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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies > Decision theory > General
This book is a collection of applications of analytic techniques to
a number of popular sports including baseball, basketball, hockey,
Jai Alai, NFL football and horseracing. We focus on both the
statistics of the sporting events and betting strategies on the
events. The subject is fascinating as there are many twists and
subtle complicated decisions.Sports analytics applies mathematical
and statistical methods to important questions in the structure and
performance of sporting activities using the same basic methods and
approaches as data analysts in other disciplines.Sports games and
events are a fruitful area for study and to evaluate betting
strategies as there is extensive data and mean reversion. With
prices changing continuously, risk arbitrage bets can be made.
Moreover, little errors, like a penalty to a player or an error in
a call by a referee, can change the score of a game and
corresponding betting prices. The collection and analysis of
in-game data can inform players, coaches and staff on effective
decision making during sporting events.Novel features of the book
include: an analysis of who were the greatest baseball batters;
analyses of the players most important to team success (and they
are not necessarily the best players) in basketball, NFL football
and hockey; a tutorial on risk arbitrage and its applications to
NFL football and NBA basketball; a discussion of many ad hoc
decision rules by coaches and players and what was really optimal;
in the racing section we discuss breeding, the analysis of various
bets like the Rainbow and ordinary Pick 6, a discussion and betting
on the most important races and a visit to the Breeders' Cup with
Ed Thorp to demonstrate the place and show system in action.
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