10 Cool Betfair Tools

10 Of The Most Interesting And Innovative Betfair Tools

Unless you’ve been living under a stone for the last few years you’ll surely be aware of Betfair. They’re now the largest betting company in the world and their meteroic rise to fame has been nothing short of spectacular. If anyone had come to me 5 or 6 years ago and told me that a brand new company, with a start-up budget that wouldn’t have covered Ladbrokes’ staff lunch bill, would soar past the large bookmakers in terms of trade, I’d have told them they were crazy. But that’s exactly what happened.

Right from the very start Betfair was an innovative idea. They had a great team behind them and fairly quickly they bought out the only competitor in their field at the time, Flutter.com, so this left the way clear for them to carve their own unique niche in the marketplace. Their innovations didn’t stop there, because they’ve continued to roll out revolutionary new products and services - such as their own advanced poker client and zero edge casino - on a regular basis ever since.

One of the key reasons Betfair have succeeded where others have failed is that right from day one they’ve made it their purpose to provide freedom to the punter. I don’t just mean freedom in the odds you choose to back or lay at, but freedom in the way you bet. For centuries we were forced to bet on bookmakers terms, who were happy to fleece the public for every penny they could take, but Betfair changed everything by creating tools to help their customers WIN!

Here are a few of the inhouse tools Betfair have created to make the job easier for you:

1 – Betfair Firefox Extras

This is an add-on application for the Firefox web browser that allows you to add notes to runners as you’re monitoring the markets and your notes are then shown every time the runner is entered in future. It’s quite cool and very useful for keeping track of runners you want to watch for.

2 – Excel Tracking Worksheet

The name of this tool doesn’t really do it justice, because it’s much more than a simple tracking worksheet. If you know a bit about Excel you can use it to create your own sophisticated trading application that functions in a similar way to many commercial betting bots.

3 – Betfair Direct

This is a free desktop application that offers quick access to the betting markets, customizable shortcuts and betting with fewer clicks. Personally I prefer to use commercial products like Bet Angel Pro for my betting, but this is quite a neat tool if you don’t currently have that.

4 – Victor The Predictor

If you bet on soccer matches this excellent software will give you an insight into the true odds you should be backing or laying at based on the historical data of the participating teams. It uses the latest Machine Learning techniques with Neural Nets to come up with accurate predictions.

5 – Betfair Advantage Tool

This is my all-time favourite, but the problem is that it’s only for Australian customers. What they’ve done here is combine the Betfair markets with live odds from the AU TAB system and then they’ve included a fantastic Timeform-style form guide. Roll on the UK version!

You can keep up-to-date on the latest developments in the Betfair Labs section of their website and I’d recommend checking in from time to time, because there’s some good stuff in there that can make your betting experience a whole lot easier and (hopefully) more profitable.

The Betfair Developers Program

Something else Betfair have done that truly sets them apart from every other betting company in the world is start their own “Developers Program” where they actively encourage developers to build applications that interact with the Betfair website. This enables users to bet in ways that were never possible before and I can honestly say that it’s changed the way I bet for good.

Here are some of the most popular (and profitable) innovations they’ve released:

6 - Grey Horse Bot

This is THE software I simply can’t do without nowadays. It’s a fully automatic betting bot that comes packed with features for profitable betting on auto-pilot. You can set it up in the morning, leave it to run all day and check back later to see how much you’ve earned. It’s excellent!

7 - Value Horse Finder

VHF is a sophisticated software application that monitors the betting markets on Betfair and compares this with the odds on offer with the bookmakers to highlight when there are profitable discrepancies to be had. I’ve used this software since it was first released and I’ll tell you that I regularly make upwards of £100 a day with it, so this is another I’d highly recommend.

8 - Bet Angel Pro / Bet Trader

If you aspire to be a professional betting exchange trader I’d look no further than the applications above. The reason I’ve placed these together is because many people prefer one and many the other, but as you can download and try each of them for FREE I thought I’d let you decide.

9 - Bet-IE

Bet-IE is a horse racing dutching application with a big difference. Not only does this outstanding software enable you to calculate the stakes for your dutch bets and submit them with ease, but it also comes with a VERY cool live indicator that tells you exactly which horses you should bet on and when you should bet. Following this information alone is extremely profitable!

10 - Soccer Mystic

Imagine looking at a soccer match and knowing exactly what will happen to the odds, how they will move and where to place your trades before the match has started, or even in-play. This new software from the team at Bet Angel Pro enables you to model every soccer match with pinpoint accuracy and then structure your bets to force maximum profits out of the market.

