Sports betting systems
Encyclopedia
Sports betting systems refers to a set of events that when combined for a particular game for a particular sport represents a profitable betting scenario. Since sports betting
Sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome.-United States of America:Aside from simple wagers such as betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl, sports betting is...

 involves humans, there is no deterministic edge to the house or the gambler. Systems supposedly allow the gambler to have an edge.

Sportsbook
Sportsbook
In the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...

s use systems in their analysis to set more accurate odds. Therefore the novice gambler may believe that using a system will always work, it is the general consensus that at some point, the oddsmakers
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...

 will have adjusted for the system to make it no longer profitable. Very short-lived systems are called trends. Any single event that estimates a selection to have a higher likelihood of winning is called an angle as they are meant to be used in conjunction with other angles and trends to produce systems.

Betting on systems

Systems can be deceiving. Any sample space can be constrained enough with meaningless criteria to create the illusion of a profitable betting system. For example, a coin can be flipped with heads being home teams and tails being road teams. Heads and tails each have a 50% probability of landing but if the amount of flips is limited to a small number, it is conceivable to create the illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....

 of predicting heads will come up 75% of the time.

That, in conjunction with the fact that sportsbooks adjust their odds according to the systems makes it difficult to follow systems indefinitely. The sportsbooks are slower to adjust the odds in some sports versus other sports depending on the number of games played and the amount of money they take in from bettors
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

.

Betting systems based on statistical analysis have been around for awhile, however they have not always been well known. One group that was known for their accurate predictions was called The Computer Group. They formed in Las Vegas in 1980 and successfully wagered on college football and basketball games for years making millions. Billy Walters, who was recently profiled on 60 minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

, is the most famous member of the group.

Sports betting systems have not always been well trusted or liked by bettors. The stigma is that a sporting event has too many intangibles that a machine can't predict. However, things have begun to change recently as owners of teams have begun to take notice of the value in statistics. Front offices have hired noted statistical analysts such as Jeff Sagarin
Jeff Sagarin
Jeff Sagarin is an American sports statistician well-known for his development of a methodology for ranking and rating sports teams in a variety of sports...

.

Books like Sabermetrics
Sabermetrics
Sabermetrics is the specialized analysis of baseball through objective, empirical evidence, specifically baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research...

, by Bill James, and Basketball on Paper by Dean Oliver
Dean Oliver
Dr. Dean Oliver Ph. D is a prominent contributor to the statistical evaluation of basketball, or sometimes called APBRmetrics after the forum of a growing community of basketball analysts. He is the author of Basketball on Paper, the former producer of the defunct Journal of Basketball Studies...

, have begun to bring detailed statistical analysis to the forefront of sports betting systems. Blogs are now being written more frequently about the topic and sports handicapping services such as RLD Investments have made claims of great success using sports betting systems from advanced statistical research.

Determining systems

Determining systems is a matter of using computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

 analysis tools and extracting all the possible games that meet a bettor's criteria. Then the bettor
Bettor
A Bettor is a person who makes bets based on particular information, or feeling, on sporting or other events in the hope of gaining financial profit.-Low Vs. High-stake bettors:...

 analyzes the results of those games to make a determination if one team is favored over the other.

Multiple regressions

The stronger the historical info you have the more accurate your results will be. You will never be able to call a game within 100% of accuracy because there will always be undetermined agents, but if you have the right info you are surely able to anticipate the game like the pros.

Historical data you need to know to apply multiple regressions is: Wins, Losses, Win to Lose ratio, home game record, away game record, past ten game outcomes, win/loss streaks, injuries, team changes (new coach, loss of important player, etc.)

Statistical anomalies

These are deviations from the common rule and give you a competitive advantage. You may be surprised to know that most scores in a football game happen only in the 3 and 7 point markers? Of course there are always missed extra points, safeties and conversions, but when compared to all points scored, they only account for a minor percentage. This point statistical distribution factor opens up the possibility of statistical anomalies.

To find anomalies you need to cautiously review players and team statistics. You should also know significant factors such as: injuries, does the team tend to win more in indoor or outdoor sports stadiums, weather (for outdoor games), what atmospheric conditions is the team used to playing in, etc.. You can also look for anomalies based on public opinion and team psyche.

Factors that are used into determining betting systems are a mix of psychological, motivational, biological, situational factors that, based on past performances, support one team over another. It is generally believed that more than one factor pointing towards a team is needed to have a successful betting system.

See Also

  • Statistical Soccer (Football) Predictions
    Statistical Soccer (Football) Predictions
    Statistical Football prediction is a method used in sports betting, to predict the outcome of Association football matches by means of statistical tools. The goal of statistical match prediction is to outperform the predictions of bookmakers, who use them to set odds on the outcome of football...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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