European Sports Books Release Olympic Swimming Odds

The odds in this article are provided for entertainment purposes only. If you have strong opinions about who’s going to win, the SwimSwam pick ’em contest is for you.

The Olympics are the biggest sporting event of 2016, so, of course, it’s possible to gamble on them. The swimming betting scene is small, but it does exist. As a swim fan the best part of shady Olympic gambling is that betting odds are essentially a dispassionate prediction of the results. A sportsbook’s only incentives are to make money, and the best way to do that is to estimate the probabilities of different outcomes as closely as possible.

The most robust odds available are on who wins gold in each event. There are betting markets on top 3 finishes, but there’s almost no active betting so their top 3 odds are useless. The betting markets on gold medalists are a bit better. There are up to several thousand dollars on the most contentious events, but most events have less than $500 at risk. That’s generally not enough for the market to settle on a trust worth prediction. Gold medal odds are fairly consistent across the sports books I checked, so I grabbed all the odds from one (specifically SkyBet) instead of doing a compilation stat .

So I’m clear: in betting markets you bet against other another person. Market forces decide the predicted odds. Sports books are essentially a casino. I’m using the odds offered by the sports books.

Basic Takeaways:

  • The biggest toss up in the relays is women’s medley relay with Australia at 8/11 and the USA at 11/8, and the men’s 4X100 free with France at 5/4, Australia at 7/4, and the USA at 3/1.
  • The other relay’s aren’t expected to be that competitive. The next worst winner’s odds are the US men in the 4X200 at 2/7.
  • Katie Ledecky is the meet’s biggest favorite at 1/100 in the 400 and 800 free’s. Next best is Katinka Hosszu in the 200 IM and the Australian women’s 4X100, both at 1/33. Adam Peaty in the 100 breast at 1/6 is the strongest men’s favorite.
  • The biggest individual tossups outside of the open water (where the best odds are 4/1) is the women’s 200 fly. The best odds there belong to Mireira Belmonte and Natsumi Hoshi at 5/2. Close behind are Franziska Hentke at 4/1 and Madeline Groves at 9/2. The biggest men’s tossup is the 200 breast with both Marco Koch and Jacob Pebley at 13/8.
  • The top 8 implied gold medal counts (from the corrected probabilities below) are USA: 8.9, Australia: 7.0, Hungary: 2.6, Japan: 2.3, China: 2.1, Great Britain: 1.6, Sweden 1.3, France 1.2

More Complicated Takeaways:

The USA’s 3/1 odds to with the men’s 4X100 free relay implies a 25% chance that they win. (bet $1 at 3/1, 75% of the time you lose $1, 25% of the time you win $3. So it’s break even. That is .75*-1+.25*3=0). However, 25% is not the sports books real opinion of the USA’s chances to win that relay.

Sports books don’t offer their true odds to players, otherwise they would only break even in the long term (and the only way to make money is to fix the outcome). Instead they build in an adjustment called vigorish. Most of the time this adjustment is relatively small. For example, a standard bet on an over/under  is offered at 10/11 for both the over and under. This means players are required to risk $11 to win $10. In the long run, a bet at 10/11 breaks even if the event in question happens 52.4% of the time. This means that 52.4% is the probability of the event implied by the offered odds, but the book actually thinks it will happen 50% of the time. We can correct for the vigorish by adding up all the implied probabilities of all possible bets and dividing by the sum. On a standard over/under bet the book offers 10/11 on the over and 10/11 on the under. That gives 52.4%+52.4%=104.8%. 52.4%/104.8%=50%, the book’s actual probability of either the over or the under.

To correct for the vigorish in the example above we needed to divided the implied probabilities by 1.04. In the odds being given by the books for the Olympics, the correction factor is 1.3.  A number that high can imply a any of couple things. 1. The books don’t have a ton of faith in their projection, so they built in a huge margin of error to cover their back against someone with a better projection. 2. The books think that only idiots are betting on swimming at the Olympics, so they’re giving bettors terrible value to make more money.