Of course, this is only a small selection of the betting software that’s available to you nowadays, but what I’ve listed here are tools that I’ve used personally and they should give you a good idea of the diverse range of (largely automated) tasks you can now perform with the betting tools and software that have been created since the inception of Betfair’s developer program.

If this is a sign of the times ahead, I can’t wait to see what comes next ;-)

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Comments

33 Responses to “10 Cool Betfair Tools”
  1. Robin says:

    Paul,

    With the “VHF” software is is possible to start with just trying to take say, 2.00 GPB per race? (Obviously, I can see the bigger the bank the better profits will be. )

    Are there many races during the day that are feasible and have you always managed to get your selections matched?

    My, worry would be that you have placed a bet with a “bookmaker” and then fail to get fully matched on “Betfair” – especially with larger stakes, say you are trying get 100.00 GPB @ 8.1.

    Thanks

  2. Paul says:

    Hi Robin,

    I rarely, if ever, struggle to get my bets matched with this. The odds are always shortening on Betfair with these selections, so you’re normally pretty safe.

    You can start with whatever stakes you please and although you won’t find suitable selections in every race, in many races you’ll find some excellent trading opportunities that more than make up for it. You’ll probably be quite surprised at how many times it happens actually.

    ~ Paul

  3. Rick says:

    Hi Paul,

    Is there any software that I can use to hide my IP while live betting, because in Australia, we are not allow to bet in-play.

    Most of the anonymous softwares are change the IP to other country, but Betfair consider as you betting outside of the country and you have to proff to them you are there, so trouble!!! Any product i can use to complete hide my IP? jsut not showing anything.

    thanks Paul

  4. Paul says:

    Rick, I don’t know of any. Try searching for “IP cloaker” and you might find something. I think if Betfair already know you’re in Australia and that’s where your account is registered you probably won’t be able to do it anyway though.

  5. A. P. Seabourne says:

    Hi Guys, could you take a look at ‘The Cambridge Target System’. Its new , published by ‘Sportsworld’? Fantastic claims for this, But then don’t they all! Kind regards, Arthur.

  6. Paul says:

    We’re going to be running a test on it as from this week Arthur….

  7. Paul D says:

    Hi Paul, with Value Horse Finder, what would you recommend as an ideal starting bank given the need to have several accounts and money shifting between them as well as maintaining a fairly large pot for laying with Betfair? Do the bookies ever give you any bother about arbing?
    Cheers,
    Paul D

  8. Paul says:

    Paul, you don’t need several accounts with Value Horse Finder. All you need is one bookmakers account and a Betfair account, so it isn’t like traditional arbing where you need dozens of accounts and your money is spread about all over the place. Just the two accounts is fine.

    I’ve never had much trouble from the bookies, but I switch between 3 or 4 quite regularly and I put a lot of bets through on top of these, so it isn’t much of an issue. I’ve used Coral, BlueSQ and Bet365 for years without any trouble at all. There are others where I’ve been limited to 50 pence bets just for having the nerve to place a bet over £50 on (Betfred, PaddyPower to name a couple) but the three I’ve mentioned have always been fine.

  9. Paul D says:

    Thanks for the quick reply, Paul. Normally I play in running on the NH races but I always get slaughtered on the flat races so I’m looking to diversify. Reckon I’ll give VHF a whirl. Any systems etc you’d recommend for the flat season?

  10. Paul says:

    The Value Horse Finder and the strategies surrounding it are the only things you’ll ever probably need Paul. You can do this as a business, without a doubt, and it beats everything else I’ve ever seen hands down. I was doing it myself long before the software was ever available – although that does make life easier now – and it’s completely timeless. It worked 5 years ago and it will still work the same in 5/10/20 years time. I find it hard to believe that more people aren’t doing it!

  11. Paul D says:

    Cheers Paul. Very helpful. I’ll give it a whirl and report abck on the review page how I get on

  12. Nicky says:

    you say in your report of VHF you make clearley £100 a day with it. With what betting bank?

  13. Paul says:

    I don’t really use a betting bank Nicky. When I’m trading with VHF I’ll use £100-£200 stakes normally. It’s zero-risk so I’ll always try to get as much cash on as I can when the situation is right.

  14. Nicky says:

    thanks sounds intresting nothings no risk though paul theres alwayz some sort. if its that good why dont you put it on your main page as the top betting software predjuices often incomes or something?.

  15. Paul says:

    This is about as low risk as you can get Nicky. I’ve maybe got it wrong twice in the last 5 or 6 years, from probably 10,000+ trades, so yeah it’s pretty much zero-risk :-)

  16. Nicky says:

    and really if its a often profit wouldnt you say its a better income than ftw?

