Comments

Gentlemen, but this tutorial was not actually meant to anyone of you, so if your bots were working correctly then why you updated bfexplorer app to the latest version, if all was working with your bots using the version of bfexplorer you installed initially?

Of course I am very sorry for any trouble or problems, or even lost in money you mentioned, but again I ask when all worked with previous version of bfexplorer for both of you why you did updated to the latest version? Did I force you to update?

If not then it is really just your responsibility first to check if the latest version of bfexplorer works with your preset bots. Tony you reported you have got setup 800 bots, well that is really quite a lot, I myself never exceeded more than 50 bots or so.

If you setup so many bots, then there is really question?

Do you really need 800 bots with different settings? You maybe use just one or two types of bots, I mean for instance Place Bet bot and trading bot called: Place Bet and Close Selection Bet position. If that is your case then your strategy can be automated the other way, you actually creates just different parameters or model for those two bots, so there is need to rethink your strategy and create your custom bot which works just with preset data, to automatically configure your two bots.

The other question is, when you really spent a lot of time with setting up so many bots why you did not ask me what to do to prevent recreating of all your bots when you update bfexplorer version, because updates to any software are inevitable, they simply happen, it is the way how software industry works, as any technology evolves in time, so updates are necessary!

It is not because some problems in my app, but as they happened sometimes, but it is because of changes in betfair api from time to time, and mainly from the fact that bfexplorer app involves as well, as I myself use it daily.

Just simply hint for all making a lot of bot settings.

Bfexplorer app is installed in folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\BeloSoft\Bfexplorer

So when you are uncertain whether update to the latest version will introduce problems to your current running app version and bots, rename this folder to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\BeloSoft\Bfexplorer.bak

So this way old installation of bfexplorer remains in this folder, the latest version will be installed to the folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\BeloSoft\Bfexplorer

That is not all, bfexplorer also uses different app settings. These settings are saved in the folder:

C:\Users\stefan\AppData\Roaming\BeloSoft\Bfexplorer

Stefan is my username on windows installation, so of course you must replace that with your username, so:

C:\Users\your user name here\AppData\Roaming\BeloSoft\Bfexplorer

Again you can copy that folder and so backup your all settings, or just in case of bot settings you can copy the file:

MyBots.parameters

to your backup folder.

Now you can run the latest version of bfexplorer and first check if all your bots works, you should test it in the practice mode so not risking real money in your test.

You both mentioned Football Bot, yes I updated this bot after one user requested

Bfexplorer Latest Release

to add Start/StopCriteria criteria, as number of different parameters had changed, it was better to implement that this way, and I reported that to release log:

Version 2.0.6957

Adding Goals parameter to Start/StopCriteria for Football bot.

So if I understand it correctly you updated to latest version, just because a new set of parameters was added to Football Bot, right?

But then you either knew that it could cause some problems with previous bot settings, so you were able to rebuild your bots again, or you should simply ask me about that. I really do not remember anyone of you ask about those possible compatibility issues when using new Football Bot. Nor I read about problems with Be the First in Queue bot.

I am betfair software vendor, so vendor providing trading app for betfair. For some of bfexplorer users I am partner as well, mainly for whom I build bespoke bots or apps, and they ask me. So for such users I can advise, in my best knowledge, about solving problem or strategy.

I hope you understand difference between words vendor and partner. In what role you are that do not depend on me but on you.

Problems started not today, not only with your version and not only with the football bot ! I use a later version from last summer, all my football bots "died" this afternoon, but also all BeTheFirstInQueue bots stopped days ago. I'm paying this software for an year and only on the last days lost more money with these last updates than I've ever paid for all my subscriptions. We trust, we pay and we lose because these changes are all made "out of the blue" and without any prior notice...

I'm using a previous version of your software from FEB 2018. All my bots were made for that version and don't work on later versions. All worked very well until around 17h00 this afternoon. I've checked at 15h00 and all was working perfectly fine. Now all my football bots won't start at a given match time. On later versions there's any problem as football bots start perfectly fine, but I just cannot rebuild all my bots on a later version of your software because I've got more than 800 bots to rebuild. Please help me out and review what changes were made today that unabled this version from FEB 2018 to work as it did until this afternoon. Thank you very much for all your support.