My advice: Do not bet on these lines. There is such a large margin of error built in that it’s almost impossible to find a value bet. (also gambling is illegal in most US states, so, for many, there’s extra incentive not to throw money away)

The table below contains the betting odds, the probability implied by those odds and the probability corrected for the vigorish (aka the book’s actual guess of what will happen). One note on the corrected probabilities. I don’t know how the books actually applied the viogrish. I simply divided by the summed probability. This runs into problems with high probability events. For example, an overround of 30% on a true probability of 80% would give number over 100%  (1.3*.8=1.04). Obviously that’s non nonsensical. There is some evidence that the books corrected for this with a smaller vigorish in events with high probability winners. In most events the implied probabilities sum to almost exactly 130%. In the women’s 400 free, where Katie Ledecky is a huge favorite, the implied probabilities sum to only 125%. Similarly, in the open water, the biggest toss up, the implied probabilities summed to 140%.

It’s also possible they used a sliding formula that applied adjustments unevenly. If that’s the case, it’s not corrected for below. View the corrected probabilities in any events with a big favorite with suspicion.

The full sportsbook odds on gold medal winners. Implied probability is the probability if we take the sports book’s odds at face value (what true probability makes those odds break even). Corrected probability is the implied probability corrected for the vigorish. (I excluded all swimmers with an implied probability below 1%):

