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A kinf of Lay the Draw at (around) Halftime
Hi,
I’m a new member here. I've spent some days watching a number of videos, reading community and blog articles, and testing the software in Practice Mode, and I must say it’s really awesome.
There are still many details I don't know, but to date I've managed to set up a sort of Lay ...
27.3.2026 9:13:29
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Bfexplorer Latest Release
Version 5.07.0322
The cumulative Betfair AI Trading, Create Strategy Settings LLM support. Install from Bfexplorer Preview version.
Version 4.11.0214
The cumulative Betfair AI Trading. Install from Bfexplorer Preview version.
Version 4.10.1227
The cumulative ...
23.3.2026 17:38:27
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Machine Learning vs. AI Agents in Sports Betting: A Paradigm Shift
In a previous post, we talked about how difficult it can be to build a standard Machine Learning (ML) system for Betfair from scratch. It requires a lot of work, including handling data, coding live pipelines, and managing databases. But now, a new method is changing everything: AI Agents using ...
30.1.2026 15:20:00
Betfair Bot
http://bfexplorer.net/Content/Bfexplorer/BfexplorerAI.png
Betfair Bot
I do not know if you are aware that Bfexplorer is the first app on the Betfair App Directory to support AI agents. Here is the AI's answer to your question, which you could have found yourself:
Nice work — your setup is logical and follows the common “Lay the Draw at half / hedge if a goal” pattern. Below I’ll walk through what you’ve done, point out where it’s correct, suggest improvements (hedges / risk controls), show options to auto-select matches, and explain how to keep bots running continuously.
1) Quick review of your current bot choices (correct / sensible)
- Place Bet bot ("Lay draw"): correct for placing a lay in-play (AllowPlacingBetInPlay = True, OfferMyBet = False, BetType = Lay). Good.
- Close Selection Bet Position at Odds ("Back and cash out"): sensible choice to hedge/close the lay position automatically when conditions met (HedgingEnabled = yes). Using CheckingLastPriceTraded is a common way to trigger on price movement.
- Football bot to start the hedge when score/time changes ("Back draw when 0–0 breaks"): correct trigger logic (Score or MatchTime).
- Sequence Execution to run the lay then waiting/trigger bots: correct approach to keep a single strategy that performs the sequence.
- Execute Bots (entry price filter) to only run when draw odds < 2.9: good pre-entry price filter.
So overall your choice of bot types and the sequencing is appropriate and follows typical practice.
2) Improvements and suggestions (risk control, robustness)
- Add an explicit liability / stake cap: make sure your Place Bet bot has a known maximum liability exposed if possible. If the Place Bet bot doesn't have a direct max-liability field, calculate the lay stake by formula so you never exceed desired liability.
- Add a late-time stop earlier or scale: 75' is reasonable, but consider:
- A staggered stop (e.g., stop new entries at 60' and close remaining exposure at 70') or
- Lower stakes for matches that remain 0–0 after 60' (because late goals become more likely).
- Add a price-based stop-loss/exit: if the draw price drifts up significantly (e.g., > X ticks above entry) you may want to close or partially close to limit loss. Implement with a "Close Market Bet Position" or "Trailing Stop Loss" strategy:
- Example: if draw LTP > 4.0 (or X ticks worse than your entry) then close position (partial/full).
- Or use a trailing stop so that if the odds retrace by Y ticks you lock-in partial loss control.
- Partial hedging / scaling out instead of single all-or-nothing:
- Hedge part of the stake when small favorable price change occurs (lock small profit) and keep remainder running to target larger hedge — reduces variance.
- Handling unmatched bets / latency:
- Consider adding a check to cancel/replace unmatched bets after N seconds or only place bets if last traded price within small window of offer price. This avoids getting matched at a very bad price.
- Use "CheckingLastPriceTradedDifference" carefully:
- A difference of 3 ticks is common, but check how your odds ticks map and do some backtesting in Practice Mode to avoid premature or late hedges.
