Advanced Topics

Section 1: Variance (Part 1) A general understanding of the role that variance plays in betting and in life can help prepare advanced investors for the swings that naturally occur in betting. “Variance” has a very specific definition in statistics, but for our purposes it will be used to describe the naturally occurring, short term hot and cold streaks which …

Money Management

Section 1: Primer Tired of losing his money to the house, a bored millionaire in Las Vegas turns to you and offers you a proposition that you can’t refuse. He pulls out a stack of casino chips and declares: “I’ve got a 100-sided, evenly weighted die, which I am going to roll. If it comes up 1 through 57 you …

Sports Betting as an Investment

Section 1: Sports Betting as an Investment Making Money by Betting on Sports Most people think that sports betting at is about finding ‘sure things,’ but in reality such ‘locks’ are nothing more than gamblers’ fancy. Just as in real estate, currency, stocks, or any other speculative market, ‘sure things’ simply do not exist. As a professional sports bettor, my …

2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket Analysis

The first part of the following example is from 2 years ago. I’m short on time and felt coming up with an example from this year’s bracket and making changes would be time better spent getting this out to you. Filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket is more than just picking the first round and then matching your predicted winners …

2016 NCAA East Team Capsules

2016 East Region (1) North Carolina (28-6) North Carolina beat Virginia in the ACC Tournament final to avenge their regular season loss to the Cavaliers but the Tarheels are just 5-5 against teams I rank in my top 40 (1-1 against Virginia, 1-1 against Duke, 1-1 against Notre Dame, a home win over Miami, a road loss at Louisville, a …

2016 NCAA West Team Capsules

2016 West Region (1) Oregon (28-6) Oregon is a dangerous team that plays their best against other good teams. The Ducks lost 5 games this season to teams ranking outside of my top 40 but they were an impressive 8-1 against top-40 teams with the only blemish being a 20 point loss in Berkeley. Oregon beat Arizona twice (once in …

2016 NCAA South Team Capsules

2016 South Region (1) Kansas (30-4) Kansas is the #1 overall seed in this year’s tournament and the Jayhawks have no weaknesses, as they are a good shooting team (9th in effective FG%) while also ranking 5th in compensated points per possession allowed. Kansas is 15-3 against NCAA Tournament caliber teams and were upset by a bad team just once …

2016 NCAA Midwest Team Capsules

2016 Midwest Region (1) Virginia (26-7) Virginia is better than they appear to be because their average margin of victory isn’t as impressive as other elite teams. That’s in large part due to playing their games at the slowest pace in the nation but Virginia stacks up with other elite teams in compensated per possession ratings (3rd in the nation). …