Bet Angel is a trading application for use with Betfair, the betting exchange site. Betting exchange software was originally just used for placing bets faster than the interface of sites like Betfair would allow, but the industry has since expanded heavily. Today, there are dozens of applications for trading on Betfair and other exchanges. Nonetheless, Bet Angel is the most popular, and perhaps most feature-laden of all the products available, and it is the application that I turn my attention to for the purposes of this article.

I am going to cover some of the basics when using the application, along with a few more advanced themes. Before I do that, though, I should also mention some of the other betting exchange software available to buy.

The first application that springs to mind is Bet Trader Pro. This application uses a "ladder interface" to trade with, and is notable for its "one click price request function". However, Bet Trader Pro lacks many of the other features that Bet Angel includes.

A second well-known trading bot is Bitenko's FairBot software. This is a cost effective application, that is great for beginners, but again does not include all of Bet Angel's features.

Bet Angel does come in two versions - Basic and Pro. The Basic version is free, and only includes a simplified interface which allows one click betting but has very little else in the way of features.

The Pro version, however, has more features than you could list - from auto hedging to trailing stops, from book arbitrage to streaming charts. It also includes a ladder function, due to the demand for that interface created by Bet Trader Pro.

When using Bet Angel Pro, I tend to focus on three key features.

The first feature that is extremely useful is the offset / stop loss combination. This allows you to trade on Betfair, but with a certain reward/risk ratio in mind. While we all know when to cut our losses in theory, in practice, very few punters have the self discipline to "walk their own talk". I tend to set the stop loss to 2-3 ticks if I am basic trading and the offset to 3-5 ticks. This ensures that I ride my wins and cut my losses, which should form the basis of any profitable trading strategy.

The second feature that I am a big fan of is the triggered betting function. This allows you to automatically place a bet when certain conditions are met (and to close it automatically also). For example, you can back a selection in the field at odds of 2.01 with a view to laying it at odds of 1.51 for a guaranteed profit. I do have several "standard settings" that I use to profit from these functions (depending on the race and meeting type), and you will need to experiment and devise your own (liquidity won't allow for more than a handful of punters using the same settings so when you hit on them, don't share them :) ).

The final feature of Bet Angel Pro which I adore is the streaming charts function - this gives you a real-time, in depth visual representation of the price on Betfair of a particular horse, meaning that you can trade with complete accuracy and with all the relevant information at your finger tips.