NSoft’s Sportsbook Upgrades: Micro Betting, Pre-Match Offers & Liability Maze

If you recall, in the first chapter of this Sportsbook deep dive, I walked you through the intricate world of fine-tuning sports betting software. Let's plunge deeper today, focusing on a few more subjects I grappled with during my years as the Head of Sportsbook at NSoft.

Micro Betting: The New Kid on the Block #

The dynamism in the sports betting landscape is undeniable. Just when you think mobile betting is taking over, you're reminded of the continued charm of traditional brick-and-mortar bet shops. With the industry booming, ensuring consistent quality across both online and retail channels is paramount.

And then there's micro betting – the adrenalin-pumping experience of betting on fleeting moments within games. Think about betting on whether the next play will be a run or pass, the outcome of the next free throw, or other in-the-moment events. It's a new beast altogether!

This isn't just about the action on the field; it's about how quickly odds have to be adjusted, ensuring the technology can handle rapid-fire bets, and then there's the matter of keeping up with the constant flow of in-game data. The rise of micro betting challenged us to think on our feet and adapt to cater to these quicksilver betting moments without missing a beat.

The Pre-Match Printing Hustle in Retail #

Operating in the retail channel is no child's play. At NSoft, one of our biggest hurdles was offering the most relevant, updated Pre-Match suggestions on print. Picture this: a punter walks into a bet shop, grabs a printed guide, discusses predictions with fellow bettors, and places a bet. The printed Pre-match offer isn't just a sheet of paper – it's a conversation starter and a decision influencer.

Tailoring to Diverse Needs #

Every Sportsbook provider knows this – no two markets or clients are alike. This is where the real grind begins. Here's a taste of the challenges we've faced:

• Clients who structure their offers around specific tournaments.

• Those who fancy a timeline view, showcasing events from mixed tournaments based only on their kick-off times.

• Some clients prefer leaflets brimming with added content for their shops, and oh, they want it in an XLS format for that final touch.

• Got a client who’s a stats nerd? They’ll want detailed statistics tables alongside the offer.

• And let's not forget the aesthetics: landscape or portrait? It matters!

• Oh, and remember the Premiership’s IDs ranging from 100-130? Yes, they have to stay consistent because punters have gotten so used to them.

• The variety doesn't stop there. Some tournaments come with their own market peculiarities – top tournaments naturally flaunt more markets.

• Each offer should be freshly printed on-demand, using any standard A4 printer, capturing the most recent events and odds.

You see the intricacy, right? We needed a system, a solution that is as dynamic as the demands.

Our Solution: Adaptability Meets Precision #

Now, to the exciting part – how did we tackle this jigsaw? Here's a peek into our system:

• Offering templates creation: Clients initiate by forming templates for each sport, cherry-picking market sets as a prototype. They then assign different templates to tournaments – say, the Premiership might boast more markets, whereas the 4th league sticks to the basics.

• Diverse templates: The beauty is in the diversity. Clients can craft multiple templates, spanning from leaflets and timelines to stats and results.

• Template refinement: Columns are designated within the template, ensuring the right number of market outcomes are showcased.

• Print templates realization: Now the magic happens. Clients determine the print's look (landscape or portrait), decide the type of offer (a tournament list, maybe?), and choose the event duration, like the forthcoming ten days.

• Final selection: Here, clients cherry-pick the tournaments and events they want to showcase.

• Preview & print: The last step – our clients get a sneak peek, make any tweaks, and once it's picture-perfect, off it goes to the printer, either from the Admin side or directly within the bet shop application.

What We Learned On The Ground #

• Templates need flexibility: We can't just make a template and forget about it. Depending on what's buzzing in the sports world, we sometimes had to roll up our sleeves and tweak our templates tied to tournaments before hitting that print button. No static stuff here; we're talking dynamic, change-on-the-fly adjustments.

• Stay sharp, stay relevant: The world of sports doesn't sleep, and neither should our content. By regularly shuffling, dropping, or throwing in fresh tournaments or markets, we made sure our punters always had the hottest, freshest info in their hands when making their picks. It's like getting the morning news, but way cooler.

In essence, every hiccup we hit, every challenge we tackled, gave us another trick up our sleeve. Made us better. And you bet we'll use all that to make sure our printed offers are top-notch every single time.

Navigating the Maze of Liability Monitoring #

The digital boom has made sports betting faster, more intricate, and, honestly, a tad more complicated. Alongside the familiar challenges of setting limits for different sports, categories, and punters, we also had to ensure our risk management was robust enough to handle the nuances brought about by the rise of e-sports, bet builders, and so much more.

Here's a look at some of the knotty challenges we grappled with:

• Real-time risk levels: Defining risk to its minute detail and updating it in real-time. We needed the flexibility for bookies to adjust liability for, say, a particular market in an ongoing tournament.

• Multi-level liability tracking: Monitoring the total company liability, event-based liability, punter-specific liability, and so on, all at the same time.

• Merging liability parameters: Say two punters or two shops have varying liabilities on the same event market. How do we combine and compute that?

• Individual bet analysis: Every single bet on a ticket needed separate computation before being added to the total event liability.

• Instantaneous liability ipdates: The current liability for each outcome, across all markets and events, had to be recalculated with every little change, like the conclusion of a bet or when a ticket is played.

• Recalculating lost tickets: If a ticket didn't win, the liability attached to each of its bets had to be recalibrated.

• Catering to different liability groups: VIPs vs. regulars, for instance. Each group had to be assessed distinctly.

• Manual authorization: Sometimes, when certain thresholds were hit, we had to divert tickets for a manual review.

• Speed and modularity: This wasn't a 'nice-to-have'. It was a must.

Sounds like a beast, right? Well, we weren't ones to back down. We strategized and devised a solution:

• Liability limits module: We built this from the ground up, enabling the creation of varied liability limits (VIP, regular, by region) that could function independently.

• Dynamic risk level settings: Designed for both events and punters, it gave our bookies the tools to spread out liability as they saw fit.

• Defining liability sources: This means identifying where exactly the liability was coming from, be it a punter, a bet shop, or a specific tournament.

• Applying liability & risk: Once set up, we applied these levels across the board - to punters, bet shops, tournaments, and the like.

• Live dashboard: A real-time view of the current liability for all events with open tickets. A bookie's dream.

• Instant calculations: No lag. Period.

I know, mapping out liability management this way might not capture its full essence. But trust me, it's a thrilling space to be in, and I've tried to give you a snapshot. If you're intrigued and want a deeper dive into our Risk Management solution, I'd recommend checking out a demo of our Sportsbook Software. It's pretty neat, if I do say so myself.

Well, that's it for this round! Stay tuned for more insights and behind-the-scenes tales from my time at NSoft. Let’s keep the conversation going!

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Dražan Planinić

COO

Dražan, holding a master's degree in economy from the University of Mostar, has dedicated eight years to NSoft. His in-depth expertise in Sportsbook solutions not only made him an asset to the company but also earned him a seat on the NSoft board. He currently holds the pivotal role of Chief Operating Officer.