After reaching 6,000+ in the tutorial round, I hit a wall – none of my attempted improvements made progress. While stuck, I stumbled upon a deeply puzzling phenomenon while reviewing log files.
When trading bananas, I noticed something bizarre: despite having standing orders in the market, other bots kept executing trades at worse prices while bypassing mine. For example:
⦁ At time n, I placed an ask order (10@4987)
⦁ At time n+1, the trade logs (state.mkt_trades) showed two bananas traded at 4988
⦁ Yet my 10@4987 order remained completely unfilled
This defies logic: per the wiki’s rules, my orders should have infinite execution speed, meaning no trades should occur at worse prices (4988) while my better-priced order (4987) remains unexecuted.
This anomaly raises critical questions:
1. Are there hidden priority rules beyond price-time?
2. Could there be latency or batch processing effects?
3. Is there a “hidden order book” not reflected in the public data?
The discovery suggests either:
⦁ A fundamental misunderstanding of the matching engine
⦁ Undocumented market mechanics
⦁ Potential bugs in the simulation
While frustrating, this mystery might hold the key to breaking through the 6,000 barrier – if I can decode why “phantom trades” bypass my orders.
