single month since May (when my data recording began) but only in the last couple of months I felt confident enough to raise the stakes.

Thanks northbound, very interesting and I can tell from reading yours and others posts just how much testing is needed to get something that works, and of course how once found it is wise to not share everything as I guess everyone would try it out and then may mess up the strategy a little if hundreds were doing the same thing.

[ShaunWhite]

then may mess up the strategy a little if hundreds were doing the same thing.

If only it were 100s. Many markets are so small that even just one other person trading the same niche can change it's behavior. There are many strategies of course and some are more resilient than others.

It's always been the case though that building a automatic money printing machine will take many many hours of tinkering in your mancave. But if you roll your sleeves up, sharpen your pencil and refuse to be beaten, it's doable. But like most homemade machines, it'll take constant nursing to keep it running.

[jimibt]

then may mess up the strategy a little if hundreds were doing the same thing.

If only it were 100s. Many markets are so small that even just one other person trading the same niche can change it's behavior. There are many strategies of course and some are more resilient than others.

It's always been the case though that building a automatic money printing machine will take many many hours of tinkering in your mancave. But if you roll your sleeves up, sharpen your pencil and refuse to be beaten, it's doable. But like most homemade machines, it'll take constant nursing to keep it running.

+1 couldn't have put it better myself. it really is a labour of both love and loathing tbh and a bit like the Forth Road bridge, needs constant upkeep. however, this process keeps you actively looking for improvements in your ability to spot new opportunities, so not a bad thing.

[gazuty]

The best ones are usually the simplest ones

+1