Betfair is going to switch off the old version of the website on January 31.

What prompts you to believe this please?

To keep the old version alive .

Alot said the same when the new 'global' site replaced the far easier to use version a few years ago. Then one day we were all forced to use the new one. Funny this is they are now dropping alot of the languages the global site was developed for. Maybe they will do the same thing and drop the arcades and the merged fixed odds site in few years and revert back to the original format with the 'bet manager' tool. We can dream.

Get yourself a bot.Then you can do anything.

I hope this is not true.

Get yourself trading software. I didn't bet a dime on here for about five years following a previous change which left me unable to effectively bet. Now I still don't use the site but can bet via software.

The new site is horrible

Jan 13, 2013 -- 8:10AM, paul_sw wrote:

The new site is horrible

absolutely true

Big drop in turnover if that is true.

This is news to me, old site being turned off 31st Jan?. **** man, thats not good news, I always use the old version, can not use the new.

Reminds me of the millennium Internet worry when nothing happened

New site is aweful.

'Get yourself a bot.Then you can do anything'


been on Betfair 7 yrs and still no clue what this means 

There is a reason that the Betfair share price keeps dropping like a stone.

I can't (nor have heard) anything.

Where has this 'info/rumour' come from?

Jan 13, 2013 -- 4:26AM, InsiderTrader wrote:

Alot said the same when the new 'global' site replaced the far easier to use version a few years ago. Then one day we were all forced to use the new one. Funny this is they are now dropping alot of the languages the global site was developed for. Maybe they will do the same thing and drop the arcades and the merged fixed odds site in few years and revert back to the original format with the 'bet manager' tool. We can dream.

They laid off an assortment of translators the past three months.

I can only hope what the OP says is duff gen, however I fear that it's entirely plausible. If there's one clear message that's been coming from Betfair Towers in the recent past it's that winners are no longer welcome here.

I firmly believe that the 'bugginess' of the new site and its impending roll-out is a deliberate strategy to push successful traders away from Betfair. The new site is not fit for purpose for anyone who places a large number of orders in a market, and for in-play it's a nightmare.

Betfair no longer understands its customers, and no longer cares about them either - the closing down of the old site and the roll out of the new as it stands would only further confirm this. The sooner this place gets some serious competition, the better.

Saw an advert on tv the other night for Betfair.

Great I thought. Finally they are spending the commissions and premium charge funds on attracting new customers to the exchange and educating them as to what it has to offer.

But no. The advert was purely for Betfair casino. They need to get a grip. Everyone has a casino. Why waste funds advertising that and not the only unique thing they have - i.e. the exchange?

A basic website for the exchange was no frills and another seperate subbrand and website for the fixed odds, casinos and all the other rubbish please. Spend the premium charge attracting punters to the exchange.

Betfair told me yesterday that the old site will be disappearing soon, but they have not fixed a definite date as to when that will happen.

The fact that they don't keep their bread and butter abreast of what's going on, comes as no surprise to me.

Without question, the very worst customer service in corporate history.

Site crashes again at 3 PM saturday, and no explanation as to why this happens so often. Punters losing their money, and they don't seem to care that much.

Back in the day, I would have several bets a day on here. Now it is just a few a month.

Jan 14, 2013 -- 4:59AM, SHAPESHIFTER wrote:

I can't (nor have heard) anything.Where has this 'info/rumour' come from?

An " insider" info. The fact, that no one of Betfair Community Managers number 1, 2, 3, 4 .... 10 are not answering ... is confirming, that the date of January 31 is real !
Sorry for my English, but I hope you do understand, what I mean ...

The old website is simple and much better than the new one. But, maybe, it is a policy of Betfair, to force people to use the new one, that is suitable for funs playing directly on football stadiums, during a football game, playing thru their "smartphones". As I asked my friends for an opinion, they told me, this is probably the main focus for Betfair. 10 000 fans playing for 5 pound is better than 10-20 people ("professionals") playing for thousands ...

As long as this is a peer to peer betting exchange though, someone has to provide the liquidity - markets aren't made by £5 bettors.

surprised, you english is better than most of the forumites

I'm always surprised to read the number of players using the platform that are big players.

Though I haven't been using an API for ages (I, too, use the old platform), when trading major amounts, I always used an independent platform (I used bfexplorer - gruss and betangel being the choices of others).

I was told by my VIP help desk that there is so huge resistence of Betfair VIP customers against the new web site, that they must take it into account.
So please keep fight against the new site!!!

The new site would be really good if it worked

Fair enough, the old site is poor and due for some upgrade work. But they really can't replace it with something new that doesn't even work properly on a a basic level.

