By David Butler
Recently Robbie Butler looked at how challenging it is to beat the market at the Cheltenham festival by just following favourites. Over the past year I have presented data to show how experts commonly get it wrong when it comes to predicting the outcome of English Premier League matches. I'm not surprised when I hear people say that gambling on horses and football, in an effort to win money, is a mug's game - we sure can't beat the market systematically by picking favourites and the experts in all sports even have trouble calling the outcome. Here's an alternative - betting on the bookmakers themselves.
Earlier this month Paddy Power provided interesting Preliminary Financial Results. Some of the highlights included the company earning a net revenue of €882m, up 18%. The firm recorded a profit before tax that was up 21% (€167m). Also, there seems to be a clear growth in online gambling, more than likely facilitated by the growth of smart phones and the dawn of the I-Phone circa 07'/08'. Paddy Power showed strong momentum in all online and retail betting and mobile net revenue accounted for a leading 55% of online revenue in the latest results.
I don’t know whether it’s a good idea that adults in society have a computer in their pockets that will allow them access to 24/7 gambling. Rather than moralising, I'll just show the closing share price of Paddy Power from 2000 to 2015 (below).
Given what appears to be a constant demand for sport globally, you may be better off taking a punt on Paddy Power himself than having a punt in one of his shops!
Recently Robbie Butler looked at how challenging it is to beat the market at the Cheltenham festival by just following favourites. Over the past year I have presented data to show how experts commonly get it wrong when it comes to predicting the outcome of English Premier League matches. I'm not surprised when I hear people say that gambling on horses and football, in an effort to win money, is a mug's game - we sure can't beat the market systematically by picking favourites and the experts in all sports even have trouble calling the outcome. Here's an alternative - betting on the bookmakers themselves.
Earlier this month Paddy Power provided interesting Preliminary Financial Results. Some of the highlights included the company earning a net revenue of €882m, up 18%. The firm recorded a profit before tax that was up 21% (€167m). Also, there seems to be a clear growth in online gambling, more than likely facilitated by the growth of smart phones and the dawn of the I-Phone circa 07'/08'. Paddy Power showed strong momentum in all online and retail betting and mobile net revenue accounted for a leading 55% of online revenue in the latest results.
I don’t know whether it’s a good idea that adults in society have a computer in their pockets that will allow them access to 24/7 gambling. Rather than moralising, I'll just show the closing share price of Paddy Power from 2000 to 2015 (below).
Given what appears to be a constant demand for sport globally, you may be better off taking a punt on Paddy Power himself than having a punt in one of his shops!
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