Information asymmetry in gambling.

[Julien_Olynpic]

Let's talk about information asymmetry in gambling. Many believe that the information asymmetry between bookmakers and players is so enormous, even insurmountable, that players have no chance of winning long-term in sports betting. In other words, gamblers attribute long-term losses to information asymmetry. But let's consider whether this asymmetry is truly so great. Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?
Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

[mindrust]

AI could be a game changer but then bookmakers probably have access to more advanced ai products to counter the player behavior. It doesn’t look good for the players but if it id, then the whole industry would collapse. The industry is boomin because casinos making good money. I think it is way too hard to win against the bookmakers especially in this day and age. Starting a business and finding customers is probably an easier task if you want to make money. Another idea is that you can start your own casino and find players. I mean since it is a very profitable business, entrepreneurs all around the world should consider getting into this field. This business is printing money man. Bitcointalk is filled with casino ads look at that, It wasn’t as lively as this ever since the ICO era. Anyway brb gotta go play some roulette.

[libert19]

I had to search what 'asymmetry' means, I didn't understand, and then I searched for 'symmetry' and thought I do, and finally I searched for 'information asymmetry' term itself and now I finally understand what you mean.

Now on topic, tbh I don't understand how exactly this works in sports betting (despite understanding the term itself), so I don't have anything to say.

PS: This is bitcointalk tip #101, how to make a shitpost in gambling section. (unless this gets deleted, then you don't follow this tip).

Edit: Edit

Edit 2: Clarification added.

[justinlamode]

It still looks like the bookies have access to more information that the regular gamblers as evident in the way they arrange the odds of the various matches. @Julien_Olynpic have you seen a situation whereby the odd of a particular team suddenly drop few minutes to the kickoff time, lo and behold when the match starts the team scores within 10 minutes into the match? I have seen this several times and it points to the fact that the bookies indeed have privileged information. However, I have learnt not to make this reality stick to my head so that I can gamble freely believing that if I analyze game well, my chances of winning will increase.

[Dunamisx]

Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?

No, the bookmakers don't really know more than us in gambling, but we sometimes make things more complicated for ourselves by playing extremely high and have a reduced chances of winning, while on a normal day, gamblers will play more than two selections in betting, while on a neutral ground, the chance of winning to losing is 50x50 chance, that when we play, we either lose or winning, while when we also play like it has been said earlier the gamblers way, we even have more chances of losing than winning.

[davis196]

Let's talk about information asymmetry in gambling. Many believe that the information asymmetry between bookmakers and players is so enormous, even insurmountable, that players have no chance of winning long-term in sports betting. In other words, gamblers attribute long-term losses to information asymmetry. But let's consider whether this asymmetry is truly so great. Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?
Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

Information asymmetry exists everywhere, from the financial markets to sports betting, but I'm not an expect on information asymmetry and I cannot provide a proper analysis. I'm not very good at math and statistics. We need to find someone, who is really good at math and statistics to tell us more about the subject.
Do you really know how the bookmakers are making their money? I think that a bookmaker makes money regardless of the outcome of sports events. Bookmakers gather fees from the bets made by the ordinary people. The idea of a bookmaker knowing the results of all sports games seems more like a conspiracy theory to me, but I see many bettors believe in this conspiracy.

[Cryptmuster]

I think the importance of the information that the bookmaker has about matches is somewhat overrated, because there are so many matches now, and it’s hard for me to believe that the bookmaker can study each of them in detail much better than players can. A bookmaker can only gain an advantage if they have some insider information, possibly about fixed matches or something like that. In all other cases, the bookmaker and the player have equal chances, of course, if you exclude the fact that the bookmaker initially includes their own margin in the odds.

[Oshosondy]

AI could be a game changer but then bookmakers probably have access to more advanced ai products to counter the player behavior.

AI is not of any benefits regarding this because the AI can not be able to make profit from the gambling site EV calculations. Also in sport betting, AI can not do more than what the predictions sites were doing before for predicting matches. What the OP of this thread said is true and there is nothing that gamblers can do about it.

[Wind_FURY]

Let's talk about information asymmetry in gambling. Many believe that the information asymmetry between bookmakers and players is so enormous, even insurmountable, that players have no chance of winning long-term in sports betting. In other words, gamblers attribute long-term losses to information asymmetry. But let's consider whether this asymmetry is truly so great. Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?

Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

If you truly believe that users are actually gaining an edge against the operators of sports-betting, then compare the average profit of a sports-bettor from 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, then today.

Plus compare the size of the sports-betting industry in those time frames. If it's growing, which it's OBVIOUSLY IS, then the bookmakers really know so much more than plebs like us. It's probably like trading. There are only a few people who win consistently. Plebs like us are NOT those people.

[freedomgo]

Bookies don’t need to beat us to make a profit. All they need is to set the right betting line that attracts action on both sides, keeping things balanced. They earn from the commission, so they won’t have a problem paying out the winners.

Don’t overthink it, the oddsmakers aren’t just looking at stats alone. What they really focus on is how the public perceives those stats. From there, they create the odds designed to pull in bets from both sides. That way, no matter who wins, they still make money.