Event Name Country Given Odds Implied Probability Corrected Probability
Men 50 Free Florent Manaudou FRA 4/7 64% 49%
Men 50 Free Nathan Adrian USA 9/2 18% 14%
Men 50 Free Bruno Fratus BRA 6/1 14% 11%
Men 50 Free Cameron McEvoy AUS 13/2 13% 10%
Men 50 Free Anthony Ervin USA 16/1 6% 5%
Men 50 Free Andrey Govorov UKR 18/1 5% 4%
Men 50 Free Ben Proud GBR 20/1 5% 4%
Men 100 Free Cameron McEvoy AUS 1/3 75% 57%
Men 100 Free Nathan Adrian USA 9/2 18% 14%
Men 100 Free Ning Zeto CHN 7/1 13% 10%
Men 100 Free Santo Condorelli CAN 22/1 4% 3%
Men 100 Free Kyle Chalmers AUS 28/1 3% 3%
Men 100 Free Clement Mignon FRA 33/1 3% 2%
Men 100 Free Jeremy Stravius FRA 33/1 3% 2%
Men 100 Free Luca Dotto ITA 40/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Free Frederico Grabich ARG 50/1 2% 2%
Men 200 Free Sun Yang CHN 11/10 48% 36%
Men 200 Free James Guy GBR 2/1 33% 26%
Men 200 Free Kosuke Hagino JPN 11/1 8% 6%
Men 200 Free Yanick Agnel FRA 12/1 8% 6%
Men 200 Free Paul Biedermann GER 18/1 5% 4%
Men 200 Free Thomas Fraser-Holmes AUS 18/1 5% 4%
Men 200 Free Conor Dwyer USA 20/1 5% 4%
Men 200 Free Townley Haas USA 22/1 4% 3%
Men 200 Free Chad Le Clos RSA 25/1 4% 3%
Men 200 Free Park Tae Hwan KOR 25/1 4% 3%
Men 200 Free Jeremy Stravius FRA 50/1 2% 2%
Men 200 Free Sebastiaan Verschuren NED 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Free Velimir Stjepanovic SRB 80/1 1% 1%
Men 400 Free Sun Yang CHN 4/6 60% 46%
Men 400 Free Mack Horton AUS 15/8 35% 27%
Men 400 Free James Guy GBR 8/1 11% 8%
Men 400 Free Gabriele Detti ITA 10/1 9% 7%
Men 400 Free Park Tae Hwan KOR 16/1 6% 4%
Men 400 Free Connor Jaeger USA 28/1 3% 3%
Men 400 Free Ryan Cochrane CAN 66/1 1% 1%
Men 1500 Free Gregorio Paltrinieri ITA 8/15 65% 50%
Men 1500 Free Sun Yang CHN 7/4 36% 28%
Men 1500 Free Mack Horton AUS 13/2 13% 10%
Men 1500 Free Connor Jaeger USA 20/1 5% 4%
Men 1500 Free Gabriele Detti ITA 66/1 1% 1%
Men 1500 Free Ryan Cochrane CAN 66/1 1% 1%
Men 1500 Free Ous Mellouli TUN 66/1 1% 1%
Men 100 Fly Michael Phelps USA 5/4 44% 34%
Men 100 Fly Chad Le Clos RSA 5/4 44% 34%
Men 100 Fly Laszlo Cseh HUN 5/1 17% 13%
Men 100 Fly Joseph Schooling SIN 9/1 10% 8%
Men 100 Fly Zhuhao Li CHN 25/1 4% 3%
Men 100 Fly Tom Shields USA 33/1 3% 2%
Men 100 Fly Mehdy Metella FRA 50/1 2% 1%
Men 100 Fly Konrad Czerniak POL 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Fly Laszlo Cseh HUN 6/5 45% 35%
Men 200 Fly Michael Phelps USA 6/4 40% 31%
Men 200 Fly Chad Le Clos RSA 2/1 33% 25%
Men 200 Fly Tamas Kenderesi HUN 33/1 3% 2%
Men 200 Fly Daiya Seto JPN 33/1 3% 2%
Men 200 Fly Masato Sakai JPN 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Fly Jan Switkowski POL 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Fly Viktor Bromer DEN 80/1 1% 1%
Men 100 Back Mitchel Larkin AUS 6/4 40% 31%
Men 100 Back Ryan Murphy USA 15/8 35% 27%
Men 100 Back David Plummer USA 12/5 29% 23%
Men 100 Back Camille Lacourt FRA 11/1 8% 6%
Men 100 Back Xu Jiayu CHN 25/1 4% 3%
Men 100 Back Evgeny Rylov RUS 33/1 3% 2%
Men 100 Back Ryosuke Irie JPN 33/1 3% 2%
Men 100 Back Chris Walker Hebborn GBR 80/1 1% 1%
Men 100 Back Grigory Tarasevich RUS 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Back Mitchell Larkin AUS 2/9 82% 63%
