The technology involved with sports has always been utilized to improve performance and teams. It is only natural that as technology grows, the work artificial intelligence does can be extended to serve every aspect of the sports world, including how sportsbooks process Super Bowl odds.
Beyond making sure the odds are correct and minimizing the risk of liability, casinos can utilize AI to use data to make all aspects of the business run efficiently.
If utilized correctly, this can help serve customers, casinos, and people interested in wagering on sports to harness available data and turn it into useful information.
Cutting Down on Problem Gamblers
Gambling responsibly is something that all gamblers, particularly those with an addiction, must grapple with. The desire to hit it big while also making sure to live within your means and not get into financial peril can be a delicate line to walk.
Utilizing AI can allow casinos to help curtail the efforts, should they choose by using predictive analytics. If a gambler is wagering a lot of money, the AI can help the casino recognize patterns with problem bettors.
This would allow casinos to get ahead of the problem and offer help.
Catching Cheaters
Brick-and-mortar casinos can utilize facial-recognition software on their cameras to identify people banned from other casinos. AI can also be used to catch cheaters in online casinos.
While casinos are obviously not allowed to mount cameras in people’s homes, AI can recognize patterns to punish fraudulent gamblers and protect their own players.
Improving Athlete Performance
Wearable apps have been helping sports teams develop data on their athletes during practice and in games. Using these apps has allowed teams to track health and physical data that looks for warning signs.
While it can seem Orwellian at times, teams are hoping to utilize that data better to help extend the careers of their star athletes.
Putting Together a Better Gameplan
Having a guy in his 50 or 60s sitting in a dugout with chewing tobacco in his lip making decisions based on gut feel will never be totally out of baseball. However, the data provided by AI has provided teams with new ways to look at metrics to improve how the game is played.
In Major League Baseball, the shift has become so common that the league is looking at rules to limit its use.
The shift isn’t a new concept, Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams regularly faced shifts during his playing days, and he played from 1939 to 1960.
However, MLB teams shifted against right-handed hitters 17.7 percent of the time compared to 6.2 percent in 2016.
What is xG?
Betting soccer, particularly over/unders, can be an arduous task. Teams play varying styles, and sometimes the style played is dictated by the competition.
In the World Cup, sometimes teams are content to try and play for a tie and play a more defensive style.
One statistic that has come out of AI is expected goals, also referred to as xG.
This statistic tries to calculate the odds of a particular shot becoming a goal. The model is broken down by areas of the field and the type of shot taken.
For example, the penalty kick in soccer provides the highest chance for a goal, with a .75 xG, which translates roughly to a 75 percent conversion rate. Calculating a team’s data across a season makes it possible to see where they tend to shoot from and how often they convert those shots.
That data allows gamblers to predict a total for each game and see any value compared to the lines posted by sportsbooks.