Tag: soccer

More about penalties

More about penalties

Following the recent chatter on penalties, I note the absence of them so far! Somebody posted on the forum about a very useful tool that you can use.

I didn’t know this existed, so thanks to the poster for finding it. It confirms what I was talking about, but more importantly it could prove very useful if a match goes to penalties. This is because it allows you to examine all previous results from the penalty takers and …

29/06/2010 | By More
Ouch, that’s embarrassing

Ouch, that’s embarrassing

I don’t think it needs any more comment really does it? Apparently the English league is the most competitive and highly paid in the world with some of the best individuals. And individuals they will remain!!!

I’ve consoled myself by smashing into a few horse races that followed the match, sorry about that! But one of them was the Irish Derby, too good to miss. Grabbing a few hundred will allow me to drown my sorrows tonight.

Loading

27/06/2010 | By More
Coin flippers re-union at 3pm

Coin flippers re-union at 3pm

Had a look at THE match stats this morning.

The market has priced in just a shade over two goals for the Germany vs England match. England have a 0.10 goal advantage. The market is pricing in a tight nervous affair where one goal could be enough, but a draw is the most likely result. Obviously if you share two goals amongst two teams then a draw is very likely.

I sense a nervous two hours come 3pm but having …

27/06/2010 | By More
The maths behind penalities – Part Two

The maths behind penalities – Part Two

Yesterday we saw that goalkeepers are basically glory seekers, or at least showing that they understand the psychology of failing the right way. Today we give a final answer on what David James should do if faced by a German penalty today.

Often the best way to look at something is to turn it on it’s head. When we looked at penalities we saw that while kicks are randomly distributed, the goalkeepers actions are not. So lets look at when …

27/06/2010 | By More
The maths behind penalities – Part One

The maths behind penalities – Part One

Groups stages, tight games, can’t afford to lose, Germany, England. This must only add up to one thing, penalties!

Are we going to suffer again, will there be the same agony as in prior years? Penalties is another area I have looked at and I think the findings may be of use to any prospective England goalkeeper facing a penalty, football traders may also benefit.

First off, you can reach some easy conclusions. From spot to net, the ball will …

26/06/2010 | By More
That match

That match

Given the gloom and doom I am almost tempted to back England this evening. But much of that depends on price and what the team looks like when it is announced. The match is priced for 2.56 goals with a 1.60 advantage to England, yeah right! England just haven’t looked a potent threat upfront and I think it’s optimistic to imagine a free flowing high scoring game, lets hope I am wrong!

If you look at the world cup so …

23/06/2010 | By More
Blunt start by England

Blunt start by England

In fact, most of the matches have been pretty blunt, which seems to often be the case in the world cup early matches. England had a great chance to really get off to a good start after taking the lead so early, but I don’t feel there were aggressive enough going forward. England now need to convincingly win the next two games or they could end up on the wrong side of the draw.

No doubt the following image will …

12/06/2010 | By More
How much!

How much!

It was interesting to read this article today which details just how much money each premiership club collects each year.

It’s amazing to think that any club could go into administration with so much money being dished out each year. Couple this with parachute payments and it seems that the premier league is clearly set to pull away from the old football league in terms of development. There is an interesting graphic here that clearly illustrates the amount of the …

17/05/2010 | By More
FA Cup Final

FA Cup Final

A curious one this year. Chelsea are on for the double and will surely try their best to get it. Pompey have performed miracles to get the final and wont want to lose it. Chelsea are at a very short price so I’d be nervous mopping up at that price.

Curiously we have profiled this match and it has come out very similar to the Chelsea vs Stoke match on the 25/4/10. Of course Chelsea won this 7-0! All similar …

15/05/2010 | By More
Europa league final

Europa league final

Who would put it past Fulham to end the season in glory tonight? Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Hamburg have all been beaten by Fulham en route to the final, with just Atletico Madrid now standing in their way.

The match itself is priced for a low scoring affair with a slight edge to Athletico. The market is pricing in a paltry 2.40 goals, which means the draw should be a likely result for 90mins. I predict if you played this …

12/05/2010 | By More
Would you back the draw at 1.30?

Would you back the draw at 1.30?

