what's best, back/lay or back with offset?

[Gonzothegreat]

So from a previous thread, I've seen that you can have a back rule with an offset of x ticks.
ok, is there an advantage in using such rule over let's say one for back and one for lay?

[Dallas]

It depends on your underlying strategy;

If you were scalping a runner that was steaming in you would use offset with greening with fill/kill as you'll probably want your back bet matching before your lay is placed.

If you were scalping a stable market like pre off football or a festival horse racing meeting were there was tons of money either side of the book and the price was very stable then you would want both orders in the market together so they both reach the front of the que around the same time

[Gonzothegreat]

I really do like all the bots you provide but I also need to start writing my own from scratch, as I believe this where you start learning for good (I will still pinch some of your rules... )

So correct me please if I get this wrong as I am still learning:
back with offset:
fire up 1 back bet, then wait before firing up the lay bet with x ticks offset, it might or might not be matched

back/lay:
fire up 1 back and 1 lay at the same time (both with different conditions, ticks etc..) and they may both be matched or just one.

For both, if you set the trigger to let's set 100 times, I've noticed that in the first option (back with offset), I end up with quite a lot of bets, while with the other one, quite a lot more.


My strategy is just a simple back / lay for small profits on a low liquidity market, no in-play.
This is to learn, sorts of speak. Everybody got to start somewhere.

[Dallas]

There is actually a few ways, there is no right or wrong just what works best for you and your strategy and all can be done either manually or via automation.

1, Use offsetting
you place the opening back or lay the software places the opposite bet for you

The opposite bet can either be placed the same time as your opening bet, ie you place a back bet the software immediately places the offset lay bet and greens up for you
Or
if using fill/kill then the software will only place your offset bet once your opening bet is filled/starts to get filled

2, place both back and lay bets your self (no offsetting) - if both get matched you still secure a profit

3, use a combination of the above
If you have offsetting and fill kill selected then place a back and lay bet your self as each is matched the software will place that bets offset for you - effectively you will have done two trades, obviously this can still go wrong if one side is matched then the price moves so its best to stick to one of the first 2 options to being with

[Gonzothegreat]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Appreciated. I'm going to experiment with 1 and 2, will see how it goes.