CLEAR trigger problem

[jonboysez]

Hi I've written an excel spreadsheet for trading on horse races - basically, I want it to fire a back bet in if the odds reach the right figure before going in-play, then I want to clear the bet reference and immediately fire in a lay bet at lower odds. I know I could acheive something similar with the offset ticks modifier but I prefer a different way. I don't understand VBA coding, so my program is written in ordinary Excel. I can get it to work fine if I tell it to fire in the lay bet when the odds have dropped to what I require (before start or in-play using LAY-IP). In some 5f races my lay bet is not getting matched, either because the odds never get that low, or maybe because its timed out, and I wondered if my bet was already in place but unmatched, would it stand a better chance of getting matched in time? So I have tried to amend my coding to fire in a lay bet immediately after the back bet, but the CLEAR trigger isn't clearing out the first back bet reference for some reason - the trigger turns to LAY-IP but the lay bet doesn't get placed because the previous back bet reference is still there. My trigger coding goes something like.... IF back bet is filled "LAY-IP", IF bet ref is not empty and matched stake = my back bet stake "CLEAR", IF horses present back odds are above odds required and no previous back bet has been made "BACK"
There are formulas in the stakes amount, and odds amount. Does there have to be a few seconds delay after the CLEAR trigger before the next trigger goes in, and that is what is causing it not to work?

[xraymitch]

Hi Jonboysez,

Not sure if this is any help but it may at least point you in the right direction. It seems to me that clearing the bet reference and then making another bet is a two stage process.

For what it is worth my trigger will clear the the bet reference and place another bet.

=IF(AND($E$2="In Play",$F$2="",$T5="",$Y5="BACK"),"BACK",IF(AND($E$2="In Play",$F$2="",$Y5="BACK"),"CLEAR",IF(AND($E$2="Not In Play",$F$2="",$H5<=50,$H5>=10,$AF5=1),"LAY-TL1-IPC","")))

Cheers,

[jonboysez]

Cheers Xray - I'll have a look tonight when I get home - it just seems strange that I can get it to work when the lay bet isn't fired in immediately, but not when it is, but then its usually a bit of trial and error until you get it right and maybe I was lucky first time round!

[jonboysez]

Sorted it! In the LAY-IP section of my coding I needed to add T5="" e.g. IF(AND(back bet is matched, BET REF IS EMPTY), "LAY-IP", CLEAR bet ref, BACK if odds are ok) It must have been trying to carry out the LAY AND CLEAR commands both at the same time because I wasn't telling the lay bit to wait until the bet ref had cleared out - well thats my theory anyway LOL.

[xraymitch]

That's a plausible theory in my view.

Like to think that maybe my trigger helped a tiny bit LOL

Now all that is left is the HARD PART - does your strategy make any money !!

Cheers,

[jonboysez]

YES Xray thanks very much for your advise, your coding did include the T="" and originally I overlooked that as it doesn't seem to be needed if the second bet isn't fired in straight away. Anyway it works now but making any money is a different matter - I've tried many different systems, some are rubbish from the start, others get you excited and work well for a week or so then bomb out and lose you a pile. I made one spreadsheet that put a back bet on the leading horse when its odds reached 1.05 - I had to stake 20 quid to win a pound and it worked well for a few weeks then it got beat twice in a row!! That wiped out most of my winnings - so I added an extra bit of code that the 2nd horse had to be above odds 10 when lead horse odds were 1.05 and it still got beat more than once! When people tell me that betting on horses is a mugs game I would agree if I was the typical mug punter calling into the betting shop, but with this automated programmed betting I retain some optimism, tho the delays experienced when placing a bet in-play make me less optimistic. The best advice I think that I've been given is - if your system can't make you a profit using LEVEL STAKES then its a bad system and the quickest way to the poor house - I used to ignore that advice but now think it is very wise!