BFBM Import Tips: CSV Format, URL Auto-Load & Strategy

Who This Guide Is For

You do not need a tipster to use BF Bot Manager. Most BotBlog readers automate their own rules via Auto Load. Import tips is the other path: the bot reads a list of selections and bets them shortly before the off.

That list can come from:

• You — a CSV you built, or selections ticked as My S. in the Markets grid
• A tipster or service — a file they email, or a URL that updates through the day
• A built-in feed — Betaminic, Proform, Predictology or TippingSports

The same workflow matters for people following tips (import once, bet unattended) and for tipsters (publish a compatible CSV at a URL so followers can auto-load it). Getting the CSV format and the staking rule right is the part most users get stuck on.

This is educational only. We do not endorse any tipster. Imported picks do not remove variance — treat them like any other strategy and prove the setup in Simulation first. See the full BFBM review if you are new to the software.

The Full Workflow (Do This in Order)

1. Get a compatible list — CSV file, URL, or a built-in feed (see format below).
2. Manage Tips — import it and confirm rows appear. White background = not yet bet.
3. Tips auto loading — if the source updates, poll the file path or URL on a schedule.
4. Auto Load — load Win / Match Odds (and any other market types in the file) for those events.
5. Strategy — duplicate EXAMPLE – Bet on all imported tips once per tipster (and per sport if they mix); set stake and Provider filter. Do not run the blank-Provider original.
6. Safety + Simulation — daily loss cap, then watch Strategy Reports before Real mode.

If you skip Auto Load, the strategy has nothing to bet on. If you skip the staking rule Bet on imported selections/tips, the bot will not use the list at all.

CSV Format — What the File Must Contain

BFBM accepts a comma-separated file. Extra columns are ignored. The bot needs enough data to find the exact Betfair selection.

Absolute minimum: SelectionName or SelectionId. Without one of those, the row is rejected.

In practice, add Provider and MarketType every time. Football also needs a match identifier.

Horse racing CSV

Minimum that usually works: Provider, MarketType, SelectionName (or SelectionId). Add EventName or MarketId if two meetings could have the same runner name.

Provider,MarketType,SelectionName,EventName,BetType
BotBlog Demo,WIN,Exact Horse Name From Betfair,Ascot 14:30,BACK
BotBlog Demo,WIN,Another Exact Horse Name,Ascot 15:05,LAY

Football CSV

Football needs a match identifier. Draw, HOME and Over 2.5 Goals exist in every fixture — without EventName, EventId or SportMonksFixtureId, the bot cannot know which match you meant.

MarketType must be the BFBM/Betfair code, not a friendly label. If you are unsure, tick My S. on a real market and export — the file shows the exact type.

Provider,MarketType,SelectionName,EventName,BetType
BotBlog Demo,MATCH_ODDS,HOME,Arsenal v Chelsea,BACK
BotBlog Demo,MATCH_ODDS,DRAW,Arsenal v Chelsea,LAY
BotBlog Demo,OVER_UNDER_25,Over 2.5 Goals,Arsenal v Chelsea,BACK

For Match Odds / half-time, SelectionName can be the real team name as Betfair shows it, or HOME / AWAY / DRAW if you also supply EventId or SportMonksFixtureId. For Over/Under and BTTS the selection name is fixed (Over 2.5 Goals, Yes) — the event column is what makes the row unique.

Easiest valid file: export My S.

If you are learning, or you are a tipster building a template, do not hand-type columns the first time:

1. Load today’s horse or football markets.
2. Tick My S. on two or three selections.
3. Events & Markets → Export tips – My S. selections to file (or Move My S. to Manage Tips and give a Provider name).
4. Save as .csv.
5. Re-import that file in Manage Tips to confirm the round-trip works.

That file already has the right headers, real Betfair names and IDs. Tipsters can then strip it down to the columns they want to publish.

Excel and CSV pitfalls

• Close the workbook before Import tips from file — Excel locks the file and BFBM cannot read it.
• Do not double-click the CSV in Excel and save. Excel turns Market IDs into numbers and drops trailing zeros. If you must edit, import as text (Data → From Text) and force ID columns to Text.
• SelectionName must match Betfair exactly — including punctuation and country prefixes on horses.
• Provider names: no quotation marks and no commas — those break the CSV and the strategy filter.
• Save as a real CSV (Notepad or “CSV UTF-8”), not an .xlsx renamed to .csv.

