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The Voice Line / when it fails
engaged, suspended, declined
What happens when a call does not end in a bet
A voice channel fails in ways a screen does not. The line is engaged, the hold runs long, the market is suspended mid-call, or the bet is declined after the price is read. This page counts the failure states and what a caller does next.
Desk spec
- failed calls
- 180
- cut or engaged
- 84
- market suspended
- 52
- declined
- 44
- re-placed worse
- 31
- of suspended
- 59.6%
the price read aloudThe spoken price, obtained after a hold. Across 1,200 matched bets it was worse than the screen in 408 and worse by a mean 2.7%.
the recordingThe record of what was said, kept for a fixed window. Of 96 disputes it decided 71, and 46 of those against the caller.
the channel costHold time plus call time. A mean 9.5 minutes on the line, or 4.75 where a number is billed at 0.50 a minute.
Direct answerOf 180 invented failed calls, 84 were cut or engaged before an answer, 52 were stopped by a market suspended mid-call and 44 had the bet declined after the price was read. Of the 52 suspended calls, 31 re-placed later, and the later price was worse for most of them.
where 180 failed calls went
| failure | calls | what the caller does next |
|---|
| cut or engaged | 84 | calls back; the hold is longer next time |
| market suspended | 52 | waits and re-places; 31 of the 52 re-place |
| bet declined | 44 | moves the stake or the market |
| re-placed after a suspension, at a worse later price | 31 of 52 |
the suspension, priced
52 suspended calls
re-placed 31 59.6%
abandoned 21
of the 31 re-placed, the later price is
usually worse, because a suspension is
usually followed by the market settling,
not by it drifting back
The failure a screen does not have
A screen does not go engaged and a screen does not hold. What it does instead is time out or refresh, and the price is still there when it does. A voice channel replaces those with a queue and a spoken price that has to be re-obtained, and the cost of a failure is another call.
A cut call is not a lost bet. Nothing was instructed, so nothing was placed; the recording holds the failure as clearly as it holds a bet.