Betfair Crashes

100% Scotty as is the case in the soccer Man U vs Man City... backing Man U plus the draw equates to laying Man City

Titch Wrote:

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> keniza999 Wrote:
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> > Backing horse to lose should never be allowed
> > period.
>
> Backing a horse to win by definition is backing
> the rest of the field to loose?

technically yes but in reality backing a horse versus the field is not the same thing, backing horse to lose opens an avenue to corruption.

Mistakes happen.

In this instance, a software bug appears to have been the problem :

The amount of the lay bet was 2^31-1 pence (2 raised to the power of 31 minus 1).
This is the largest number that can represented by a signed 32 bit integer and it is no coincidence that this was the lay amount.
My guess as to what happened is that the customer was using their own software via either the API or the web interface. In either case there would be no sanity checks, by the customers software, before submitting bets.
On the customers side, their software has mixed and matched signed and unsigned 32 bit and 64 bit integers. When you do this you can start off with -1 and end up with 2^31-1 (2147483647) pence. The program has then submitted this as a Lay at 29.
On Betfairs side, the software, has received the bet, checked that the odds are okay and the amount is okay and then calculated whether the customer has the funds to cover the bet. This calculation has multiplied 2147483647 by 28 and compared the result with the customers balance. Unfortunately for betfair they have used a 32 bit signed integer for the calculation and this has resulted in an overflow and so instead of the calculated exposure being £601,295,421.16 it has been £-0.28. Since the customer had a positive balance they allowed the bet through.
The fix will have involved a simple check on the exposure calculation to ensure an overflow doesn't occur.

To be fair to any company .. software errors do happen. They say, they have processed over a trillion transactions, since inception - so, it not unusual for something to fall thru a crack, somewhere.

I have heard, from a good source, all IP addresses from SA will be blocked, from 31 Jan.

Frankel, your information was correct.Confusing date as the 14th is a tuesday.

This has been circulated by Betfair today:

BETFAIR.COM TO BE NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN SOUTH AFRICA

We're writing to inform you that following the recent ruling by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal, Betfair has decided that as of 00:01 GMT on February 14th 2012, its website and all associated products will no longer be accessible in South Africa, or to South African residents.
As of the above time, all existing accounts will be suspended, therefore we ask that you ensure that all funds are withdrawn from your account before then. If your account is currently suspended the issues relating to that suspension must be resolved before any withdrawals can be made.
If you wish to withdraw your funds from your Betfair account after this date you will be required to either call the Betfair Helpdesk on 0044 203 059 8888 or request a withdrawal in writing to the following address:
Betfair Helpdesk
Icon One
Lytton Way
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG1 1AG
United Kingdom
If you no longer reside in South Africa, please update your account details with your new residential address. In line with our standard KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures, you may be contacted to provide supporting proof of your new address in due course.
We appreciate that this development may be a disappointment and an inconvenience to you and we'd like to both sincerely apologise for this and thank you for your understanding in this matter.
If you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to be in touch with our Helpdesk. They can be reached either by phone on 0044 203 059 8888 or via email at: info@betfair.com.
We'd like to thank you for your custom and once again apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Sincerely,
Betfair Customer Services

I have a Betfair account that i dont use,its a UK adddress.Open to any honest SA friend.