The details on BetFair’s Starting Prices

Chris F. Masse November 23rd, 2007

Via Nick Garner, here are the explanations from Stephen Burn (Betfair’s Director of Horseracing):

[...] From next month we’ll be giving customers the opportunity to back or lay a horse at [Starting Price]. There’ll be guaranteed matching in all but the rarest of circumstances, no stakes limits and the option to set price limits should punters wish. As an added feature, we’ll also be introducing something known internally as ‘bet persistence‘. This allows customers to have their bets automatically turned in-play if they’ve not been matched before the off.

Originally conceived as a concept for attracting new customers to Betfair, the SP facility looks like it’s also going to appeal to the savvy, more sophisticated users if the recent roadshows and customer testing sessions are any guide. There are several features to the new product that customers can opt into by clicking a series of check boxes above the market view or listed under more options. These include displaying the predicted SP on Betfair from the moment a market begins to trade right up to the off of the race. For new customers a simple interface showing ‘back only’ current odds or SP buttons will be displayed.

The new Betfair SP market will run separately from the main exchange market up until the point of reconciliation at the start of the race. At the off, the backers and layers of SP bets will be matched with each other and with exchange backers and layers to determine the accurate price of the Betfair SP. This will then be displayed within a few seconds of the off as soon as the race is turned in play. For customers wanting a high degree of detail they can have it - the SP can be returned with up to six decimal places. For the vast majority, two decimal paces will suffice and this is what will be displayed on the site.

One important feature of the SP bets to note is that once placed, they can’t be cancelled. However, price sensitive customers can set limits to their bets so they’ll only be struck if a required price has been matched. For instance, someone wanting to back a horse early in the morning before heading off to work can say they’ll take the Betfair SP as long as it is 4.5 or above, knowing it’ll only be matched if the SP is that price or bigger.

We anticipate that the returns will compare favourably with the current industry SP and from the outset the full returns for every horse will be displayed on the site.

Any customer not interested in the SP function can simply leave the tick box unticked and they’ll never see it. [...]