Bet Selector was updated mid 2023 with the ability in System Selector to create a special csv file for betting system selections with Betfair (note this works in both normal and expert modes). The ability to format selections for Betfair is an exciting development because as you may know Betfair’s Starting Price (BSP) is around 12% better than best tote. And in case you don’t know, Bet Selector’s top class and weight rated horses in selected races make a profit even at fixed price let alone best tote or BSP.
The new selection files for Betfair can be found in the “bets” subfolder in the “Price” folder. They are created after you run a system test and a key feature of them is that they identify selections by combining the horse tab number and horse name. This should make the files suitable for use with a number of third party Betfair bots but we have specifically formatted the file for use with BFBotmanager – click here for more info on BFBotmanager including a free trial.
When used with BFBotmanager, the files will work without the need for any modification but if you are already using another bot you may need to rename some of the columns or at the very least instruct your bot as to what the column names are and what they mean. With BFBotmanager you do not have to worry about that because the column names follow the BFBotmanager requirements.
Following is the listing of a sample file:
Provider,SelectionName,MarketType,BetType,Size,MinPrice
AVB1 SYS,3. Legal Esprit,WIN,BACK,1,4.33
AVB1 SYS,9. Rubiquitous,WIN,BACK,1,3.63
AVB1 SYS,2. Foxy Frida,WIN,BACK,1,3.93
AVB1 SYS,3. Military Expert,WIN,BACK,1,3.31
AVB1 SYS,2. Prince Of Boom,WIN,BACK,1,4.55
AVB1 SYS,2. Golden Boom,WIN,BACK,1,5.49
A file like the above will be created in the “bets” subfolder whenever you run a system or multiple systems within a folder/list. The name of the file is the same as the folder/list name but with “.csv” on the end to indicate that it is a comma separated vales (csv) file.
Note the file is only created if the system test start date and end date are the same. Also, files that were created before today are automatically removed from the folder. Note you can still look at files for previous days provided you run the test today and only test one single day at a time (so you can test yesterday and still check out the file today).
The first column of the file (Provider) contains the system name. If you have only run one system then there will only be one system name listed (like in the example above) but if you have run multiple systems (either by using “Operate on All Systems in List Box” or by ticking “Test Next”) then multiple system names will appear in this column.
Having selections from multiple systems in the one file keeps things simple as you don’t have to worry about importing multiple files into BFBotmanager but the other big advantage is that in BFBotmanager you can set up different strategies for different systems even though they all come from the same import file.
The second column in the file (SelectionName) identifies the selection using its tab number followed by a period followed by a space followed by the horse name.
The third column in the file (MarketType) identifies the market type and defaults to WIN for win betting but if you put the letters PLC in your system name it will be changed to PLACE for place betting.
The fourth column in the file (BetType) identifies the bet type and defaults to BACK for backing a selection but if you put the letters LAY in your system name it will be changed to LAY for lay betting.
The fifth column in the file (Size) is the bet size and defaults to 1 unless you change the “Bet Size” on the system test dialogue from 1 to some other number like 5 or 10. Also you can bet to prices (BTP) by placing the letters BTP in your system name – bets will then be equal to 100 divided by the rated price from the fifth column (multiplied by the “Bet Size” on the system test dialogue if change from 1).
The final column in the file (MinPrice) is the minimum price at which bets can be placed on the selection. This defaults to the (original time rated) price displayed alongside selections but can be changed by using a MyCalc and setting the first letters of the calcname (or calccode) to AVB, PP or WGT (these select the main class, main time or main weight rated prices respectively). To distinguish between main, better or plus rated prices you can set the first letters of the calcname (or calccode) to AVB1, AVB2, AVB3, PP1, PP2, PP3,WGT1, WGT2, WGT3 (1 for main, 2 for better and 3 for plus).
NOTE: The use of codes in the calcname as just mentioned is designed so you can set the rated price to be used but still use the MyCalc for other purposes. If you use a MyCalc but do not use the above naming conventions then the actual calc value will be displayed in the system selection list and go into the MinPrice column. This is handy because it means you could set the minimum price (for example) to 1.5 times the rated price by using a MyCalc of 1.5*AVB1P (for 1.5 times the main class rated price).
IMPORTANT: If you intend to use them, please check the values in the bet size and/or minimum price columns are to your expectation. Note there is an option in BFBotmanager to ignore the bet size and/or minimum price columns so you do not have to use them. For example, you can easily set up a strategy with a different bet size or with a flat minimum price like $5.