When you download Setup.exe file and the file is blocked by your operating system, so you cannot install bfexplorer app. Please read this article describing how to unblock such file:

https://www.isumsoft.com/windows-10/3-ways-to-unblock-app-or-file.html

You open a market for monitoring so it is open market, right? All the rest of millions market on betfair are not opened by you, so are not monitored by your bfexplorer app. This is just linguistic term, I had to name some way the view with open(ed) markets.

Any grid view has columns, so you can filter, sort, group data by those columns. Filter your markets by Status, or group them. Now select all closed markets, and click on Close toolbar button, and so all your closed markets will be removed from Open(ed) Markets.

When all matches are over, its status changes to "closed", but on BFExplorer "Open Markets" I still get the message "Monitoring 61 markets". What does this mean ? Can't all the closed markets be erased automatically from this "Open Markets" list ? Thank you

When football match is over, it means that betfair sets the market status to closed. Bfexplorer does not monitor closed markets.

If you run your strategy automatically by Bot Executor tool, whenever your bot finishes its execution, the Bot Executor removes the market from monitoring, so no data are loaded by bfexplorer for such market.

Any action bot, bfexplorer offers, has parameter named:  StopMarketMonitoring. This parameter when set to True (checked in bot parameter’s settings) will set the market status to "inactive", when there is no other running bot on the market, so this way the open market is removed from monitoring. This parameter is useful when you run you bots manually on open markets in bfexplorer so not in automatic mode using Bot Executor tools.

You can use either dark or white app theme:

http://bfexplorer.net/Community/BlogContent/407

And when you go through my post you can really see different app layouts.

Betfair Tennis Trading and Tools

http://bfexplorer.net/Articles/Content/351

Portrait Layout

http://bfexplorer.net/Articles/Content/213

On Bfexplorer Product web page:

http://bfexplorer.net/Products/Bfexplorer

There is icon (like windows) in the main header, and when you move your mouse to this icon the tooltip window appears saying: “Bfexplorer Product Features”, click on to open web page:

http://bfexplorer.net/Products/ProductFeatures

Here in User Interface tab click on: Application layout and workspaces

http://bfexplorer.net/Products/Feature/12

There you can watch video showing how to change app layout.

The base points are: App uses two different user interfaces to present active market: the grid one and ladder one, you can switch between them by clicking on Use Bet Event Trader toolbar button in the main app bar.

So ladders UI is named in my app context like: “Bet Event Trader”, and grid user control (grid view), is named “Bet Event”.

When switching to one or the other mode you can change layout of other views as well, just by resizing or views and/or hiding not used ones.

If you repeatedly use different application layouts, then you can add them to your workspaces, clicking on View/Workspaces/Add.

Then you can simply switch between them using View/Workspaces/My Workspaces/<Your workspace name here>.

When you made changes to already named workspace just click on Save menu item in View/Workspaces/Save.

Bfexplorer remember lastly used workspace and reloads it again when you open bfexplorer again after Exit.

In Application/Settings/Trading Ladder you can set number of trading selections shown in “ladders”, by default it is set to 3, UI of my app is optimized to resolution of 1920x1200. If you have bigger screen with better resolution or more monitors then you can float views to another monitor, on so on.

The concept of moving/resizing/docking windows in base on Window operation system, so it is not just something I implemented in my application: bfexplorer.

Have a look at for instance on Tabs in Chrome/Edge/Internet Explorer, actually in any web browser. You can drag&drop a tab and move it to another monitor, or docked it to another Chrome app, and so.

The same concept works in bfexplorer app, it is called dockable views/windows.

First you need to define what you mean by term “scalping”?

