InPlay Trading On Betfair Is Tough – Why Not Automate It?

InPlay trading can be automated in to a strategy or structure.

Becoming good at trading in running on horse racing does not happen overnight. It is a gradual process, with skill improving through experience.

Even still, for many experienced traders, placing bets while the race is in running or in-play can be daunting.

But if you use the correct tools – such as BfBotManager V3 – it can be easily automated. Once set up you can leave the software to do the work for you.

The 66 trades below were made by a strategy I wrote recently which only considers big drifters in the first half of the race AND there are three close favourites. There are a few other criteria too. 😉

As it is a new strategy reflecting current InPlay market volatility it may fail so it is currently only running with pennies. To date it has a 100% successful trading rate – it hasn’t had to hedge for a loss on any of the 66 trades over the four days it has been running.

The odds laid ranged from 8 to 34 and the average exposure was 19 after the last traded price on each selection had more than doubled.

The importance of trading out EVERY TIME can be seen if you sort the table above by P/L as in  the example below. You will note that five runners whose price had more than doubled in the first half of the race went on to win. If you filter according to P/L above you will see the trading structure successfully traded out on every occasion. The lesson here is do not be tempted to trade late InPlay – you may get screwed.

The biggest risk above was in the 18:00 Ballin 13th Apr 2m2f Mdn Hrd with Reach Up which was traded out at 20.  The Trade Out Rule Bet was placed at 18:00:51 but not matched until 18:01:24 which is not ideal. However, after 33 seconds it was finally matched before the market turned south and it went on to win. The timing risk on Holbrook Park was also unacceptable. It went on to win too, of course.

Many people though don’t wish to fully automate InPlay trading and prefer to use a semi automated process with BetTrader. Successful traders usually run with a fixed tick offset and can scalp using their feel of the market and trading price relationships.

The money that flows in to Betfair during InPlay will provide multiple opportunities for 3 tick short scalps. Set BetTrader up with a 3 tick offset and fire away.

Finally, trading dynamics aren’t always as you would expect. Talk to any professional trader. In any market. All have losing days. Most have losing weeks. But take a longer view over a month or more they are profitable year in, year out.

The bot saw Nickname Exit at Towcester 20:20 in the 2m5f Handicap Chase as a lay from 16 to 18 but it went on to win. It traded out on a further drift between 19 and 23.