Import from File

1. Open Bots/Strategies → Manage Tips.
2. Click Import tips from file and choose your CSV.
3. Use Save and load tips now (wording varies slightly by version) and check the grid.
4. Confirm Provider, market type, selection and start time look right.

Duplicate tips with the same identity are not added twice. If a row is already there, a second import of the same tip will not create another copy.

Import from URL and Tips Auto Loading

This is the part that makes the feature useful unattended. Any URL that returns BFBM-compatible CSV can feed the bot — your own hosted file, a tipster’s download link, or TippingSports.

1. In Manage Tips, choose import / download from URL and paste the link.
2. Open Tips auto loading and set how often to poll (every few minutes to every hour). For most tip feeds, every 10–15 minutes is enough.
3. Save, then click load-now once to test. New rows should appear without you opening a file.

The URL must stay reachable. If it needs a login cookie, BFBM cannot use it — the feed has to be a direct CSV (often a unique token in the path, as TippingSports does).

Run auto loading on a Windows VPS if you will miss Saturday 3pm or overnight racing. A laptop that sleeps will miss the poll window.

TippingSports

Sign in → profile → Automated betting → copy your unique link into Tips auto loading. Each tipster on that site can also offer a downloadable example strategy XML that bets only on their Provider name. Import that XML, then still check staking and Safety Rules — the file is a starter, not a proven system. See export / import XML.

Betaminic

Manage Tips → Betaminic auto import settings. Tick auto-import, paste your unique pick URL from the Betamin Builder’s BF Bot Manager tab, and set the check interval (default 5 minutes; Betaminic limits requests to one per minute). Use Download tips now once to test — do not hammer it or the server may block you for a minute.

Once Betaminic tips are in, BFBM can load the required Betfair markets itself. You still need a strategy with Bet on imported selections/tips. Duplicate the example rather than editing the original if you want different stakes per Betaminic system.

Predictology

Same pattern as Betaminic: paste their URL in Manage Tips, set reload time, duplicate the example strategy. Details live on their site; the BFBM side is URL + staking rule.

Proform Racing

Install BFBM on the same PC as Proform. Manage Tips → Proform auto import settings — enable import, tick the market types your systems use, then Save and load tips now. Unlike Betaminic, you still set Auto Load for those races.

If you run several Proform systems, import only the named systems and create one strategy per system (Provider / system name in the staking rule). Do not also run “bet on all imported tips” at the same time — one tip can only be bet once, so the catch-all strategy will use the tips up first.

Strategy: Bet on Those Imported Tips

Importing does nothing on its own. A row in Manage Tips is only a candidate. Bets are placed by a running strategy that has the staking rule Bet on imported selections/tips — and every other rule on that strategy must still pass (time to off, overround, odds band, spread, Safety Rules). If any one of those fails, the tip stays white.

Start from the built-in template. It is a teaching bot, not a profitable system: it shows the wiring, then you change stake, timing and filters to match your feed.

1. Duplicate the example — do not edit the original

1. Open Bots/Strategies.
2. Find EXAMPLE – Bet on all imported tips.
3. Select only that row (Deselect all first if needed) → Duplicate selected.
4. Rename the copy immediately, e.g. Tips_TippingSports_Sim_v1 or Tips_Proform_SystemA_Sim_v1. Put Sim in the name until you have watched it work.

You now have a strategy that already contains the imported-tips staking rule plus sensible starter filters. Everything below is what those filters actually do, and what to change.

2. General limits (strategy header)

Click Edit on the strategy name to open the details form. The example is set roughly like this:

The example has no Safety Rules and no After Bet Rules. That is normal for a “place the pick and wait for the result” bot. Add Safety Rules before Real mode (see below). Only add After Bet Rules if you intend to trade the position (green-up / time exit) rather than leave it to settle.

3. Market conditions — when the market is allowed

These rules look at the market, not the runner.

Time to bet. The example places bets about 5 minutes before the official start. That is the most common miss. If your URL feed only lands 2 minutes before the off, the window has already closed and the tip stays white. If you bet 30 minutes out on a thin horse market, you may not get matched. Change this to match how late the tips actually arrive — then confirm in Simulation on a live card.

