BetGrail - Sports betting software for Betfair

Today we would like to explain some elements of the BetMarket Trader interface and how you can adapt them for trading. We will try to describe in details all steps and show you how to make the software work most effectively.

To start, run BetMarket Trader. Bellow you can see the screenshot of the main window.

Lets start from the top-left corner. You can see two fields there: Back Stake and Lay Stake. They are drop-down lists with preset back and lay amounts. The software will use the selected amount as a stake for bets when you click on one of the table's cells. Take a look at 'As Stake' button. When it is enabled (has a green color) it means that the amount in the Lay Stake field will be used as an actual amount of the stake. However if it is disabled, it forces the software to use an amount in the Lay Stake as a stake liability. In other words, before placing a bet, application will automatically calculate a stake from the liability using formula stake = liability / (price - 1). This gives you an option to choose an amount which you are willing to risk laying a selection.

The next input field is Offset. To the right from Offset you can see OFF button. These two elements are related to so called 'Trading mode' of the application. OFF means that trading mode is disabled. To enable it on, simply click that button. When the application is in the Trading mode, it automatically offers a trading bet (also called arbitraging bet) which is opposite to the one you have offered last time. 'Opposite' means a Lay bet if the first bet was Back and Back bet if the first was Lay. Offering a trading bet the application uses a figure in the Offset field to calculate a bet price. The Offset specifies the difference between prices of the first bet and trading bet in ticks. To make it all clearer lets look at the next example. Say, you have Trading mode enabled, Offset is 3 and you want to trade on some selection. You are backing it at 1.80 clicking on the respective cell of the book. Now the application takes its part. Once your bet at 1.80 is matched, the application automatically offers a trading Lay bet for you at 1.80 - 3 ticks, i.e. at 1.77. You are making profit from the difference in prices (of course if both bets are matched). The more difference, the more you are making.

There are two options for trading bets. The trading bet can be offered either after the first bet was matched or immediately after you've placed the first bet. You can control this option using 'Consequent' button. When it is enabled the application waits until the first bet is fully matched before offering the trading bet. Which option you should use? Well, in most cases you will want to leave 'Consequent' button enabled. We would recommend having it enabled for beginners. However if you want to trade regardless from which bet (Back or Lay) is matched first, you can disable 'Consequent' button.

The last thing we would like to tell you today is the bets confirmation option. You can control it by 'Confirm Bets' button. By default it is enabled and we recommend leaving it enabled until you will feel yourself familiar with BetMarket Trader. Every time you are making a bet you will see the bets confirmation dialog which is illustrated bellow. It displays all bet details including a stake amount, price, profit and liability. You are able to adjust your stake and price before confirming the bet. Also you can cancel the bet simply clicking 'Cancel' button.