Your Ultimate Guide to Sports Betting Algorithms

Published on 1/21/2019 by SPORTSMASTERS Community Team

When it comes to it, competitive sports are all a numbers game. Whether it's a tennis player racking up points against the opponent or a football team scoring goals against the other team; all games are won and lost by a play of numbers. No matter what the outcome of a game is, it's ultimately decided by digits.

So it's obvious that when it comes to successful sports betting, crunching numbers is the way to go. Mathematical analyses and statistical probabilities all come together to predict a result that has winning chances of being accurate.

This is where algorithms come in. Artificial intelligence has already proven itself to be more capable than humans in terms of calculations. So when it comes to analyzing patterns in years and years of data, AI and algorithms can pick out details that the human eye simply can't.

What are Sports Betting Algorithms?

Before we get into how sports betting algorithms work, we first need to understand what the algorithms themselves are. Generally speaking, an algorithm is a mathematical formula that can solve particular problems based on various data that's received. So on the basis of reported data, algorithms are designed to 'solve' the outcome of a sporting event. By processing and categorizing data, algorithms essentially solve a problem.

What Data Does An Algorithm Need?

sports betting algorithms don't need any special data, just regular stats. For example, if we're talking about predicting the outcome of an NFL game, a sports betting algorithm can make predictions using information like the team's winning percentage, their rushing yards, or their reception percentage.

And since there is a vast quantity of sports data available online about different teams and players, it's quite easy to use analytic tools to make predictions based on that information. The accessibility and availability of a wealth of sports information online significantly increases the chances of how accurate predictions AI and algorithms can make. So sports betting algorithms combine publicly-available sports information with technology to make predictions.

Can Algorithms Alone Make Winning Predictions?

While algorithms and machine learning are intelligent and massively helpful in their own right, they can't be of much help unless supplemented with human analysis. While algorithms can crunch numbers and create simulations, they can't consider all the aspects needed to make an accurate prediction. Human help is needed to interpret the sporting event from a human point of view, such as taking the psychology of players into account.

Together, however, they can make a big difference in making predictions as accurate as possible.

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