Betfair trading glossary
Betfair trading sometimes use terms and phrases unique to trading on the sports exchanges. See below or search for a term you would like to see a definition of.
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Popular in horse racing markets particularly with horses that like to run from the front, typically you would back a runner at the start of a race with the intention of laying in-running as their odds shorten Link
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On betting exchanges 'best execution' is when your bet automatically gets matched at a better price than you ask for. If you back something at 1.01 and it's available for 3.50, you will automatically get matched at the better price. If you lay at 1000 and your selection is available at 10, you will be matched at that better price. It's safer to deploy a strategy using this on the back side of the market, as laying at high odds could leave you with a large unexpected liability. Link
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The biggest betting exchange in the world and leader by active customers, turnover and profits. The company was founded in June 2000, by Andrew Black and Edward Wray. Betfair eventually 'merged' with Paddy Power to form a giant betting company. Link
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A 'bot' is a robot or the general term for automating some or all of your activity on a betting exchange. So a 'Betfair bot' would be some automation that is designed to trade automatically on the Betfair betting exchange. Link
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Scalping is a trading style that profits from price changes on an underlying market. It requires a trader to have a strict exit strategy because one large loss could eliminate the many small gains the trader worked to obtain. People often summarise this method of trading and it's risk as 'picking up pennies in front of a steam roller' Link
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Betfair trading is a way of profiting from backing and laying at different odds on the Betfair exchange. You profit if you lay at a lower price than you back at. This is because the liability on the lay bet is lower than the profit on the back bet. Link
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Betfair trading software is specially designed software for trading on Betfair. You can use it to perform many actions, some quite complex, quickly, easily and faster than using the standard Betfair web site. Some advanced software, like Bet Angel, can even be fully automated. Link
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The book percentage is the percentage you get in a market when you add up all the individual selections in a market and convert them to their implied chance. Something priced as decimal odds of 2.00 will convert to an implied chance of 50%. Two selections would add up to total book percentage of 100%. In a market where only one selection can win you would expect the book % to be at or near 100%. Link
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Making a book or bookmaking is the way of lay all selections in the market for a guaranteed profit. This is the way traditional bookmakers make money, by creating a 'book' that is overround and represents a payout of more than 100% when the maximum payout possible on the underlying event is 100% Link
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The term BOT is short for roBOT and is basically a computer program that can replicate manual betting activities. If you repeatedly do the same trades over and over again (e.g. lay every horse in every race at 1.3 and cancel once one is matched), Bet Angel has some automation available that can automate this for you – allowing you to concentrate on other betting opportunities. Link
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A bumper is a Flat race run under the rules of Jump racing. It is designed for horses who have not previously run on the Flat to get some experience of racing. Horses who have previously raced in flat races are not eligible to run in bumpers. Link
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Cash out is in effect the same as greening or hedging. It is simply a way for you to close your current market position for a profit or loss at the current available price. Cashing out may also hedge your position so you have an equal profit and loss across all selections in the market. Link
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Cross matching is a process put in place by the Betfair exchange to fill markets with offers counter to the original bet. If you bet heads, Betfair will take your bet and offer "Not heads" or tails on this occasion. So if you back a Tennis player in a market, then your bet is also offered up as an opposing bet on the other player. Cross matching also stops the book % from become overbroke. It's introduction caused controversy when it was found that Betfair was making money from rounded the values in their favour. For a full explanation visit the forum - https://www.betangel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11066 Link
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DOB stands for double or bust. It is basically a trade / bet that returns double your stake if you win or you lose your stake if it loses. It is typically deployed by backing a horse before the start of a race and putting the closing trade in-play to get matched when the horse is in contention and trades at lower odds. Link
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A drifter is the opposite of a steamer. A horse is said to be a drifter if its odds are getting bigger and bigger or 'longer' as betting markets often say for odds that are getting bigger. A drifter, for example, could see odds move from 3.00 to 3.50, it is 'drifting' Link
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In an outright market, there can only be one winner. If you add up all the odds and percentages, the market will settle on a book value of near to 100%. If you can lay above 100% then effectively your payout is only 100% but your profit will be anything above that. A false market often occurs when a selection is about to be added or removed from a market which distorts the true book percentage. If you bet into this market, you could face a heavy loss unless you are fully aware of why the market is false. Link
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When placing a bet into the market, the price you want may not be available. The software can be set to cancel the bet ('kill') unless it is accepted ('filled'). Time periods can be set for this process. Link
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This is a type of display that the betting application uses to present the available prices and liquidity. The grid layout is displayed horizontally across the screen much as you would expect to see on the traditional Betfair or Betdaq website. Link
