Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Handicapping
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Famous US handicappers=== The first very well known sports handicapper in American culture was [[Jimmy Snyder (sports commentator)|Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Pace|first=Eric|title=Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder; A Sports Oddsmaker|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/22/sports/jimmy-the-greek-snyder-76-is-dead-a-sports-oddsmaker.html|work=The New York Times|date=22 April 1996|access-date= }}</ref> During his career he worked for [[CBS]] on their Sunday morning show, ''[[The NFL Today]]''. Because sports betting had a social taboo at the time, Snyder was not allowed to mention betting on games specifically. Instead, he would predict the score. Over the years the attitude towards sports betting, and handicapping in general, has changed. [[Billy Walters (gambler)|Billy Walters]] was profiled by ''[[60 Minutes]]'' because of his handicapping abilities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Logan|first=Lara|title=Sports Betting: Billy Walters|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6FAUQ6SFKM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/d6FAUQ6SFKM| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|work=CBSNewsOnline|access-date=16 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Billy Walters, and other unknown members of the Computer Group, developed a system for handicapping games and beating [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] sportsbooks. [[ESPN]] wrote an article on [[Haralabos Voulgaris]] naming him as one of the premier [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] handicappers in the world.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eden|first=Scott|title=Meet The World's Top NBA Gambler|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/2935/meet-the-worlds-top-nba-gambler|work=ESPN The Magazine|date=21 February 2013|publisher=ESPN|access-date=21 February 2013}}</ref> He claims to have developed a system that uses advanced statistical analysis to predict the outcomes of games. In the past, very few people did any mathematical calculations when handicapping sporting events. [[Predictions]] were usually made from hunches or information not readily available to the public. However, with the advancement of technology computers powerful enough to run advanced simulation models now frequent homes and offices. Advanced statistics such as DVOA, Win Shares and Points per Possession are talked about in mainstream media. Brian Burke, author of The Fifth Down blog featured in ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote a formula using advanced statistical techniques that has shown consistency correctly predicting [[National Football League|NFL]] winners.<ref>{{cite web|last=Burke|first=Brian|title=Game Probabilities Are Back|url=http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/n-f-l-week-4-game-probabilities-are-back/|work=The New York Times|date=27 September 2012|access-date=27 September 2012}}</ref> Handicapping, as a profession, is very similar to being a [[stock analyst]]. Like [[Wall Street]] did in the 1970s, the sports handicapping industry is undergoing a quantitative revolution. Many successful handicappers also use money management systems similar to financial [[investment]] professionals. The most popular, and mathematically superior, system is the [[Kelly criterion]]. It is a formula for maximizing profits and minimizing losses based on payout odds and win probability of the underlying [[asset]]. The Kelly criterion is often used to determine [https://leans.ai/what-is-a-unit-in-sports-betting/ units in sports betting] which some handicappers assign to weight each prediction.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)