Behaviorists argue that investors' fear of regret causes them to favor stocks that are popular and familiar. If bettors share that fear, they are more likely to place wagers on favorites vis-a-vis underdogs. Such a preference would inflate point spreads and possibly explain why underdogs in the...

A study that tested the neglected-firm effect in the football-betting market for the 1985-1995 period was replicated for the 1996-2002 seasons. Wins-to-bets ratios were again compiled for the college teams rated "most-neglected" and "least-neglected"; however, schools so designated in the...

Efficiency in the football-betting market was examined on a month-by-month basis over a 19-year period. Prompted by the mispricing of IPOs in the securities market, we anticipated less-efficient pointspreads in the first month of the National Football League's season (September) than in the...

Betting that total points in a football game will go over or under the Las Vegas number prompts the question whether that number has been inflated to adjust for the documented preference of bettors for the over. If bettors do overbet the over, regular profits should accrue to those betting under...

A betting rule is devised to profit from an alleged unwillingness of strong favorites in the National Basketball Association to cover large point spreads. Imaginary wagers placed on NBA underdogs awarded 10+ points by Las Vegas oddsmakers produced a significantly nonrandom wins-to-bets ratio of...

The expanding legalization of sports betting will most assuredly swell the ranks of bettors nationwide and invariably attract some who would gamble less for financial gain than for entertainment value. While random betting can quickly end the fun for these "recreational bettors," we propose a...

Two mechanical betting rules were applied to games in the National Football League for the 2000-2008 seasons. Wagers of $11 (to win $10) on all NFL underdogs produced a net loss of $717. When bets were limited to visiting underdogs, only $395 (or $44 per year) was lost. The results suggest that...

Football point spreads were designed to divide the betting public in half and turn transaction costs into risk-free returns for gambling operators. Invariably, one team will be better than its opponent and, in the absence of a point spread, would naturally be the bettors' choice. By awarding a...