Inefficient markets allow investors to consistently outperform the market. To demonstrate that inefficiencies exist in sports betting markets, we created a betting algorithm that generates above market returns for the NFL, NBA, NCAAF, NCAAB, and WNBA betting markets. To formulate our betting strategy, we collected and …
This paper optimizes sports betting strategies using neural networks and portfolio theory.
problem Optimizing betting strategies in sports gambling.
method Combining neural network models with portfolio optimization, integrating Von Neumann-Morgenstern Expected Utility Theory and the Kelly Criterion.
result Achieved 135.8% relative profit during the English Premier League season.
Investigates sports betting strategies using modern portfolio theory and Kelly criterion.
problem Mitigating risk in sports betting investments.
method Modern portfolio theory and Kelly criterion, with modifications for practical risk control.
result Adaptive fractional Kelly method is suitable across various sports settings.
BBE simulates betting exchanges to generate synthetic data for AI research.
problem Lack of real data for AI/ML in betting exchanges.
method Agent-based simulation model of a sports-betting exchange.
result Generates large, high-resolution synthetic data for AI/ML.
BBE simulates sports betting exchanges for data generation.
problem Creating synthetic data for betting strategy testing.
method Agent-based model (ABM) for sports betting exchange simulation.
result Simulation runs up to 1000 times faster with GPU.
Tennis is a popular sport worldwide, boasting millions of fans and numerous national and international tournaments. Like many sports, tennis has benefitted from the popularity of rigorous record-keeping of game and player information, as well as the growth of machine learning methods for use in sports analytics. Of par…
Study proposes new methods to convert betting odds into accurate probabilities for sports forecasting.
problem Convert betting odds to accurate outcome probabilities for sports forecasting and market efficiency analysis.
method Proposes two methods: Odds-Only-Equal-Profitability-Confidence (OO-EPC) and Favourite-Longshot-Bias-Adjusted Generalised Linear Model (FL-GLM).
result Proposed methods outperform existing methods in empirical tests and real-world applications.
Decentralized prediction markets use AMMs to pool and withdraw liquidity, improving financial properties.
problem Creating a fair and efficient decentralized prediction market.
method Developed a liquidity-based AMM structure for prediction markets, studied liquidity management, and proposed trading fees.
result The decentralized AMM structure satisfies financial properties and can be managed with liquidity withdrawal.
Study confirms mispricing in sportsbooks but finds data issues affect results.
problem Mispricing and inefficiency in online sportsbooks.
method Replication using Wikipedia buzz factor metric and backtesting.
result Data quality issues affect betting results; only one strategy remains profitable.
Study compares financial and gambling markets, finding similarities and potential applications.
problem Lack of comprehensive study on gambling markets compared to financial markets.
method Comprehensive comparison of five aspects: platform, product, procedure, participant, and strategy.
result Well-established financial strategies can be applied to gambling markets, particularly in peer-to-peer betting exchanges.
Machine learning predicts US will win most Olympic medals in 2020.
problem Improve Olympic medal forecasting accuracy.
method Two-stage Random Forest machine learning model.
result Model outperforms traditional forecasts for three previous Olympics.
We study the relationship between social media output and National Football League (NFL) games, using a dataset containing messages from Twitter and NFL game statistics. Specifically, we consider tweets pertaining to specific teams and games in the NFL season and use them alongside statistical game data to build predic…
The paper proposes using experts' insights in machine learning tasks.
problem Lack of reliance on experts' opinions in machine learning tasks.
method A three-step framework for integrating experts' insights into machine learning models.
result Proposed models achieve more stable and lower log loss results compared to top solutions.
Prediction and modelling of competitive sports outcomes has received much recent attention, especially from the Bayesian statistics and machine learning communities. In the real world setting of outcome prediction, the seminal Élő update still remains, after more than 50 years, a valuable baseline which is difficult to…
Technology has had an unquestionable impact on the way people watch sports. Along with this technological evolution has come a higher standard to ensure a good viewing experience for the casual sports fan. It can be argued that the pervasion of statistical analysis in sports serves to satiate the fan's desire for detai…
The paper analyzes sports commentary to automatically recognize events and extract insights.
problem Automatically recognizing and categorizing major actions in sports events from commentary.
method Used multiple Natural Language Processing techniques for classification and sentiment analysis.
result Identified insights from analyzing live sport commentaries and classifying major actions.