Men 200 Back Ryan Murphy USA 9/2 18% 14%
Men 200 Back Evgeny Rylov RUS 12/1 8% 6%
Men 200 Back Ryosuke Irie JPN 12/1 8% 6%
Men 200 Back Radoslaw Kawecki POL 18/1 5% 4%
Men 200 Back Jiayu Xu CHN 20/1 5% 4%
Men 200 Back Jacob Pebley USA 40/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Breast Adam Peaty GBR 1/6 86% 66%
Men 100 Breast Cameron Van Der Burgh RSA 7/2 22% 17%
Men 100 Breast Kevin Cordes USA 18/1 5% 4%
Men 100 Breast Ross Murdoch GBR 20/1 5% 4%
Men 100 Breast Joao Gomes BRA 40/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Breast Cody Miller USA 40/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Breast Giedrius Titenis LTU 40/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Breast Dimitriy Balandin KAZ 50/1 2% 2%
Men 100 Breast Felipe Franca BRA 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 Breast Josh Prenot USA 13/8 38% 29%
Men 200 Breast Marco Koch GER 13/8 38% 29%
Men 200 Breast Daniel Gyurta HUN 6/1 14% 11%
Men 200 Breast Kevin Cordes USA 8/1 11% 8%
Men 200 Breast Yasuhiro Koseki JPN 10/1 9% 7%
Men 200 Breast Anton Chupkov RUS 22/1 4% 3%
Men 200 Breast Dimitriy Balandin KAZ 25/1 4% 3%
Men 200 Breast Andrew Willis GBR 28/1 3% 3%
Men 200 Breast Ippei Watanabe JPN 33/1 3% 2%
Men 200 Breast Christian vom Lehn GER 80/1 1% 1%
Men 200 IM Michael Phelps USA 10/11 52% 41%
Men 200 IM Kosuke Hagino JPN 11/10 48% 37%
Men 200 IM Ryan Lochte USA 7/2 22% 17%
Men 200 IM Thiago Pereria BRA 25/1 4% 3%
Men 200 IM Shun Wang CHN 80/1 1% 1%
Men 400 IM Kosuke Hagino JPN 4/11 73% 56%
Men 400 IM Daiya Seto JPN 9/4 31% 24%
Men 400 IM Chase Kalisz USA 7/1 13% 10%
Men 400 IM David Verraszto HUN 18/1 5% 4%
Men 400 IM Wang Shun CHN 40/1 2% 2%
Men 400 IM Jay Litherland USA 40/1 2% 2%
Men 400 IM Thomas Farser-Holmes AUS 66/1 1% 1%
Men 4X100 Free France 5/4 44% 34%
Men 4X100 Free Australia 7/4 36% 28%
Men 4X100 Free USA 3/1 25% 19%
Men 4X100 Free Russia 10/1 9% 7%
Men 4X100 Free Italy 18/1 5% 4%
Men 4X100 Free Brazil 20/1 5% 4%
Men 4X100 Free Germany 80/1 1% 1%
Men 4X100 Free China 80/1 1% 1%
Men 4X200 Free USA 2/7 78% 60%
Men 4X200 Free Australia 4/1 20% 15%
Men 4X200 Free Great Britain 11/2 15% 12%
Men 4X200 Free Japan 14/1 7% 5%
Men 4X200 Free Russia 33/1 3% 2%
Men 4X200 Free France 40/1 2% 2%
Men 4X200 Free Germany 66/1 1% 1%
Men 4X100 Medley USA 1/6 86% 66%
Men 4X100 Medley Australia 4/1 20% 15%
Men 4X100 Medley Great Britain 14/1 7% 5%
Men 4X100 Medley South Africa 22/1 4% 3%
Men 4X100 Medley China 25/1 4% 3%
Men 4X100 Medley France 40/1 2% 2%
Men 4X100 Medley Brazil 40/1 2% 2%
Men 4X100 Medley Russia 66/1 1% 1%
Men 4X100 Medley Japan 66/1 1% 1%
Men 10k Jordan Willmovsky USA 4/1 20% 14%
Men 10k Ferry Weertman NED 6/1 14% 10%
Men 10k Lijun Zu CHN 6/1 14% 10%
Men 10k Oussama Mellouli TUN 13/2 13% 10%
Men 10k Spyridon Gianniotis GRE 8/1 11% 8%
Men 10k Jack Burnell GBR 11/1 8% 6%
Men 10k Simone Ruffini ITA 12/1 8% 5%
Men 10k Sean Ryan USA 14/1 7% 5%
Men 10k Christian Reichert GER 16/1 6% 4%
Men 10k Marc-Antoine Olivier FRA 16/1 6% 4%
Men 10k Richard Weinberger CAN 18/1 5% 4%
Men 10k Richard Nagy SVK 22/1 4% 3%
Men 10k Jarrod Poort AUS 25/1 4% 3%
Men 10k Chad Ho RSA 25/1 4% 3%
Men 10k Federico Vanelli ITA 25/1 4% 3%