Overround. The example blocks backs unless the book is roughly 100–115%, and lays unless it is roughly 85–100%. That skips broken or extremely biased books. If Strategy Reports show the overround rule failing on every race, either the market is genuinely poor or the band is too tight for that sport — widen it slightly rather than deleting the rule.

Leave other market filters off until the basic path works. Extra competition/country filters here will silently skip tips whose markets you already loaded.

4. Selection conditions — which side and which odds

Default bet type: Back. If the CSV has no BetType column (or you tick ignore BetType on the staking rule), every tip is backed. Change this to Lay if you want to lay a list — for example a tipster whose backs lose, or a system that is meant to be laid. You do not need a different CSV for that; the strategy can override the file.

Min/max selection price: 1.01–20. Anything outside that band is skipped. Longshot horse tips at 25.0 never get bet until you raise the max. Favourite-only lists can drop the max to 4.0 or 6.0 so outsiders in the same file are ignored.

If the CSV already has MinPrice / MaxPrice, the staking rule also checks those unless you ignore those fields. Two price filters at once is a common “nothing bets” bug — either put the band in the CSV, or in the strategy, not both with different numbers.

Back/lay price ratio (spread). The example refuses the bet if back and lay are too far apart (a wide market). Thin races and obscure football leagues fail this often. If tips look correct but never fire, open Strategy Reports and see whether this ratio rule is the one staying red. Loosen it for those sports; keep it on liquid UK racing.

5. Price settings — what odds are requested

The example asks for a price 2 ticks inside the best available back (a slightly better price than you can take immediately). On big markets that often still matches. On small horse fields, the best price may only have £8 available and the rest sits a tick or two worse — so part of the stake sits unmatched.

If your goal is “just get on the tip”, set the request to the available price (0 ticks) or even one tick worse. If your goal is a better average price and you accept some unmatched, keep the 2-tick improvement. Watch the unmatched column in Simulation before you decide.

6. Staking tab — the rule that actually uses the tips

Order on this tab matters. Rules run top to bottom.

1. Put Level/initial stake (or percent of bank) first so the bot knows a base stake.
2. Put Bet on imported selections/tips immediately after it.
3. Do not bury the imported-tips rule under other staking plans — those can consume the cycle before the tip is considered.

Open Bet on imported selections/tips (the arrow in the middle of the rule). You will see two important controls.

Provider / tipster name. Leave it blank to bet every row currently in Manage Tips. Type a name to bet only that set. Several names are allowed, separated by commas, with no extra quotes:

BotBlog Demo,RedDragon,System A

The name must match the Provider column exactly (same spelling, same spaces). This is how you run one strategy per tipster and read P/L separately. A blank field on a catch-all bot will grab tips that a per-tipster bot was supposed to own — and because of the one-bet rule below, the catch-all wins.

Ignore fields. The CSV may include BetType, Size, Points, Price, MinPrice and MaxPrice. By default the staking rule uses those values when they are present. Tick ignore when you want the strategy to win:

• Ignore BetType — force Back or Lay from the selection tab (laying a losing tipster without editing their file).
• Ignore Size / Points — stop the file dictating stake (see points, next).
• Ignore MinPrice / MaxPrice — use only the strategy’s 1.01–20 (or whatever you set), not the tipster’s band.

7. Points and stake — the multiplier people miss

If you do not ignore Points, stake is:

actual stake = Level/initial stake × points on that tip

Worked example: Level stake is £10. The tip has Points of 5. The bot stakes £50, not £10. A “risky” tip with 0.25 points would stake £2.50. That is how many tipsters mean “confidence”.

If the CSV has no Points column, you just get the level stake (£2 in the example).

If the CSV has a Size column, that can set the bet amount directly unless you ignore Size. Do not leave Size, Points and a recovery staking plan all active until you have seen one simulated bet and checked the stake in the bet list.

Until the path is proven, keep level stake and ignore Points/Size. Add points or percent-of-bank later.

8. What the CSV is allowed to override

That is why two people can import the same TippingSports URL and get different bets: one honours the file, the other ignores BetType and Points and uses their own Lay + £2.

9. Safety Rules, then Simulation

Add Safety Rules on the duplicate before you ever switch to Real:

• Max daily loss for this strategy (a number you can shrug at)
• Pause after 3–5 consecutive losses
• Optional max bets per day so a looping CSV cannot empty the account

Also set the global P/L cap in BFBM Settings. Imported tips are still just bets.

