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33-522: Punting as a means of water travel has a long history in the United Kingdom and is now practiced recreationally on a number of rivers, being most obviously associated with Oxford and Cambridge universities. Punt racing, as a sport developed in the 1880s. Thames Punting Club was formed in 1885 as a racing club. It is now no longer a racing club but functions as the sport's governing body. The Thames Punting Club maintains lists of umpires and publishes

66-469: A bet (the "juice" or "vig" taken by the house). For example, Book 1 has Team A as a 3-point favorite, and Book 2 has team B as a 3-point favorite. If a player bets Team B at Book 1, and Team A at Book 2, he will win both bets if either side wins by 2 or fewer points, and will win one bet and lose the other (known as a "side") if either team wins by 3 points. Another strategy, known as arbitrage, or an "arb" or "scalp", involves finding different moneylines for

99-497: A championship using this system is the International GT Open . The advantage of this system over ballast weight systems is that vehicles have the normal performance on track, so better drivers will be able to recover time and overtake slower drivers. Contrarily, horse race handicapping is implemented using extra weight. A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by

132-463: A formula using advanced statistical techniques that has shown consistency correctly predicting NFL winners. Handicapping, as a profession, is very similar to being a stock analyst . Like Wall Street did in the 1970s, the sports handicapping industry is undergoing a quantitative revolution. Many successful handicappers also use money management systems similar to financial investment professionals. The most popular, and mathematically superior, system

165-733: A handbook containing rules and bye-laws for those organizing punt races on the Thames. Punting uses a complex system of Handicapping and the TPC sets the handicaps of individual punters. The TPA organises the annual Thames Punting Championships. Races are normally held in standard "2 foot punts", that is punts that are 2 ft (60 cm) wide in the middle and about 18 inches (45 cm) wide at each end and these are subject to handicap rules. There are also non-handicap races for punts which have no restrictions on width or length. Punts used for these races are called "best boats" or "best-and-best" punts;

198-503: A handicap race is where greyhounds (based on their ability) start from different starting traps set at different measurements from the finish line, and in human foot racing, for example, the Stawell Gift . Some motorsport events, especially in sports car racing , demand teams to stop the vehicle in the pitbox a fixed period of time depending on the drivers' classification, thus giving advantage to less skilled drivers. An example of

231-522: A player to start a certain number of games ahead or behind in the match. The calculated match average is a handicap calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider. Handicapping in competitive cycling is most commonly used in track cycling and road racing in Australia and New Zealand. Handicap events are rare outside these two countries. In track cycling, distance-based handicaps are typically used. The highest-profile example of this racing format

264-424: A player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy and horses. The difference between the total of the polo handicaps for the players on each team is then used to determine the minimum score difference for the better team to score to enable them to win. In polo, every player is awarded an individual handicap depending on performance. Handicap commissions of the national associations meet several times

297-455: A points advantage or deficit to make up in the match. Basketball handicapping is often seen in matches that are predicted to be one-sided. Handicapping in the sport of golf enables players and teams of varying abilities to compete against one another. A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential or "average best". Better players are those with the lowest handicaps. Types of chess handicaps include: Handicapping in go includes

330-424: A significant adverse bend, then the length of the outer course may be reduced to make the race more even. The competitors usually start with their punts' sterns level with the line between the downstream ryepecks, punt to the upstream ryepecks, and then punt back. The winner is the first to pass the line of the starting ryepecks or the first one to hit his or her own ryepeck. In doubles, both punters must still be in

363-451: A variety of standards of equipment. Often races, contests or tournaments where this practice is competitively employed are known as Handicaps . Handicapping also refers to the various methods by which spectators can predict and quantify the results of a sporting match. The term is applied to the practice of predicting the result of a competition, such as for purposes of betting against the point spread . A favored team that wins by less than

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396-497: A year to decide players’ handicaps. Argentina: 0 to 10 USA: C (-2), B (-1), B+ (-0.5), A (0), A+ (0.5), 1.0, 1.5, 2 to 10 England: -2 to 10 Handicaps for sailing vessels in sailing races have varied throughout history, and they also vary by country, and by sailing organisation. Sailing handicap standards exist internationally, nationally, and within individual sailing clubs. Sailing race handicaps may be based on vessel capability and-or crew experience, and today typically adjust

429-464: Is the Kelly criterion . It is a formula for maximizing profits and minimizing losses based on payout odds and win probability of the underlying asset . The Kelly criterion is often used to determine units in sports betting which some handicappers assign to weight each prediction. Hand-in-cap Hand-in-cap is an old English trading procedure that gave rise to the modern word handicap . It

462-539: Is the Melbourne Cup on Wheels . In road cycling, pursuit-style handicaps are most common, and are mostly restricted to grassroots amateur events. In the past, higher-profile national events such as the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic were run as handicaps, but with larger entry numbers and a preference for scratch racing among elite-level national competitors, these are no longer run as handicaps. Because of

495-427: The boat at the finish. The turn at the upstream ryepecks is done by "stopping-up"; that is the competitor passes the ryepeck on the outside, stops his or her punt with the pole just upstream of the ryepeck, turns to face the stern of the boat and punts back in the other direction, passing the ryepeck on the inside. There are several English skiff and punting clubs on the Thames. All clubs also include participation in

528-685: The chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated. In principle, a more experienced participant is disadvantaged, or a less experienced or capable participant is advantaged, in order to make it possible for the less experienced participant to win whilst maintaining fairness. Handicapping is used in scoring many games and competitive sports, including go , shogi , chess , croquet , golf , bowling , polo , basketball , and track and field events. Handicap races are common in clubs which encourage all levels of participants, such as swimming or in cycling clubs and sailing clubs, or which allow participants with

