The Bet Bot

The Bet Bot is an optional feature of the Discombobulator. If enabled, it will monitor the current race and try to place a bet on what it believes will be the winner. Sounds too good to be true? Well, there are a few catches...

How it works

Before a horse race starts, the odds available on each runner reflect the form of the horse, jockey, stable, the draw, etc etc. However, as the races gets under way, these factors gradually become less significant compared to how well the horse is doing in this race. As the horses are about to cross the finishing line, the odds should reflect only their current position - i.e. the winner will be at the lowest odds available (if there is even any money left at all by this point) and the others will have very high odds.

Now, the Bet Bot doesn't have any idea about the form of the horses in the race, or how well they will run on the ground conditions, or any inside information. But it does know how to watch the odds as the race nears the end. When the horses are near to the winning post, the Bet Bot will pick the presumed winner and place a bet on it, hopefully collecting any remaining money at whatever odds are left.

Factors that the Bet Bot takes into account include:

• The expected time left in the race.
• The odds being traded on the 'favourite' or 'leading' horse, i.e. the one with the shortest odds.
• How long the 'leading' horse has been trading as the favourite for.
• The odds being traded on the other runners.

The last point is particularly important - the Bet Bot will not blindly back the leading horse if it sees that there are other runners with dangerously close odds. This is a sign that the race is not as clear-cut as it might seem - i.e. if the favourite has been backed down to odds of (say) 1.10 but another runner has suddenly started being backed at odds-on prices, it would be far too risky to place a bet. For this reason, the Bet Bot will not place a bet in every race. It may also back the winner too late, i.e. by the time it makes a choice, all the money on the horse has been claimed.

How to use the Bet Bot

Just click on the 'enabled' button in the box on the right hand side of the window. This activates the bot and gives it permission to place a bet on your behalf. For the bot to work accurately, you must have been using the Discombobulator to watch the race before the race starts. This allows the bot to witness the start of the race, and so make an accurate prediction of when the race will end. If you switch to a race and it is already in-running, the bot will be unlikely to place a bet.

When the bot is enabled and the race starts off, the status window will show a simple message to show the bot's current thoughts. Until the end of the race, it will mostly show 'No clear leader'. This means that it cannot see a clear winner from the current odds trading. Either no horse is trading at short odds, or there are several horses with low odds.

Once the Bot has highlighted a clear leader, it will show that it is on the verge of placing a bet. If the leader remains for a long enough time, and if the end of the race is near, then the Bet Bot will back its choice. This bet will be of the amount shown in the main window. By default, this bet will always be placed at odds of 1.01, so that it can pick up any money left on Betfair.

The Bot will not bet on the race if you have already used the Discombobulator to make your own bets. So, if you are watching the race and want to pick the winner yourself before the Bet Bot does, just click the bet button as normal. Your bet will be placed and the Bet Bot will not place a separate bet later on.

Customising the Bet Bot

The Bet Bot has several settings that can be adjusted to control its behaviour. These will affect how cautious or risky it is, and how likely it is to place a bet. You can open the settings window from the 'Options' menu.

• Maximum price

  Once one of the horse in the race is being offered for this price and below, the bot can consider backing it.

• Odds gap

  If the gap between the price of the front runner (i.e. the horse with the shortest odds) and the next shortest price is greater than this gap, then the bot will consider the front runner to be the 'clear leader'.

• Race ending

  No matter if the Bet Bot has picked its winner, if the race still has this long to go, then it will not bet.

• Leader time

  How long there should be a backable 'clear leader' before the bot will act. A longer time ensures greater protection against fluctuating prices, but the delay may cause you to get worse odds.

Bet Settings

Just like the settings for manual back/lay betting, the bot has its own odds/amount settings to configure. Please note that you are advised to keep the bot bet odds at the default 1.01 setting. Raising this value may help you get better odds, but it raises the risk that the bot's bet may be unmatched. The Bot does not cancel its bet if it is unmatched.

Finally

Please remember that the Bet Bot isn't a licence to print money! It will not win 100% of the time, even when betting at low odds. The best way to test it out is to use the program without logging in to your Betfair account. That way, you can fine-tune the bot settings without risking any real money!

A final reminder: You did read the disclaimer and warranty on the download page, didn't you? You use the Bet Bot at your own risk. Good luck with the betting!