There are scraps of information on this topic throughout the forum going back for some years, not all of it relevant anymore, hopefully nobody minds me starting a new thread.

I have some questions that I hope some of you have answers for...

1 - is it possible to do the following and does anyone in here commit these acts :-)

a) Bet into Tatts using a bot?
If the answer is yes, is it possible to bet into Tatts exotic markets?
And is it possible to bet into Tatts using Tatts prices as the trigger?

I am preferably looking for a way to do this using a product I can drag off the shelves and not write myself from scratch. All pleasant suggestions most welcome!

b) Bet into the TAB using a bot?
If the answer is yes, is it possible to bet into TAB exotic markets?
And is it possible to bet into TAB using TAB prices as the trigger?

c) Bet into any of the sportsbooks using a bot?

d) Bet into BF using prices at Tatts as a trigger? Again, I am interested in a product that does this. Does anyone in here do this sort of thing?

e) Does anyone place automated bets on harness racing or greyhounds?


2 - what products do you use or have used for automated betting?

I am currently using Betengine for simple bets. I find their system very easy to use, easy to understand and a dream for setting up a bet system, if that system is simple. They dont do complex stuff.

I am also trying to use Marketfeeder Pro but find that annoyingly unreliable at the moment and overly complex. Not very user friendly but I know there are others in here who like it.

And I am still trying to get my head around the idea of bets being activated in one system and appearing in the other!

Any other thoughts on the major automated betting software methods?


3 - does anyone successfully scalp or trade using a bot? What markets do you primarily do this in? Do you use software to achieve this or is it your own bot?

Ok, that will do for now... dont want to drive everyone crazy with idiot questions...

have a good day
ET

This topic has been thrashed and the concept/s so misunderstood where non programmer punters trying to communicate their idea to programmers, by the time it's partly understood, technology advances yet again. However, lets say you want to use automated methods, first realize it does not mean you win if you want to use your current method of manual selection. All it means basically the element of human error and brain strain is less to some degree. I am not a programmer, but have learnt just enough to illustrate what I would like to have had a programmer develop my real time working design, to do his/her job and leave the architecture side of things to the punter who and where the core ideas ideas comes from. Preferably the design would be stand-alone that can "communicate" directly from Excell or other spreadsheet makes. None of this web based stuff or members only stuff. 100 percent pure standalone that can get the info in real time and send the bet with precise accuracy.

Anyway, the first thing a AB sytstem requires is a daily race list of every horse, greyhound and trott race in time order. Excell VBA can do this. Then you need a timer that can read the time a race starts and match it with real time. If the time has passed race start time, then discard that race and look at the next race or races on that list.
Once you have that working accurately without a glitch, have it look at the next race thats not yet started. From there you build your first filter, for example is it the type of race you want etc etc etc....
sending the bet to tatts can and has been done, there are some basic ideas here no doubt. But you have to get your selection method working, unit amounts working, staking plan working, results sorted and how long to wait for results...what if theiris a protest and it takes forever..? Do you wait or do you set a limit of time and get on with next race on the list. ....all this tedious brain smashing logic may have to be coded, then tested again and again an so on. Once ya get it right, something changes and ya back to square 1 of whater stage ya at.

Does it have an end ? Meaning does the architecture ever need stop development and tweaking for a punter with basic VBA experience so to at the very least show a working proto type so it can be properly built by a proffesional. ? The answer to that is Yes, but who ?

You are exactly right. I am constantly tinkering with my custom bot and if I had to pay someone to do it I am sure it would have cost 50K+. If you want to go down the custom route then you are much better advised to learn a programming language and get working at it. Yes it will be frustrating but its worth it in the end.

Thanks UB, the main thrust of my post was to see what could be done and how far one could go down this path.

As for the comments about learning programming, it is not as simple as that.

I am a fiction writer with an imagination that never stops. I can sit down, every day, and let my fingers fly over the keyboard as they churn out over 6,000 words per day.
My youngest son is a programmer. He can sit there and churn out thousands of lines of code without every looking at the keyboard!

But he has no imagination- he could never do what I do.
And I could never do what he does as my brain will never understanding "looping".
:-)

ET,

Just get him to code it for you.


BTW good luck with the fiction writing. I am assuming you sell most of it through kindle or are you paperback ?

A- he is too lazy in his spare time :-)
B - Yes, been doing it for years through Amazon, iTunes and every other online store. And paperback through createspace(owned by Amazon).

Yes, all of your requests can be done.
I would think that you might need several programs running at once though.
Tatts and Betfair would be fairly easy to programme, however, apart from Pinnacle, you might find other Sportsbooks don't even have an API, and that is where it becomes expensive.
You have to write the login script, navigate to the correct page and then place the bet according to other odds from another site.
I wonder if Dynamic Odds have an API?
Otherwise you could get some quotes from rent a coder, but make sure they can provide ongoing modifications, because as Puntz said, you can spend money to get it all set up and then suddenly they change the site, the format or something else.
I'm quite sure you could get it done for less than a couple of thousand.
I guess you need to be positive that the investment is worth it, in other words, do it manually for a while to make sure it's not dead money.

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ET,

As others have noted it is possible to do what you have outlined, and I am doing it myself (except the scraping aspect) every day and have been for nearly 15 years.

I am fortunate to be a punter and a programmer so I understand my own requirements and can translate that to code and functioning programs.

Bettordata used to be my data feed of choice for tote prices as it had all 3 totes and the APN (on course prices). At the end of 2015 TAB stopped access to their prices so it now only has the Tatts and APN, and the latter only when there are 2 or more bookies at the track.

Historically the TasTote api was by a very big margin the best way to bet into any TAB in Australia. Now the TABCORP api is very feature rich and allows a user to get any information that is on the website.

Tatts have a new json based api that is well documented and simple to work with (if you are a programmer). WA has a very basic system of sending bets and there is no api as such.

BF is a whole different ball game and is for expert programmers only. I know Pinnacle has an API as does the new entrant on the scene, Global Tote. The latter is relatively straight forward.

Don't be deluded that you can "learn" programming and create betting bots in a small time frame. The concepts are the same for all betting shops, but the design, naming conventions and so on are ALL different.

If you are young and enthusiastic, plan on punting for a long time by all means learn to program along side your punting. For anyone going down that path there are shortcuts you can take that make the learning and development quicker. Stick with well documented languages like vb.net, c# or python. There a many user groups that have paved the way and been down the path you want to go on so you can follow their lead (and their code examples)

All that said, when a tap breaks I pay a plumber, when the power shorts out I call an electrician. You get what you pay for - if you have a half decent system that makes money the investment (say around $2000 for a custom betting application) will pay for itself in no time.

Hi UB, how long would it take the average person to learn a programming language and which one is the easiest. I know there are a few different languages out there.

Cheers Mike.

__________________
Got ta have a larf, eh?

You culd learn enough in one of those 21 day books to be able to do what you need. Grab example code from

http://docs.developer.betfair.com/d...pleApplications

I suggest python, Java or VBA.