Latency in betting is the delay between a price changing at its source, the bookmaker or the exchange, and you or your software seeing that change and acting on it. Every odds screen, app and feed among the betting tools in Australia has some, so the useful question about any price is how old it is.
Where latency in betting comes from
With illustrative delays for a tool that reads prices every 30 seconds and a bet placed by hand:
| Stage | What happens | Average | Worst case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collection cycle | The tool reads each bookmaker's prices once per cycle | 15 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Network and processing | The price travels, is matched to its runner and displayed | 2 seconds | 4 seconds |
| Your reaction | You read, decide and click | 6 seconds | 12 seconds |
| Bookmaker checks | The bookmaker checks the price, the stake and the account | 2 seconds | 5 seconds |
| Total | 25 seconds | 51 seconds |
The collection cycle dominates: a price that changes one second after a read waits 29 seconds, almost a full cycle, for the next read. Odds data feeds explained covers how feeds collect and deliver prices. You never see the bookmaker's checks, which can accept the bet, offer a new price or refuse it.
How old a price can be before you act on it
A timestamp records when a price was read, so price age = the time now - the time it was read. With illustrative figures, a $3.80 price read 2 minutes 30 seconds ago, 4 minutes before the jump, is old just when racing prices can move quickly.
Set a cut-off for price age, treat anything older as unknown, and tighten it as the jump or the start nears: 30 seconds may be enough an hour out but not four minutes out. A price shown with no time cannot be held to any cut-off, so confirm it with the bookmaker first.
How latency turns into slippage
While a price waits, it can move. With illustrative prices: you see $3.80 and send a $25 bet, and by the time it arrives the price is $3.60. If it wins it returns 25 x 3.60 = $90, not 25 x 3.80 = $95. That gap is slippage, and latency is one of its main causes.
A price floor of $3.70 would have stopped that bet, which is why code using a bet placement API should send a floor with every bet.
Terms people confuse with latency
- Odds delay usually means the gap between a bookmaker changing a price and an odds site or app showing it, or a pause a bookmaker applies before accepting a bet, during which the price can change.
- Refresh rate is how often a screen redraws. A screen can redraw every second and still show prices collected 30 seconds ago.
- Real-time is a label, not a number: sending each change as it happens removes the collection cycle, not the network, your reaction or the bookmaker's checks.
Where B337 fits
B337's Terminal reads prices on a repeating cycle, not tick by tick, so a price on screen can trail the bookmaker's own; confirm it before you bet.
Through the Execution API, your code sends a bet to a session running on your own computer, which has to be on, awake and online; the session places it only if the bookmaker's current price meets your target. If the result times out, check the bet history before resending. The API is set up with the team, needs coding, and bets use credits.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Any price on a screen can already be gone, and software can act on a stale one. In their terms, many bookmakers restrict or prohibit automated betting and third-party access, and a bookmaker can limit stakes, void bets or close an account. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.