Laying at half sp

[Ian]

If you back at 6.8 shouldn't you be laying at 3.4 ? ie. using the decimal odds rather than the fractional odds. If you use decimal odds for the calculation you will win the same as the original stake if matched but you may not get as many matched.

[Captain Sensible]

There are a few problems with laying at half decimal odds when you get lower down the odds ladder i'e what if you back around 3 or even 2.1

[GaryRussell]

If you back at 6.8 shouldn't you be laying at 3.4 ? ie. using the decimal odds rather than the fractional odds. If you use decimal odds for the calculation you will win the same as the original stake if matched but you may not get as many matched.

I stated the following in an earlier post.

Once you have installed the latest Beta version it is important that you tick "Calculate tick % on decimal odds" in general preferences. This will ensure the odds are calculated how you expect. If you use this trigger then you don't need the VBA code to calculate the elapsed time from start of race. You also don't need to output the SP column.

If this option is not ticked the odds are calculated as fractional. If it was ticked then the odds would have been 3.4.

[john_boyuk]

There are a few problems with laying at half decimal odds when you get lower down the odds ladder i'e what if you back around 3 or even 2.1

I never back to lay anything under 4.1 betfair odds. I always back to lay using betfairs odds, backing and then laying at half that price. i.e. I have just backed at 9.4 for £2 and layed at 4.7 for £4. The lay matched and the horse went on to win but I still made £2 profit ( £1.90 after commission) regardless of what won. Even the horse i backed and layed.

[john_boyuk]

There are a few problems with laying at half decimal odds when you get lower down the odds ladder i'e what if you back around 3 or even 2.1

Some confusion here Captain. Your earlier quote was "If you lay a horse at exactly half the odds for double the stake you will not win if the horse goes onto win, simple maths."

I backed Sagalyrique in the 13:55 at Ayr today for £2 at odds of 9.40. I layed at exactly half the odds 4.70 for double the stake £4. As soon as my lay had matched I had greened up for £2 on all selections regardless of which horse won. In this case Sagalyrique went on to win and I still won £2 less commission.

[Captain Sensible]

Strictly speaking , odds wise 4.7 isn't half of 9.4, remember with decimal odds 1 of the mumber is your stake, so 9.4 is really 8.4 to 1. Half of that would be 8.4/2 + 1 = 5.2.

If we follow the same method and lay a decimal back odds of 4 your lay odds will be 2 and you'll make £2 if it goes onto win and £2 if it loses but the actual lay odds are a lot greater than 50%.

It's all down to what you want to do , if you want to lay at 50% of the odds you'll need to comprise, depending on the odds won't always be assured of £2 either way obviously the higher up the ladder you play the less effect that 1 off the decimal odds comes into play, if you want to guarentee a win equal to your stake either way you'll have to be aware lower down the ladder you're laying a lot higher than 50%

[john_boyuk]

Strictly speaking , odds wise 4.7 isn't half of 9.4, remember with decimal odds 1 of the mumber is your stake, so 9.4 is really 8.4 to 1. Half of that would be 8.4/2 + 1 = 5.2.

If we follow the same method and lay a decimal back odds of 4 your lay odds will be 2 and you'll make £2 if it goes onto win and £2 if it loses but the actual lay odds are a lot greater than 50%.

It's all down to what you want to do , if you want to lay at 50% of the odds you'll need to comprise, depending on the odds won't always be assured of £2 either way obviously the higher up the ladder you play the less effect that 1 off the decimal odds comes into play, if you want to guarentee a win equal to your stake either way you'll have to be aware lower down the ladder you're laying a lot higher than 50%

Thanks for the explanation Captain... Much appreciated Is there a formula i can use to get half the betfair odds? Numerically half I mean as in 9.4 to 4.7 for example, rather than 5.2.

[Ian]

Gary has told you how to do it in the post above.

[john_boyuk]

Gary has told you how to do it in the post above.

Ahh yes,,,calculate tick % on decimal odds in general preferneces. Cheers Ian and thanks Gary. Most helpful

[Online Trader]

The tick offset options you refer to are for manual betting, they have no impact on triggers. You have to use the appropriate trigger modifier to specify tick offset. For example to place a back bet at SP then lay at 50% odds you would use BACK-P50-SP. In the odds column you should use odds that will not get matched to ensure it is converted to an SP bet at the off so I recommend using 990.

Gary I have tried this setting stake @ 2 and it places the lay bet @ 2 as well, if you wanted to set the lay stake @ 4 what would you need to do?

[GaryRussell]

Use PL instead of P. eg. BACK-PL50-SP

[Online Trader]

Thanks Gary will give it a whirl at Catterick in the 2:10

[Online Trader]

Hi Gary

OK, i tried this in the 2:10 at Catterick and it did place the lay bet but not with a stake of 4 and the lay odds were not 50% of the back odds:

[GaryRussell]

Hi Gary

OK, i tried this in the 2:10 at Catterick and it did place the lay bet but not with a stake of 4 and the lay odds were not 50% of the back odds:

You must have missed what I said earlier in this thread regarding decimal odds. You need need to use the Beta version and tick the option "Calculate tick % on decimal odds" in general preferences. I assumed you had already seen this because you didn't say anything about it not being 50% odds.

Please install the Beta version and tick this option. See http://gruss-software.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6341 for the Beta download link.

[Online Trader]

Thanks Gary, sorted now