Bf Bot Manager Review

I had a bit of a thing about betting bots….. and it wasn’t a good thing.

As mentioned a few times previously, I was a little afraid of them.

Why?

Well, because I have to share my Betfair login details… and I have to leave my computer on all day …. but mainly because half the time I have no idea what they’re doing!

However, more and more betting bots are appearing, and not everyone shares my scepticism.

A reader called Dimitar wrote to me declaring his intention to change my opinion.

He said he’s tried 99% of everything out there and whilst he could understand my doubts about bots with a built-in strategy, what about those that simply automate strategies that you currently run manually?

Then he pointed me at what he considers to be ‘the most powerful bot on the market!’

I had a look, and I’ve got to say it looks rather impressive…… and obviously I couldn’t resist asking the nice people who developed it whether I could borrow it for a bit.

And it turns out I can. 🙂

So, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Bf Bot Manager!

What does it do?

I thought the quickest way to find out was to ask Rade at Bf Bot Manager, and this was his reply:

“Our bots are not money making machines and we do not sell “best settings” or “profitable strategies”.

“Our bots work by user settings, in real or simulated mode, and should be used to automate user betting strategies, to save them time, money and help them correctly execute their betting strategy without having to sit in front of their computer all day.

“One week is usually enough for a user to see if our bots can be set to work by their betting strategy or not. We are here to help them adjust settings so that bots work like they want them to.”

And when he talks about bots, rather than bot, that’s because you don’t just get one bot for your money.

Bf Bot Manager is actually a whole family of bots.

So, what do you get?

Quite a lot actually.

When you buy a licence key, it includes:

• Bf Bot Manager v2 – Betfair NG API licence key, valid for life for a single BETFAIR account
• Unlimited number of computers
• Back/Lay Multiple Favourites bot
• Ladder/Grid control
• Dutching bot
• Horse races trader bot
• Free updates
• Simulation mode
• Unlimited email support
• Manuals and video tutorials
• Access to private members’ section of forum.

So there are three bots (italicised in the list), plus there are then two more that can be purchased as add-ons, Multiple Strategies Bot and Soccer Bot – Draw Betting.

That’s a lot of bots.

The introduction video provides a good summary of what you get:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXbecSnuEg&list=SPWaE0m9BHlI7oPq1zlUgt-LFwBhrTmBu_

So…which bots are we going to trial?

Rade has kindly given me access to everything for a month!

Woohoo.

But also… whooaaaaa!!

I mean, it’s a bit overwhelming!

So… I’ve decided to trial one of the three bots included in the licence key (but I’ll decide which when I’ve had a bit of a play with them all), and at least one of the add-ons, probably Multiple Strategies Bot.

Now I’ve just got to decide on my strategies. 🙂

Lucy

Update: 10th April 2015

It’s now six weeks since I started playing around with the truly fascinating Bf Bot Manager product.

And yet I still wonder where to begin with this review. Because the thing is enormous!

I keep sitting down to write something about it, and stopping again as I do find it all a bit daunting.

But ultimately, I need to say something! And I can assure you, however this article turns out, it’s going to be very complimentary.

Because Bf Bot Manager is an extraordinary piece of software…. and it comes with a remarkable level of support.

Perhaps I’ll start with that support.

The only products I’ve come across where help is as instantly available are those from Mike Cruickshank (of Bonus Bagging and Profit Maximiser fame).

And, as with Mike, it’s all apparently handled by one enthusiastic individual.

His name is Rade and, judging by the swiftness of his responses, he must be practically grafted into the Internet.

And this is very important. Because Bf Bot Manager isn’t really a single product at all, but several different bots in one.

So whenever it does get a bit daunting, it’s reassuring to know that there’s someone to turn to, and that he’ll get a decent answer to you quickly.

So what of all those different bots?

Well, I decided to concentrate on just one for now… the Multiple Strategies Bot.

This almost endlessly flexible programme allows you to automate betting strategies across a whole range of different sports.

In fact, I’m still not entirely clear as to why you’d need anything else.

It works by helping you build scripts via a tabbed interface: meaning, you don’t actually write a script, but simply make a few choices so the thing can generate one for you.

You’re never really aware that you’re developing anything as sophisticated as a script.

You just click across the tabs as shown, adding the various conditions and rules that you want the bot to follow when it executes.

You then run it in either simulation or live mode. Naturally, the former appeals whenever you’re trying a new idea out, though I tend to go into live with very small stakes. Which isn’t as risky as it may first sound, as you can bet below the Betfair minimum without any problem at all. I’ve sometimes even been placing 10 pence bets.

Another thing I like about the tool is the results history screen.

It allows you to filter by strategy, so you can quickly and easily test out several different scripts in parallel and then untangle the results. Hence there is no longer a need to try and figure out which bet went with which strategy in your Betfair results log!

There is also a CSV results export facility, so you can do further analysis of script performance in the spreadsheet programme of your choice.

So, all in all, Bf Bot Manager is a very easy piece of software to like.

My only slight criticism is that there may just be too many safety mechanisms!

If you look at the screenshot above, you’ll see that there is a “simulation mode” (safety level one…), the ability to Pause or Restart either an individual or all scripts  (safety level two..), and finally the facility to Pause or Resume the Multiple Strategies Bot itself (safety level three).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have more than once thought I had fired up a script, only to find that the bot has been sitting there doing nothing all day, with one of its safety catches still on.

Maybe it’s just me, but I do think you can have too many pause buttons.

‘So have we got any actual results to look at!?’, I hear you ask!

In a sense, this review doesn’t need actual test results.

After all, the bot appears to function beautifully, carrying out instructions exactly as directed by the user.   The software appears to be extremely robust, and I’ve already talked about the remarkable support.

