The importance of backup

[Irish Rover]

While trading the last at Listowel today I had a powercut.I had an open trade with a €400 liability if the horse went on to win(which it did of course).

Not to worry, I have a backup laptop and 3g dongle especially for these situations.So I turn to the laptop and realise it's not switched on.

Not to worry, I have 5 mins left before the off(thank God there was a 15 min gap since the previous race).So I power up the laptop and dongle and load BA(which takes 4 mins in total).With a minute to go I'm looking at a 20 quid red(not too bad) but I hesitate for a split second instead of closing for a loss as the price looks like turning in my favour.Next,my laptop dies,the battery is dead.Not possible I say, it's constantly plugged in,the battery should be full.A quick glance confirms it's plugged in but my wife has the socket switched off.

Not to worry, I have my phone and Betfairs no. on my desk(a recommendation from Andy Fuller I think on another thread).So with seconds to go I close my position over the phone for a 30 quid loss.

Not to worry my arse.It was a 5 minute white knuckle ride where my trousers had to be checked afterwards.
A very inexpensive lesson learned.

PS. Thanks Andy for the BF phone no. tip. It saved me a fair few quid today.

[andyfuller]

PS. Thanks Andy for the BF phone no. tip. It saved me a fair few quid today.

No worries - glad it saved you!

I think I would have been on the phone the moment you saw your laptop off though, a lot can happen in a market in 4 mins!

Having the phone number handy always remind me of when I first started out FT and I had my blog and posted up an entry of my setup which included me having a laminated sheet with the various BF numbers on it plus my TAN number and having my mobile and landline. I got a load of abuse off some 'pro' about it taking the piss - a few weeks later I saw him post on the BF forum about how he had done his conkers when he had had a powercut and couldn't find the BF number

[blueport]

I try to have my laptop on and plugged in to the mains power at all times.

I've never had to ring betfair to exit a position but have wondered what the procedure is.

Do you just tell the operator you want to close out all open positions or must you calculate the lay or back bet yourself?

Cheers,
Simon

[Irish Rover]

I've never had to ring betfair to exit a position but have wondered what the procedure is.

Hi Simon

Basically, you ring up betfair, select option 5 (from Ireland not sure about UK). You're then through to an agent who'll ask for you're TAN no.(telephone account no.).This can be found by logging into BF, select My Account, select My Profile and it should be at the bottom of the page.

You must then tell him the meeting, time and horse you wish to back/lay. Ask him what price it's currently trading at, roughly work out you're closing trade and place the bet. He will not work out how much you need to back/lay to equalise you're profit/loss.

Always keep in mind that if the closing price is lower than you're opening price then the cash amount of you're closing bet will need to be higher than you're opening bet if you want to equalise profit/loss. And, vice versa, if the closing price is higher than the opening price the cash amount of you're closing bet will need to be lower than you're opening bet.

It all might seem a bit complicated but in reality it's not and can be done in a matter of seconds.

Hope this helps

Regards
Sean.

[andyfuller]

Obviously make sure you have your TAN number written down because when the power etc goes you won't be able to access it. You can still ring them without it but the process takes longer.

My advice would be to try it out at some point on just some random race or market so you know what you need to do and what it involves so when it comes to the crunch you aren't doing it for the first time.

Also no need for pleasantries when you ring up, just go straight in with your TAN and market details, keep the pleasantries for when your closing bet is on. I have to say the people I have always dealt with have been very efficient and helpful - much better than the help line.

[freddy]

Or alternatively just make sure you have a closing bet set to be taken at s.p up at all times.

[PeterLe]

Hi
I took the good advice on here a couple of months ago and created a sheet that shows all my details, saved the Betfair number into my landline and mobile etc. I placed a few £2 bets and then called betfair up as a test and made a note of what info they needed etc...

Just wanted to add; If you have more that one Betfair username/account..you will have a different TAN number for each, so make sure you make a note of all TAN numbers...

Regards
Peter

[blueport]

Thanks all for the great information.

One day I'm sure it will come in handy.

Cheers,
Simon

[marqasa]

After yesterday's crash, would people agree it might be a good idea to have a Betdaq account open and funded in case of a similar situation? Of course this relies on Betfair settling markets in a consistent manor when these things occur!

[oddstrader]

Hi
I took the good advice on here a couple of months ago and created a sheet that shows all my details, saved the Betfair number into my landline and mobile etc. I placed a few £2 bets and then called betfair up as a test and made a note of what info they needed etc...

Just wanted to add; If you have more that one Betfair username/account..you will have a different TAN number for each, so make sure you make a note of all TAN numbers...

Regards
Peter

thats fine provided betfairs system is still functioning and as in yesterdays outage it wasnt so a third party is very useful, i managed to get most of my trade away last night by phoning Victor Chandlers and backing to cover my outstanding lay trade with betfair , i still made a loss but it could have been a lot worse, betdaq is a good option because you can still operate in play, i guess it depends on the circumstances, personally i would be much happier if betfair voided an event where a non typical market occurs ie.a crash etc,but thats unlikely to happen.

[mobile]

nearly got caught on the wrong end of a trade yesterday.
no phone signal,so couldn't contact betfair.
for my future reference,
how good is betfair's phone system when there is obviously going to be extremely high demand?
do you get straight through,queued,engaged signal.
would appreciate anyone's experiences.

[mister man]

do you need to ask really...

betfairs customer service levels in these circumstances are poor at best, and thats stretching the use of the word poor to its breaking point.