This book provides a detailed account for how aspiring sports bettors can use a Monte Carlo simulation to improve the quality, and hopefully profitability, of their betting, and in doing so unravels the mystery of probability and variance that lies at the heart of all gambling. ...
Few people manage to make money from gambling, and fewer still make a living from it. Written for hardened and novice betters alike, Joseph Buchdahl's essential guide examines, through various numerical techniques, how fixed odds punters may learn to beat the bookmaker, protect profits through a sensible approach to risk management, and turn high-risk gambling into a form of low-risk investment.
Gambling offers a means of gaining authority over the unknown, granting us a sense of control over uncertainty. Almost always that sense is illusory - gambling, including betting and investing, is essentially random - yet for many it is nonetheless profoundly rewarding. This book attempts to explore the reasons why.
An investigation into gambling which provides the answers to why betting favourites can lose less money than longshots and why some bookmakers are more efficient than others and why some like winners and others do not. Joseph Buchdahl investigates the questions faced by gamblers and the techniques that are used by punters and bookies alike. He helps the punter find value for money in an industry that appears to be mostly built on trust and the influence of chance.
People have been gambling, in one form or another, for as long as history itself. Why? Money, entertainment, escape and a desire to win are all traditional explanations. Arguably, however, these are secondary considerations to a higher order purpose: a craving for control. Gambling offers a means of gaining authority over the unknown,...