561-519: The game. The first very well known sports handicapper in American culture was Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder . During his career he worked for CBS on their Sunday morning show, The NFL Today . Because sports betting had a social taboo at the time, Snyder was not allowed to mention betting on games specifically. Instead, he would predict the score. Over the years the attitude towards sports betting, and handicapping in general, has changed. Billy Walters

594-619: The handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give him or her a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. The handicapper's goal in assigning handicap weights is to enable all the horses to finish together (in a dead heat). The skill in betting on a handicap horse race is in determining which horse can overcome its handicap. In addition to the Daily Racing Form , other data sources include Brisnet, Equibase, The Ragozin Sheets, and Thoro-Graph. In rugby, one of

627-435: The importance of drafting in cycling events, riders are usually grouped into a limited number of "bunches" based on previous results, with the bunches containing the weakest riders leaving first. Prizes are typically awarded to the first finishers, first female finisher (in mixed events), and fastest time recorded (who may not have crossed the line first due to the handicapping). There are strategies that involve differences in

660-416: The lines on the same event at different books. One bet is called a "middle", which when a player finds two books that offer different point spreads for the same event. They will bet the more favorable spread at both books, and if the final score falls between the two, the bettor will win both bets. On the other hand, if the total falls outside the range of the "middle" the bettor only loses a small percentage of

693-536: The main race, it is known as the handicap. In the race itself, the participants do not all start at the same "Go"; the starts are staggered, based on the handicaps. The slowest swimmer, or cyclist, for example, starts first and the fastest starts last, making the end of the race (hopefully) close. An ideal handicap race is one in which all participants finish at the same time. The winner is the person who beats his or her own time. Similarly, physically staggered starting positions can be used, for example, in greyhound racing

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726-416: The name comes from the "best" boat that you can find and the "best" boat that your opponent can. The narrowest of these boats are no more than 15 inches (40 cm) wide. All racing punts generally have a till at both ends, and may have canvas covers to reduce the amount of water splashing into the boat. Races are normally held over a distance of up to 880 yards (800 m) along the bank on a straight reach of

759-812: The one of the premier NBA handicappers in the world. He claims to have developed a system that uses advanced statistical analysis to predict the outcomes of games. In the past, very few people did any mathematical calculations when handicapping sporting events. Predictions were usually made from hunches or information not readily available to the public. However, with the advancement of technology computers powerful enough to run advanced simulation models now frequent homes and offices. Advanced statistics such as DVOA, Win Shares and Points per Possession are talked about in mainstream media. Brian Burke, author of The Fifth Down blog featured in The New York Times , wrote

792-408: The outcome may be adjusted by some factor determined by the handicap. Some forms of car or yacht racing. In this case, the winner, on elapsed time, may differ from the fastest competitor when the times have been adjusted for the different competitors' handicaps. In a 'pursuit' style handicap race, all participants are clocked in a time trial before the race. When this takes place at the same event as

825-443: The partner traditional river sport – skiffing . Clubs also encourage youngsters to take part in punting, which may be easier for persons with a lower centre of gravity. Some clubs incorporate dongola racing , dragon boat racing and canoeing . Handicapping Handicapping , in sport and games , is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize

858-426: The point spread still wins the game, but bets on that team loss. In either case the handicapper is the person who sets the handicaps for the activity. The term handicap derives from hand-in-cap , referring to a system wherein players placed bets or money into the cap of a neutral arbiter to reach an agreement as to the relative values of items sought to be traded. In a 'result adjustment' style handicap event,

891-398: The river. Each end of the course is marked by a pair of poles called " ryepecks " which are firmly pushed into the river bed before the race. Races are always one punt against another, and are either singles or doubles races depending on the number of punters in the punts. One punt has the inner lane and the other the outer lane. If the outer lane has consistently deeper water, or if there is

924-410: The same event. In this case, the bettor will bet the more favorable line at both books, and have a guaranteed profit. For example, if Book 1 considers Team A to be worth +200 (2-to-1 underdog), and Book 2 considers Team B to be worth +200, a bettor can bet Team A at Book 1, and Team B at Book 2, and guarantee a 100% profit. This is a no-risk bet, as the player is guaranteed a profit no matter the result of

957-399: The teams will start with a points advantage, and one will start with a deficit to make up in the match. If a team starts with the advantage, as long as they finish above the points different covered in the handicap, then your selection will win. The points handicap will be greater due to higher point scoring nature of rugby. With a basketball handicap, you will be backing a team to start with

990-419: The time a vessel takes to reach the finish point of the race. The ATP, WTA, Challenger, and ITF events have plenty of matches which can be one-sided, which results in short odds being offered with various betting sites. Therefore, there is not ever much value in backing a specific player to win, which is why handicap betting is often popular. Handicap betting in tennis often means that you are wagering funds on

1023-415: The weaker player being given an advantage by placing a number of stones before the stronger player commences, and by final points adjustment. Handicapping in shogi is achieved by removing one or more pieces from the stronger player's side. Shogi (Japanese chess) and many of its variants have handicaps . The polo handicap is an estimation of the player's worth to his or her team. It is an overall rating of

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1056-491: Was profiled by 60 Minutes because of his handicapping abilities. Billy Walters, and other unknown members of the Computer Group, developed a system for handicapping games and beating Las Vegas sportsbooks. The Huffington Post covered Jon Price a reclusive sports bettor that hires Ph.D's and works off of algorithmic information for his predictions. ESPN wrote an article on Haralabos Voulgaris naming him as

1089-475: Was used to fairly trade items of potentially unequal value. Here’s how the procedure works: This game was played in Piers Plowman , a poem from the 14th century. The concept of a neutral person evening up the odds was extended to handicap racing in the mid-18th century. In handicap racing, horses carry different weights based on the umpire's estimation of what would make them run equally. The use of

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