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How does TBE handle dead-heats?

In the spirit of transparency, the qualified answer is "not well". This is because Betfair does not provide sufficient information to determine the outcome of a dead-heat unless you are placing live bets into the market.

In test mode, the outcome of a dead-heats may not be possible to determine and may result in ALL selections producing a loss.

In live mode, as long as the Result Source is set to Settled Market, then TBE is able to wait for Betfair to settle the bets according to its dead-heat rules and then it can apply the settled P/L to each of the placed bets.


Betfair Dead-Heat Rules
  • Unless stated otherwise in the Specific Sports Rules and/or the Market Information the Dead Heat Rule applies to bets on a market where there are more winners than expected (as set out in the Market Information).
  • For each bet matched on a relevant winning selection, the stake money is first reduced in proportion by multiplying it by the sum of the number of winners expected (as set out in the Market Information), divided by the number of actual winners (i.e. stake multiplied by (number of winners expected/number of actual winners)). The winnings are then paid to the successful backers on this 'reduced stake' (reduced stake multiplied by traded price) and the remaining stake money is paid to the appropriate layers.
  • For example, assume there is a dead heat for first place between three horses. 'Client A' has backed one of the winners for a stake of 300 at the traded price of 4.0 and 'Client B' has taken the other side of this bet. When the event is settled, the stake (300) is multiplied by 1/3 (i.e. the number of expected winners (1) divided by the number of actual winners (3)) to calculate the reduced stake (100) and the remainder given to the layer (200). The backer then receives the traded price matched (4.0) multiplied by the reduced stake (4 x 100 = 400). In this example, Client A's net winnings are 100 (400 payout minus the original 300 stake), and Client B's net losses are 100. Alternatively, this can be viewed as the full amount paid to the traded price divided by the number of dead-heaters. In the above example this would be 300 at the traded price of 4.0 (1200) divided by 3; making 400 payout and 100 net winnings.
  • By way of another example, assume there is an outright winner in a golf tournament but 7 players tie for 2nd place. In the "top 5 finish" market, after settling on the outright winner in the top 5 market there would be 4 other designated winners places available. 'Client A' has backed one of the winners for 300 at the traded price of 4.0 and 'Client B' has taken the other side of this bet. When the event is settled, the stake (300) is multiplied by 4/7 (i.e. the number of expected winners (4) divided by the number of actual winners (7)) to calculate the reduced stake (171.43) and the remainder given to the layer (128.57). The backer then receives the traded price matched (4.0) multiplied by the reduced stake (4 x 171.43 = 685.72). In this example, Client A's net winnings are 385.72 (685.72 payout minus the original 300 stake), and Client B's net losses are 385.72.
  • In relation to customers whose betting counterparty is Betfair, for the purposes of this section of the Exchange Rules dealing with dead heats, the terms 'Client A', 'Client B' and 'appropriate layers' should, where relevant, be read as 'Betfair'.

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