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A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give it a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. Horses are allocated weights on the basis of producing an equal outcome for the race. In theory, if the weights are correct, then all horses in a handicap race should finish in close order. Link
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A lay bet is where you bet against something happening. If you lay £10 at odds of 3.00 then you will win £10 if the selection goes on to lose, but lose £20 if it goes onto win. Laying carries more monetary liability than backing but is less likely. When lay you win the backers bet if the selections loses, but the backer wins the layers liability if it wins. Link
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A novice is a horse which has not won in a particular type of race prior to the start of the current season. A novice remains a novice until the end of the season in which it gains its first win in that particular category, no matter how many wins it achieves. Link
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Palp is short for 'palpable error'. The palpable error rule is a way that bookmakers can accept a bet then refuse to pay out on that bet as it was 'an error'. It occurs where a pricing team or model at the bookmaker makes an error in their pricing of the market that can be exploited by savvy punters. Link
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A much loathed additional charge you must make to Betfair if your profits and activity reach certain levels. Despite its infamy, very few people pay the premium charge at the higher rates. Link
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Punting is another word for placing a back bet into a market. People who do this are called 'Punters' Link
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A reduction factor is a percentage of its price in odds which allocated to a runner in a horse race when the market opens. If that runner is withdrawn, then the value of bets on all other runners are reduced by this percentage. On exchange odds that are over 40 or 2.5% of the market often leave the market unadjusted. Check individual market rules to see the impact on the market you are betting into if a running is withdrawn. Link
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When placing any bet into a market you should always have the latest market data. With Bet Angel the prices are automatically refreshed for you. You set the speed of update to satisfy your trading style. Link
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Instead of taking the current market price to green up you offer your bet at the reverse market price and wait to be matched to exit your position. It's a judgement call on when its best to use this, it's a good way to increase profits or reduce losses but by offering and not taking a price the risks are you may not be matched and have to re-submit the order and eventually get a worse price than just taking the original green up price. Link
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Scalping is a trading style that profits from price changes on an underlying market. It requires a trader to have a strict exit strategy because one large loss could eliminate the many small gains the trader worked to obtain. People often summarise this method of trading and it's risk as 'picking up pennies in front of a steam roller' Link
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A steamer is a horse that has been well backed during the day, with shortening odds. There are a number of reasons that a horse can become a steamer. The horse may have been overpriced, to begin with, or the horse is becoming a favourite. Sometimes punters back steamers in the hope that they are following the smart money. Link
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Swing trading is the process of trading a market with the expectation for reversal in price. If a selection in the market is heavily backed then you would look to take advantage of people closing positions or feeling that the price is too short and the price starts to retrace some of its movement to a fairer level. This is a swing trade. Link
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A tick is one price increment in the market you are trading. Odds increments change as the decimal odds increase, so below decimal odds of 2.00, the tick increment is 1. The price moves 'one tick' if it increases from 1.98 to 1.99. But at odds between 4.00 to 6.00 the odds move 10% per tick. So they will move from 4.50 to 4.60. But in trading terms it has still only moved 'one tick' Link
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Every price increment in on the Betfair or Betdaq exchange is referred to as a “tick†so the decimal price 2.0 is one tick shorter than 2.02. With Tick Offset enabled in your betting app, you can automatically place an opposing order as soon as your initial bet is matched. Link
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The 'touch price' in trading terms is where the bid and offer prices are actively trading in the market at the best available price. In betting exchange terms this would be where money is getting matched at the best available back and lay prices. Link
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Trend trading is following a developing or continuing trend within a trading market and exiting before the market turns back and reverses that trend. Link
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The weight of money is a method of measuring how much unmatched money there is on either side of the market. If there is more money on one side of the market than the other then it will take longer for that money to get matched and therefore will influence future price movements. For example, if there is £1000 on the back side of the market and only £100 on the lay side, when a new order reaches the market for £200 all the money on the lay side will get take and the money will need to be matched at a new price causing the price to move. Link
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Cross matching is a process put in place by the Betfair exchange to fill markets with offers counter to the original bet. If you bet heads, Betfair will take your bet and offer "Not heads" or tails on this occasion. So if you back a Tennis player in a market, then your bet is also offered up as an opposing bet on the other player. Cross matching also stops the book % from become overbroke. It's introduction caused controversy when it was found that Betfair was making money from rounded the values in their favour. For a full explanation visit the forum - https://www.betangel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11066 Link