Men 10k Allan Do Carmo BRA 25/1 4% 3%
Men 10k Evgenii Drattcev RUS 28/1 3% 2%
Men 10k Ivan Enderica Ochoa ECU 66/1 1% 1%
Women 50 Free Cate Campbell AUS 2/5 71% 55%
Women 50 Free Ranomi Kromowidjojo NED 7/2 22% 17%
Women 50 Free Sarah Sjostrom SWE 15/2 12% 9%
Women 50 Free Bronte Campbell AUS 9/1 10% 8%
Women 50 Free Francesca Halsall GBR 12/1 8% 6%
Women 50 Free Abbey Weitzeil USA 66/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Free Cate Campbell AUS 2/9 82% 63%
Women 100 Free Bronte Campbell AUS 5/1 17% 13%
Women 100 Free Sarah Sjostrom SWE 5/1 17% 13%
Women 100 Free Penny Oleksiak CAN 33/1 3% 2%
Women 100 Free Ranomi Kromowidjojo NED 33/1 3% 2%
Women 100 Free Femke Heemskerk NED 33/1 3% 2%
Women 100 Free Federica Pellegrini ITA 66/1 1% 1%
Women 200 Free Katie Ledecky USA 4/6 60% 46%
Women 200 Free Sarah Sjostrom SWE 9/4 31% 24%
Women 200 Free Federica Pellegrini ITA 5/1 17% 13%
Women 200 Free Emma McKeon AUS 9/1 10% 8%
Women 200 Free Femke Heemskerk NED 22/1 4% 3%
Women 200 Free Missy Franklin USA 33/1 3% 2%
Women 200 Free Shen Duo CHN 80/1 1% 1%
Women 400 Free Katie Ledecky USA 1/100 99% 79%
Women 400 Free Leah Smith USA 16/1 6% 5%
Women 400 Free Jessica Ashwood AUS 22/1 4% 3%
Women 400 Free Boglarka Kapas HUN 33/1 3% 2%
Women 400 Free Sharon van Rouwendaal NED 40/1 2% 2%
Women 400 Free Jazmin Carlin GBR 40/1 2% 2%
Women 400 Free Lauren Boyle NZL 40/1 2% 2%
Women 400 Free Mireia Belmonte ESP 50/1 2% 2%
Women 400 Free Brittany MacLean CAN 80/1 1% 1%
Women 400 Free Melanie Costa ESP 80/1 1% 1%
Women 800 Free Katie Ledecky USA 1/100 99% 77%
Women 800 Free Jessica Ashwood AUS 20/1 5% 4%
Women 800 Free Mireia Belmonte ESP 25/1 4% 3%
Women 800 Free Boglarka Kapas HUN 25/1 4% 3%
Women 800 Free Jazmin Carlin GBR 25/1 4% 3%
Women 800 Free Lauren Boyle NZL 25/1 4% 3%
Women 800 Free Leah Smith USA 33/1 3% 2%
Women 800 Free Lotte Friis DEN 50/1 2% 2%
Women 800 Free Brittany MacLean CAN 50/1 2% 2%
Women 800 Free Sharon van Rouwendaal NED 66/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Fly Sarah Sjostrom SWE 1/25 96% 74%
Women 100 Fly Kelsi Worrell USA 16/1 6% 5%
Women 100 Fly Dana Vollmer USA 18/1 5% 4%
Women 100 Fly Penny Oleksiak CAN 22/1 4% 3%
Women 100 Fly Chen Xinyi CHN 22/1 4% 3%
Women 100 Fly Rikako Ikee JPN 28/1 3% 3%
Women 100 Fly Emma McKeon AUS 28/1 3% 3%
Women 100 Fly Jeanette Ottesen DEN 33/1 3% 2%
Women 100 Fly Lu Ying CHN 66/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Fly Noemie Thomas CAN 80/1 1% 1%
Women 200 Fly Mireia Belmonte ESP 5/2 29% 22%
Women 200 Fly Natsumi Hoshi JPN 5/2 29% 22%
Women 200 Fly Franziska Hentke GER 4/1 20% 15%
Women 200 Fly Madeline Groves AUS 9/2 18% 14%
Women 200 Fly Zhang Yufei CHN 10/1 9% 7%
Women 200 Fly Zho Yilin CHN 18/1 5% 4%
Women 200 Fly Liliana Szilagyi HUN 18/1 5% 4%
Women 200 Fly Suzuka Hasegawa JPN 20/1 5% 4%
Women 200 Fly Cammile Adams USA 22/1 4% 3%
Women 200 Fly Brianna Throssell AUS 40/1 2% 2%
Women 100 Back Emily Seebohm AUS 8/15 65% 50%
Women 100 Back Mie Nielsen DEN 11/4 27% 20%
Women 100 Back Katinka Hosszu HUN 5/1 17% 13%
Women 100 Back Madi Wilson AUS 12/1 8% 6%
Women 100 Back Kylie Masse CAN 20/1 5% 4%
Women 100 Back Olivia Smoliga USA 40/1 2% 2%