- Reaction to in-game events (red cards, injuries):
- If you want more safety, add criteria to stop/close if Cards or exceptional events are available in your data feed — but note not all matches provide reliable card/event feeds to the bot.
3) Hedging formulas and practical hedge setup
- Full green-up hedge formula (to calculate back stake for zero profit):
backStake = (layStake * (layOdds - 1)) / (backOdds - 1)
- Use the Close Selection Bet Position bot or a “Green Up / Hedging” bot that calculates and places the required back stake automatically.
- If you prefer target profit: calculate back stake to leave a desired profit instead of zero.
4) Automation: selecting a series of matches in advance
Yes — you can automate market/selection choice using these approaches:
- Favourite events and saved filters:
- Use Bfexplorer’s favourite events or event groups (your “My Favourite Bet Events”) to group competitions you want to trade.
- Market scanners / filters:
- Create a scanner or market filter (competition, kickoff time window, pre-match draw odds < X, in-play availability) and bulk-add results to monitored markets.
- Execute a strategy over multiple selections:
- Use “Execute strategy on multiple selections” (ExecuteBfexplorerStrategySettingsOnSelections) or an equivalent app action to run your sequence on many markets/selections at once.
- Scheduling:
- You can pre-select markets (by market ID or by adding events to favorites) and have a single ExecuteBot run across that list at kick-off time.
If you want, I can help design the exact filter rules you need (competitions, kickoff window, pre-match draw range, bookmaker implied probability filters, etc.), and show how to turn them into a list that the Sequence Execution can run across.
5) Running bots when your computer is off
- Bfexplorer must be running and connected to Betfair for bots to execute. If your PC is off, bots cannot run.
- Two practical options to keep bots running 24/7:
1. Run Bfexplorer on a VPS (Windows VPS) or always-on remote PC — this is the recommended, common solution. Use a reputable VPS provider (low latency to Betfair endpoints), keep Betfair session authenticated, and ensure Bfexplorer auto-starts on login.
2. Leave a dedicated local machine on (e.g., an old PC or mini-PC) with unattended operation and remote access.
- Running minimized/in-background: Bfexplorer can run minimized; the app doesn't require the UI to be visible. But it still requires the machine and network to be on.
- Consider automation precautions on VPS:
- Secure the VPS (login credentials, 2FA),
- Keep Bfexplorer and Windows updates in mind,
- Monitor logs and have remote alerts for failures.
- There is no way for Bfexplorer to continue to run if the machine and service are completely powered down (no cloud execution without a VPS).
6) Testing, monitoring, and risk management
- Always test in Practice Mode first (you already are — good).
- Start with very small stakes when moving to real money.
- Keep a monitoring dashboard or alerts (email/SMS) to notify if something unexpected happens (bot error, disconnection, large loss).
- Keep a historical record (GetAllBetResults) and review performance periodically, tweak parameters and re-test.
7) Potential alternative/advanced bots to consider
- Trailing Stop Loss bot: to lock profit / limit loss dynamically if the odds move after you’ve placed a lay.
- Close Market Bet Position: more flexible ways to set profit or loss thresholds.
- Sequence Execution across selections: to run the same full sequence across multiple matches automatically.
- AI/ML or selection-filter bots: if you want to pre-filter markets based on historical features or machine learning ratings (advanced).
8) Next steps I can help with
- Review your exact strategy settings and suggest concrete parameter values (e.g., ticks for trailing stop, price thresholds).
- Build a market-filter for auto-selection (competition, kickoff window, pre-match draw odds, etc.).
- Create sample hedging calculations and show how to configure the Close Position bot for partial/targeted hedges.
- Recommend VPS specs and setup checklist to keep your bot running 24/7.
If you like, share:
- an example match/market ID you trade (or the competitions/time window you target),
- your exact lay stake/liability rules,
- whether you prefer full green-up or target-profit hedges,
and I’ll produce concrete parameter suggestions and an improved sequence (including sample stake/hedge calculations) you can test in Practice Mode.
