Statistical Sports Models in Excel Kindle Edition

I've read many books on sports betting. I've read many books on statistical modeling and data science. I've yet to find a book that blended the two together...until now. When I first heard this book was being written, I was dubious. Why would someone write a book to the masses that would clearly give away a competitive advantage that the author enjoys? Perhaps the reason is because the author is not a good modeler and wants to make a quick buck? After reading this book, I clearly see I was mistaken to doubt the author's proficiency in sports modeling. In fact, the author addresses why he would write the book right from the start.My next concern was if this book is "too good" it's going to hurt my competitive advantage as a professional sports bettor. The author is very generous with providing template spreadsheets to work with and showing his work. However, if you've never attempted to create a model in Excel, you're going to feel a bit lost in this book. This is a good thing. You shouldn't want to be spoon-fed everything. There's a great satisfaction in learning by increasing your understanding gradually. This book will definitely speed the plow for the sports betting modeler. It'll make you aware of concepts and how they can be leveraged. It won't do all the work for you. I started making my first Excel models back in 2004. If I had this book anytime in those early formative years, oh the places I could have gone. Instead I learned many of the concepts in this book through good old trial and error over the years. Lots of error.If you're going to read this book make sure you have a passion, or at least a strong curiosity, about sports betting modeling. This book is targeted for a person who understands sports betting and understands the basics of statistical analysis but hasn't bridged the gap yet.As for the advanced bettor who already utilizes some sort of quantitative analysis for their betting. The author points out in the chapter titled "The Benter Boost" that you should always be looking to read as much as you can about other attempts people have made to solve sports modeling problem. I agree with this. It's why I'm always willing to read books on sports wagering. It's also why other pros who might think a book written about Excel is a bit beneath them should also buy this book. Even if you develop with other analytical tools like Python or R, you can find value in this book.Overall, I think this is a strong addition to any sports betting library and one which I'll probably read again a few times when I'm looking to expand my approach to a modeling problem.

This is a solid book to get acquainted with the type of statistics you'll need to do sports modeling. It introduces a variety of models along with spreadsheets to explore the mechanics of those models. The second half of the book talks about a variety of approaches/ideas for betting into different markets. It's a great resource if you're coming at this material for the first time, and I've not really seen any other books out there that talk about statistical modeling in the context of sports specifically.However, at times it's a little light on the math, opting instead to simply introduce a model and move on. For example, you're probably not going to be able to understand how Maximum Likelihood Estimation works by reading the little blurb in the book, but you will have the term in your head and can explore more deeply on your own.The book also doesn't delve much into the philosophy of modeling, e.g, how to make sure you're modeling signal rather than noise and what sorts of questions to ask to guide your efforts on that front. I don't expect the author to give away any edges, but there wasn't even really a mention of how to model outcomes using stats that are actually predictive rather than descriptive. And I believe that kind of thinking is more important than knowing about a handful of models.Finally, there were a handful of errors in the book that were a little distracting.Overall the book is worth a read if you're interested in getting a lay of the land in sports modeling.

I liked how the author provided models and directions to follow along.I did not like how he did not go into more depth specifically with MLB sports betting.

If familiar with excel and have had some kind of exposure to stats, this is the perfect book to pair stats and excel for sports modeling, something I had a lot of trouble discovering until I read this. But it. Won’t regret it.

If you are math and programming and research inclined, this is an excellent starting point. Many sheets are prepared in advance, to get you off to a fast start.Modeling is fun. You can find edges and profit, but modeling itself, playing with numbers itself, with a specific goal, is fun. This book is a great start in that direction.Make no mistake: whether you end up a winning sports bettor will depend upon your talent and work ethic. But this book points you in the right direction, no doubt.Highly recommend for anyone with an interest in analytics and sports betting.GL, have fun.

This book turns your mind go into the best 21st Century handicapper. This is a must read for anyone involved in Sports Betting!! Anyone new to Sports Betting will definitely have to read multiple times but other than that you will find things in the book that you never thought of. The Author has helped me with models created by him to get you started which has been very helpful. I appreciate this book being introduced to the public as this is a much needed book. A must needed book to have on the bookcase!! Thanks a million Andrew!!

This book has cut innumerable hours off of my learning curve for learning how to create my own sports models. It isn't an exhaustive dissertation on applied statistical modeling, but it doesn't need to be. All of that information is freely available. This book gave me exactly what I needed to get started so I can learn by doing. If finding a way to develop your own edge in the sports wagering market is your goal, you cannot go wrong with this book.

I picked up this book a little over 6 months ago, and it’s been an absolute game changer. I can’t recommend this book enough if you’re serious about making positive strides in your betting. Author is super knowledgeable, content is digestible, and the information is beyond valuable. Highly recommended.

This book has been an excellent insight into the world of modelling in Excel. It’s written so that it’s accessible to all and helps you to understand the models so that you can then make them your own, depending on your interest in any sport and market. Functions are explained in Excel that I have, but have never explored fully.A definite recommendation - there’s nothing else out there like it.

I had tons of fun playing with some of the ideas from this book. It provides great advice. Through case studies and user friendly diagrams and statistics you’re able to understand the best approach. The ideas in this book and its analytical approach have inspired me, and I would recommend the book to anyone interested in sports betting modeling using excel.

Clear, concise and well thought out examples of how to get started with building predictive sports models.Not participating maths centred as most of the heavy lifting has already been done via the supplied Excel files.Highly recommended for the enthusiastic beginner.

This book is fantastic, explanations quite understandable even for a novice at Sports Data modelling.The collection of working excel models that can be downloaded save hours and hours of work. They are ready to use,load your data, get results.Fantastic value for money, you can loads more and get a lot less.

Christmas present.