If a football match was near the end, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes or so, 1.28 may represent value. But before the match has started, no way! Mathematically speaking it’s highly improbable for the draw to be priced at 80% certainty in a fair match. However these strange odds seem to occur often at the end of the Italian football season. Not all of them play out as the odds intend but it’s certainly very strange to keep seeing such …

08/05/2010 | By More
Barcelona vs. Inter Milan

Barcelona vs. Inter Milan

I have to admit to being underwhelmed by the champions league this year. There haven’t been many superb matches, certainly not from a trading perspective. Last night wasn’t much different when Bayern Munich demolished Lyon without so much as a last desperate effort from the side that was about to go out. It’s all been a bit disappointing as I love strong incentives to win and things like late goals, that’s where the really big results come from.

The market …

28/04/2010 | By More
Start of season, end of season

Start of season, end of season

As you are probably aware from my posts, there is nothing more I like that a football match with a strong incentive behind it. At the start of a season, form is difficult to spot early on. Though promotion and relegation isnt’ so tricky. But it’s the end of the season when things really begin to happen. With many matches classed as ‘six pointers’ for one reason or another, this time of year has always been a fertile hunting ground. …

24/04/2010 | By More
Bit of a Kop out

Bit of a Kop out

No surprise to see Tom Hicks and George Gillett exit stage left at Liverpool. Struggling to refinance their debt they have to find a viable exit, but it’s a terrible time to sell. Liverpool are heading for a poor season and the attractiveness of the club must have been dented by their lack of success, not only this season but in prior seasons also. For the amount of wages they pay they really should be performing better, but I am …

17/04/2010 | By More
Even odder

Even odder

Thanks for all the people that emailed in about the Chievo vs Catania match. Many different views and opinions on this match. Also thanks to my Italian friends that got in contact to talk about this particular game.

No surprise that the match ended up 1-1 as strongly predicted by the market. 95% of all the money on the match was traded on the draw which is pretty much unheard of in a soccer match. There is vigorous discussion on …

22/03/2010 | By More
Europa League

Europa League

More fun planned this evening with an infinite range of permutations available on each match. But the two English matches do look the most interesting.

Fulham are 3-1 down, but a home goal would create a massive difference to that score line and you get the feeling anything is possible with Fulham. I wouldn’t bet against Fulham pulling it off this evening. The match is priced for 2.6 goals with a slight advantage to the home team. I think that’s …

18/03/2010 | By More
Broke it like Beckham

Broke it like Beckham

It was sad to see Beckham break down in that match last night. The good news for England fans is that it doesn’t seem to have affected the odds on England winning the world cup. Though at 7.00 these seem pretty short I think!

I really felt Beckham’s pain last night because I have suffered the same injury, I hope his doesn’t have the impact it had on me. I used to be very sporty and where ever I went …

15/03/2010 | By More
Classic set up

Classic set up

A wonderful set up occurred in the FA Cup clash between Reading and Aston Villa this afternoon. Against the odds,  Reading took a 2-0 lead againsts premiership outfit Villa. The teams went off for half time in distinctly different moods. A break in play is the perfect opportunity for teams to turn things around and that Villa did. Rejuvenated from their half time talk it wasn’t look before Villa were suddenly 3-2 in the lead. You could have backed them …

07/03/2010 | By More
Europa league matches

Europa league matches

Had some fun last Thursday messing around on the Europa league matches. I like the Europa league as they break down the matches into two blocks. One going off at 18:00 UK time and the remainder at 20:05. This gives you two cracks at the whip at trading them. This week was also the second leg of a knockout competition, which I prefer. I also tried an experimental strategy to small stakes on Thursday and that is what this post …

27/02/2010 | By More
Champions league trading

Champions league trading

Porto vs. Arsenal

Priced at a lowly 2.30 goals, this is fairly typical construction for a match of this type. Porto are priced as having a slight edge but only just. The market is pretty much spot on in terms of pricing.

