Is it possible to get streaming in-play odds?

[kiekeboe]

On the documentation page I saw it is possible to get a one time update of current odds.

But is it possible to make a one off request and get a continuous stream of odds? Let's say every time the bet and and lay odds change, I receive an update without making explicit request. I do not want to make a request every second just to find out the odds did not change.

I did not find it in the documentation or googling.

[AlgoTrader]

On the documentation page I saw it is possible to get a one time update of current odds.

But is it possible to make a one off request and get a continuous stream of odds? Let's say every time the bet and and lay odds change, I receive an update without making explicit request. I do not want to make a request every second just to find out the odds did not change.

If you need prices one time, you call listMarketBook once. If you need prices 50 times a second, then you invoke listMarketBook 50 times a second

If you want the exchange to inform you on updates, then the answer is no. The exchange never sends any information that was not explicitly asked for

[kiekeboe.]

Thanks AlgoTrader for your reply.

I am surprised about the lack of subscription method for odds updates.

This means a lot of bettors have to figure out when to request odds in their algo's. Some bettors may be requesting too much data, some too few. The data flow is not optimal. I am really surprised and disappointed that Betfair chose to ignore the paradigm of subscribing to data.

Yes, a lot of idiots would subscribe without actually needing the data leading to high bandwidth costs for Betfair. But this could be averted by charging a fee for a fully streaming service. Oh well.

[AlgoTrader]

Thanks AlgoTrader for your reply.

I am surprised about the lack of subscription method for odds updates.

HTTP protocol implements request-response paradigm and it is good for pull stuff. What you are talking about is push.

I think Betfair has reasons not to support push. Can you imagine a high-liquidity market where orders come in thousands a second, would you really like to receive all the minor changes in volume and prices? Would you like to know anybody placed a lay at 1.01 and the 1.01 queue increased from 1,000,000 to 1,000,010?

Client itself desides what and when to request. I request prices once a second, fortunately the API NG supports multiple markets in a single requrest