As far as I'm concerned the quality of the new site is that of a site in the testing phase.

Pretty much everyone who works at bf now is not a horse aficionado and has little idea how the old-school pricetaking horseplayer operated.

The new site is horrible for making any kind of series of bets on a horserace.

It's an irony in that the only product, apart from IR, where bf have any sort of inbuilt advantage is on the horses. With comm it's virtually imposs. for them to be best priced on two and three runner markets.

Is their strategy that their losing punters will be unable to access better prices through web services like oddschecker, betbrain and betbutler? Are they really counting on the next generation of bettors being web-illiterate and unable to learn?

The liquidity makers bet through the API, and bf only want those who pay a high ratio of commission to profits.

They can do without the small winning traders on horses and on football (though I'd guess the traders have it harder there).

Imv, though, bf will have a prob. with diff. categories and sizes of loser if they go to Beta exclusively. Anyone who isn't a onewonder and so basically isn't 5% down before they've even started is going to find the old site much more manageable.

*oneshot wonder

I was told we would be given four weeks notice of them turning off the old site.  My gut feeling is 'surprised' is scaremongering.

anyone spotted this on the new site?

Say you have a 20 runner horse race, on the old site you can scroll up and down and "refresh" is always in view, but on the new site "refresh" isn't on view if you scroll down to the bottom.

I have a thread going which mentions issues and possible ways around them.  I'll bring to the top so you can see if anyone's mentioned it.  Please add if they haven't?

I've had a chat with Betfair and they say there are no plans to turn the site off on 31st January.

I've also had it confirmed that we will be given plenty of notice.  I was also told for the first time that it won't be a dramatic switch off but a gradual closing down of the site.

Thanks to our feedback, the ordering of bets on the new site is being looked into, but - and I know many of you will not be happy with this - they're about to switch on another new big product and so their developers are pushed for time at the moment.

they're about to switch on another new big product and so their developers are pushed for time at the moment

Betfair Buckaroo?

Eyes down for a full house

Betfair Guess Who?

Play everyone's favourite children's game now in the Betfair Arcade. The site has gone down again and you can win big by finding out "Guess Who?" Was it the Russian mafia? An overzealous suspend monkey? The cleaning lady?

I had a call last week, to customer help desk. They told me the date January 31. No matter it is true or not - it is very strange, that no one of Befair Community Managers is answering. Are they blind and/or deaf ? Why do not they write here, " yes, we are planning to close the old site, but it will not be (for example) before July 1" ?

they're about to switch on another new big product and so their developers are pushed for time at the moment.

Virtual racing II ?

Jan 15, 2013 -- 7:33AM, Eddie the eagle wrote:

they're about to switch on another new big product and so their developers are pushed for time at the moment.  Virtual racing II ?

NO!  That was a disaster.  Taikai!

I notice Betfair Community Managers are very selective when it comes to making a contribution.Would be so easy for them to find the answer and give an update here.Very poor.

surprised,if your paying a grand a month com,im sure you can afford the 6 quid a month for gruss and you will never have to look at the old or new site ever again

cyprusal; I do not trust that (new) things (bots) and never studied, how it works ...why to learn new things, if the old (the old version) works properly for me ? If I am not connected directy (from my PC to Betfair), but my PC to a BOT and further from that BOT to Betfair, it does not seem to be better. Once the BOT is suddenly down - I can loose money as I need very fast reactions (1 second is too big time for me - when playing LIVE bets) ...

surprised, the bot does that for you, you just set the bot's triggers in advance...

It gives you a lot more options, inc. to explore strategies at low cost, esp. in running. Why not give bots a go?

askari1, I will not discover what is my strategy like; but believe me, it is quite simple, I do not need any bot, to set some functions ...I need only a simple (the old site is more simple than the new one) Betfair website (no stupid functions as "cashout", live video, statistics, unpleasant colours, small "refresh" button - that everything is only disturbing and stopping me to work properly)... only a simple, working website -  nothing else ...

surprised, if not gruss, check out bfexplorer.  Like Gruss, it has a cheap alternative.

In my opinion, gruss or bfexplorer would be better than the new site.

even if you just use the basics:
- automated refresh
- one touch betting
- basic strategies such as place a bet after you have had something matched allowing you to play more than one market at a time without monitoring the other all the time
- quick math done for you.

The graphs for all the runners are up all the time saving you having to click on each.

Both have trials.  Bfexplorer have one where you can 'practice' without money.

Both have people that can build 'custom' for you that saves you sitting in front of the computer.

If you think the new site is going to 'lose you money', then look for an API alternative.

