Series price vs individual game price

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  • dwaechte
    SBR Hall of Famer
    • 08-27-07
    • 5481

    #1
    Series price vs individual game price
    So browsing through Pinny’s NBA lines, I noticed what I thought to be a great opportunity. The line for the series was sitting at SA(-187) and Phoenix(+169). The game 2 line, was sitting at SA(-105), Phoenix(+105). Now, unless Phoenix is seen to be some kind of special threat in game 2 compared to games 3 through 7, this doesn’t seem to add up. If Phoenix is barely a dog on the road, and you extrapolate the rest of the lines based on that, it sure doesn’t seem like they should be paying +169 for the series, and that SA's 1-0 advantage is being overvalued.

    After playing with the numbers for a solid hour or so trying to come up with a betting scheme where I’d bet on Phoenix for the series and SA on each game, I was left with nothing, and when I checked the lines again they were more aligned, the series at PHX(+149), SA(-167), the game line at SA(-117), PHX(+107). Anyways, it seems like an area where there is a lot of potential inefficiency, as books seem to treat the two bets almost independently. Although even if there is an inefficiency, I guess it still wouldn’t be a sure thing because you’re taking a risk that as the series goes on the lines for future games change dramatically from what you expect, ruining your projections and leaving you with a bad price.

    Anyways, can anyone come up with the best way to take advantage of this type of situation, and what calculations you would make to do so?

    My apologies if someone has gone into detail on this type of subject before.
  • Ganchrow
    SBR Hall of Famer
    • 08-28-05
    • 5011

    #2
    Check out my Series Win Probability spreadsheet. This will tell you if given your imputed lines you even have an edge in the first place.

    I'll not that assuming every future game to be a toss-up (which, given home court advantage, we know to be untrue) the team that's gone up 1-0 in a 7-game series has a 65.625% of eventually winning, corresponding to a fair market line of about -191.
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    • dwaechte
      SBR Hall of Famer
      • 08-27-07
      • 5481

      #3
      Wow, remind me to never post anything again before checking your tools sheet. A large portion of the hour I spent playing with the numbers was trying to come up with a spreadsheet identical to the one you provided. Somehow I kept coming up with a total probability of 1.14 lol.

      Anyways, great stuff Ganch. So I’ve used my projected lines to come up with a fair value of Suns +154/Spurs -154. Obviously, I could just calculate my edge and come up with a Kelly suggested bet on the series at PHX +169. But, this should theoretically be a pure arb situation, assuming I correctly predicted what the lines will be for games 2 onward.(Yes I realize this is almost impossible)

      For instance, if I got true-parlay odds and parlayed each of the possible sequences of SA series wins, I’d be able to guarantee ending up with a line of -154 for the Spurs on the series. This of course is not possible, but I’m wondering about alternatives or work arounds, a method I haven’t thought of that could potentially lead to as close to a guaranteed profit as possible.
      Comment
      • Ganchrow
        SBR Hall of Famer
        • 08-28-05
        • 5011

        #4
        Originally posted by dwaechte
        Wow, remind me to never post anything again before checking your tools sheet. A large portion of the hour I spent playing with the numbers was trying to come up with a spreadsheet identical to the one you provided. Somehow I kept coming up with a total probability of 1.14 lol.

        Anyways, great stuff Ganch. So I’ve used my projected lines to come up with a fair value of Suns +154/Spurs -154. Obviously, I could just calculate my edge and come up with a Kelly suggested bet on the series at PHX +169. But, this should theoretically be a pure arb situation, assuming I correctly predicted what the lines will be for games 2 onward.(Yes I realize this is almost impossible)

        For instance, if I got true-parlay odds and parlayed each of the possible sequences of SA series wins, I’d be able to guarantee ending up with a line of -154 for the Spurs on the series. This of course is not possible, but I’m wondering about alternatives or work arounds, a method I haven’t thought of that could potentially lead to as close to a guaranteed profit as possible.
        Why don't you get a little more specific here and state what you believe to be the fair odds (both home and away) going forward?
        Comment
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