Bloomberg Businessweek January 27, 2020 pp48-50 “How I Won a Whopping $63.50 Betting on Sports” “The handicapping service Jambos is designed to give gamblers a leg up. It might look completely different after the Super Bowl”. By Ira Boudway.
In 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanded legal betting outside of Nevada. Allowed in 14 states since the ruling >$15B have been risked. Jambos is an online handicapping service evolving from an industry of newsletters, and 1-900 phone numbers. “Handicappers retain a reputation somewhere between personal injury lawyers and pawnshop [operators]” So, might an internet-based service reportedly using computer-generated models seem more legit and be more successful placing bets with sportbooks like Draft Kings, FanDuel and Caesars Casino? The author, with Jambos' recommendations in hand, placed $30 bets but found along the way that favorable betting lines sometimes were not available or moved between entering the bet and clicking approval. Ultimately, what proved to be lots of working managing spreadsheets, the author wagered $2250 and netted $63.50 but only after improvising against some of Jambos' recommendations. Had he stayed with Jambos' bets he would have experienced 53 wins, 54 losses and four pushes versus his 54% success rate.
Like machine trading on Wall Street, sportbooks have sophisticated information technology reading the inflows and pushing out new lines and odds. Jambos CEO, Michael Schwimer, on January 1 tweeted “We will have to stop selling picks very soon”…. Reportedly this service ends with the Superbowl. Schwimer claims Jambos will launch something new Spring 2020.
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