Basically, the word describers manually trading on betfair, so the activity when man using its knowledge on how prices/odds will move, or how the market (so rest of people and bots on betfair) will react on market price changes, and using this knowledge to place back or lay bets, either by offering bets, and or taking what is offered.

The aim of this strategy is to create very short position on betfair market taking just couple ticks profit when market moves in favor or just accept loses, again in couple ticks. Trade is made by placing opposite bet type then opening one, so lay when back first and wise versa.

A tick is price/odds difference between back/lay odds, as betfair odds on non  handicap markets is defined in price groups, so for instance in odds/price range 2-3, it is 0.02, but in odds 3-4 it is 0.05 and so on, then between 2.12-2.14 we have got 1 tick difference as well as between 10-10.5.

That is the basic of trading on betfair.

When man trades on betfair a different techniques are used, you even place fake bets to force market react in your favor, in such cases you need to know what you are doing, as what you offer in such fake/trap bets, can be value for others.

To automate this process we are using betfair bots, so small programs which could automate manual part of your daily routine on befair markets, it is clear that such bots do not think, and are limited only by preprogrammed parameters.

In bfexplorer app you can find following bots which can be used for scalping:

Place Bet

Be the First in Queue

Fill or Kill

Close Selection Bet Position

Close Selection Bet Position at Odds

Place Bet and Close Selection Bet Position

Tick Offset

Scratch Trading

Trailing Stop Loss

Close Market Bet Position

Today's results running the bot fully automatically using Bot Executor tool:

Perfect, this is what I wanted! Thank you!
After that, I must subscribe))
I continue to study Bfexplorer.

I have just added new bot to bfexplorer called: “Show Market Selection and Alert”. If you want to use it install the latest version of bfexplorer:

http://bfexplorer.net/Products/Bfexplorer

I have created new bot script TennisGameScoreAlertBot.fsx, you can add GameScore parameter adding values like this: GameScores:5 - 4|6 - 5

Scores are separated by | and are written from position of serving player, have a look at the bot script on lines 49 – 63.

TennisGameScoreAlertBot.fsx

Thank you!
You do wonderful things!

I do simple bot script development for my subscribers for free (that requires up to 1 working hour). I checked the script execution on my server, and no error message was reported, therefore I think you just tried to change the bot code and your changes produced error message you reported.

Bfexplorer offers standard bots that require no programming skills. You just set the bot parameters and execute such bot. One of such bots is “Tennis Bot” so basically you can set your trigger parameters, and setup an action by BotName parameter that will be executed when trigger criteria are met.

“Tennis Bot” stops its execution automatically when the action bot is triggered, so repeating bot action again can be made by recursion, what can be done by "Sequence Execution" bot, referring last bot name to execute in sequence to be the name of your sequence bot.

The last think for your custom bot is “Notification Bot”, so bot that will alert you (speak some text), so similar like in TennisBreakPointAlertBot script.

I will add such bot to standard bfexplorer bots adding one useful feature which you could see in the “Watch Favourite” bot. This bot displays market selection in Bet Event view automatically, so when monitoring for instance 50 tennis markets, the bot will automatically show in Bet Event view the market and selection on which the bot was executed.

I will add updated script as well, but my idea was that users willing to share programming bot scripts will do so, therefor I posted tutorial bot scripts for learners of betfair bot programming on my github web page:

https://gist.github.com/StefanBelo

 I really liked how TennisBreakPoint AlertBot.fsx works
so I really want to do something like this,
but it seems too hard.

To create a bot, a prerequisite is knowledge of a programming language? Or is everything simpler?
Where to start? I want to make an alert to the tennis bot to notify when the score is 5-4 * 6-5 *
Or can I buy a bot creation from you?

Thank you, it works!

You have got MSCORLIB.DLL assembly on your computer, because when you installed bfexplorer, the .net libraries already must be installed on your computer.

Bfexplorer app is developed in C# and F# programming languages, the script you want to run is written in F# as well.

All you need to do is installed F# language extension to Visual Studio, or any other IDE you use, please read/watch following:

Betfair Bot Programming for Non-Developers

Windows 10