Then:

1. Confirm Simulation is on.
2. Start only this duplicated strategy (stop the original EXAMPLE).
3. Wait for a tipped event inside the time-to-bet window.
4. In Manage Tips the row should go from white → green and show a Bet ID. Green means this tip is used up.
5. Open Strategy Reports if it stays white — you will see which rule failed (time, overround, price, Provider name, already bet).

A successfully linked tip also shows Betfair Event ID, Market ID and Selection ID in Manage Tips. Red text usually means the row did not match a market (wrong name, missing EventName, or Auto Load never loaded that fixture). No IDs + no Auto Load for that market type = the staking rule has nothing to shoot at. See troubleshooting.

One tip = one bet

The staking rule may place only one bet per imported row. After that, the row is green. Any other strategy that also uses Bet on imported selections/tips on the same Provider will skip it.

That is why you must not run the catch-all example and a “System A only” copy at the same time: whichever fires first owns the tip.

If you genuinely need two bets on the same pick, use one of these — not two copies of the same staking rule on the same Provider:

1. Duplicate the CSV rows with a different Provider name (e.g. BotBlog Demo and BotBlog Demo 2). Second strategy filters on the second name. Simplest.
2. Trigger + follower. Strategy A bets the tips as usual. Strategy B does not use the imported-tips staking rule. Instead, on Selection conditions, use Only if specified strategy has bets and point it at A (matched or unmatched on the same selection). B sets its own side, price and stake. A must be running. Give both enough time: both at “5 minutes before” usually works; both at 5–10 seconds often means B never sees A’s bet in time.
3. Tips as a market filter only. Market condition Bet only on markets for which tips are imported, then pick the runner yourself (lay the favourite, back the home team, and so on). The tip names the race/match, not the runner. This condition does not consume the tip, so several bots can share it, and B does not depend on A having already bet.

Use option 3 when the service always means the same kind of bet (always lay the favourite). Use option 1 or 2 when the file names specific horses or scores and you want a second stake or a hedge on that same selection.

One Setup Per Tipster — and Per Sport

Do not run one catch-all bot on every row in Manage Tips. Horses, football and greyhounds need different markets, different time windows and different stakes. Two tipsters need different P/L and different daily loss caps. A blank Provider field on the example strategy will bet the lot at £2, five minutes before the off, odds 1.01–20 — which is wrong for most of those lists.

The pattern: one duplicated strategy per tipster, and a second copy of that strategy per sport if the same person (or the same CSV) sends more than one sport. Pair each copy with an Auto Load rule for that sport. Stop the original EXAMPLE.

What is “one setup”

Name copies so you can see them at a glance: Tips_Horses_RedDragon_Sim_v1, Tips_Football_Betaminic_Sim_v1. Use the strategy Group by field (cosmetic only) to bucket them — e.g. Imported – horses and Imported – football.

How the split works

Best case — each list has its own Provider name. Tipster A’s CSV uses Provider=RedDragon, tipster B uses Betaminic System 12. Strategy A’s staking rule has only RedDragon. Strategy B has only Betaminic System 12. They cannot steal each other’s tips. This is also how Proform should be set: one strategy per system name, not “all imported tips” plus System A.

Same Provider, mixed sports. Some files dump horses and football under one name. Then you still make two strategies with the same Provider, but each one also has a market filter so only the matching rows can pass:

• Horse copy: event type Horse Racing (or market type WIN / PLACE)
• Football copy: event type Soccer and market type MATCH_ODDS or OVER_UNDER_25 as the file uses

A WIN row cannot satisfy the football copy; a MATCH_ODDS row cannot satisfy the horse copy. They do not compete, because the wrong sport fails market conditions before the one-bet rule matters.

If you skip the sport filter and run two strategies on the same Provider, they do compete: whichever fires first turns the row green and the other stays silent.

Never leave a third strategy with a blank Provider running next to these. Blank means “every tip in Manage Tips” and it will take the bet first.

