Winning the football pools on a regular basis seems like a dream (or pure fancy) to many people. But when you grasp the number of teams, players, and coaches involved in the league, then you begin to realise that being successful with football pools is more than just a lucky bit of note taking.
How can I begin to grasp the numbers involved in the pools?
When you begin to grasp the concept of the pools, you must first become acquainted with the basicAND more advancedstatistics. This means, being able to identify the approximate probability of a team, player or coach to win a match, based on the current match statistics and number of previous matches.
èCEvery statistic is the probability that the event will occur. For example, a football match will comprises of a total of 26 games. In order to identify the event probability for a match, the total contribution of each participant is divided. The process is repeated until there are 25 games left in the league, and then the event is known as the ‘Final Match Statistics’.
Many professional bettors, in addition to understanding the statistics, also takes the other crucial step of understanding the probability of the event occurring. Professional punters are interested in more than just the ‘win-lose’ outcome of the match – they are looking for accurate rankings of the teams and for predictions of the outcome of the long-term strategy. For instance, winning seasons are followed by losing seasons. In order to profit, it is necessary to understand not only the critical match statistics, but also their trajectory over the entire playing season.
The statistics available are both impressive and mind-boggling. If you are interested in a particular football league, then it will be vital to focus on the statistics of the team or even the league, including the statistics of the individual players. Having the statistics, even if they are not updated, offers a critical edge over the bookmaker.
Professional punters will also sift through all the statistics, and most will have a set of ‘handicap’ statistics available. The handicap statistics are the ranking of the teams, based on their performance over the last few seasons. Some teams are well known for their strong defense and ability to concede little crosses, while other teams like Queens Park Rangers, for example, regularly concede far more crosses than they score. In these circumstances, it is easy to spot the + goal bet, and bet on Chelsea at +1 goal to win at odds of Chelsea 2.5.
In addition to the statistics of the team or league, you can also take the statistics of other key players, such as the goalscorer and key strikers. This is useful information, as you need to be aware of how often the key players will be playing and their potential to score. One valuable piece of information is that the majority of the top players are relatively young, while the majority of the lower profile players are typically reaching their peak scoring years.
The statistics related to key players are also useful in determining the possible outcome of a match, rather than just the final score. Match statistics include the number of games played, the wins and the number of goals scored. If you consider the statistics of the entire club, rather than simply the final score, you will have a much more accurate reflection of the likely outcome of the match.
The statistics related to other factors will often change over time. If a team was highly scoring at home and abroad, for example, and their home record suddenly improved, this can represent a genuine change of form. Also, a team that scores a high number of goals at home and away, but has a consistent home record, which is nonetheless higher than its away record, can also represent a form increase.
Most teams, of course, have a home and away record. intelligence of the league, combined with the statistics of key players and teams, allows you to select possible outcomes over the full seasons. Once selected, you can then investigate the possibility of a team winning the league, or potentially two or three different championships, provided the statistics and form are consistent.
This information then allows you to formulate your betting, ensuring that, whatever the outcome of the matches, you have a high level of confidence that you have made the right selections.