The inter-tier cascade

When the inter-tier cascade kicks in

The inter-tier cascade triggers automatically when the direct match within your tier (step 1) hasn't found a match within 5 seconds. You don't have to do anything - the system widens the search on its own.

At that point, the algorithm no longer limits itself to your exact tier. It also looks at the tier just above and the tier just below yours. If you stake in Standard, the inter-tier cascade also searches for bettors in Discovery (below) and Premium (above).

How neighboring tiers are defined

The 5 stake tiers are organized in a clear hierarchy:

1. Discovery: 1K - 10K KTK
2. Standard: 10K - 50K KTK
3. Premium: 50K - 200K KTK
4. Elite: 200K - 1M KTK
5. Institutional: 1M - 20M KTK

During the inter-tier cascade, the system widens only to the immediately neighboring tiers. If you're in Standard, we look at Discovery + Premium. We never skip beyond that (Elite or Institutional stay outside the inter-tier cascade).

This limitation is deliberate: we want your match to stay within a reasonable range. If you staked 25K and we matched you against someone staking 5M, the imbalance would be absurd.

The stake adjustment to match across tiers

If you stake 30K in Standard and a Discovery takes the opposite side with 5K, the match is not balanced - there's a 25K difference.

The system adjusts: 5K on each side are matched, the rest of your stake (25K) keeps waiting. You end up with a partially matched bet:

• 5K matched against the Discovery.
• 25K waiting for another match (direct matching within your tier or the inter-tier cascade).

You see this clearly in your bet details: "Bet partially matched. 5K matched via the inter-tier cascade. 25K still matching."

Practical case: a Standard bet matched against a Discovery

Here's a complete scenario:

1. 2:00:00 PM. You bet 30K in Standard on "Real Madrid wins." Standard's minimum stake: 10K. But you stake 30K.
2. 2:00:00 PM → 2:00:05 PM. The direct match within your tier (step 1) looks for a Standard bettor taking "Barcelona wins" for at least 30K. Nothing found.
3. 2:00:05 PM. The system moves to the inter-tier cascade (step 2). It also searches Discovery (1K-10K) and Premium (50K-200K).
4. 2:00:06 PM. Found: a Discovery bet 5K on "Barcelona wins."
5. Partial match: 5K matched against the Discovery. 25K remaining in waiting.
6. 2:00:15 PM. A Premium bets 50K on "Barcelona wins." Partial match: you take 25K (the rest of your stake) out of their 50K. The Premium's remaining 25K waits for another opponent.

Final result for you: you're matched against 1 Discovery (5K) + 1 Premium (25K) = 30K in total. Your bet is now fully matched.

Your set of opponents counts 2 different physical people, but from a logical standpoint, it's one virtual 30K opponent. You win or lose against this collective pool.