B.Munich vs. Fiorentina

A less competitive clash according to the market. Priced at 2.90 with Munich having a 1.30 goal advantage. Under 2.50 goals offers long term value, I would have priced at 2.14 vs. 2.22 in the …

17/02/2010 | By More
Quiet transfer deadline day

Quiet transfer deadline day

Often the transfer deadline throws up a few opportunities, due to the high correlation between wages and league position. A buy or sell can translate to a corresponding improvement or decline between now and the end of the season. This year it was very quiet. The only thing of note was Portsmouth net sale which isn’t going to help their prospects of avoiding the drop. If you followed my advice of a little while ago you should have a healthy …

01/02/2010 | By More
FA CUP value

FA CUP value

Where is the value in today’s FA Cup?

To be honest any recommendations would come with a large pinch of salt. While predicting matches in the same league is quite a straightford process, doing the same in a cup competition can be pretty tricky. If there are any matches I am likely to get caught out on, its quite likely to be a cup competition, especially in the early rounds. As such I’ll do some simple things when the screen …

23/01/2010 | By More
Over / Under 10.5 goals

Over / Under 10.5 goals

You don’t see that market very often, but you did last night. What a remarkable match, Aston Villa 6 Blackburn 4! At 0-2 down Villa were matched in volume at 10’s, this match was a trading bonanza! The market was just slightly out on this one forecasting just 2.60 goals. Excluding specifics of the match itself, I can only find three 6-4’s in my recent detailed database of 10,189 matches. So its around at least a 3400-1 shot. Great entertainment …

21/01/2010 | By More
Portsmouth – To be relegated

Portsmouth – To be relegated

I’ve had a lot of fun on this market in the past and there is another potential opportunity. Portsmouth already looked pretty doomed given their position at the bottom of the table at this time of year. On top of that you have players low on confidence and a financial position that is, at best, precarious. At 1.30’s that information seems to already be discounted into the market.

But, HMRC has now been given the go ahead for their winding …

19/01/2010 | By More
Trade of the week

Trade of the week

One of my favourite types of trades appeared this week. The trade where you look at one market but actually trade another. These opportunities appear all the time but typically in knockout competitions and ante post markets where a result somewhere will definitely affect other prices in a same or similar market.

This week was a little more clear cut but unusual.  ITV decided to cover the Liverpool vs Reading FA CUP match. It had all the signs of the …

15/01/2010 | By More
Time is money

Time is money

Odds can move in mysterious ways in a football / soccer match but generally they are quite predictable. Using Soccer Mystic to model the likely behaviour is a good way to come up with strategies that could generate a profitable scenario. Is this video I demonstrate one of those scenarios which can be used on any match that gets turned in-play.

Loading

14/01/2010 | By More
1234 & 9-1

1234 & 9-1

Amazing result from Spurs on Sunday. Not often you get to see 10 goals in a match, especially nine of the them in the second half. That said, Spurs did get a 6-4 against Reading on 29/12/2007. In the same season we also had Portsmouth vs Reading on the 29/9/07, which produced a 7-4 scoreline. I have actually watched a 10 goal match. It was Southampton vs Coventry, which Southampton won 8-2. Some time ago though, that was back in …

23/11/2009 | By More
How to turn over a 1.60 shot

How to turn over a 1.60 shot

I knew Southampton would lose yesterday, or at least not win. How? Well there were two key overriding factors in yesterdays match.

First, I had bothered to make the trek to the south coast to watch the match. Because of the unsocial hours of the sports markets I don’t get the chance to watch much sport so when there is a team nearby that plays when I can watch, I’ll often nip along. Unfortunately for Southampton every time I watch …

16/11/2009 | By More
Real Copa Crash

Real Copa Crash

Real Madrid crashed out of the Copa Del Rey last night. As though that wasn’t bad enough for Real Fans it was to lowly AD Alcorcon. Priced at 1.39 to win the first leg away Real Madrid promptly got thrashed 4-0. But that was OK because they had 90 minutes of the second leg to turn it around. Last night they stumbled to a late 1-0 win and stumbled out of the cup.

Real Madrid play Zurich at home in …

11/11/2009 | By More
Football value this evening

Football value this evening

A quick glance on this evenings football has through up Leeds as a clear value candidate. Rather than duplicate the information here, please have a quick read of the posting on the forum. The thing that stands out on this match is that it is a clear value candidate. Very often things are a lot more marginal, but here there is clear room.

Bear in mind that value only appears over time, so you need to stake with that …

10/11/2009 | By More
Hypersmash.com