Written on October 30, 2001 — and later.
• The results of week #7 in NFL compared to the prognostication of SPORTS.XLS:
I present now the prognostication of SPORTS.XLS for NFL week 8. This time I include the “wins” parameters as well. How to interpret a line (for those not so savvy in this matter):
The home team is designated as “1”, the visiting football team as “2”. In the case above, Steelers is “team 1”, Ravens is “team 2”. “Team 1” is favored '5 to 1' in the “wins” category. In other words, 'the odds in favor of a Steelers win are 5 to 1'. Of course, 'the odds against a Steelers win are 1 to 5'. A most curious game is :
It is very rare to find a totally equitable game, such as this one. Since a “tie” is also very rare in the NFL, I preferred the term “undecided”. This game is a perfect coin toss…
There is nothing I can do for you, bookies! Nor can I do anything for pay-for sports betting services. A simple spreadsheet is, at least, as effective as the mountain of (not so necessary) data the pay-for betting services offer. Something else is unfair. They never thanked me for SPORTS.XLS!
Read a detailed analysis of the performance of SPORTS.XLS Excel spreadsheet and how to take advantage of the sports betting spreadsheet:
Home1 Visitor2 1 2 Points1 Points2 Prognostication
Steelers Ravens 5 1 23.6 11.9 Steels by 11.7
In the “final predicted score” category: Steelers 23.6, Ravens 11.9 (Steelers by 11.7).
Home1 Visitor2 1 2 Points1 Points2 Prognostication
Redskins Seahawks 3 3 19.5 19.5 Undecided
• Analysis of the results of SPORTS.XLS, the sports betting spreadsheet.
• The excitement is higher when it's hard to predict the results. The NFL 2002 season offers great excitement. Valid for college football, too. There are no favorites! Or, every team has a good shot at winning any game, against anybody! Looks like the stats play a minor role. That's not exactly true! The results still follow the stats, within statistical limits, of course. What the pro football fans and especially the bettors see is the discrepancy between the betting lines and the actual results. The betting lines try hard to ignore the randomness. I use in-house sports betting software. It is founded on the same principles as LotWon. Therefore, randomness plays a very important rule in generating combinations. The programs are applicable to parlays. The 5-team parlay software is clearly more successful than the statistical betting spreadsheet!
Here are some useful sports links. They offer schedules, betting lines, odds, results, and useful information. Things can change dramatically on the Internet. You may need to copy-and-paste the addresses, or google the essential keywords.
espn.go.com - ESPN.com- the #1 sports web site in the world.
cbs.sportsline.com - CBS.SportsLine.com – the website of CBS Sports.
NFL.com – the official site of the National Football League.
Read Ion Saliu's first book in print: Probability Theory, Live!
~ Founded on valuable mathematical discoveries with a wide range of scientific applications, including probability theory applied to sports betting, football, NFL, spreadsheet prediction software, the role of past results.
Resources in Sports Betting: Theory, Mathematics, Excel Spreadsheet, Systems, Parlays.
See a comprehensive directory of the pages and materials on the subject of sports betting, software, systems, and parlays.
• Specific software for sports betting
~ Sports.xls, NFL2001.xls, Toto1x2.xls: Templates in Excel spreadsheet software to use with the sports betting system presented on the pages: "Sports Prognosticating or Betting: Best System" and "Analysis of the results of SPORTS.XLS, the sports betting spreadsheet";
~ BETUS32.exe, intelligent random combination generator for sports betting, the American way; the player bets on either the favorite team to win by more than the point spread, or the underdog to lose by less than the point spread;
~ AMBET.exe, is much like BETUS32.EXE — but with a twist! You can add W or L at the end of a team name; add W if the team was a winner in the previous game (week); add L if the team lost the last game (week);
~ TEAMS.exe, combination generator for sports betting; the player selects any number of games, then the number of outcomes.