Women 100 Back Fu Yuanhui CHN 40/1 2% 2%
Women 100 Back Kathleen Baker USA 80/1 1% 1%
Women 200 Back Emily Seebohm AUS 11/10 48% 36%
Women 200 Back Belinda Hocking AUS 15/8 35% 27%
Women 200 Back Katinka Hosszu HUN 9/2 18% 14%
Women 200 Back Missy Franklin USA 7/1 13% 10%
Women 200 Back Maya DiRado USA 10/1 9% 7%
Women 200 Back Daryna Zevina UKR 22/1 4% 3%
Women 200 Back Hilary Caldwell CAN 80/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Breast Lilly King USA 4/7 64% 49%
Women 100 Breast Ruta Meilutyte LTU 13/8 38% 29%
Women 100 Breast Katie Meili USA 11/1 8% 6%
Women 100 Breast Alia Atkinson JAM 14/1 7% 5%
Women 100 Breast Shi Jinglin CHN 33/1 3% 2%
Women 100 Breast Georgia Bohl AUS 50/1 2% 2%
Women 100 Breast Viktoria Gunes TUR 66/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Breast Jennie Johansson SWE 66/1 1% 1%
Women 100 Breast Kanako Watanabe JPN 80/1 1% 1%
Women 200 Breast Rie Kaneto JPN 4/5 56% 43%
Women 200 Breast Viktoriya Gunes TUR 15/8 35% 27%
Women 200 Breast Rikke Moeller Pedersen DEN 7/1 13% 10%
Women 200 Breast Kanako Watanabe JPN 15/2 12% 9%
Women 200 Breast Taylor McKeown AUS 12/1 8% 6%
Women 200 Breast Shi Jinglin CHN 40/1 2% 2%
Women 200 Breast Chloe Tutton GBR 50/1 2% 2%
Women 200 IM Katinka Hosszu HUN 1/33 97% 78%
Women 200 IM Siobhan-Marie O’Connor GBR 10/1 9% 7%
Women 200 IM Maya DiRado USA 16/1 6% 5%
Women 200 IM Ye Shiwen CHN 16/1 6% 5%
Women 200 IM Alicia Coutts AUS 40/1 2% 2%
Women 200 IM Melanie Margalis USA 80/1 1% 1%
Women 400 IM Katinka Hosszu HUN 1/14 93% 71%
Women 400 IM Maya Dirado USA 10/1 9% 7%
Women 400 IM Mireia Belmonte ESP 12/1 8% 6%
Women 400 IM Elizabeth Beisel USA 14/1 7% 5%
Women 400 IM Ye Shiwen CHN 16/1 6% 4%
Women 400 IM Hannah Miley GBR 33/1 3% 2%
Women 400 IM Emily Overholt CAN 33/1 3% 2%
Women 4X100 Free Australia 1/33 97% 77%
Women 4X100 Free Netherlands 10/1 9% 7%
Women 4X100 Free USA 11/1 8% 7%
Women 4X100 Free Canada 28/1 3% 3%
Women 4X100 Free Sweden 50/1 2% 2%
Women 4X100 Free China 66/1 1% 1%
Women 4X100 Free Denmark 66/1 1% 1%
Women 4X200 Free USA 1/25 96% 74%
Women 4X200 Free China 9/1 10% 8%
Women 4X200 Free Australia 12/1 8% 6%
Women 4X200 Free Canada 20/1 5% 4%
Women 4X200 Free Hungary 40/1 2% 2%
Women 4X200 Free Netherlands 50/1 2% 2%
Women 4X200 Free Sweden 50/1 2% 2%
Women 4X200 Free Italy 66/1 1% 1%
Women 4X200 Free Russia 80/1 1% 1%
Women 4X100 Medley Australia 8/11 58% 46%
Women 4X100 Medley USA 11/8 42% 34%
Women 4X100 Medley China 8/1 11% 9%
Women 4X100 Medley Sweden 20/1 5% 4%
Women 4X100 Medley Denmark 25/1 4% 3%
Women 4X100 Medley Canada 40/1 2% 2%
Women 10k Sharon van Rouwendall NED 4/1 20% 14%
Women 10k Aurelie Muller FRA 4/1 20% 14%
Women 10k Xin Xin CHN 6/1 14% 10%
Women 10k Ana Marcela Cunha BRA 7/1 13% 9%
Women 10k Rachele Bruni ITA 15/2 12% 8%
Women 10k Poliana Okimoto Cintra BRA 15/2 12% 8%
Women 10k Keri-Anne Payne GBR 9/1 10% 7%
Women 10k Eva Risztov HUN 10/1 9% 6%
Women 10k Kalliopi Araouzou GRE 14/1 7% 5%
Women 10k Haley Anderson USA 14/1 7% 5%
Women 10k Isabelle Franziska Harle GER 22/1 4% 3%
Women 10k Samantha Arevalo ECU 40/1 2% 2%
Women 10k Anna Olasz HUN 40/1 2% 2%
Women 10k Chelsea Gubecka AUS 50/1 2% 1%

