Tennis, anyone?

Here's a great story on this quant dude betting on tennis (!!).

For someone who says he bets millions of dollars on tennis a year, sports gambler Elihu Feustel doesn’t watch many matches.

“Which one is Granollers?” Feustel says, referring to Marcel Granollers, a Spaniard ranked 35th in the world. “Is he the one that’s good on clay courts?”

Feustel, from South Bend, Indiana, says he doesn’t need to pay attention to who the players on the men’s ATP World Tour are to double his money. He relies on an algorithm he created using data from 260,000 matches to make about 30 bets a day on Grand Slams such as the Australian Open, which started Jan. 13.

Check this out:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-15/tennis-quant-s-system-doubles-his-money-without-knowing-players.html

BCS -- take the points

In this year's BCS game, I like Auburn and the points.  Too many people are expecting a blowout for Florida State.  Although the public is more on Auburn than I would like, I like the fact that Auburn played a much tougher schedule than Florida State.

I looked up some stats -- and this is the widest spread in terms of strength of schedule (SOS) ever in a BCS national championship game.  AND -- when there has been a reasonable spread in terms of SOS, the team that played the tougher schedule has gone 4-0 or 5-1, depending on the spread you look at...

Look for a closer game than expected and take the points.    

Don't Bet the House: When it goes too far!

Crazy story at Yahoo.com...

Betting on football matches has long been an integral part of the game for supporters but Henry Dhabasani's attempts to 'make things a little more interesting' have had dire consequences.

Dhabasani, of the Iganga district of Eastern Uganda, has lost his home as a result of Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Sunday after a high-stakes wager with a neighbour.

Fellow local and United fan Rashid Yiga put up his car and wife as collateral in the deal, emerging the victor on the back of Robin van Persie's 27th-minute header at Old Trafford.

Read more here:
http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/extra-time-arsenal-supporter-left-homeless-manchester-united-184100023--spt.html