I am running a system on small stakes to gather data. I have a rules file which places back bets of a few pence to win 20p. Today unfortunately for me, the automation decided to place a £20 laibility back bet on a greyhound race at potters bar at odds of 1.01 (the automation was programmed to offer a bet at the reverse market price). The bet of course went onto lose and wipe out half of my funds I have been trying to hold onto over the past year.
I understand that there was a software update this week and I had not updated at the time (although I have now). However my understanding was that the update was to resolve the chart issue this week and I am wondering if my problem today is related.
As a side note, Im aware that betfair have changed their p and L and their attemps at what I assume is cost cutting is making it very difficult for me to continue using betfair and therfore bet angel, and frankly when I have put in so many hours of work- having betfair make random changes to transaction charges and p and L means I have to change systems and strategy profoundly to work around Betfairs capricious changes. They already charged me for transactions last year, and they have a big edge so I am sure their issue is not lack of funding.
Anyway, the purpose of this post is to make sure Bet Angel is aware that I experienced this £20 bet issue. I dont have a copy of the log, but I did read the log and I know with certaintly the bet came from the automation. I have since moved most of my money from the betfair account as I am concerned it may happen again and hopefully betfair will reject the bet if the funds are not there.
If anyone can offer advice I would appreciate that, Thankyou.
Bet angel incorrect bet.
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ShaunWhite
- Posts: 9731
- Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am
The chart issue isn't a BA issue as the threads on the topic explain, it's happening in other software.
Are you using your own Excel code or BA? . The issue could be around the fact you're staking below minimum. If the price was already 1.01 then when the initial bet went in it would have been matched prior to modification to a lower stake. Add a condition to test the current best reverse price being >1.01.
What do you mean Betfair have changed their PL? And the (advantageous) transaction fee changes due on 1st Sept are the first changes to that for a long time.
If Betfair are charging you for transactions that would mean you're doing too many for the amount of commission you're generating and betting under minimum means that each transaction you do is actually 2 anyway plus any cancellations are another 1. But you'll get 5x more free and extra ones at 1/5th of the current price soon. The cost of running Betfair is pretty huge, having an edge (which in their case is just commission) isn't a sign they're flush with money.
Are you using your own Excel code or BA? . The issue could be around the fact you're staking below minimum. If the price was already 1.01 then when the initial bet went in it would have been matched prior to modification to a lower stake. Add a condition to test the current best reverse price being >1.01.
What do you mean Betfair have changed their PL? And the (advantageous) transaction fee changes due on 1st Sept are the first changes to that for a long time.
If Betfair are charging you for transactions that would mean you're doing too many for the amount of commission you're generating and betting under minimum means that each transaction you do is actually 2 anyway plus any cancellations are another 1. But you'll get 5x more free and extra ones at 1/5th of the current price soon. The cost of running Betfair is pretty huge, having an edge (which in their case is just commission) isn't a sign they're flush with money.
Welcome to the forum Confined. Logs are there for a reason. The £20 bet may have come from the automation but disclosing the log might help fellow auto traders to identify whether there is anything wrong with your automation that triggered the bet. As for Betfair changing their rules (as Shaun said they've increased the transaction limit), I'm afraid fully understanding the rules, incorporating them into your strategy and making adjustments when the rules change is all part and parcel of trading. This forum is full of angry people who have to spend hours modifying their code and spreadsheets that import Betfair transactional data. In fact, the rant thread is almost redundant now. 
The transaction costs were from a system I had implemented before, which I completely changed becuase it wasnt worth risking going over the transaction limit. I have since done nearly a year of work gathering statistics.
If betfair have increased the transaction limit then thats great but I hope they put the P and L back to how it was otheriwse I will struggle to look through results. Its the changing that throws me off.
The bet error today did have a rule to back only selections that were priced over odds of 4 although as I wasnt watching the market I cant be sure if the price was jumping around, the bet was matched at around odds of 2. So in consideration the error was probably due to the small stakes. I will try adding an additional rule to prevent it from happening again. I do regret closing the log unfortunately I'm in the habit of removing suspended markets and I do it without thinking.
edit* The bet came from an automation file not excel and I have since remembered to change my maximum liability setting to avoid this happening again.
Thankyou to all those who contribute to the comments. I have learned a lot reading although I dont post.
If betfair have increased the transaction limit then thats great but I hope they put the P and L back to how it was otheriwse I will struggle to look through results. Its the changing that throws me off.
The bet error today did have a rule to back only selections that were priced over odds of 4 although as I wasnt watching the market I cant be sure if the price was jumping around, the bet was matched at around odds of 2. So in consideration the error was probably due to the small stakes. I will try adding an additional rule to prevent it from happening again. I do regret closing the log unfortunately I'm in the habit of removing suspended markets and I do it without thinking.
edit* The bet came from an automation file not excel and I have since remembered to change my maximum liability setting to avoid this happening again.
Thankyou to all those who contribute to the comments. I have learned a lot reading although I dont post.
Last edited by CONFINED on Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Logs get saved when you close BA, so you should still be able to retrieve it
https://betangel.kayako.com/article/101 ... -log-files
https://betangel.kayako.com/article/101 ... -log-files
I have looked for the log, but I cant see the market in question. I did just check the rules file though and It does seem It was my fault- I had a rule on one runner that was set to back at best price and I suppose in low liquidity that would be why it went in at 1.01. An expensive mistake.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
I'm sorry to learn of your betting woe Confined and can only comment as follows:
1) It's unlikely that BetAngel would have placed an incorrect bet - in the highly unlikely (nigh impossible) circumstances where this is the case, the chances are, (as you're a relative newbie) it's likely to be discovered by some of the full-time traders.
2) Whilst £20 is 50% of your betting bank, I can assure you that an unexpected £20 loss whilst unpleasant isn't an expensive mistake and is only a fraction of what many others will have experienced in their trading career. Mistakes happen to everyone - clicking on a selection in the wrong market, staking the wrong amount, backing rather than laying etc., it all happens. The only upside is that you've learnt a valuable lesson and lessons are worth paying for as you move forward.
Best of luck with your trading
1) It's unlikely that BetAngel would have placed an incorrect bet - in the highly unlikely (nigh impossible) circumstances where this is the case, the chances are, (as you're a relative newbie) it's likely to be discovered by some of the full-time traders.
2) Whilst £20 is 50% of your betting bank, I can assure you that an unexpected £20 loss whilst unpleasant isn't an expensive mistake and is only a fraction of what many others will have experienced in their trading career. Mistakes happen to everyone - clicking on a selection in the wrong market, staking the wrong amount, backing rather than laying etc., it all happens. The only upside is that you've learnt a valuable lesson and lessons are worth paying for as you move forward.
Best of luck with your trading