However, just leaving my review there would seem a bit tame.

So instead, I thought I’d share a couple of pleasing results logs that I’ve achieved with scripts developed by Bf Bot Manager user (and Lay Back reader) Dimitar. I think they give some indication of what this tool is really capable of.

Dimitar initially wrote to me weeks ago when he saw I was showing an interest in automated betting; and recently he sent me two BfBot scripts that I finally figured out how to load!   (Incidentally, I do think I was being extremely dim to start with; the software really isn’t at all hard to follow). 🙁

So anyway, I have included the results of Dimitar’s scripts below to paint some sort of picture of what’s possible.

The first is a laying strategy that includes an element of loss recovery,

15 points’ effortless profit from 51 automated bets strikes me as a pretty satisfying outcome.

However, I have asked Dimitar to have a think about his loss recovery plan.

The second example gives a sense of how the development process with a tool like Bf Bot Manager is likely to work in practice.

Something positive happens – perhaps almost by accident – but you immediately have the means to explore the results quickly, then run further tests and trials, to see if you’re on to something.

It’s quick, intuitive and eminently repeatable.

Dimitar intended this script as a place backing strategy for horse racing, but I accidentally ran it on greyhounds too – and achieved a better return than he’s been getting on the horses!

Clearly, this outcome may be an example of good fortune, but it’s the sort of thing that Bf Bot Manager will throw up from time to time, giving the user something to think about and maybe refine.

Summary

The bottom line is that I’m very impressed with Bf Bot Manager.

One of the frustrations of sports betting is the amount of time that’s sometimes involved in testing new strategies. You often labour long and hard before realising that a promising idea needs amending and retesting, thus necessitating another long wait.

This product allows you to accelerate and simplify the strategy development process and indeed, to run multiple scripts in parallel, thus making you even more efficient.

So: I would simply award this product a Pass right now – were it not for one important fact.

The version I have been testing, v2.0, has just been replaced!

It would seem inappropriate therefore not to complete my review without a look at the new version, v3.0.

I will therefore spend the next month testing the upgrade before writing a final report.

In the meantime, you can read more about Bf Bot Manager here.

Lucy

Conclusion: 11th May 2015

There are trials that try your patience, trials that drain your betting bank, and trials that make you money.  But there have been very, very few trials like this one.

When I started testing Bf Bot Manager back in February, I still retained some of my long-held scepticism about betting bots.

The doubts had started to melt away by the time I wrote my report on version 2 of the product six weeks later.

However, I then switched to the newer, sleeker version 3.

And ever since, I’ve had a ball. 🙂

The first thing that struck me about Bf Bot Manager was how easy on the eye it is.

Or rather, how easy on the eye it can be.

As there are one or two almost illegible options, such as the excitingly named ‘Metropolis Dark’ theme (is this supposed to conjure up images of Batman!?)…

…or the (surely pointless?) High Contrast option….

However, there are plenty of more pleasant alternatives, and they are easy enough to change to.

I personally prefer the ‘Seven’ theme (click here for high-resolution version).

The whole interface is much cleaner, quicker and simpler than in version 2.

Gone are the two levels of options – which are hard to describe if you haven’t seen them but essentially presented you with a sort of layered onion of a product, whereby the outer layers contained overall settings about markets and bots, followed by inner layers that provided further often similar or only subtly different choices.

In short, it’s now a lot less complicated.

You just fire up the programme and everything is available in a single, logical set of screens.

Events & Markets allow you to make settings about the types of sports and markets you wish to bet on.

The Strategies screen manages to consolidate all your various scripts in an admirably compact panel.

History allows you to review all your past bets, and filter and sort via a spreadsheet-style interface.

And Tools & Settings pulls together all the various options in one place.

There is a lot of help available – especially via video – but I found I didn’t need much of it.  Just playing in simulation mode got me going quickly enough.

So what of the actual betting then? 🙂

It has just gone so well!

Of course, one advantage I have is the availability of someone who has been there before.

Long-term site reader Dimitar supplied me with some of his favourite scripts. All I did was plug them in and let them make me money!

And if that sounds ridiculously simple, you’re getting the idea. It is.

I’ve been using 5 football strategies, all trading in highly liquid goals markets, and 2 horse racing approaches for the Win markets.

At £1 per point, I’ve made over £100 in 20 days, as follows…

The profit graph shows nice, steady growth too – particularly once Dimitar made a couple of script changes to improve matters halfway through.

The full results log from my BfBot v3 trial is as follows (care – it’s a long one!)

Summary

Life with Bf Bot Manager has been wonderful so far.

To repeat: I have been betting at £1 per point.

Thus, the results table represents 100 points’ effortless profit in 20 automated betting days!

The trial has demonstrated that automated portfolio betting at the exchange is an attractive and viable option. This is, I think, an approach that all serious punters should consider taking in future.

And I am, of course, hugely indebted to Dimitar who has proved himself to be a genuine script guru.

Are there any downsides to the product?

Well, I’m in love, if you recall, so you don’t really expect me to criticise my beloved!?

OK – one thing. I do have to remember to switch it on each day then select Real mode. There is a Simulated alternative that can be distinctly annoying if selected accidentally when you thought you’d banked some profits.

That’s it, really!

So what now?

• Well, there is the option to migrate the whole thing to a Virtual Private Server, so I can let it run 24 hours a day. I will have a look at this in the coming days and weeks.
• And I have now increased my staking level to £4 on four of the strategies that Dimitar supplied (Goals 1, Goals 2, Horses 1 and Horses 2). I plan to add further updates below on my progress.

Finally, I have, of course, to add Bf Bot Manager to the Passed folder.

This is how it’s done, folks!

You can find out more about Bf Bot Manager here.

Lucy