[Die_empty]

Let's talk about information asymmetry in gambling. Many believe that the information asymmetry between bookmakers and players is so enormous, even insurmountable, that players have no chance of winning long-term in sports betting. In other words, gamblers attribute long-term losses to information asymmetry. But let's consider whether this asymmetry is truly so great. Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?
Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

Bookmarkers might have insider information because they have the connection and financial capacity to access them. However, tools and data needed to analyse and predict games are available to all to access. With access to artificial intelligence, you can easily get any information and engage in analysis. Players are not winning long term not because they are don't have access to quality information but because some games are unpredictable. Even bookmakers odds sometimes do not accurately predict the outcome of the game.

[Free Market Capitalist]

Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?

What do you think? Compare the bookmakers' profits with the bettors' profits, or rather losses. Only a small percentage have sustained profits in the long term.

Bookies don’t need to beat us to make a profit. All they need is to set the right betting line that attracts action on both sides, keeping things balanced. They earn from the commission, so they won’t have a problem paying out the winners.

That's right, it's not just that they handle statistics better, it's that they set up the odds in a way that is profitable for them.

[Japinat]

Bookmarkers might have insider information because they have the connection and financial capacity to access them.

Maybe they did, but how would that even help them? A sportsbook’s job is to offer lines that attract action on both sides, not act like a bank and take one side forever. If a bookie started using inside info to tilt things, bettors would just move to other books, bad for business and reputation.

Also most shops don’t make lines from scratch, they use odds providers and market feeds. So for a bookie to secretly rig lines in their favour they'd need control of the feed or be trading the market, and that’s risky, markets move fast and other books will react. Bottom line, it’s a serious accusation and would destroy trust, so don’t jump to conclusions unless there’s real proof.

[Helena Yu]

I think information asymmetry no longer exist, everyone able to access internet and other people who have interaction with the team, player, etc, sometime they share the information to the public. They know which post or information that could make their account viral, hence they want to share it if it's allowed.

The close example is Fabrizio Romano, in the past no one know where the player will move to which team, however in the present, before the team give official announcement, we already know the player will join which team.

[Slow death]

Nowadays, people can obtain a lot of information quickly; people have the same information that bookmakers have. So, in my opinion, I think we are in a situation where both parties (bookmakers and bettors) are on equal footing when it comes to information. Now, having the same information doesn't guarantee that players will win, because many things can happen during a game. The information only helps to have a better idea of ​​what could be predicted during the game; the information is not a 100% guarantee of success.

[Mrbluntzy]

Sportbooks source for more information about upcoming matches and sports event more than the bettors do. If you disagree with me, write your opinion about it. Bookies are at more advantage because even if it will cost  them money to pay for an information that will be of advantage to them, they will pay to get it before it goes public, meanwhile players depends on public information. That's not just what makes them win more than players, have you consider how they set their market too? Bookies set different market and most players could be confused on what option to bet on. I think the information asymmetry is not really the full juice, but market option is. If it's just for the market asymmetry, many players are trying, they make good research early and bet early too and they win.

[Felicity_Tide]

Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?
Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

I think that might be the case.
Having a cell phone and an access to the Internet doesn't necessarily give players the complete access to every single information, especially those that are in depth. You see, most people believe that the information used in drafting out odds are just mere information that are available on the net. Odds so sometimes change before games, which means there are certain info that regular players don't get, but bookmarkers gets them.

So I think information asymmetry truly exists.
These bookmarkers know something that the regular players don't.

[lionheart78]

so great. Does a bookmaker really know so much more about upcoming sports matches than players today that it's almost impossible for a player to win?

As far as I know, the bookmaker do not know the result of the upcoming match, the odds they offer are from their analyzed data from the competing teams, and put a house edge on the calculation.  It is a false idea that players are almost impossible to win since no one knows the outcome of the game until it presents itself.

Yet, we live in the age of free neural networks, and we have access to a fantastic amount of free and relatively high-quality information. So, does information asymmetry exist?

It is indeed exists, we have seen people getting insider tips and be able to win on those matches, this can be suspected as fixed matches.  In a natural flaw of information, it is observed that first-hand receivers have way more information than those second-hand receivers, since these people who knows certain information and statistics may maliciously hide these facts in order to gain advantage on other people.

[Cointxz]

It still looks like the bookies have access to more information that the regular gamblers as evident in the way they arrange the odds of the various matches. @Julien_Olynpic have you seen a situation whereby the odd of a particular team suddenly drop few minutes to the kickoff time, lo and behold when the match starts the team scores within 10 minutes into the match? I have seen this several times and it points to the fact that the bookies indeed have privileged information. However, I have learnt not to make this reality stick to my head so that I can gamble freely believing that if I analyze game well, my chances of winning will increase.

Bookies have access to exclusive information regarding to the match since they are paying sports data like Sportsradar and other data companies that have deals on major sports league for exclusive data access so that their odds will always be updated and in-line to the current real probability of the game.

Bookie is always ahead against players and it’s hard to beat them long term if we will just relay to the data available on the web.

[Cryptomultiplier]

...
So, does information asymmetry exist?

Yes of course, information asymmetry exist and in gambling it could be when the bookmakers have access to more and better information than the gambler about the particular sport they bet on, of whom is more focused on the potential winning and spatial data available on the Internet.

It is the existence of asymmetry in gambling that leads to the surge of excitement and pleasure a gambler gets when gambling. It is what is also responsible for the choice of gambling strategy and potential profit that a gambler hopes to earn at the end of every bet.