How I used maths to beat the bookies

By David Sumpter

Until September last year, I had never really gambled. I’d been to the dog tracks a few times when I lived in Manchester and once went to Aintree to watch the Grand National. Some of my friends would bet on the football, and I could see how it could add an extra dimension to watching the game. But I’d never got over the entry barrier posed by opening up an account and feeding in my credit card details.

That was all about to change. I had spent the summer working on “Soccermatics”, my book about maths and football, and decided to set myself one final challenge before I sent my draft to the publishers. I was going to take everything I had learnt about the mathematics of football and apply it to a real-life situation. I was determined to use maths to beat the bookies.