Preparation - Part 1

I've been making a list of some things I see as being essential or useful to trading successfully in Betfair markets. They range from the obvious (as in "duh...really?" kind of obvious), to some far more subtle ones.

Here goes...

1. Internet Connection (Primary)

Well I guess I obviously have this one covered, as I'm blogging! Though I could be typing this from a friend's house, my hip and hi-tech grandmother's basement, or my local Starbucks while sipping a Grande Caffè Mocha Latte (are you kidding me? The price could probably cover a small trading stake ;-)). Seriously though, I do already have a fast (10Mbps) cable connection which has served me well for several years and has generally been ultra reliable. Obviously having internet connectivity is one of the absolute must haves, and it should be a high speed connection. It may be theoretically possible to trade using a dial-up account, but I certainly wouldn't want to be risking any serious amount of money if dial-up was my only option. Thankfully broadband options are plentiful and relatively cheap these days.


2. Internet Connection (Secondary)

Errr...we already have an internet connection?? True, but doing things with a professional approach means covering all bases (as much as possible), and leaving as little as possible to chance. While the chances may appear slim, imagine losing your connection due to a problem with your chosen ISP (Internet Service Provider) just as you are about to click the button to close out a £500 bet at 5.2 with a £500 lay at 4.6 with only 45 seconds left on the countdown timer in a 5 furlong sprint. In the blink of an eye you've went from a 100% certainty of greening up across the board to a roughly 80% chance of losing £500 (or a 20% chance of winning £2100 for the "close your eyes and hope for the best" optimists amongst you). True you could grab for the phone, call Betfair, hope the race is running late, and frantically attempt to close out. But chances are, there wouldn't be enough time. Given the potential exposure in such a situation, I'd rather invest some cash and eliminate that risk (or reduce it greatly), so I'm looking at getting a secondary internet connection and hooking both up to what's called a dual WAN load balancing router. A long complex sounding name, but essentially it allows you to hook up two internet sources and the box will auto switch from one to the other in the event of failure of either connection. I've only just started to look into this, but the likely cost is in the region of £150 for the router and £20 to £25 per month depending on which Internet service I opt for (obviously with a different ISP than my existing connection).


3. Betfair Account

I have my existing account, though I am considering opening a fresh account that would be used purely for trading. I still have occasional bets on Formula 1, Golf and Ice Hockey, and every now and then I get asked by family members to place wagers for them on bigger events like the Stanley Cup or one of the golf majors. I don't want such bets messing up account balances, profit & losses, etc, so best to have an entirely separate account.


4. Funding the Betfair Account

As I mentioned earlier, when discussing the Betfair account, I want to keep all trading activity completely separate from anything else, so I would prefer to have a dedicated bank account to deposit my trading stake. That same account would then be used to make the initial Betfair account deposit, and all subsequent transactions to or from my Betfair account (hopefully almost all withdrawals!).


Quite a few things to think about, research, and act upon. I'll continue the list in Part 2.