Introduction

The BEToptions WAGERplayer system handles bet processing, liability management, resulting and settling of numerous bet types for horse racing over the Telephone and on the Internet. These bet types are collectively referred to as Best Price bet types in the WAGERplayer system and combine Tote and Bookmaker odds. This document describes in detail the client requirements and discusses how the WAGERplayer system meets these Best Price requirements.

Best Price Bet Types

A Best Price Market in WAGERplayer offers all of the following bet types for Racing.

1. Fixed Odds (Price Type 1)
   These bets are the most common bet type, where the punter is quoted a price, and places a bet against that price. The price quoted will not change at any time during the lead-up to the race start, and the bet will be settled against the quoted price. WAGERplayer markets can be set-up to allow place and/or eachway betting separately.
2. Best Price (Price Type 3).
   The Best Price bet type allows race bets up to a defined wager limit to be placed at the better of either the local home tote and the SP price OR as the best of all three totes (in Australia). The price is therefore not fixed at the time the bet is sold. The local tote is the regional tote in which the race takes place.
3. Best Fluctuation (Price Type 4).
   A Best Fluctuation guarantees the punter that any price changes after the bet is placed, where the price is better than that quoted to the punter, that the bet will be settled at the better price.
   A best fluc bet that improves on the quoted price is defined as the best price entered on the WAGERplayer system after the bet is placed and prior to the race commencement. Telephone only.
4. SP Insurance (Price Type 5)
   If a telephone bet is placed with SP (Starting Price) Insurance then if the SP (as entered into the WAGERplayer system) is better than the quoted price, then the bet is settled against SP. Telephone only.
5. SP Bet is a bet placed at the Starting Price for the Selection. As this price is not known at the time the bet is struck, the WAGERplayer system will always use the latest fixed price entered on the system for Risk Management, and the Starting Price as entered on the system at settlement time for Resulting and Settlement. Telephone Only.
6. Tote Place Betting (Price Type 7)
   This option is available to Internet and Telephone betting and depends on the number of Tote price providers. Prices are updated live on the site as data feeds update.

Liability Management

Introduction

Liability Management is considerably complicated by the Best Price options for Horse Racing. Since the price struck at the time of the bet is variable for a Best Price bet, each time a price change is entered on the system, all liability holds and exposures and maximum stakes for each horse need to be recalculated.

This is achieved in an efficient manner by recording and managing the hold and exposure for each Best Price type on each Selection as a separate entity on the system. In this way, an updated price can be used to calculate the difference in exposure for that bet entity, as opposed to recalculating the exposure for all bets at the Best Price bet type for the entire Selection. In this manner, the number of bets on a horse and bet type does not affect the time to recalculate the exposure on that horse.

The system estimates liabilities based on the most current estimate of the tote price and SP price, which are updated by data feeds or can be entered manually as betting proceeds. A running total of the total $ held at each of the Best Price options is maintained. When a Fixed and/or Tote price is updated, those prices are used to calculate the estimated exposure for each of the Best Price bet types for each Selection.

The screen below shows the hold and exposure for each of these. In this example, the Liability Detail screen shows the total hold and exposure under each of the Best Price bet types in the Event for Selections that have had bets placed against them.

This example shows Camargo has had $100 Win bets against the Club, Best Fluctuation, SP Insurance and a Tote Place bet for $100. In addition, there has been $500 staked against the standard fixed win bets at a price of 33.00.

WAGERplayer Liability Management Click for full size image

Price Management

If a data feed does not supply prices, the price update system has been created for quick update of both Fixed and Tote prices as betting progresses. The pop-up window shown below is called from the Liability to directly update prices. The pop-up window (Alt-1) can be used to enter both Fixed or Tote prices, and will automatically calculate the place price when a Win price is entered. Once a price is updated, liability for each of the Best Price options is automatically recalculated.

WAGERplayer Price Management

Data Feed

Data Feeds automatically create the horse racing field and update odds from multiple sources. In Australia, the WAGERplayer system takes in odds from all available Totes and combines these to offer a Best Price bet type to the punter.

Bet Processing

Best Price bets will verify that the stake amount does not exceed the bookmaker limit. If a larger stake is entered, an error message to the punter is displayed in the betting slip and the amount of the stake is reduced to the defined limit. The error message presented in any case will always offer the punter the stake available online and inform them to phone for a higher bet.

WAGERplayer Bet Processing

Betbacks / Lay off

There is full capability to record Betbacks for each of the Best Price bet types. Bets can be placed with other operators for Fixed, Sp Ins, Best Fluc and Club. Each betback is represented in Liability, Resulting and Settlement as a reverse bet.

Settlement

When settling a racing market, the operator must confirm and update the prices for SP, Best Fluc and Tote as shown in the following example. The WAGERplayer system will then determine the prices to settle each of the Best Price bet types. The operator must first choose the winners from the drop-down boxes, and then enter the final prices after clicking the Result button.

With Data Feeds implemented, resulting is completely automated and only requires operator confirmation of final odds.

WAGERplayer Settlement Click for full size image

 

A Rule Line setting is available. Once the Rule Line Market setting is set, all bets following this are recorded with the Rule Line set.

WAGERplayer Rule Line Setting Click for full size image

 

The Rule Line must be set when the bookies at the track have time to frame a fresh market. When a Line has been ruled in the bookies ledger, then all subsequent bets will not be subject to late scratching deductions as described in the section on deductions.

Scratchings

If a horse is declared a non starter in a race or if there is a late withdrawal of a horse from a race, the horse may be scratched and as such all bets on that horse will be refunded. If the field is reduced to 7 starters, the place odds change to 1/3 1, 2.

When entering and updating market prices, the market win and place percentage is updated dynamically as the prices are entered. The system also notifies the operator when the market has changed from 1/4 to 1/3 for eachway betting due to scratchings and/or late additions to the field.

WAGERplayer Scratchings Click for full size image

 

Reporting

A new Day Book (DB) report has been developed for Horse Racing. This report shows the total hold and payout for each horse in each race grouped and totalled by venue. The report can be run for a single day or over any period of time. To run the report, click the DB button on the left and enter the day or date range. Choose Totals and group by Cat/Event as shown in the screen below.

WAGERplayer Reporting Click for full size image

 

This report can be customised by varying the reporting parameters to shows total for all Events (Races) grouped by Category (Venues) for the day. The report can also show all bets, all bets greater than a stake amount, bets grouped by Selection (Runner) and a P&L report for each Selection (Runner) and Category (Venue).