04 Making use of the settings / Betfair Education / 24 January 2008 / 2 Comments

Click on the More Options link in the top right hand corner of any chosen market (below the Refresh button). Take the time to have a play around with these during a quiet period of your day. Tick the options you feel will most aid you.

The options you choose remain selected on all markets you visit.

Show Profit and Loss

This option displays your current position on a market including all bets you have placed on a market. Numbers in green are winners whilst red are losers. You may wish to turn this off when in a public place.

Include Settled Bets

This option is useful on long-term markets with elimination stages, for example the FA Cup or a tennis tournament.

Selecting this option enables you to include those profits or losses in your current position after some players have been eliminated.

Imagine a tennis tournament where you have layed 12 players including the two finalists for equal amounts on each player. Without ticking this box, your P&L would show two losers (relative to your balance) on the day of the final.

In fact you are actually well ahead for the event because you have already had 10 winners which outweigh what you stand to lose when one of the finalists wins. The default setting is relative to your balance - bets on selections that have already lost will have been settled.

Display P&L net of commission

Do you need to know exactly what your return will be after your commission is taken by Betfair?
If you are arbitraging between markets or like to count every penny, then this might be of use to you to show your net result on a market if it was settled in your current position. Beware that if you are trading (placing multiple bets on the same market), having this option checked may complicate calculations.

Display 'What If' figure

This is the most important option available to you if you have several bets on a market or aren't sure about laying.

By ticking this box, you will see a column P&L displayed in green and red whenever you are about to place a bet. Note the '>>' symbol preceding the profit & loss figures below. It will be shown to the right of any position you already have in a market, or as below if you are yet to place a bet.

These figures will show you what your position will become if the bets you are proposing get matched. It does not include bets you have already placed which are still unmatched.

The 'What if' figure changes as you adjust the stake or price you want to take.

This option is VITAL if you have more than one bet on a market, trade in and out of positions or bet in running, as it does all the calculations for you! The result of any bet you are about to place appears next to your current P&L on the market.

Tags: backing, betfair, commission, laying, options