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Bit Of A Yarn

'investing' on a Boy named Sue? Forget it!


Thomass

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Interesting how 'overbet' some neddys become due to unforeseen circumstances...

Similar to 'Who Shot the Barman' always had a following from Dad joke followers

Several years back, I tested a theory that horses with popular boys or girls names were overbet in parimutuel markets. My hunch was that the betting public is more likely to bet on a horse if that horse's name contained their own name (or that of their wife, son, daughter, etc.). I arrived at that hunch by extrapolating from a sample size of one - me.

What I found in that original analysis, using a limited dataset of races run in California, was weak evidence for my theory, but that fell short of statistical significance. However, I now have a much more robust dataset, consisting of nearly all races run in North America over the past four years.

With this new dataset of some 200,000 races, I ran a logistic regression on the probability of a horse winning a race using the following variables:
 

Here is the R output:
 
Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-04%2Bat%2B11.09.44%2BPM.png
 
Under a perfectly efficient market, the first two terms (intercept and logodds) would be 0 and -1 respectively, The fact that they aren't are a reflection of the favorite longshot bias, in which favorites are underbet relative to their true odds and long shots are overbet.
 
The next term, boysname, is statistically significant, and directionally indicates that boys names are overbet. As an example, assume a horse's odds imply a win probability of 20%. If the horse's name does not contain a boys name, the true probability is 20.5% according to the favorite longshot bias correction of the first two terms. But if the horse contains a boy's name, then the true probability drops to 19.6%.
 
So, it turns out my original hunch was on the mark, at least for boys names.
 
Girls' names however fall short of statistical significance, although the coefficient indicates possible overbetting, but not to the extent with boys' names. 
 
So, if you're betting the races at Churchill Downs today, you may want to avoid bets on Dan the Go To Man, Dragon Drew, Shane Zain, or My Boy Jack.
 

 

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Just like horses that start with the letter M.

People are drawn to them. You get horses with names starting like Magnificent, Momentous, Magical. 

Imagine a horse called Mince Pie. Some people would be drawn to backing it.

If it were people who worked at the TAB, the letter S is over bet - horses with names such as Sausage Roll or Sausage Sizzle gets them going.

Thomass on the other hand would be drawn into over betting horses that start with the letter F - Fraudulent Freddie or Fake News for a couple of examples.

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2 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Just like horses that start with the letter M.

People are drawn to them. You get horses with names starting like Magnificent, Momentous, Magical. 

Imagine a horse called Mince Pie. Some people would be drawn to backing it.

If it were people who worked at the TAB, the letter S is over bet - horses with names such as Sausage Roll or Sausage Sizzle gets them going.

Thomass on the other hand would be drawn into over betting horses that start with the letter F - Fraudulent Freddie or Fake News for a couple of examples.

What about 'P'  -  Plastic Princess.........?

Edited by Freda
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17 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Just like horses that start with the letter M.

People are drawn to them. You get horses with names starting like Magnificent, Momentous, Magical. 

Imagine a horse called Mince Pie. Some people would be drawn to backing it.

If it were people who worked at the TAB, the letter S is over bet - horses with names such as Sausage Roll or Sausage Sizzle gets them going.

Thomass on the other hand would be drawn into over betting horses that start with the letter F - Fraudulent Freddie or Fake News for a couple of examples.

Actually...that's probably your best piece of attempted humour yet....

Would Steak Pie be more overbet than Mince though?

...or would average less sophisticated Joe align themselves with what they eat best...fatty Mince?

But...Oh boy what a Xmas punting extravaganza it's been....Theres SO much uneducated money out there at this time of the year from pissed peeps....

...I'm drinking Champers 24/7

And in celebration of the Prince Albert/Paisley Park Double I got..at 40/1...you know Black Type form back to inferior

Im getting one...

...the Princess is beside herself with exctasy already

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1 minute ago, Thomass said:

Actually...that's probably your best piece of attempted humour yet....

Odd - goes to show what you think is funny. It wasn't designed to be humorous.

1 minute ago, Thomass said:

And in celebration of the Prince Albert/Paisley Park Double I got..at 40/1...you know Black Type form back to inferior

If you'd got onto what was announced as the letter of the month being 'P' , you wouldn't have needed your stupid BP - and you could have multied those two up along with Play That Song, Prise De Fer and Platinum Invador for more like 2500-1 - a lot more than your 40-1. You stick with your 40-1 BP, we'll stick with the letter of the month.

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39 minutes ago, Thomass said:

And in celebration of the Prince Albert/Paisley Park Double I got..at 40/1...you know Black Type form back to inferior

Oh, so you noted that "P" was the letter of the month to begin 2020? Well done for subscribing. Suggest you get in now through the end of the financial year because the resounding success is likely to result in significant increases inubscription rates from April 1. There may also be an increased limitation on subscription numbers because it's starting to affect pricing unlike the BP.

Edited by curious
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12 minutes ago, Thomass said:

Haha...actually NO...but good train spotting....

Now what is your 'secreted' 'tipping' site tipping today?

Are yous fellas THAT BAD you don't like TRANSPARENCY??

F me...And here's moi thinking only the RIU did that...

Well I delivered Paisley Park - before the races - unlike you. And the letter P for this month has been known for some time. 

We'll tell you the tips tomorrow morning - after the races - like you and ATA do.

Edited by mardigras
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15 minutes ago, Thomass said:

NO!

Black bitch Beth told me she wanted to transition...that's going to be lasered off any day now ...is that cruel??......but good train spotting bazzo 

Just get on the 'B's today obviously...bazz...Best

Even a fraud about owning a dog.

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Haha, I knew this thread would get yous fellas going round in circles like dunking doughboys...

When you want a bit of smack talk just come over here and I'll be spanking yous hard az...

Its relly relly sad though that Shrewman and Putty can't stand being exposed by your horrendous 'take' on things punting...

...where you've decided to hide under a rock...

...back under boys...

...yous old f'ers must be all tired out by now....zzzzz

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7 minutes ago, Thomass said:

Haha, I knew this thread would get yous fellas going round in circles like dunking doughboys...

When you want a bit of smack talk just come over here and I'll be spanking yous hard az...

Its relly relly sad though that Shrewman and Putty can't stand being exposed by your horrendous 'take' on things punting...

...where you've decided to hide under a rock...

...back under boys...

...yous old f'ers must be all tired out by now....zzzzz

The "P" wins the third. Just get on.

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