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Jim C
7 years ago

I would suggest a different approach to adjusting for vigorish. Assume all payoffs are reduced by or to the same percentage. Thus for the women’s 400 if all payoffs are only 20% of what they should be Ledecky would actually be 1/20 instead of 1/100 close to 95%. Doing the same correction with everyone we would get a total only slightly over 100%. For a true 95% we would have 1/19 which would be 19% of what the payoff should be–I suspect this would get us to a total very close to 100%.

jcinho
7 years ago

The fixed odds bookies get their odds these days from the betting exchanges (Betfair is the largest, probably not available in the US) and until enough money has been exchanged (matched), then the odds are pretty meaningless. Expect the exchanges to increased their volumes matched after the prelims as punters see the form of the swimmers. A company like Skybet will have a huge markup (if you add up all of the odds of backing any “realistic” winner, the figure will be well below 90%. The difference between that figure and 100% is their profit margin), so you’ll get fairer odds from the exchanges when the money starts to flow on them.

jcinho
Reply to  Andrew Mering
7 years ago

Yes of course you’re right. I was thinking more of a 3 outcome event where the odds can’t be more than 100%, otherwise you’d be buying money.

King in da norf
7 years ago

In women 200 fly, Madeline Groves at 18% while Cammile Adams is only at 4%.

Commonwombat is going to love this 🙂

NeverWas
7 years ago

I’ll put a $100 on Townley Hass in the 200 with 22-1.

Sun Yang at 11/10 is ridiculous. 3/1 he’s a no show for the final. Could it happen twice?

marley09
7 years ago

We need betting lines for 8 to 12 year olds to pass the time during those long 4 day winter swim meets.

Joe
7 years ago

Were I a betting man (with, say, $100), here are some lines I’d think about. I don’t think of all of these picks as favorites in my mind (except Phelps in the 200 IM and the USA men 400 free relay who I think are going to show up to perform).

$10 Murphy 200 back at 9/2
$5 VdB 100 breast at 7/2
$10 Gyurta 200 breast at 6/1 and $10 Cordes 200 breast at 8/1
$11 Phelps 200 IM at 10/11
$19 USA men 400 free relay at 3/1
$10 Pellegrini 200 free at 5/1
$5 Worrell 100 fly at 16/1 and $10 Vollmer 100 fly at 18/1

I’ll check back after… Read more »

completelyconquered
Reply to  Joe
7 years ago

I do not think I will take the VdB bet in the 100 breast. Peaty is a lock for me. I like the Murphy 200 back, USA Men 4×100 free relay, and the Cordes 200 breast bets.

completelyconquered
Reply to  completelyconquered
7 years ago

And, DiRado in the 400 IM at 10 to 1.

Joe
Reply to  Joe
7 years ago

Checking back in – I did pretty nice. $10 on Murphy at 9/2 wins me $45, $11 on Phelps at 10/11 wins me $10, and $19 on USA men 400 free relay wins me $57. So that’s a return of $40 from my initial bet and $112 on the winnings for a total of $152. Not bad.

Rajon
7 years ago

Hit me up for some real action. Taking everything from fencing to ping pong