SHAPESHIFTER, what stops the person building a custom program from copying/using it themselves?  A genuine question, I'm not criticising the use of APIs.  I don't yet use one and one reason is the potential for a service provider to clone what I do.

Jan 16, 2013 -- 7:09AM, Templeton Peck wrote:

SHAPESHIFTER, what stops the person building a custom program from copying/using it themselves?

i have the same question as templeton peck

For Gruss, you can do the basics through EXCEL.  This is not as difficult as it sounds.

For BFExplorer, a bit more difficult

A few years ago, I had some basic 'cross market' programs I had to build.  I hired someone to sit with me and do it on excel 'live' in front of me after he read the basics.

Took three hours including trial time.  He knew nothing about betting but was more of an excel expert than me.

But it you feel you have the 'golden egg', you need to get a trusted programmer to work with you or look for the commands yourself.  This is done but writing it out in words then replacing it with commands (I am simplifying).

SHAPESHIFTER, thank you very much for advices. I'll have to look at that programms, probably no other available alternative is possible ...Although I am totally unfriendly with pc programms, etc., I must start to do something, what will move me further ...

Just use them as an 'alternative'.  Just practice with a small bank.  Both have trial periods.  Gruss seems to have the better forum.

I have the following "dumb" question.
If one simply places wagers pre-off on events, and never bets in play, what are the advantages of using Gruss ?
Can I for example have my own excell spreadsheet set up on my laptop and instruct Gruss to search daily through all the games/matches on the BF coupons for certain games that have certain odds characteristics pre- off, and enter them into certain columns on my spreadsheet without any manual intervention by me ?
And then, if and when my spread sheet algorithms recognize a betting opportunity and also come up with a specific bet/lay wager amount, can Gruss then make the bet for me without any intervention from me ?

All feasible I believe although obviously requiring a fair amount of Excel & VBA expertise & time.  Certainly folks have developed spreadsheets to automatically download the day's horse races at midnight and place bets based on their own systems.  To do the markets download at least, you would need to use the functions available via their COM interface which is accessed via VBA.

See http://www.gruss-software.co.uk/Betting_Assistant/help/help.htm for more details or better still join their forum - people there are usually quite helpful

I'm presently working on several platforms involving betting/sports investment.  Anything and everything is possible.

Essentially this: anything a user does can be programmed to (a) search for then either alert you or (b) implement a strategy.

As mentioned, I don't use gruss or any platform right now (though there is someone that I help out that has an in-running platform that is a MILES beyond anything gruss, bet angel, etc have on offer that he had custom built.  All api on the market are Toyota's compared to his Porche set up) but even if you use the basic automation ("when a back is matched, it places a lay" or "close all positions" or just the "one touch"), you'll find it useful.

....or for implementing strategies when following my horse racing blog (shameless plug)

I have always used the BF interface. I tried the new beta site with an open mind but find it unusable for a number of reasons and find it miles worse than the current (old) one. The fact BF expect us soon to 'like it or lump it' even though an extremely high percentage of feedback about the new site would have been negative, speaks volumes about what they think of their customers.

I know/understand little about api's. Could someone please tell me is there an api i can use which is basically the same as the old betfair interface which i am used to (3 back and lay boxes either side) and if so, which one would they recommend?

Might finally fire up the Daq if they switch.

Dragon32.  I am presently involved with developing a website that involves (simplifying) integrating several data-bases. 

Part of the challenge is taking the "engine" to bolt it to the "platform" (which is what the public see).  The end-user doesn't see all the 'tentacles' involved to make a site work.

Try out Gruss
Try out bfexplorer

Both offer monthly's for under £10/month with basics.

Thanks SS.

looked like   everyone   have  to     go to   try out 

Gruss   and   bfexplorer with  head in hand

why   

what wrong with  betfair  old web site     it now getting silly yes i am worry too much  as i hate the new web site     it   so silly   and  may have  to look in     or move

i like that 
Could someone please tell me is there an api i can use which is basically the same as the old betfair interface which i am used to (3 back and lay boxes either side) and if so, which one would they recommend?

make    one   for   us   guys thanks

and  dont forget the refresh every  1/2 sec    god   where  the  one  in the new one  ?????  it like  a mess

if switching off so do i and many others you have been warned, your shares will be peanuts!!!

thread on horse racing


HORSE RACING FORUM PETITION - TO KEEP THE CURRENT (OLD) BETFAIR SITE AND DITCH THE NEW SITE

Betfair won't switch off before letting everyone know in advance. Not happening 31 Jan.

I was told in June it would switch off end August.

There's a Simpsons Episode where Homer finds out he has a long lost millionaire brother who runs a car company. Homer gets to develop their new car, it's a complete disaster of a design, but they go with it anyway and the company goes bankrupt and Homer's brother becomes homeless.