Add a second tipster (or a second sport)

1. Prove the first copy in Simulation (tip goes white → green, stake looks right).
2. Select that working strategy → Duplicate selected. Do not duplicate the EXAMPLE again unless you want to start from defaults.
3. Rename immediately. Change Group by if you use groups.
4. Staking → Bet on imported selections/tips → put the new Provider name (exact match). For a second sport of the same tipster, keep the Provider and add the event / market type filter instead.
5. Retune time-to-bet, min/max odds, ticks, level stake and Safety Rules for this list. Do not assume horses and football can share “5 minutes / 1.01–20 / £2”.
6. Add or check the matching Auto Load rule (sport + market type + time window).
7. Start only the copies you want. Confirm the EXAMPLE and any blank-Provider bot are stopped.

Starter settings per sport

These are starting points for the duplicate — not staking advice. Change them after you have seen a few simulated bets. Full Auto Load windows: Auto Load guide.

Tennis and other sports follow the same idea: duplicate, lock the event type, set a time window that matches how late the tips arrive, and Auto Load only that market type. In-play tennis is a different job — see the tennis guide rather than stretching this pre-off template.

Worked example: three setups at once

Suppose Manage Tips shows three Providers after auto-load: RedDragon (UK horses), Betaminic Home (football Match Odds), and BotBlog Dogs (your own greyhound CSV).

1. Tips_Horses_RedDragon_Sim_v1 — Provider RedDragon, Horse Racing / WIN, 5 minutes before off, £2, daily loss £20. Auto Load: UK/IE horse Win, 30–5 min.
2. Tips_Football_Betaminic_Sim_v1 — Provider Betaminic Home, Soccer / MATCH_ODDS, 10 minutes before KO, £2, daily loss £20. Auto Load: soccer Match Odds (Betaminic can also load its own markets — still keep this strategy’s sport filter).
3. Tips_Dogs_MyCSV_Sim_v1 — Provider BotBlog Dogs, greyhounds / WIN, 3 minutes before off, £2, daily loss £10. Auto Load: greyhound Win.

All three can run together. Strategy Reports and P/L stay per strategy, so you can switch off dogs after a bad night without touching football. If RedDragon also started sending football rows in the same Provider name, you would duplicate setup 1, add a Soccer filter, and retune time/odds — not widen the horse bot to “all sports”.

TippingSports, Betaminic and Proform

• TippingSports — one unique URL can contain several tipsters. That is still one auto-loading row, but one strategy per Provider name those tipsters use. Download their starter XML if you want, then still set your own stake and Safety Rules.
• Betaminic — duplicate once per system you follow. Put that system’s name in the Provider field (or whatever appears in Manage Tips). Different stakes per system are the point of splitting.
• Proform — one strategy per system name; do not also run the catch-all. Advanced import can restrict which systems even enter Manage Tips, which keeps the grid cleaner.

If You Are a Tipster

BFBM is useful on the publish side as well as the follow side.

1. Build picks in the Markets grid (My S.) or from your own model.
2. Export a clean CSV with a stable Provider name (your brand).
3. Host that file at a https URL that always returns the latest CSV (your site, a storage bucket, or a tip platform that already speaks BFBM format).
4. Tell customers: Manage Tips → paste URL → Tips auto loading → duplicate the example strategy → put your Provider name in the staking rule.
5. Optionally share a starter XML strategy that already filters on your Provider — still tell them to run Simulation and set their own stake and safety limits.

A URL feed beats emailing spreadsheets: followers do not re-import by hand, and you can update the file through the day. Keep the column layout identical every time so existing auto-load settings keep working.

When Tips Do Not Get Bet

Use Strategy Reports to see which condition failed. Wider checklist: troubleshooting.

Risk and Realism

• A feed is not an edge. Use daily loss caps as if you wrote the picks yourself.
• Check liquidity before raising stakes — thin horse markets will leave you unmatched even when the tip is correct.
• Never import an untrusted strategy XML from a tipster without reading the rules in Simulation.
• If you follow several tipsters, one strategy per Provider (and per sport) keeps P/L and loss caps honest. A blank Provider field will bet the lot at the same stake.

Keep the PC awake — a VPS is the usual way to poll a URL all weekend. Stuck on a setting? Ask Bob answers from the official BFBM manual.

See Also

• Auto Load markets
• Staking plans
• Safety Rules
• Simulation mode
• Horse racing automation
• In-play football statistics (the other guide most users miss)
• BFBM hub