Relying on Test Mode... or not
MarketFeeder Pro makes it possible to test betting strategies and staking plans without risking real money. It offers a special “Test Mode” which simulates most betting activity of the online exchange.
It means the program acts as a virtual exchange and accepts test bets, calculates their profit/loss and even settles them after a market is finished.
The Test Mode is definitely a helper when you just start learning automated betting. You will also benefit from the Test Mode if you are polishing a staking plan. You’ll keep adjusting the length of cycle, size of bet, losing sequence etc., and you’ll need to run the program over and over to see how the changes affect the final Profit/Loss.
I personally always use Test Mode when I’m working on a new trigger or add changes to an existing one. I always recommend this to all MF Pro users.
There are numerous pros for betting in Test Mode before you will switch to live mode with real money. Below is the list of typical tasks that I solve with Test Mode.
Tasks perfect for Test Mode
- Testing all kinds of staking plans – perfect!
- Checking my would-be P/L before I place real bets. Yes, I do have an option to display “What-if P/L”, but it is not helpful when I want to bet on numerous selections, e.g. when doing Dutching.
- Testing trading techniques, such as scalping, with small or average bet sizes.
- Testing tipster’s service – perfect!
- Testing static betting systems, i.e. those that do not imply constantly changing the parameters of once placed bets.
However, there are some cons, or let’s say limitations, that you should be aware of. I would not advise you to base your expectations on Test Mode in these cases.
Tasks that require real money bets
Trading with large bets, especially at In-Play
In real exchange a large bet may be split in several parts in order to be matched at different prices. When this happens, the current prices offered on the selection immediately shift to reflect the market move. When a market is In-Play, the shifting happens all the time. In Test Mode it is not possible because the adjusted prices would be different from the actual market.
There are only £47 offered at the price of 2.26. A bet of £300 would not be matched in full in real mode
Doing all kinds of betting that offers a price slightly better than the current best price (e.g. backing at 4.6, when the current back price is 4.4)
In real mode your bet may get matched before its price becomes the current best price. This may happen if a bettor on the opposite side offers a large amount of money in one go, or if your bet is high up in the queue of unmatched bets at that price. In Test Mode bets get matched only if their price is identical or worse than the current offer.
In real life this bet may be matched if it is high up in the queue of bets
Betting in markets that you do not intend to monitor after a bet is placed
In Test Mode SP bets will turn into real matched bets only if the program has access to the market’s data during the suspension and the subsequent turning In-Play. Moreover, matched bets will not be settled unless the market is marked as “Finished” and “Settled” which can only happen if the program monitors it till the end.
This bet will never be settled because the market has stopped refreshing
Don’t get me wrong: you can do all these operations in Test Mode – nothing will stall or generate errors. It’s just if you do, keep in mind that the behaviour of the bets will not match the real life exactly. You might expect slightly different results when you start betting with real money.