by milfor » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:45 pm
Short version of it:
If someone wants to lay [back] a selection and the offer is unmatched Betfair shows corresponding back [lay] bets on all the other selections. I call them 'ghost bets'. Their odds are calculated in such a way that Betfair can't lose when someone is stupid enough to take them. The website shows them but BA and all other API applications show only 'genuine bets' and no ghost bets. That is a good thing because instead of backing a ghost bet it has to be equally good or even better to lay another selection.