Fill or Kill: Don't wait around for a price to be matched

Sitting around and waiting for a price to be matched can be one of the most frustrating aspects of trading and using the betting exchanges.

But one way of combating the boredom and thumb twiddling, in addition to putting you in a stronger position to make money, is to use the Fill or Kill option on a betting app.

This allows you to set a time limit on how long you are prepared to wait for an order to be matched, and in full, before the order itself is cancelled.

In financial trading, for example, you would use the Fill or Kill function to place an order to either buy or sell a stock. You would usually want that order to be put out immediately and in full. So, if it is not possible to fill the entire order, then the order itself is cancelled.

It is the same when you are using the betting exchanges. By using the Fill or Kill functionality, you want your order on a certain price to be matched 100 per cent. If it is not, then you walk away completely and do not take a single percentage of the order.

Fill and Kill, meanwhile, works slightly differently in the sense that it will fill as much of the order as it is possible to do so, and will then cancel any unmatched bets.

Using Fill or Kill works best on either fast-moving markets or in-running events. In these markets you will often see greater fluctuations in price and usually greater opportunities for your price to be matched.

You can set up your other triggers in advance, in terms of your stake etc, and then you just set how long you want to wait for your order to be matched.

Once you have selected the Fill or Kill tab on the betting app you are using, you can then toggle the number of seconds you want the order to be out there for. It is possible to set it for zero seconds.

There is nothing stopping you from setting the time limit at 60 seconds or even an hour, depending upon the market you are playing. However, it is always worth making sure that, if you are setting the limit for a reasonably long period of time, it does not end after the actual start time of the event. Otherwise you could be setting yourself up for a big loss.

It can be particularly useful to take advantage of the Fill or Kill option when you are scalping as it can provide excellent opportunities to make quick, small profits which can build up over time.

Speed is generally of the essence when you are using the Fill or Kill functionality on a betting app. If your price has not been matched immediately, then you can adjust your order accordingly and put yourself in a much quicker position to be able to either place a bet or make a trade on a market.