Bfexplorer | 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 the Draw at (around) Halftime strategy that works just fine.

My development is as follows:

1. Bot to lay the draw

To place lay bet on the draw we need to setup:

Place Bet bot by setting the following parameters:

AllowPlacingBetInPlay: True

OfferMyBet: False

BetType: Lay

Stake: 10

ExecuteOnSelection: 3

and we name this action bot: Lay draw.

2. Bot to back the draw, close position and cash out

To place back bet on the draw and close position we need to setup:

Close Selection Bet Position at Odds bot by setting the following parameters:

Odds: 0

HedgingEnabled: yes

CheckingLastPriceTraded: yes

CheckingLastPriceTradedDifference: 3

ExecuteOnSelection: 3

and we name this action bot: Back and cash out

3. Bot to trigger bot 2 once 0 – 0 breaks

To trigger back bet placing at in-play when a goal is scored (to close position with a profit), but also when match time is 75 min (to stop losing).

Football bot, setting the parameters:

BotName: Back and cash out

StartCriteria: [Score] In ('1 - 0', '0 - 1') Or [MatchTime] = 75

We name this bot: Back draw when 0 – 0 breaks

4. Bot to sequence triggering bots 1 and 3

This bot is responsible for sequentially executing bots 1 and 3, so that a lay, a back, and finally a closing position with hedging are executed:

Sequence Execution bot, setting the parameters:

BotNames: Lay draw; Back draw when 0 – 0 breaks

ExecuteOnSelection: 3

We name this bot: Half Time LTD strategy

5. Bot to trigger sequence only if scoreline is 0-0

To trigger lay bet placing at in-play only when there is still 0 - 0 score. If at least one goal has been scored in the match, bot stops execution and strategy ends here.

We need to use:

Football bot, setting the parameters:

BotName: Half Time LTD strategy

StartCriteria: [Score]= ‘0 – 0’

StopCriteria: [Goals]>= 1

Save this bot as: Lay draw in-play when 0 – 0

6. Bot to trigger bot 5 when lay draw odd < 2,9

I want to place lay bet only when LastPriceTraded on The Draw selection is less than 2,9. We need to set this criteria by:

Execute Bots bot, and set:

Entry Criteria to: LastPriceTraded Is less than 2,9

BotNames: Lay draw in-play when 0 – 0

ExecuteOnSelection: 3.

We name this bot: Lay draw in-play when 0 - 0 if draw odds < 2,9

And so we are ready to execute our strategy on selected football matches using the tool: Strategy Executor.

From here, I have some questions:

- Do you think I've used the right bots to set up my strategy, or should I use others?

- Do you think I should introduce any hedging or risk minimization strategy if the game progresses and remains 0-0, other than quitting in the 75th minute?

- Is there any bot or similar that allows you to automatically select a series of matches in advance according to certain rules?

- Is there a way to run the software in the background, or to keep the bots running when the computer is turned off?

Thanks you all in advance.

Regards

Manuel

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.

Comments ( 2 )

Betfair Bot

27.3.2026 9:03:29

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

27.3.2026 9:14:21

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A kinf of Lay the Draw at (around) Halftime

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