Opus 5 Performance Fix — Confidence Collapse & Over-Betting
Deep performance analysis of Opus 5's first week revealed structural issues: only 1 HIGH confidence bet in 7 days (vs 86% under Opus 4.6), 31% of bets placed at LOW confidence losing money, and £28.50 bankroll drawdown. This release addresses the root causes — restoring quality-over-volume discipline, learned wisdom from 4 months of production data, and proper Kelly consultation.
- FixLOW confidence tracked bets banned. Selections below 58% probability are now tips only — the tracked ledger exists to grow the bankroll, not to speculate. This single change would have prevented £13.81 in losses from 14 losing LOW-confidence bets.
- FixCounter-argument guidance removed. The previous instruction telling the AI that 'counter-arguments adjust by 3-5pp' was causing systematic confidence collapse — Opus 5 was downgrading every bet from HIGH to MEDIUM after finding any objection. The AI is now encouraged to call HIGH confidence when evidence clearly supports it.
- ImprovementVolume discipline enforced: maximum 2 tracked bets per run (3rd requires HIGH confidence). Opus 5 was averaging 5.6 bets/day vs Opus 4.6's 3.4 — more activity but dramatically lower quality.
- FeatureLearned Wisdom section added to all prompts — 4 months of hard-won insights from ~500 tracked bets and ~2900 tips. Includes MLB pitcher-edge thresholds, DNB/spread outperformance data, sport-specific anti-patterns, and process lessons. Knowledge transfer without reintroducing the problematic self-learning loop.
- ImprovementKelly consultation now mandatory before stake sizing. The AI can still deviate but must articulate why in its rationale — preventing the silent overexposure that was burning bankroll on thin edges.
- FeatureRolling outcome feedback: the AI now reviews its last 10 settled bets (with W/L results, confidence, and P&L) at the start of each run. Provides a non-permanent learning signal — enough context to self-correct without accumulating the prohibitions that paralysed previous strategy files.
- ImprovementMission reframed from 'the product must feel alive' to 'three good bets that win beats ten with a 70% loss rate'. Tips are now explicitly positioned as the content engine; tracked bets as the precision bankroll instrument.