Sports Stock Market

[kurtism]

Just an FYI post; a new sports stock market site has gone live, and it appears to be supported by the SABR-types. Worth checking out if you like the statistical side of sports: ProTrade (http://www.protrade.com/)

[Lathum]

on a side note, does anyone remember the name of the sports card stockmarket that used to be out there?

[Flasch186]

hollywood stock exchange....hsx.com was fun for about 2 hours.

[digamma]

tradesports.com and intrade.com also let you trade on sports or current events.

[marshall881]

The Pit is still in operation for trading sports cards.

[Lathum]

ok, I jumped on these sites for a second but it looked a little to much like gambling to be on during work. How exactlly do they work?

[digamma]

The only one that doesn't show up as a gambling site (according to our web sensors) is intrade.

I'm speaking for tradesports and intrade, but they set up a market in which investors can buy and sell contracts on events. If the events happen the contracts pay out at $100 (or $10, depending on your multiple).

As an example, prior to the PGA tournament last week, you could buy "Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship." The going rate was in the $50-$55 range. The price rose steadily during the week and capped at around $62. If you bought at $50, you could sell then, guaranteeing yourself a profit. After Tiger shot 75 on Thursday, the price plummeted into single digits. It rose some on Sunday when Tiger got into the mix, but not all that much. If Tiger had one, those contracts would have been paid out. Since he lost, they are valueless.

So, it is like gambling, in the sense the contract is only payable if the event happens, but the market is in play up until that point of decision.

[Lathum]

The only one that doesn't show up as a gambling site (according to our web sensors) is intrade.

I'm speaking for tradesports and intrade, but they set up a market in which investors can buy and sell contracts on events. If the events happen the contracts pay out at $100 (or $10, depending on your multiple).

As an example, prior to the PGA tournament last week, you could buy "Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship." The going rate was in the $50-$55 range. The price rose steadily during the week and capped at around $62. If you bought at $50, you could sell then, guaranteeing yourself a profit. After Tiger shot 75 on Thursday, the price plummeted into single digits. It rose some on Sunday when Tiger got into the mix, but not all that much. If Tiger had one, those contracts would have been paid out. Since he lost, they are valueless.

So, it is like gambling, in the sense the contract is only payable if the event happens, but the market is in play up until that point of decision.


do you ever do it, is it fun?

[digamma]

I've been following the markets recently after reading an article on them a few weeks back. I've yet to sign up or do anything on them, but I'm definitely intrigued.

[Lathum]

I think I may give it a go this evening

[Anthony]

i used to do this one called "wall street sports". that was a lot of fun. it was more like a game though, not supposed to make money off it. these sound like actual gambling sites, i wouldn't want to get too hardcore with it.

[FrogMan]

Sorry for the threadjack, but I thought this could be the right place to ask. I used to play a game called "funbet" I think. It was free and you were buying on either side of a sporting event (or actually any kind of event) and the price kept changing depending on the score of said event. The thing I liked most about it is it was free...

Thanks for any help in finding a similar game, most preferably free.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, just realized that diagamma describe just the kind of game it was, except it was free... Anybody knows a free game like that, I'm not much of a gambler...

FM

[digamma]

dola, just realized that diagamma describe just the kind of game it was, except it was free... Anybody knows a free game like that, I'm not much of a gambler...

FM
I think you might be talking about Wall Street Sports. I don't know if it still exists or not.

[Anthony]

nope. i wish.

[FrogMan]

nope, I know Wall Street Sports and it wasn't the same. WSS was more about buying shares of players than it was of events.

I did a few search and the game was called Funbets (was www.funbets.com, but it now redirects to www.wagerline.com) and it really was about events, sporting and of general actuality, like Oscars and other award shows.

As you described earlier, you could buy one of two occurences of one event with the addition of the price of both occurences adding up to 100 at all time. I remember having a lot of fun playing with it during NFL games when the prices would fluctuate like crazy as soon as a team would score as people would try to buy a lot of one side of the event. And you were able to "short" shares, i.e. sell shares you didn't have, in hope of buying them at a lower price later. Thing is, if the even you "shorted" shares for didn't happen, you were stuck with buying the shares, or covering your short, at the full 100 price per share. It was a lot of fun.

Oh well, if anybody knows of a free thing like that, well, I'd like to be able to play it again...

FM

[Lathum]

so I went to tradesports to check it out. They have the most confusing interface I have ever seen, and I am not a complete moron.

[BuffaloHuskey]

Just bumping this thread up, as it appears this game has increased in popularity. I will admit the interface is a little overwhelming, but I would not be surprised if this takes off. The Company just received $10 million in seed funding from Jeff Moorad, Brent Jones,and Troy Aikman. With this type of funding, I would not be surprised to see this take off. I joined a free game today, I will have to see how it goes.

[sterlingice]

i used to do this one called "wall street sports". that was a lot of fun. it was more like a game though, not supposed to make money off it. these sound like actual gambling sites, i wouldn't want to get too hardcore with it. I used to play WSS, too. I remember leaving my account dormant for a year or something and coming back and the few million I had in stocks that I never sold were worth billions at that point. Then again, when I was still playing, billions was worth something but when I came back, everyone and their dog had that much since in that system money basically flowed in but never flowed out.