Betfair Bot
You must have switched bfexplorer to practice mode; switch practice mode off and you will place real bets.
rxstrading01
how is your model performing now?
rxstrading01
Best one for me has been the one from Bet Angel it's UK based so you can trade anywhere in the world
o.cliff@gmail.com
sounds amazing has it kept up that strike rate?
Betfair Bot
BotTriggers are not distributed with bfexplorer app instalation. You can either download them from my gist, or when testing some of strategies on Betfair AI Trading community.
HorseRacing/BookmakersOdds.md
jakewins
Really impressive use case. I’ve been integrating the same Strategy Expert Prompt and found it drastically improves clarity when chaining multiple strategies. What blew me away was how quickly it aligned execution logic like ShareBetPosition and StrategyNames into a working config. Massive time-saver and helps bridge the gap between concept and automation. 🔄 Curious—has anyone tested this with dynamic triggers (e.g., price movement or volume thresholds) layered into the sequence?
adska
just don't forget to check the VPS country, because I bought one in Germany but unfortunately, I cannot use it due to restrictions
adska
what errors are you getting?
Betfair Bot
LastPriceTraded and you must run Cancel Strategies on Selection on all selections.
The other alternative is write your own custom trigger bot script.
Betfair Bot
When compiling you certainly have got errors, so just read the errors and try to fix the problem.
The same project is included to my bfexplorer app solution, just to check possible compatibility issues if I had changed anything in the code base of the SDK. I have got no compiling errors for this project.
I did not yet released SDK for preview version which is build on .net 7/8.
Betfair Bot
Yes, use web page to login, in the Application / Settings, then when login you will use betfair web page login dialog with two factor authentication.
TheWood
Hey
I have installed the preview version after your email today. Looks great so far.
Thanks for the support.
TheWood
Betfair Bot
There are two versions of bfexplorer apps. The old version released on 28th March 2023. This app version is built on .net framework 4.8
The latest version I call the preview is relaesed o .net 7, and you can install it from the link above, from my dropbox drive.
This preview version contains the latest version of new bot stratregies like the one described in this post: Execute Strategy Rules Bot
TheWood
Hi
Looking forward to the new release, im a new user and finding the application to be the best of its kind after trialling most versions of BetFair approved applications.
Keep up the good work.
Graf
Yes, I always monitor task manager cpu and memory usage. But what I want to ask is which V.P.S. (Virtual Private Server) service and ideal configuration do you recommend as the best to run bfexplorer. thank you
Betfair Bot
Open Task Manager and check how much CPU and Memory your bfexplorer app uses on your desktop pc. Bfexplorer uses really small amount of CPU but used memory depends on how much markets you open, or how many bot strategies you executes concurrently.
When using Strategy Bot Executor tool, markets are monitored only from set time and when bot strategy ends its execution the market monitoring is automatically stopped.
Betfair Bot
Quite strange:
I am looking for an experienced F# programmer to assist me with a project involving Betfair. Specifically, my project requires a script that can be run on Betfair’s bf explorer. The script needs to have the capability to place bets, based on a detailed strategy I have in place. My end goal is to efficiently place bets and manage them without too much hassle. I am expecting that the total timeline from start to finish should be less than two weeks for this project. The successful freelancer will have extensive knowledge and experience in F# programming as well as Betfair.Applicants with prior experience with using bfexplorer on Betfair are strongly encouraged to apply. Do you think you are a good fit for this project? I look forward to hearing from you soon!
https://www.freelancer.com/projects/php/script-run-explorer-betfair/details
Betfair Bot
When open Execute Trigger Strategy dialog, either by adding or updating the strategy, select TriggerParameters and in the right column click on …
Trigger Parameters dialog appears and there type:
CsvFile
and to other column:
c:\run.csv
Select BotName/StrategyName and in next column click on …
Here you can choose your strategy, of course you must create such strategy before, using any of existing strategies like Place Bet and so on.
The strategies represents exact betting or trading strategy you can parameterized by entering different values to available strategy parameters.
Execute Trigger Strategy just triggers execution on dedicated selection/s, and what is executed is defined by the parameter: BotName/StrategyName