The Strategy of Sports Betting

     One of the biggest growing trends in recent years is the sports betting industry, but it hasn't been an easy road to get where it is now. It is legal, but many people see it as simple gambling. However, in the world of daily fantasy basketball, it is a lot more than just luck.
     Between 2010 and 2017, there was an 85% increase in fantasy sports, with over 60 million people in the US and Canada participating. The biggest markets are fantasy football and fantasy basketball, with over 33 million dollars being collected annually in fees on various platforms like Draft Kings. There are several different extremely complex strategies advanced users may use, which have been proven to be successful. There are several different schematics that get added into these mathematical equation, such as rookies, sophomores, amount of entries, win percentages, all-stars and more. The biggest boost in win percentage is the all-stars variable, which gives you nearly a 4.5% higher chance to win, and rookies boost you up to almost 4%. On a more interesting note, the variable of City Population (the population of the city the team calls home) brings you down .22% if the city has 100,000 more people than the average city population. This variable will not bring your odds up, but they can bring them down.
     I have never gotten into the fantasy sports craze, as I simply do not have the time or smarts to keep up with it's extremely fast, constantly changing world, but I do find it interesting that certain variables that seem useless can have a big effect on our chances of winning. I knew that things like fantasy football or basketball required a good knowledge of the game, but it's cool to hear just how much complicated strategy there is behind it.

Source: Evans BA, Roush J, Pitts JD, Hornby A. Evidence of Skill and Strategy in Daily Fantasy Basketball. Journal of Gambling Studies. 2018;34(3):757-771. doi:10.1007/s10899-018-9766-y