Given the new widely despised site they seem hell bent on pushing, ignoring the feedback, .. has the Betfair CEO had any revelations in his family tree?

lol, I remember that one.

Except all the designs that Homer brought in were designed for the user. Can you say the same about design changes here?

Why do Betfair not realise that the majority of their customer prefer the 'old' site, and use the 'old' site and DO NOT WANT the new site? Which manager is too stubborn and steadfastly sticking to this new site plan to realise this?

You can almost guarantee there is someone in the senior positions at Betfair who has paid a lot of money for the new site and is saying 'come on, we need this new site up and running properly a.s.a.p' and the many less senior people are saying 'but the customers do not like it' but Mr know-it-all senior man/woman is lauding their managerial position and saying 'I don't care what the customers want, it is going to happen' because their decisions are ruled by finance and not by common sense.

Seen it many times in many different places, Betfair is probably no different.

Sorry, should have come to this thread far sooner. The old site isn't being switched off on January 31. Before anyone asks, there isn't a confirmed date for when it will be. Work is ongoing to fix bugs and respond to feedback.

A lot of people posting keep saying the "old site"

I guess because my 10th anniversary of hanging around at this pub is coming up, I've seen several sites come and go.

Every time, the same threads come up ("unworkable", "old site better", etc...). 

It has happened before and will happen again.  Send your feedback.  Instead of taking the negative, try to give a positive.

An example last time was that a lot of people complained that they couldn't "read the numbers".  The change was a simple one.  It wasn't the size but the font.  And Betfair did it.

One feedback I sent for this one was the size of the banners at the top announcing the event.  "The space could be used better" and a few weeks later, the banner changed.

BUT, because of the size of the pages frames and lay-out (I'm simplifying this), it was all integrated so this simple change had a knock-on that had to be addressed.

Send your feedback.  Don't just post it here.

An example last time was that a lot of people complained that they couldn't "read the numbers".  The change was a simple one.  It wasn't the size but the font.  And Betfair did it.

I requested a change of colour of the site and it was not done. I cannot see the numbers because for me they are black writing on a grey screen. Normally, you can override this, but the way the code for the new site is written makes browser overriding impossible.

given that access to the old site is still available, I think the seemingly negative reactions we have seen to the new page are a few mere drops in the ocean of what is to come if the old is closed down for good.

people are too lazy to react, until its too late.

Betfair Community Manager, are you able to confirm that the classic site will still be available, maybe with a URL that needs to be typed in, once Beta becomes the /exchange default?

Thanks

.

Oh dear, I hope this is not the case.

Shapeshifter, I have been using this site since 2000 and don't recall any software changes as big and as messy as what Betfair are attempting to do this time.

Many of us have sent feedback and and many months down the line fundamental flaws have still not been addressed.

My biggest bugbear is still there:

Go to a multi runner market in which you have many open and matched bets.  Old site - they are logically ordered from top to bottom as the odds appear on the main betting window.  If you want to selectively go through and change/cancel orders then it is very easily done.  New site - it appears the bets are now listed in chronological order.  If you want to cancel many orders on one runner you had better bet good at spotting you don't miss any from the long list given.

I have given feedback on this and nothing has changed and I see this as one of the most fundamental errors of the "new" site.

I agree with you, TheVis.

I (believe) I sent that same info in, as well.  Some API's do it that way (I then use betfair platform on same market to cancel).

This one boggles me on why they haven't implemented it (I haven't visited new site since doing a feedback session). 

I once said that if they gave their designers 'bonuses' BUT that they had to trade the amount both pre-off and in-running for a week and they got whatever was left, the improvements would be worked on and up and running on a daily basis

TheVis, the order of bets is a common complaint and is being worked on.  It will be implemented but just a matter of when.

They're working on a lot of fixes/improvements now and have a list of stuff they still need to start work on.  I think it's best they ensure the fixes work rather than try and get them done asap.

....and I do the same as you.  I use the API mostly but during the NFL season when I had so many bets up on the Super Bowl the old site was/is still the best method for quickly going through your list of bets to make amendments and cancellations.

Jan 22, 2013 -- 8:35AM, TheVis wrote:

....and I do the same as you.  I use the API mostly but during the NFL season when I had so many bets up on the Super Bowl the old site was/is still the best method for quickly going through your list of bets to make amendments and cancellations.

New Skool meets old skool 

UPDATE: the next date to finish the old version is: March 31.

I have tried the Geeks Toy (as a recommended) alternative solution - not good for me. It is created for traders. I am not a trader ...