Trading on Betfair at York This Week?
Trading on Betfair at York this week has been a rather pleasant experience. Liquidity has felt quite consistent, which is always nice. At times, though, it has tailed off drastically in the last minute or so, which isn’t all that unusual. However, it has caught me out on a few occasions—particularly when trying to trade out of a large position. It’s just one of those inevitable things that can happen when trading on Betfair.
Of course, I’m talking about getting caught in play when you don’t mean to (as I mentioned in this post). It’s something that very rarely happens to me anymore, but in the past, when I’ve been deeply engrossed in a market, I’ve occasionally forgotten to watch the TV coverage instead of just listening to the audio. The problem with relying on audio alone is that the pundits often chatter all the way up to the start of the race, and if you’re not paying close attention, you might think you have more time than you actually do!
A Simple Trick to Avoid Getting Caught In-Play
The screenshot above (from York earlier this week) shows one of the best ways to avoid getting caught in-play. If you right-click on your bet in the market, it will give you the option to “IP SP”—in other words, take the starting price at the beginning of the race. While you might miss out on a few ticks, it stops you from getting stuck in-play with a difficult stake to exit.
I’d also recommend not leaving unnecessary bets in the market past post time. It can be a real killer if a spike suddenly matches a bet you assumed was “safe” as you move on to other things.
Reflections on York
York is one of those above-average meetings that often comes and goes without much drama for me. It doesn’t get me as excited as Cheltenham, but it’s a welcome improvement on a standard week’s racing. This week has gone quite well—better than expected, which is always a pleasant surprise.
Setting low expectations has been key, and since I don’t typically have high expectations for York, it’s quite possible that mindset has helped me perform better!
Looking Ahead
The weekend holds some more quality racing, which looks promising. The only downside is the summer sun outside—it’s tough to stay inside trading on Betfair when friends are calling you to the beer garden!
Decisions, decisions… Whatever you do, have a great weekend!
One thought on “Trading on Betfair at York this week…”
have to say all these competitive handicaps have been interesting to trade this week, really liking the feel of this meeting compared to the bigger ones, the perfect middle ground as it were
going in play been a real demon of mine in the past, in play SP was a good first step coupled with constantly battling the inner mind outside the trading environment and trying to think long term. if anyone else struggles with it thats what id suggest. took a look at my P&L for last x months too and banged it in an excel Line Graph which helped too — smooth upward progression destroyed (and then some!) by those big losses was a real eye opener
had a trade today where i was a tick or 2 outside current trading price set to Take ip sp and it didn’t work, might’ve been cus the api was a bit unresponsive but the bet was placed donkeys ago and just disappeared @ inplay. left me clattering around in a 7f trying to close the position and in a psychological battle for the rest of the afternoon. scary part was i couldn’t physically walk away from the following races even though in the moment i knew it was the right move, considering it a bad day even tho i was profitable for not being able to walk away
Have you ever experienced this at all ? Thinking about getting rid of most liability earlier on an open position instead of waiting to try and squeeze out the last few quid