Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football

Reviews: Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football

Wayne Winston addresses a myriad of topics in baseball, basketball and football via a statistics-heavy approach. There are 50 different "bites" spread out over 350 pages. There are many familiar topics for quantitative sports fans - Pythagorean theorem, platoon effects, player evaluations in different sports, and power rankings to name but a few.

The entire book is moderately math heavy - over half of it is devoted to quantitative solutions using algebra, statistics and Excel worksheets (which you can find online via included addresses). If you do not enjoy the mathematical side of sports, you'll find most of the book unreadable. If you do enjoy math, stats or using quantitative approaches to gambling, this book is a nice review of most of the interesting approaches out there. The bibliography of cited books reads like a "who's who" of credible quantitative sports texts.

A vast majority of the "bites" are already discussed extensively in other sources. The advantage of this book for most readers is that you can get such a diverse taste of different topics under one cover. If you are a sports modeler, the wide array of topics and approaches could help stir your own creativity. On more than one topic, I found myself saying "this assumption isn't valid!" But my making these assumptions and challenging them yourself, his approach opens up many unintended doors for the reader. For example, one bite addresses and argues that teams should pass more and run less than they do. To support this hypothesis, the book looks at a payoff chart for the yardage gained from a pass attempt versus a run attempt. The payoff chart does not consider volatility (rushing for 3 yards EVERY play is better than passing for 20 yards 1/4th of the time). It also doesn't look at the "disaster side" of passing - interceptions, quarterback fumble distribution, or greater offensive issues in a 2d and 10. Each article does make you think, which is its own payoff.

My only criticism is that the writing style seemed a little clunky. If you are not fluent in math, the combination of writing style and the amount of non-math quantity may turn you off.

More details: Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football

Math behind betting

Marriage of mathematics and gambling go a long way. The chances of winnings can be calculated by making informed decisions and analyzing the situation at hand.

The math in Parlays betting is: (no. of teams)*(chances of one team winning the first time)*(chances of the same team winning the second time) = house edge.

Each betting method has its own math and each math in the end gives the house edge result. If we see, the more the number of teams, the more chances of the house winning and you losing.

Types of betting

There are some 20 different methods of wagering: Straight bets, money lines, Spread, Runline, Puckline, Game Totals, Team Totals, Buying Points/Moving the Line, Parlays, Teasers, Round Robins, If Bets. Action Points/Bets, Action Reverse, Action Reverse Bird Cage, Futur Wagering, etc.

Tips and Advices

Understand the probability behind betting. Everything boils down to strategy. Gambling is not based on luck.

Reading the odds is an essential skill. Betting website professionals can compare odds from various other websites and give you the info.

Betting system varies for each game. Find out which betting will work the best for the chosen game. For example, Spread system works best with high scoring games like American Football and Parlays with baseball.

Bet on home teams.

Bet at the right time.

Gamble and alcohol NEVER go together

The bookmakers release lines containing the best numbers. Betting on the best line should be your top priority.

Betting is intelligent gambling. If you don't use your brain you will end up losing all your money to the house, or in this case, the website. So ensure that you have adequate knowledge of the betting systems before you step into the American sports betting arena. Play intelligently, bet calculatingly.

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