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This [1] was an interesting article from a 3 years ago about Tennis "Court Siders" - people paid to transmit results of games back to betting syndicates faster

This [1] was an interesting article from a 3 years ago about Tennis "Court Siders" - people paid to transmit results of games back to betting syndicates faster than the official bookmaking results services. Kind of low-latency sports betting... [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32402945 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32402945

anonu 8y ago
I wonder about the technical details. Data gathering hardware, just one button or two or more? What data is important to collect? Just points? What is the edge in doing this? Data quality? Latency? How much faster are you than TV feeds?
- aglavine 8y ago
  I knew someone who was paid for this. He attended tennis matches and transmitted by cell phone things like set-defining points (change real time betting odds instantly) and player injuries.
- eeeuo 8y ago
  It is likely used with live betting systems(common on many gambling sites) where you can bet on the outcome of a single game of tennis. The line for the game will move with each point to reflect the new situation. If a better is able to get information about points seconds ahead of the other betters, they are able to make bets on the updated odds before the line moves as the rest of the betters react to the new information. For example, consider a game with evenly matched opponents. At 0-0, the server might have odds at ~1.5, with the non-server having odds at ~2.7[1]. When the score moves to 0-15, the odds might move closer to even, eg 1.9/1.9. If you're able to get information about the first point ahead of the crowd and place a bet on the non-server at 2.7 when the true "predicted outcome" is closer to 1.9, you obviously have a massive advantage. This can also be used to bet on sets or matches, but the advantage is much smaller. Still, a better with any sort of advantage will always win over the long term. [1] Yes, those don't add up to 100%, welcome to the vig :)
- paulcole 8y ago
  Several of the answers to the questions you’re asking are given in the linked article.
- chillydawg 8y ago
  In this particular instance (I know the guys who ran that tennis betting syndicate), they had a tennis model that, if you told it who was about to score a point, would tell you roughly what the prices in the market should move to. If you can get that "about to score" info before the rest of the market, you slam in as many bets as possible based on the reasonable chance that the market will move in the correct direction and end up getting 1.4 for something that should be 1.35. Do that all day on every tennis match you can and that's a lot of profit. You don't need spectacular statistical ability, you need minimum latency and execution skill.
AznHisoka 8y ago
“These courtsiders and scrapers operate in the shadows, compromise the legal market, fuel the illegal market and have no vested interest in the integrity of sports.” It is amusing to see integrity and sports betting in the same sentence. You created a game where people are incentivized to make bets on the next action. What do you expect? Of course people will want to gain an edge anyway possible. Oh this is gambling. The House has to win everytime. Sorry I forgot.
- gadders 8y ago
  Yeah, it's kind of weird. All you are doing is reporting the "market data" faster than the official feed.
Gargoyle 8y ago
Sort of like the big con in the movie The Sting, but real.

anonu 8y ago

I wonder about the technical details. Data gathering hardware, just one button or two or more? What data is important to collect? Just points? What is the edge in doing this? Data quality? Latency? How much faster are you than TV feeds?

aglavine 8y ago
I knew someone who was paid for this. He attended tennis matches and transmitted by cell phone things like set-defining points (change real time betting odds instantly) and player injuries.
eeeuo 8y ago
It is likely used with live betting systems(common on many gambling sites) where you can bet on the outcome of a single game of tennis. The line for the game will move with each point to reflect the new situation. If a better is able to get information about points seconds ahead of the other betters, they are able to make bets on the updated odds before the line moves as the rest of the betters react to the new information. For example, consider a game with evenly matched opponents. At 0-0, the server might have odds at ~1.5, with the non-server having odds at ~2.7[1]. When the score moves to 0-15, the odds might move closer to even, eg 1.9/1.9. If you're able to get information about the first point ahead of the crowd and place a bet on the non-server at 2.7 when the true "predicted outcome" is closer to 1.9, you obviously have a massive advantage. This can also be used to bet on sets or matches, but the advantage is much smaller. Still, a better with any sort of advantage will always win over the long term. [1] Yes, those don't add up to 100%, welcome to the vig :)
paulcole 8y ago
Several of the answers to the questions you’re asking are given in the linked article.
chillydawg 8y ago
In this particular instance (I know the guys who ran that tennis betting syndicate), they had a tennis model that, if you told it who was about to score a point, would tell you roughly what the prices in the market should move to. If you can get that "about to score" info before the rest of the market, you slam in as many bets as possible based on the reasonable chance that the market will move in the correct direction and end up getting 1.4 for something that should be 1.35. Do that all day on every tennis match you can and that's a lot of profit. You don't need spectacular statistical ability, you need minimum latency and execution skill.

AznHisoka 8y ago

“These courtsiders and scrapers operate in the shadows, compromise the legal market, fuel the illegal market and have no vested interest in the integrity of sports.” It is amusing to see integrity and sports betting in the same sentence. You created a game where people are incentivized to make bets on the next action. What do you expect? Of course people will want to gain an edge anyway possible. Oh this is gambling. The House has to win everytime. Sorry I forgot.

gadders 8y ago
Yeah, it's kind of weird. All you are doing is reporting the "market data" faster than the official feed.

Gargoyle 8y ago

Sort of like the big con in the movie The Sting, but real.