Michael Reid

In 2018, I joined Derivco as a hands-on Lead Software Developer, focusing on the Sportsbook’s B2B platform. My role expanded when Derivco acquired the team and intellectual property of the trading platform I pioneered at Betway.

Leveraging Derivco’s extra resources, I played a pivotal role in expanding the Trading development team from a foundational group of 12 to now managing a headcount of over 60 working across Derivco's Malta, Barcelona and London studios.

Following a strategic reorganisation in January 2024, I transitioned from Head of Software Engineering to overseeing a merged department of Software Engineering and Product for the Sportsbook’s Trading division.

My current projects include:

• The continuous development of custom sports models, including Football, Tennis, Basketball, Darts, Bet Builders, Cashout, and more.
• Integration of various feeds from third-party providers such as Betradar, Betgenius, IMGA, Don Best, and Swish Analytics.
• A comprehensive overhaul of back-office tools.
• Design and development of trading back-office automation and risk management tools to minimize manual intervention.

Technology Proficiencies:

• OOP, currently C# (.Net Core) and SQL Server.
• Extensive use of (Azure) Cloud services, including Kubernetes, Serverless Functions, Cosmos DB, and Web Apps.
• DevOps and CI/CD, currently implementing full Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with YAML templating for pipelines etc.
• Utilization of Splunk among other observability tools.
• Maintenance of legacy on-premises systems, including backend .NET Windows services, Windows VMs, and Octopus Deploy.

In early 2015, I joined Betway with the mission of establishing a Sports Modelling R&D department. As one of the two founding members, I played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between software engineering and trading within the Betway group. My primary responsibility was to leverage my previous experience in modelling and trading automation to design an innovative trading platform from scratch.

During my three years at Betway, I worked hands-on to automate various aspects of the day-to-day content produced by the sports trading department. This automation not only streamlined processes but also contributed to increased margins through more accurate models and user-friendly Trading software.

Key Projects:

• R&D of Core Infrastructure: I was a key contributor to the development of core infrastructure for sports models and business logic.
• Integration of In-House Models: I successfully integrated various in-house designed sports and market models.
• Third-Party Feed Integration: I facilitated the integration of third-party sports betting feeds.

Technologies Used:

• C# (.Net Framework).
• WPF
• MSQL
• Windows Server
• RabbitMQ
• ELK Stack

A standout achievement during my time at Betway was the bespoke football system I designed and developed. This system autonomously handles the creation, updating, in-play trading, and settlement of thousands of football fixtures per week. By decoupling from off-the-shelf products like Betradar, it empowered the operator to create a unique product with differentiators from the market.

In 2012, I joined betinternet on the Isle of Man as the Head of Sports Trading and Operations. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, I oversaw a team of over 30 individuals. My primary objective was to leverage my technology background to drive the betinternet sportsbook forward through automation and third-party data. Despite the senior management role on paper, I actively participated in designing and developing the sports trading technology.

Key Projects:

• Sports Models: Designed and implemented sports models.
• Third-Party Data Integration: Successfully integrated various third-party sports data feeds.
• Customer-Facing Front End Redesign: Led a complete overhaul of the customer-facing front end.

Technologies Used:

• C# (.Net Framework)
• SQL Server
• WPF
• Redis
• Log4Net
• Wordpress

During my time, I achieved significant results for betinternet:

• Increased sportsbook turnover by over 35% (after a decline of 5 years).
• Raised gross margin on the sportsbook by over a third, transforming the operation from loss-making to profitable.

In 2009 I joined Sportingbet on the British Channel Island of Guernsey. My role within Sportingbet was one in which I truly made use of my key skills in both technology and sports trading.

A key part of this position was to use technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the trading department's odds offering. I also worked closely with an outsourced development team in Chennai, India both remotely and in person.

Key projects:

• Creating mathematical football models (goals, corners, cards, etc)
• Implementation of business logic
• Provision of infrastructure

Technologies used:

• C# (.Net Framework), MSQL, WPF, Silverlight
• Excel/VBA

In Sportingbet my key achievement was automating much of the Pre-Match and In Play football business logic (originally managed by over 100 football traders). This led to Sportingbet offering one of the most unique and comprehensive Pre-Match and In Play football offerings on the market – with our only true peer in the market at that time being bet365.

In 2006 I took up an Operations Manager role in an online start-up sportbook, helping to get the product launched and then mature into a functional business.

Key technical projects:

• Various automations of pre-match odds compilation
• Design and implementation of 'bet referral' system for traders
• Design and implementation of a Fraud Prevention System (mostly targeted towards Poker product)
• Payment provider integrations

Technologies used:

• ASP (VbScript), VB, MSQL, IIS
• Excel/VBScript

I joined Sean Graham as a junior IT systems administrator in the Sports Trading department and I quickly progressed in the company to become overall manager of the start up online betting aspect of the business.

Key projects:

• Various Excel/VBA automations for sports odds compilation
• Redesign of company frontend website
• Various customer facing features developed on website

Technologies used:

• ASP (Vbscript), MSQL
• HTML, CSS etc
• Excel/VBA