  17. Nicky says:

    ok serious question now how much would u suspect too gain with £100 bet?. And would you say by using the no lose win and was it place or noplace method?. Would you be able too use fair bot for the same thing?

  18. Paul says:

    I’ve said that many times Nicky. There isn’t anything I do that’s consistently more profitable than trading or arbing. It’s a business, a job, or whatever you’d like to call it, that brings in the wages day on day. Nothing else really compares.

    How much can I make with a £100 bet is like asking how long is a piece of string. There isn’t an answer to that. Not a realistic one anyway.

    Fairbot only works on Betfair and it’s specifically for trading so it doesn’t work the same way.

  19. Nicky says:

    thank you paul cause ftw is not doin that job for me. i used pms thats arbin its the only one ive used it works prob alot better out there though. So whats the good arbing i can do and trading if you dont mind sharing your best of knowledge with me?

  20. Paul says:

    Check out Value Horse Finder Nicky. Take a look at the videos and read through the docs. It might look a bit daunting at first, but I’m sure you’d get to grips with it in a day or less.

  21. Nicky says:

    ok paul but too be honest for me right now ftw is not for me i need something that brings the wages so too speak. Do you think this is one of many or few that will do that for me. im not trying too put ftw down or anything like that its just that i need the wages right now!. ftw aint doing it.

  22. Nicky says:

    ive only got betfair is that ok for vhf?.

  23. Paul says:

    All you need is Betfair and a bookmaker account. Nothing else.

    FTW has been performing well, but there isn’t the same kind of action with it. With this you can trade on multiple races a day and make money on multiple races a day too.

  24. Nicky says:

    and too be honest paul there was one stage wer i thought u was a ftw guy strictley i thought u guys r swearing too gambling systems like this is the only way too make money online but something made me hang in there i did think u wer just relying on gambling but now im thinking different. hope thats not taken as an insult in anyway my friend.

  25. Paul says:

    Nicky, we review systems and there are some very good ones available. I’ve been following FTW and I think Trainer Flat Stats is fantastic, but if you want to do this on a professional basis then you should really be looking to learn how to trade for a living. When you understand the markets you can literally name your own income. Quite honestly, you’re only limited by the amount of time you’re prepared to put into learning the trade and operating your business.

    It all depends on what you want to do and what you want to achieve. Do you only want to follow tips? Do you want to run a portfolio of systems? Do you want to learn how the markets work? Do you want to understand the formbook inside out?

    Only you can answer these questions. We’ll talk about many different forms of betting on here, and test all different types of systems, but only you can decide which method suits you best.

  26. Nicky says:

    big help Paul thank you alot i mean it.

  27. tatum says:

    Hi Paul… I just wanted to ask what is the difference between the Value Horse Finder and BET-IE
    Both of them looks good but not sure witch one would suite me. Have you tes the BET-IE because I was trying to look for your review about BET-IE but couldn’t find it, I always land on this page? Also with the VHF and BET-IE is it only the UK races or also in Australia and other countries?

  28. andy says:

    A very good summary of what is out there to help me pay my mortgage with Betfair. Have you had a chance to check out Betgizmo ( http://www.betgizmo.com ) ?

  29. Paul says:

    @Tatum – I only just noticed you’d left a message here. The difference between VHF and Bet-IE is that VHF is an arbitrage tool, of sorts, and Bet-IE is a trading application. If you take a look at their website they’ve got videos that explain what each does – it’s worth watching them.

    @Andy – I hadn’t seen that before, but I’ll take a better look at it later. Thanks!

  30. Paul D says:

    As regards Bet-ie, has anyone any experience of using their daily dutching ratings and advice? I’ve looked through the odd days results and while many have won, it often seems like plenty lose, which can sting badly when dutching a few in a lot of races. But it seems like an interesting concept and some users experiences would be much appreciated, Many Thanks, Paul

  31. Paul D says:

    Also Andy (or anyone else), have you tried out Betgizmo yet? Looks pretty polished and the in-play screen looks interesting

  32. saltire says:

    I have been investigating betting bots for the purposes of trading on Betfair.

    I would like to tap into the collective wisdom of the forum to find out as much as I could in relation to traders experiences either good or bad.

    Information I am interested in would include the bots you have used and how they worked out for you together with information on their ease of use etc.

    Any assistance in helping conclude which would be the best bot to use would be greatefully appreciated.

    Cheers.

  33. Paul Graham says:

    Saltire, check out the Betting Software section now. We've completely redesigned it and you should find all of the information you need on trading tools and betting bots there.

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