Sports Statistics as a Tool for Gambling

As a child growing up the best part of following sports was keeping up with the best players by reviewing their individual stats. I was always aware of the level of competition and what teams had the edge based sole on their individual players. for the most part I generally had an idea of who would win just looking at basic statistical numbers. 40 years ago trading cards where popular amongst kids and young adults. The photo of the player made the card aesthetically pleasing but it was the historical data on the back of the card that made one card more valuable than the next. Essentially the better the numbers on the back of the card the better its monetary value. One could easily review a players track record and forecast future performance. This is applied in today's form of player trading as a new era of stats based virtual player acquisition known as fantasy sports allows fans to create teams using some of the same criteria in much of the same way that a true player personnel director would. Similar to a sports organization fans know that if they can acquire as much talent based on their track record, that their team will perform at a higher level thus adding value to their team. The value added however differs from that of a true sports organization. Virtual teams seek value through earnings that are received through the practice of gambling. Whether placing a wager through a community pool or through online gambling services such as www.fanduel.com, the idea is to invest in players who will provide the highest return. The same holds true in traditional sports betting where bets are placed on teams not only because of team performance but on accumulated talent with proven statistical track records. The most successful gamblers as such is the case with player personnel directors will not only seek to acquire the most obvious players based on hard stats. Keeping in mind that no matter how good a player is they all have strengths and weaknesses. Some have higher statistical numbers in one area and lower numbers in other areas. The key is to create balance that identifies strengths and weaknesses in all players and in turn acquires players that can make up for these differences and complement one another. Although much more thought goes into player acquisition in business, the principles used and risk of the unknown holds true for both. No matter how good the research or reliability of the data, the amount of variables involved are so vast that any pursuit of perfection would always have to be viewed rationally.