Law of iterated logarithm derived from betting strategy.
problem Deriving the law of the iterated logarithm.
method Using a betting strategy's wealth guarantee.
result Law of the iterated logarithm established.
Kelly betting is a prescription for optimal resource allocation among a set of gambles which are typically repeated in an independent and identically distributed manner. In this setting, there is a large body of literature which includes arguments that the theory often leads to bets which are "too aggressive" with resp…
Modeling horse race betting odds with Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.
problem Analyzing how herding and informed bettors affect odds movements.
method Deriving an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process from vote shares and odds movements data.
result Identified microscopic and macroscopic patterns in odds convergence.
In the UK betting market, bookmakers often offer a free coupon to new customers. These free coupons allow the customer to place extra bets, at lower risk, in combination with the usual betting odds. We are interested in whether a customer can exploit these free coupons in order to make a sure gain, and if so, how the c…
We propose a novel "tree-averaging" model that utilizes the ensemble of classification and regression trees (CART). Each constituent tree is estimated with a subset of similar data. We treat this grouping of subsets as Bayesian ensemble trees (BET) and model them as an infinite mixture Dirichlet process. We show that B…
Wearables like smartwatches which are embedded with sensors and powerful processors, provide a strong platform for development of analytics solutions in sports domain. To analyze players' games, while motion sensor based shot detection has been extensively studied in sports like Tennis, Golf, Baseball; Table Tennis and…
Paper simplifies complex sports analytics models for better understanding.
problem Difficulty in interpreting deep learning models for sports analytics.
method Developed a linear model tree that mimics deep learning models and explains its knowledge.
result The linear model tree achieves high accuracy and provides actionable insights.
Over the past two decades, Machine Learning (ML) techniques have been increasingly utilized for the purpose of predicting outcomes in sport. In this paper, we provide a review of studies that have used ML for predicting results in team sport, covering studies from 1996 to 2019. We sought to answer five key research que…
Paper approximates Kelly betting for wealth growth.
problem Optimizing wealth growth in Kelly betting.
method Taylor-based approximation for quadratic programming.
result Closed-form approximate solution with interesting properties.
New betting strategy reduces regret to ln(ln n) with protection against adversarial data.
problem Tackles the problem of minimizing regret in betting against adversarial and stochastic data.
method Combines insights from Robbins and Cover, using a mixture strategy.
result Exhibits a regret of O(ln(ln n)) on almost all paths, with O(log n) regret on the complement.
Gamblers lose in long bets despite casino claims, study shows.
problem Gamblers losing in seemingly fair gambling scenarios.
method Theoretical and experimental analysis of two-armed Futurity slot machines.
result Casinos have a win rate greater than 50% in long bets, making them unfair.
Framework for real-time win probability and player ability in sports.
problem Real-time evaluation and player assessment in team sports.
method Continuous dominance indicator (T-score) and T-process formulation.
result Decomposes competitive advantage into interpretable statistical components.
We introduce a general framework for continuous-time betting markets, in which a bookmaker can dynamically control the prices of bets on outcomes of random events. In turn, the prices set by the bookmaker affect the rate or intensity of bets placed by gamblers. The bookmaker seeks a price process that maximizes his exp…
Blockchain fan tokens boost sports fan engagement by 50%.
problem Low fan engagement in sports decisions.
method Analyzed 3,576 fan token polls to identify determinants of participation.
result Fan tokens engage 4,003 participants per poll, 50% of token holders.
Testing-by-betting strategies almost surely go bankrupt under null hypotheses.
problem Understanding the behavior of betting strategies under null hypotheses.
method Analyzed the asymptotics of betting strategies under null distributions, focusing on the almost sure divergence of sums.
result Testing-by-betting strategies go bankrupt with probability one under any non-degenerate null distribution.
Enhanced ICM ensemble detects concept drift better with novel betting functions.
problem Addressing Concept Drift in machine learning models.
method Refined ICM approach with improved betting functions and base estimators.
result The ensemble approach outperforms previous methods on benchmark datasets.