SI

[Subby]

This isn't gambling anymore than trading futures would be.

I think of gambling as events where I put my money in as a significant underdog with the hopes of getting lucky and hitting a payday (roulette, craps, the lottery). Situations where I have information available to me that helps influence the decision and gives me an edge in the long run seems like a different animal.

Definitely interesting...

[QuikSand]

This isn't gambling anymore than trading futures would be.

I think of gambling as events where I put my money in as a significant underdog with the hopes of getting lucky and hitting a payday (roulette, craps, the lottery). Situations where I have information available to me that helps influence the decision and gives me an edge in the long run seems like a different animal.

Definitely interesting...

So, betting on sports is generally not gambling in your judgment? How about going to a bookie and laying $100 to win $90 that the Redskins cover this week? Gambling? Or investing?

[duckman]

http://www.investopedia.com/

A friend of mine at work told me about this site that his Personal Finance professor suggested they use while learning about it in class. They have a stock market simulator that follows the actual market. It gives you $100,000 in play money and you can invest it see how well you do. So far, he's made $8,000 in two weeks.

[albionmoonlight]

How is the liquidity of these markets? Is there always someone willing to buy when you are wanting to sell?

[QuikSand]

Is there anyone here who could benefit from their "referral bonus" offer? I might do this at some point, and I'd be game for giving someone the free five bucks, if possible.

[Subby]

So, betting on sports is generally not gambling in your judgment? How about going to a bookie and laying $100 to win $90 that the Redskins cover this week? Gambling? Or investing? I think if you are picking one random game and guessing the outcome then, yes, you are probably gambling. If you consider all of the games available to you and pick the ones with the best prices, based on the research you have done, then in the long term I don't think it is gambling.

Obviously this is harder to accomplish with the NFL since you have such a limited number of lines from which to choose.

[QuikSand]

I think if you are picking one random game and guessing the outcome then, yes, you are probably gambling. If you consider all of the games available to you and pick the ones with the best prices, based on the research you have done, then in the long term I don't think it is gambling.

Obviously this is harder to accomplish with the NFL since you have such a limited number of lines from which to choose.

That sounds like a pretty gray line to me.

(Not that I disagree, necessarily)

[QuikSand]

So, I signed up for this... and was disapointed in one respect.

Am I the only one who had the impression that this was for real money, along the lines of WSEX and the like? I was disappointed to find that this is just a little game where you might do really well and win a sweatshirt or something.

Bah. If I'm going to gamble, I want to gamble.

[albionmoonlight]

So, I signed up for this... and was disapointed in one respect.

Am I the only one who had the impression that this was for real money, along the lines of WSEX and the like? I was disappointed to find that this is just a little game where you might do really well and win a sweatshirt or something.

Bah. If I'm going to gamble, I want to gamble.
I didn't sign up, but remember looking them over and having no impression that they were not a real money site.

[QuikSand]

Maybe I'm just in the "play money" section so far... but if that's the case, they all but have me hooked. I wandered in before this last weekend's games, invested my whole initial stake, and apparently am ranked #1 out of 223 people in my current "challenge," whatever that means.

Either the free stuff is rigged to lure people into the real money stuff, or else this thing is a damned license to print money. I just bought shares of players who I thouht were pretty obviously undervalued (just due to playing time changes, that sort of thing) and six otu of six went up, some by quite a bit.

Hmmm..... need to investigate further.

[QuikSand]

By the way - if anyone wants an invite to this thing, I apparently get a referral for inviting you if you actually sign up. Send me a PM with an email address, and I'll have an invite sent to you.

[Neuqua]

Out of pure boredom, I signed up for protrade tonight.

Anyone have any impressions?

[Barkeep49]

Out of pure boredom, I signed up for protrade tonight.

Anyone have any impressions?
What kind of impressions are you looking for?

About the only sports betting I did was some mild arbitaging, but I've done some political and entertainment trading.

[Neuqua]

Impressions like... Is it enjoyable or just a waste of time...

[samifan24]

*bump*

I signed up for a Protrade account a couple of weeks ago and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Does anyone here play?

[Barkeep49]

I did and did ok until I got greedy and burned the small amount I'd invested in it, trying to arbitrage movie opening #s.

[Chief Rum]

The only one that doesn't show up as a gambling site (according to our web sensors) is intrade.

I'm speaking for tradesports and intrade, but they set up a market in which investors can buy and sell contracts on events. If the events happen the contracts pay out at $100 (or $10, depending on your multiple).

As an example, prior to the PGA tournament last week, you could buy "Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship." The going rate was in the $50-$55 range. The price rose steadily during the week and capped at around $62. If you bought at $50, you could sell then, guaranteeing yourself a profit. After Tiger shot 75 on Thursday, the price plummeted into single digits. It rose some on Sunday when Tiger got into the mix, but not all that much. If Tiger had one, those contracts would have been paid out. Since he lost, they are valueless.

So, it is like gambling, in the sense the contract is only payable if the event happens, but the market is in play up until that point of decision.

Wait a sec, did I miss something? Didn't Tiger win? It was his 13th major, right?

[Chief Rum]

Whoops, stupid year old threads.