Welcome to Week 2 of my Genius
Hour Project on how math and stats are implicit when betting on sports. I hope
that you all had as terrific of a week as me, starting off with the fact that
my favourite hockey team won the Stanley Cup! My main goal for this week was to
take the main terms and concepts that I learned about last week, and use them
as keywords to research how sports betting actually works. I decided to
begin by looking up definitions of “sports betting” by using keywords in Google
such as “sports”, and “betting”, “gambling”, and more. I also though it would
be a good idea for me to search for key terms and concepts that will likely
arise frequently throughout this project. This could not come at a better time,
since my all-time favourite sports team (Tampa Bay Lightning) are currently in
the Stanley Cup Finals, and I am going to place bets on them!
I was able to learn so much again this week! I also knew that having a “math brain” was beneficial in terms of financial gains – both personally and professionally – but it was interesting to see how this comes true in sports betting. Mainly, when combining two of my favourite things (sports and math), I am able to better my chances of making money through gambling and watching sports simultaneously! In general, there are 3 components of a sports bet: selection, stake (risk), and odds (Cannane & Taylor, 2019). Another important thing that I learned about this topic is that some major betting sites use backdoor algorithms, restrictions, and alleged delaying tactics to skew the competition and drive up profits! Things like these are crucial to note for anyone before they partake in such sports betting activities. One man named Daniel Laidlaw even claimed that Bet365 started putting a limit on how much he was able to bet. Shortly after, he was banned altogether from using the website, and his account had been deactivated. After investigating into the matter a bit further, Laidlaw found out that the company uses a secret algorithm that classified him as a successful bettor and therefore a risk to the company’s profits (Maguire, 2019). This company, in brief, uses MATH to investigate who may be costing them money. For instance, Laidlaw was rated at 0.0025, making him a huge threat to its bottom-line. This just goes to show consumers that, although they may think they are winning and coming out on top, the house (almost) always wins! If someone truly were gaining money from the site, they would likely appear as a threat to the company, and their account would be banned. In other words, if you win enough, the algorithm kicks in and stops you from being able to bet anymore.
I did, however, have some trouble again this week. One issue that I had pondered this week was what influence betting under the influence may have on bettors. As a secondary school teacher, we obviously encourage the students to avoid drugs and alcohol at all costs. In reality, however, many bettors are in-fact under the influence of these substance when the are betting. Therefore, I wonder if teaching students about the negative consequences of one (sports betting or drugs and alcohol) would also have help them realize the dangers of the other. An example of this in my own classroom could be me teaching my students about what I have been researching in my Genius Hour project, while simultaneously including some bits about how alcohol and drugs can play a role. On the other hand, as a physical education teacher, I could teach include in the substance use/abuse unit, some circumstances where being intoxication may be even more dangerous (i.e., gambling). It all ties in together and illustrates the importance of a holistic curriculum with multiple domains involved and cross-curricular pedagogy!
For next week’s research, I will
be getting more in-depth with my topic by relating what I have already learned
about sports betting with some mathematical and statistical facts and
understandings. This will really help my project and assist me in moving
forward with research on how statistics are used in sports betting.
References
Cannane, S. & Taylor, K.
(2019, December). In this sports betting company, the winners are called
“problem customers”. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/bet365-whistleblower-says-winners-given-delays/11768486?nw=0
Common Sports Betting Mistakes
(2020,
September). Gambling Sites. https://www.gamblingsites.org/sports-betting/beginners-guide/common-mistakes/
Maguire, D. (2019). Daniel
Laidlaw. ABC News Australia. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/daniel-laidlaw-1/11768568?nw=0
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