The betting CI outperforms classical methods in constructing confidence intervals for bounded means.
problem Constructing nonasymptotic confidence intervals for bounded means.
method A betting-based approach to define and time-uniform variants of confidence intervals (CSs).
result The betting CI matches the fundamental limits, outperforming existing empirical Bernstein CIs.
PEAK tests means of multiple data streams with sequential betting.
problem Testing means of multiple data streams with nonparametric methods.
method Sequential, nonparametric testing using a betting scheme.
result PEAK provides up to 85% reduction in samples for stopping.
Sequential tests for two-sample and independence testing using betting strategies.
problem Testing sequential data for two-sample and independence without kernel selection issues.
method Prediction-based betting strategies that adaptively determine distribution and joint distribution.
result Prediction-based tests outperform kernel-based approaches in high-dimensional or structured data settings.
The study shows how probability weighting can lead to betting in a risk-averse economy.
problem Understanding how probability weighting affects economic behavior and risk aversion.
method Examining a von Neumann-Morgenstern economy with an RDU agent to model probability weighting effects.
result Probability weighting can lead to endogenous betting in an economy with common beliefs.
This work examines the effects of allowing borrowing in betting-based hypothesis testing.
problem The impact of allowing borrowing in betting-based hypothesis testing.
method Examined the consequences of allowing borrowing in each round, adjusting the rejection threshold accordingly.
result There is no extra price to pay for the possibility of borrowing if a path-dependent threshold is used.
We develop a model of how information flows into a market, and derive algorithms for automatically detecting and explaining relevant events. We analyze data from twenty-two "political stock markets" (i.e., betting markets on political outcomes) on the Iowa Electronic Market (IEM). We prove that, under certain efficienc…
A new method combines multiple bounds and betting strategies for selective prediction, improving risk coverage in data-scarce settings.
problem Selective prediction with risk control in data-scarce domains.
method Combines concentration inequalities, multiple-testing corrections, and betting-based confidence sequences.
result Transfer-Informed Betting achieves tighter bounds and better coverage in data-scarce settings.
Scores political leanings in Web3 betting markets.
problem Understanding political motivations in decentralized prediction markets.
method Constructing PBLS from Polymarket data, analyzing 15k addresses, 4k events, 8k markets.
result Validated PBLS through internal and external comparisons, revealing political and profit motives.
A simplified Bayesian approach for online sports rating.
problem Rating players/teams based on game outcomes.
method Bayesian approach using Kalman filter principles.
result Known algorithms like Elo and TrueSkill are special cases.
Kelly criterion, that maximizes the expectation value of the logarithm of wealth for bookmaker bets, gives an advantage over different class of strategies. We use projective symmetries for a explanation of this fact. Kelly's approach allows for an interesting financial interpretation of the Boltzmann/Shannon entropy. A…
Sequential Kernel-based Conditional Independence Testing via Adaptive Betting
problem Testing conditional independence
method Testing-by-betting on an adaptively optimized Kernel Conditional Independence statistic
result Significantly reduces Type I error inflation while preserving high power
Paper improves CI and CS for bounded means using betting and mixtures.
problem Estimating means of bounded random variables.
method Composite nonnegative martingales, testing by betting, method of mixtures.
result Empirically outperforms existing CI and CS methods.
We revisit the trading invariance hypothesis recently proposed by Kyle and Obizhaeva by empirically investigating a large dataset of bets, or metaorders, provided by ANcerno. The hypothesis predicts that the quantity $I:=\ri/N^{3/2}$, where $\ri$ is the exchanged risk (volatility × volume × price) and N…
The study analyzes games and social hierarchies, incorporating luck and depth of competition.
problem Analyzing patterns of wins and losses in games and social hierarchies.
method Generalized probabilistic models incorporating luck and depth of competition.
result Social competition tends to be deeper with many distinct levels, but there is often a chance of upset victories.
Improved trajectory prediction for team sports using sparse outputs.
problem Challenging to train deep learning models for player trajectory prediction.
method Sparse trajectory prediction and constant acceleration interpolation.
result Interpolation improves performance for all tested models.
We study the problem of nonparametric dependence detection. Many existing methods may suffer severe power loss due to non-uniform consistency, which we illustrate with a paradox. To avoid such power loss, we approach the nonparametric test of independence through the new framework of binary expansion statistics (BEStat…