June 4, 2019 9:55 pm

Wednesday, Go Inside the World of Sports Betting with Industry Experts

You’ve got the money, you’ve got the guts – who are you betting on? Or should you check a few algorithms first? Maybe scroll through the injury lists? On this episode of Playing with Science, Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice dive head first into sports betting. Sports betting may seem like a new thing in the United States given the recent Supreme Court ruling, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been going on under the table and across the globe.

To start, we check in with sports writer Brett Smiley, who runs Sports Handle. Sports Handle covers the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the betting world and Brett is right there in the heart of it all. You’ll hear about the rise of legal sports betting in the US. Discover more about why sports betting was made illegal in the first place. We discuss Fox’s partnership to bring betting to the Super Bowl, similar to how Sky Sports functions in the UK. Brett gives us tips on what to avoid if you’re a beginner who wants to get into the game.

Next, statistics expert David Beaudoin stops by to share his work in developing programs to predict the outcome of NBA and NHL games. You’ll learn about all the factors one has to account for when trying to place the most strategic bet possible. He tells us about his work that possibly re-shaped the way NHL teams approach pulling their goalie in the last few minutes.

David shares how to guarantee yourself a profit at the end of the day no matter which team you bet on. You’ll also hear why the general public tends to focus on recent trends more than it should. Should you bet against a team on a hot streak? Should you bet for a team stuck in a losing streak?

Lastly, Todd Fuhrman, host of Bet the Board and FS1 correspondent, joins us to take us inside the house. A former Las Vegas odds maker, Todd gives us insight into how the psychology of the gambling mind influences decisions on both sides of the glass. You’ll also discover why sports betting and playing the stock market are similar…and very different. All that, plus, we ponder how machine learning and artificial intelligence will shape the future of sports betting.

Please join us tomorrow night for Inside Sports Betting right here on our website, as well as on our Playing with Science channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen