NRL S2016 R07 Predictions and staking guide

NRL S2016 R07 predictions and staking guide

Summary

After a stellar round 6 (7/8 predictions correct) and a win on our first bet, its time to take a look at the round 7 tips and staking recommendations.

This week there are four games which disagree with the bookmaker (games 1, 3, 6 and 8); and unlike round 6 which only identified one game to stake on, this round three games have been identified (games 4, 7 & 8)!

Specifically games recommended to stake on are:

  • game 4 - Canterbury Bulldogs to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home with a probability of 70.4% (currently paying $1.92)

  • game 7 - Melbourne Storm to win against Wests Tigers while Away with a probability of 67.4% (currently paying $1.70)

  • game 8 - Sydney Roosters to win against Penrith Panthers with a probability of 69.5% while Home (currently paying $2.20)

Predictions for games 4 and 8 are at long odds and represent the best ‘value’ bets.

The prediction for game 7 agrees with the bookmaker (Melbourne to win) and represents a marginally good bet. At time of writing Bulldogs and New Zealand were at even odds (1.92 each).

Ok, so lets take a detailed look at the predictions for this week and how they compare to the bookmaker predictions:

Predictions

game_no tip_text perceived_prob bookie_prob bookie_odds agree_with_bookie
1 Manly Sea Eagles to win against Parramatta Eels while Home 0.560 0.488 2.05 N
2 North Queensland Cowboys to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Home 0.738 0.769 1.30 Y
3 St George Illawarra Dragons to win against Gold Coast Titans while Away 0.511 0.435 2.30 N
4 Canterbury Bulldogs to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home 0.704 0.521 1.92 Y
5 Brisbane Broncos to win against Newcastle Knights while Home 0.860 0.893 1.12 Y
6 Cronulla Sharks to win against Canberra Raiders while Away 0.548 0.465 2.15 N
7 Melbourne Storm to win against Wests Tigers while Away 0.674 0.588 1.70 Y
8 Sydney Roosters to win against Penrith Panthers while Home 0.695 0.455 2.20 N

NB Bookmaker odds (taken from www.Sportsbet.com.au) as at 13-Apr-2016

Prediction observations

We observe four games which disagree with the bookmaker (games 1, 3, 6 and 8). The majority of games which agree with the bookmaker have relatively close probabilities with the exeption of game 4 (Bulldogs vs Warriors)

Games 1,3 and 6 have marginal predictions (<56% chance of team to win)

Games 4 has a very wide difference between the models probability and the bookmakers probability (70.04% vs 52.1% respective). In addition game 8 has a similarly wide difference (69.5% vs 45.5%)

Stake recommendation/s

Recommended bets are those with a perceived probability of > 0.66 and a positive expected return. Also recall that in order to make a long term profit our models precision must be greater than the overall average implied probability. Our best model has a 72% precision to date, while our ‘as posted’ model has an average precision of 61.6%. Taking the conservative 61.6% as the precision of our model, this means we don’t want to be placing bets on odds less than 1.62 (1/0.616). That makes our last bet on the Cowboys (at 1.69) a pretty marginal bet if we assume this precision. Considering these restrictions to optimise our chances of winning, lets review the stake recommendaitons below. I have also included a potential profit (from a $50 bet) assuming you back the prediction. Profit is determined by the formula: stake*odds - stake.

game_no tip_text perceived_prob bookie_odds expected_return recommend_stake potential_profit
1 Manly Sea Eagles to win against Parramatta Eels while Home 0.560 2.05 0.149 N 52.5
2 North Queensland Cowboys to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Home 0.738 1.30 -0.041 N 15.0
3 St George Illawarra Dragons to win against Gold Coast Titans while Away 0.511 2.30 0.175 N 65.0
4 Canterbury Bulldogs to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home 0.704 1.92 0.351 Y 46.0
5 Brisbane Broncos to win against Newcastle Knights while Home 0.860 1.12 -0.037 N 6.0
6 Cronulla Sharks to win against Canberra Raiders while Away 0.548 2.15 0.178 N 57.5
7 Melbourne Storm to win against Wests Tigers while Away 0.674 1.70 0.147 Y 35.0
8 Sydney Roosters to win against Penrith Panthers while Home 0.695 2.20 0.529 Y 60.0

Three games (4, 7 & 8) are identified as ‘good value bets’ which satisfy the staking requirments. Each of these games have a percieved probaility of >0.66 and the odds of each game are >1.62. For each game we will bet 5% of the bank. After round 6 the current bank is $2,276 therefore we will place $114 on the first match for a potential profit of $125.40

NB bank and stake amounts are rounded to whole numbers

Conclude

Lets hope we have another good round. Good luck contributors!

NRL S2016 R06 predictions and staking guide

NRL S2016 R06 predictions and staking guide

Summary

Hi guys! So this is the first round of actual staking!!

My current bank is $1,000, therefore I will be placing $50 (5% of the rounds initial bank) on each game which satisfies my staking requirements as discussed in the Staking Strategy.

To summarize the staking strategy, we are looking for games where the perceived probability is greater than ~0.66 and where this perceived probability is greater than the implied (bookmakers) probability (i.e has a positive expected return).

The only game which satisfies this is game 5, where the Cowboys are predicted to win against Penrith while away.

There are a number of other games which have positive expected return, however most of these are relatively marginal (model has weak <55% perceived probability). The best bet/s according to expected return are games 2 and 4, both of which are predictions against the bookmaker and represent relatively risky (but higher return) bets.

To further summarize:

  • I am staking $50 one game (Game 5, Cowboys to win against Penrith) this round. The odds on Cowboys to win at time of writing are 1.61 representing a potential profit of $30.50 (1.61*$50 - $50). I consider this a ‘risk adverse bet’ with high chance of winning for relatively low return

  • For those who want to take a ‘punt’, I would place bets on games 2 (Roosters to win against Rabbits while Rabbits are home) and on game 4 (Manly to win against New zealand while New Zealand is home), however these would be pretty big ‘upsets’. These games offer long odds and the model indicates small chance of win/s. Roosters are paying 2.81 (potential profit of $90.5 off a $50 bet) while Manly is paying 3.09 (potential profit of $104.50 off a $50 bet). Bear in mind however that the Roosters have not won a game this year, are bottom of the ladder and lost against the Rabbits in round 1.. so um yeah..

Finally, for those that have the perception that New Zealand is hard to beat at home… a small tidbit for you: Manly has played against New Zealand in Auckland five times since 2009.. and Manly has won four of those five games…In addition to this, New Zealand only has a win rate of 53% at home…but that probably doesn’t mean anything 😉

Ok, so lets take a detailed look at the predictions for this week and how they compare to the bookmaker predictions:

Predictions

game_no tip_text perceived_prob bookie_prob bookie_odds agree_with_bookie
1 Brisbane Broncos to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home 0.780 0.877 1.14 Y
2 Sydney Roosters to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Away 0.540 0.356 2.81 N
3 Parramatta Eels to win against Canberra Raiders while Home 0.512 0.685 1.46 Y
4 Manly Sea Eagles to win against New Zealand Warriors while Away 0.542 0.324 3.09 N
5 North Queensland Cowboys to win against Penrith Panthers while Away 0.778 0.621 1.61 Y
6 Cronulla Sharks to win against Gold Coast Titans while Home 0.721 0.800 1.25 Y
7 Newcastle Knights to win against Wests Tigers while Home 0.506 0.500 2.00 N
8 Melbourne Storm to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home 0.613 0.588 1.70 Y

NB Bookmaker odds represent average of 16 bookmakers (taken from www.OddsPortal.com) as at 6-Apr-2016

Prediction observations

We can see that there are three games where the model prediction dis-agrees with the bookmakers. Specifically games 2, 4 and 7.

We can also see that there are four model predictions (games 2,3 4 and 7) which are relatively marginal (the perceived probabilities are <55%) indicating weak preference for these teams to win.

Stake recommendation/s

Recommended bets are those with a perceived probability of > 0.66 and a positive expected return. I have also included a potential profit (from a $50 bet) assuming you back the prediction.

game_no tip_text perceived_prob bookie_prob expected_return recommend_stake potential_profit
1 Brisbane Broncos to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home 0.780 0.877 -0.111 N 7.0
2 Sydney Roosters to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Away 0.540 0.356 0.517 N 90.5
3 Parramatta Eels to win against Canberra Raiders while Home 0.512 0.685 -0.252 N 23.0
4 Manly Sea Eagles to win against New Zealand Warriors while Away 0.542 0.324 0.674 N 104.5
5 North Queensland Cowboys to win against Penrith Panthers while Away 0.778 0.621 0.252 Y 30.5
6 Cronulla Sharks to win against Gold Coast Titans while Home 0.721 0.800 -0.099 N 12.5
7 Newcastle Knights to win against Wests Tigers while Home 0.506 0.500 0.013 N 50.0
8 Melbourne Storm to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home 0.613 0.588 0.042 N 35.0

As summarized, there is only one game (game 5) which satisfies the staking plan; however there are a number of high expected return games which may be worth betting on for those who are not risk adverse.

Conclude

Ok, now lets the real experiment begin!!

NRL S2016 R05 predictions

Hi guys, this is a super quick post, I haven’t had any time to properly compile results to date or even look at the bookmakers odds for round 5 games so I have no idea if my predictions are in agreement with bookmakers or not. I will update when I get a chance.

Here are the round 5 predictions:

  • Manly Sea Eagles to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Home
  • Brisbane Broncos to win against Gold Coast Titans while Away
  • Melbourne Storm to win against Newcastle Knights while Home
  • Wests Tigers to win against Cronulla Sharks while Home
  • North Queensland Cowboys to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home
  • Sydney Roosters to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home
  • Parramatta Eels to win against Penrith Panthers while Home
  • Canterbury Bulldogs to win against Canberra Raiders while Home

 

And quick table of perceived probabilities:

 

game_no team_descr team_against_descr perceived_prob perceived_odds
1 Manly Sea Eagles South Sydney Rabbitohs 0.584 1.713
2 Brisbane Broncos Gold Coast Titans 0.511 1.959
3 Melbourne Storm Newcastle Knights 0.775 1.290
4 Wests Tigers Cronulla Sharks 0.640 1.562
5 North Queensland Cowboys St George Illawarra Dragons 0.600 1.668
6 Sydney Roosters New Zealand Warriors 0.632 1.581
7 Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers 0.542 1.845
8 Canterbury Bulldogs Canberra Raiders 0.707 1.415

 

NRL S2016 R03-R04 Predictions

NRL S2016 R03-R04 predictions

Summary

Hi guys! Since I will be on hiatus (holiday!!) as of Friday, I am not going to get a chance to post round 4 predictions after the conclusion of round 3. So I am posting round 4 predictions early with the caveat that I cannot update the model with latest results; therefore I would caution the use of round 4 tips. If you want to run with them go for it! If there are a few upsets in round 3 and/or injuries then for round 4, just use the bookmakers odds to determine your pick.

To do this is simple: If the odds for one team are less than the odds for another, then tip that team to win. For example if Broncos are paying 1.57 and the opposing team is paying 2.40 then you would back the Broncos (1.57 < 2.40). Easy!

Quick tips

season round_no tip_text
2016 3 North Queensland Cowboys to win against Sydney Roosters while Home
2016 3 Canterbury Bulldogs to win against Parramatta Eels while Home
2016 3 Newcastle Knights to win against Canberra Raiders while Home
2016 3 Brisbane Broncos to win against Penrith Panthers while Away
2016 3 Gold Coast Titans to win against Wests Tigers while Home
2016 3 Melbourne Storm to win against New Zealand Warriors while Away
2016 3 South Sydney Rabbitohs to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Away
2016 3 Manly Sea Eagles to win against Cronulla Sharks while Home
2016 4 South Sydney Rabbitohs to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home
2016 4 Brisbane Broncos to win against North Queensland Cowboys while Home
2016 4 Canberra Raiders to win against Gold Coast Titans while Home
2016 4 Sydney Roosters to win against Manly Sea Eagles while Home
2016 4 St George Illawarra Dragons to win against Penrith Panthers while Home
2016 4 New Zealand Warriors to win against Newcastle Knights while Home
2016 4 Wests Tigers to win against Parramatta Eels while Home
2016 4 Melbourne Storm to win against Cronulla Sharks while Away

Perceived Probability vs Boomkaker Odds

match_up perceived_prob bookie_prob bookie_odds agree_with_bookie
North Queensland Cowboys vs Sydney Roosters 0.591 0.806 1.24 Y
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels 0.741 0.637 1.57 Y
Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders 0.578 0.417 2.40 N
Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers 0.525 0.667 1.50 Y
Gold Coast Titans vs Wests Tigers 0.550 0.465 2.15 N
Melbourne Storm vs New Zealand Warriors 0.603 0.476 2.10 N
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs St George Illawarra Dragons 0.517 0.725 1.38 Y
Manly Sea Eagles vs Cronulla Sharks 0.728 0.546 1.83 Y
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Canterbury Bulldogs 0.589 0.515 1.94 Y
Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys 0.640 0.637 1.57 Y
Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans 0.569 0.752 1.33 Y
Sydney Roosters vs Manly Sea Eagles 0.539 0.472 2.12 N
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers 0.627 0.606 1.65 Y
New Zealand Warriors vs Newcastle Knights 0.594 0.893 1.12 Y
Wests Tigers vs Parramatta Eels 0.660 0.417 2.40 N
Melbourne Storm vs Cronulla Sharks 0.636 0.472 2.12 N

Stake recommendation/s

match_up expected_return full_kelly_fraction recommend_stake
North Queensland Cowboys vs Sydney Roosters -0.267 -1.111 N
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels 0.164 0.287 Y
Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders 0.388 0.277 N
Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers -0.213 -0.426 N
Gold Coast Titans vs Wests Tigers 0.182 0.158 N
Melbourne Storm vs New Zealand Warriors 0.265 0.241 N
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs St George Illawarra Dragons -0.287 -0.755 N
Manly Sea Eagles vs Cronulla Sharks 0.332 0.400 Y
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Canterbury Bulldogs 0.143 0.152 N
Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys 0.005 0.009 N
Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans -0.243 -0.736 N
Sydney Roosters vs Manly Sea Eagles 0.143 0.127 N
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers 0.034 0.052 N
New Zealand Warriors vs Newcastle Knights -0.334 -2.787 N
Wests Tigers vs Parramatta Eels 0.583 0.417 Y
Melbourne Storm vs Cronulla Sharks 0.348 0.311 N

Conclude

Ill be back in business for round 5 (the all important first round of live betting)

NRL S2016 R02 Predictions

After a pretty good first round of 6 out of 8 correct picks (75% accuracy) I present the round 2 predictions.

All of the picks this round are in line with the bookies so not a whole lot to say. I have included a new column indicating if the tip is in line with the bookmaker.

I have been updating the model continuously and the ‘old’ model (the one used for round 1) actually predicts St George to win against the Sharks, which would be the only game betting against the bookies.

Quick tips:

Penrith Panthers to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home
Brisbane Broncos to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home
Canberra Raiders to win against Sydney Roosters while Home
South Sydney Rabbitohs to win against Newcastle Knights while Home
North Queensland Cowboys to win against Parramatta Eels while Away
Cronulla Sharks to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home
Melbourne Storm to win against Gold Coast Titans while Home
Manly Sea Eagles to win against Wests Tigers while Away

 

Detailed table:

NRL 2016 R02 Predictions

Team to winTeam to losePreceived ProbabilityPerceived OddsImplied OddsImplied ProbabilityExpected ReturnKelly FractionAgree with bookmaker?Tip text
Penrith PanthersCanterbury Bulldogs0.5431.8431.850.5410.0040.005YPenrith Panthers to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home
Brisbane BroncosNew Zealand Warriors0.6581.5191.50.667-0.013-0.025YBrisbane Broncos to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home
Canberra RaidersSydney Roosters0.6151.6261.720.5810.0580.08YCanberra Raiders to win against Sydney Roosters while Home
South Sydney RabbitohsNewcastle Knights0.6491.5411.350.741-0.124-0.354YSouth Sydney Rabbitohs to win against Newcastle Knights while Home
North Queensland CowboysParramatta Eels0.5871.7041.650.606-0.032-0.049YNorth Queensland Cowboys to win against Parramatta Eels while Away
Cronulla SharksSt George Illawarra Dragons0.631.5881.50.667-0.055-0.111YCronulla Sharks to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home
Melbourne StormGold Coast Titans0.7211.3871.20.833-0.135-0.673YMelbourne Storm to win against Gold Coast Titans while Home
Manly Sea EaglesWests Tigers0.6331.581.550.645-0.019-0.035YManly Sea Eagles to win against Wests Tigers while Away

 

NRL S2016 R01 Predictions

Welcome to the first round of the NRL 2016 season!

I will be posting predicted outcomes (tips) for each game of the 2016 NRL season. These predictions will be posted each week before the beginning of each round, and (time permitting) I will be posting a “roundup” on the performance of the predictions. These predictions/tips are based on a machine learning algorithm which was “trained” using historic match results from 2009-2015. Details on the evaluation and performance of the algorithm on the 2009-2015 season matches can be found in ‘NRL Predictive Modelling-Deep dive’ which I would highly recommend reading if you plan to stake on any of the predictions.

Since this is the first tipping post, I will give you a basic rundown of the table:

The table shows the team predicted to win/lose, if the team predicted to win is at home or away, and the perceived probability of the team predicted to win (note that this will always be >0.5). The table also includes the bookmaker odds, edge and Kelly fraction. Since my staking strategy this year focus’ on head to head bets only (backing who I think will win) I have left off the probability of the losing team to win (which is simply 1-perceived probability). I have included the edge and Kelly fraction for those curious (and/or who want to use this as a staking guide).

The Kelly fraction below represents the fraction of the amount of the bank you would stake on the team to win (if using a Full Kelly staking strategy). The fraction is calculated using the perceived probability and bookmaker odds by using the Kelly criterion formulae. Recall the formulae is:

(Perceived probability of team winning*(Bookmaker odds -1) -(1- Perceived probability of team losing))/(Bookmaker odds – 1)

If we use the Brisbane Broncos vs Parramatta Eels match as an example the Kelly fraction is calculated by:

(0.573*(1.6-1)-(1-0.537))/(1.6-1) = -0.139

If you were using the Kelly staking strategy in this case, even though the model predicts Broncos will win (which is in agreement with the bookmaker’s prediction), because there is no edge over the bookmaker (edge and Kelly fraction is negative) you would not place a stake on the Broncos to win. Remember this holds only for those using the Kelly staking strategy, and if you read 2016 Staking strategy you might think twice about using this strategy in full. Even though I personally won’t be using a full Kelly strategy for this seasons staking I will simulate the outcome assuming somebody did use it (just for fun ;)) and present the results at season end.

Finally, some commentary on the predictions and historic results for the first round/s:

For 2016, round 01, the model agrees with the bookmaker favourites (that is predicts the same team to win as the bookmaker) in all games except the Gold Coast, Roosters and Tigers game/s where, in contrast to the bookmaker/s the model predicts these teams to win. The largest disparity is in the Tigers vs Warriors game where the model predicts a 60.07% chance the Tigers will win, whereas the bookies predict the tigers only have a 37.7% chance of winning.

NRL S2016 R01 Predictions

Team to winHome/AwayTeam to losePerceived ProbabilityImplied ProbabilityPerceived OddsBookmaker Odds [1]EdgeKelly fractionTip
Brisbane BroncosAwayParramatta Eels0.5730.6251.741.6-0.052-0.139Brisbane Broncos to win against Parramatta Eels while Away
Manly Sea EaglesHomeCanterbury Bulldogs0.5910.5881.691.70.0030.007Manly Sea Eagles to win against Canterbury Bulldogs while Home
Canberra RaidersHomePenrith Panthers0.5450.5491.841.82-0.005-0.01Canberra Raiders to win against Penrith Panthers while Home
Wests TigersHomeNew Zealand Warriors0.6070.3771.652.650.230.369Wests Tigers to win against New Zealand Warriors while Home
North Queensland CowboysHomeCronulla Sharks0.6810.7411.471.35-0.06-0.23North Queensland Cowboys to win against Cronulla Sharks while Home
Sydney RoostersHomeSouth Sydney Rabbitohs0.5720.4761.752.10.0960.183Sydney Roosters to win against South Sydney Rabbitohs while Home
Gold Coast TitansHomeNewcastle Knights0.5770.51.7320.0770.154Gold Coast Titans to win against Newcastle Knights while Home
Melbourne StormHomeSt George Illawarra Dragons0.7010.7251.431.38-0.023-0.086Melbourne Storm to win against St George Illawarra Dragons while Home
[1] Sportsbets odds as offered Jan-03-2016