Like any computer program, Betfair has some bugs and can sometimes crash. It is extremely frustrating to find that you want to place a bet quickly and Betfair website is not working properly. In this post I suggest a plan of action if you find Betfair is behaving oddly.

Remember that if the Betfair site is down you will not be able to place your bet by phone. Don’t waste time trying, use a different exchange, eg Betdaq.

Known issues and workarounds

It is always advisable to have backup options and this is especially true in the case of Betfair.

I strongly advise the following:

– Have an alternative browser on your computer so that you can try Betfair in this.

– Have money in Betdaq or Smarkets so you have somewhere else to lay your bet if the Betfair site goes down.

– Ideally have a 2nd computer logged into Betfair (on a separate isp is better, but expensive).

– If you use trading software sometimes the API will work when the site is down, and vice versa, although Betfair tend to turn everything off if there is a problem.

If you phone Betfair CS about a problem with the site, they will almost always tell you to clean cookies, and this has become somewhat of a standing joke. However, it isn’t entirely stupid as some of the problems experienced by users are due to the cache becoming increasingly full of old data and slowing things down. Before you consider phoning I suggest you try the following:

For problems with the site/display

Examples: no left menu, javascript looks “wrong”.

log out, close browser, clean cookies (eg run ccleaner, which is very good), reload browser and log back in.

If that doesn’t fix it, reboot the computer.

For problems with markets becoming sluggish or not loading

Examples: markets take longer and longer to load or get stuck on “loading”.

Try refeshing the page (refresh button on the browser, F5 or ctrl-F5), which will take you to the sports home page, and load the market again.

In Firefox, right click somewhere on the market and click this frame>reload frame, which will reload just the market part and is quicker than refreshing the whole page.

Other Known Problems

Occasionally, if you are doing a lot of navigating between markets, you can find that the page refreshes to the previous market you were looking at after loading the new one. A variation of this is a mixture of the 2 markets, with runners from both appearing on the same page (I have even seen a football team appear in a horse race!). The cure for this is to load another market and then go back to the one you want.

Betfair are aware of this, but since it cannot be reliably reproduced, there is not a lot they can do about it.

If you are entering a stake which contains a decimal point, do not click on or type on anything else after typing the decimal point but before typing in the numbers. It is remarkably easy to type, for example, 21. and then go to your spreadsheet to check the pennies. If you do you will find a popup box tells you you can only have 2 decimal places. It will then sometimes not let you enter a stake at all, and I have found no cure for this apart from time. This is one case when another browser or computer is very, very useful. Betfair have been told about this, but as far as I know it is still a problem.

Alternative URLs

Betfair have a number of servers, and sometimes there is a problem with one of them. Logging out and closing the browser may connect you to a different server, but if problems persist there are other versions of Betfair you can try.

http://www.w-121.betfair.com will connect you to a different server and may or may not work. Often you will find the account info is not working and your balance may show as zero, but you can use it to place your lay in an emergency. If the site is completely down it will not work, of course.

You can also try Betfair mobile if you have a mobile phone or tablet. Download the app now – don’t wait for an emergency!

It is wise to familiarize yourself with all of this (including an alternative exchange) before an emergency happens, and have the alternative urls bookmarked so that you don’t have to go searching for bits of paper or articles on this website when the problem arises.