Cornell - Northeastern

[Trotsky]

They are 25:1 by the .04 odds above.

Not being a betting person at all this is probably a dumb question.  When Cornell is 18-to-1 to win can you bet against that event (win $1 or pay out $18)?  If so I would think you could get rich just betting against popular teams based on their delusional-fan-goosed odds.

But I'm still never betting on anything.

Sports books set their odds with such delusions in mind - but more importantly, they also reserve the right to change the odds on the fly if the betting skews one particular direction (e.g., because the delusions are stronger than usual). Changing the odds doesn't affect the odds early bettors got, but it affects the odds for new bets, so don't worry, they're pretty sure always to make a profit, and you're pretty sure to end up in the hole.

I've always assumed betting is a tax on the stupid, like the lottery, or MLM.  It's one of the billions of ways people have come up with to suck the pockets dry of people who think "I know I can beat an industry where the house is guaranteed to win because I am smarter than the other bettors," which is demonstrably proven false by the fact that the people smarter than the other bettors are the ones not betting.

[Dafatone]

They are 25:1 by the .04 odds above.

Not being a betting person at all this is probably a dumb question.  When Cornell is 18-to-1 to win can you bet against that event (win $1 or pay out $18)?  If so I would think you could get rich just betting against popular teams based on their delusional-fan-goosed odds.

But I'm still never betting on anything.

Sports books set their odds with such delusions in mind - but more importantly, they also reserve the right to change the odds on the fly if the betting skews one particular direction (e.g., because the delusions are stronger than usual). Changing the odds doesn't affect the odds early bettors got, but it affects the odds for new bets, so don't worry, they're pretty sure always to make a profit, and you're pretty sure to end up in the hole.

I've always assumed betting is a tax on the stupid, like the lottery, or MLM.  It's one of the billions of ways people have come up with to suck the pockets dry of people who think "I know I can beat an industry where the house is guaranteed to win because I am smarter than the other bettors," which is demonstrably proven false by the fact that the people smarter than the other bettors are the ones not betting.

Yeah but I made $12 last time I played poker.

[Trotsky]

Yeah but I made $12 last time I played poker.

I'll alert statisticians to consider that when defining expected value.

[CU2007]

They are 25:1 by the .04 odds above.

Not being a betting person at all this is probably a dumb question.  When Cornell is 18-to-1 to win can you bet against that event (win $1 or pay out $18)?  If so I would think you could get rich just betting against popular teams based on their delusional-fan-goosed odds.

But I'm still never betting on anything.

Sports books set their odds with such delusions in mind - but more importantly, they also reserve the right to change the odds on the fly if the betting skews one particular direction (e.g., because the delusions are stronger than usual). Changing the odds doesn't affect the odds early bettors got, but it affects the odds for new bets, so don't worry, they're pretty sure always to make a profit, and you're pretty sure to end up in the hole.

I've always assumed betting is a tax on the stupid, like the lottery, or MLM.  It's one of the billions of ways people have come up with to suck the pockets dry of people who think "I know I can beat an industry where the house is guaranteed to win because I am smarter than the other bettors," which is demonstrably proven false by the fact that the people smarter than the other bettors are the ones not betting.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sports-bettor-billy-walters-winning-streak-13-01-2011/

[Weder]

Does betting on college hockey rank higher or lower on the degenerate scale than, say, NFL preseason week 4 games?

Signed,
Craps degenerate

[upprdeck]

is betting $10 to win a game any different than going to a movie for $10?  you get some emotional value from a movie, you may win thousands from a game and still get emotional value.

betting thinking you will win, probably not

betting as entertainment, its not any worse than drinking or movies or books.

as someone who is far enough ahead i can never get behind, i think gambling is great.

[Weder]

i think gambling is great.

Oh, so do I.

[Trotsky]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sports-bettor-billy-walters-winning-streak-13-01-2011/

Do you believe it, though?  Or is it more likely that a particular businessman selectively alters/reports his numbers and that an industry which depends on people thinking that betting can have a positive ROI actively assists him?

Math + sociology + business tells me it's the latter.

[upprdeck]

if you listen to VSIN, the best of the best are lucky to win 55% of the time.

[CU2007]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sports-bettor-billy-walters-winning-streak-13-01-2011/

Do you believe it, though?  Or is it more likely that a particular businessman selectively alters/reports his numbers and that an industry which depends on people thinking that betting can have a positive ROI actively assists him?

Math + sociology + business tells me it's the latter.

I love conspiracy theories but no, I'm not buying that it's all a massive fraud.

[nshapiro]

Playing poker is different than most other betting, because you are playing against other individuals and the house just takes a percentage of the pot, so if you are significantly better than the other players, over time, you can win.

In my youth I was in a season long pool in which each week you were given 20 games to pick against the spread.  The top 3 players out of 80 managed to win enough to cover the vig, and would have beaten the bookie.  The other 77 would lose to the bookie.

[Chris '03]

Soooo there's an important hockey game on Saturday. Has anyone seen northeastern play at all this year?

[BearLover]

Soooo there's an important hockey game on Saturday. Has anyone seen northeastern play at all this year?

I've only seen clips, but I know they have two star players: defenseman Davies and goalie Primeau. They've won a lot of one-goal games, so they may be worse than their record suggests. (Meanwhile, Cornell has lost more one-goal games than they've won, so they may be better than their record.) Unfortunately, though, Cornell will be considerably shorthanded and NEU will not, as I am not aware of any of their players being injured.

[Trotsky]

They had that incredible offense at one point.  Did they all graduate / jump?

[adamw]

They had that incredible offense at one point.  Did they all graduate / jump?

Aston-Reese, Gaudette, Stevens, Sikura all gone.

The forwards did get Tyler Madden as a freshman - his father John Madden was very good in the NHL for a long time. Tyler may turn out better. Was on Team USA for World Juniors this year.