Glossary of terms
Dutching to Stop Loss, to Fill or Kill - the trading terms explained.
There are wide range of terms and acronyms that a frequently used in the betting app and trading world. We have therefore created a glossary of terms which we will continue to add to over time.
Stands for Application Programming Interface. The API allows software developers to produce betting applications that can be used to enhance our betting experience on Betfair.
The term BOT is short for roBOT and is basically a computer program that can replicate manual betting activities. If you repeatedly do the same trades over and over again (e.g. lay every horse in every race at 1.3 and cancel once one is matched), there is probably a BOT available that can automate this for you – allowing you to concentrate on other betting opportunities.
Conditional / Triggered Betting
Most betting applications allow the user to setup simple criteria so that when market conditions are correct, back or lay bets can be executed efficiently and accurately as per the user’s instructions.
Dutching is a way of backing or laying multiple selections in an event to achieve a required result regardless of which one of the selections wins. Dutch betting requires some mathematical calculations to be performed to establish the stakes required on each selection to achieve the correct outcome. Most betting applications offer dutching facilities, meaning that all you need to do is point and click on the selections you want to dutch – no need for any maths!
Excel
If your betting criteria requires a little more than simple “what/if” scenarios (see Conditional / Triggered Betting) and you are familiar with products like Microsoft Excel - there are betting applications that will allow you to export the data to products like Excel so that you can do further analysis or more complex betting instructions.
Field Bets
A field bet is an instruction that you want to perform against all the selections in the market. It can be a simple back, or lay everything at a certain price. Field bets are often used in conjunction with other features such as Tick Offset, Stop Loss or Fill or Kill
Fill or Kill
This feature is often used in very volatile or fast moving markets where the trader wants to be matched at a price immediately - or if the price isn’t available the order cancelled. The cancellation can be immediate or some applications allow for delays to be built into the order.
Grid Layout
This is a type of display that the betting application uses to present the available prices and liquidity. The grid layout is displayed horizontally across the screen much as you would expect to see on the traditional Betfair website.
Hedge (aka Green Up / Red Out / Cash Out)
Traders will often create a large position on a single selection in an event with a view to hedging that position at some point. The hedging of a position is simply taking the position and sharing it against all the possible outcomes of the event. The purpose of doing this is to produce a guaranteed profit (green up) regardless of the outcome or to spread the liability (red out) of a losing trade across all possible outcomes.
Ladder Layout
This is a type of display that the betting application uses to present the available prices, liquidity, traded amounts and odds. The ladder layout is displayed vertically on the screen and generally allows the user to see more market depth as well as identify stop loss and tick offset positions.
Betting apps allow you to get your orders into Betfair very swiftly, this is done by what is known as “One Click Betting”. Once you have set up your betting preferences (stake, max price, min price etc.), just a single click of your mouse button will immediately execute your orders to your specification.
PIQ
Position In the Queue - it is important for traders to know not only where they are in terms of pricing but also where they are in the queue at a particular price on Betfair - and there are betting applications that will indicate this for you.
Refresh Rate
When placing any bet into a market you should always have the latest market data. You can get that by manually refreshing on the website before placing your bet; but with a betting application the prices can be automatically refreshed for you. You set the speed of update to satisfy your trading style.
Staking Mode
Some traders prefer to use the payout or liability feature when placing their orders; this is known as the Staking Mode. The benefit of using a betting app is that once you have specified your preferred option, you don’t have to change it again - every time you place a bet it will be using your preferred mode.
Stop Loss
This feature is used to automatically close out your position for a loss should the market move against you. There are generally additional options available to a stop loss instruction depending on your trading style.
Tick Offset
Every price increment in Betfair is referred to as a “tick” so the decimal price 2.0 is one tick shorter than 2.02. With Tick Offset enabled in your betting app, you can automatically place an opposing order as soon as your initial bet is matched.
WOM
Weight Of Money – a WOM indicator shows you if there is more money waiting to back or lay on a given selection. This indicator gives a Trader vital information as to the strength of the current position.
