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What Are Blackjack Side Bets?Side bets are bonus bets placed on a round of Blackjack on outcomes beyond whether the player or dealer will win. The majority are staked at the start of the round before the cards have been dealt alongside regular bets and many have fixed odds that usually offer greater payouts than the simple 2:1 rewarded for beating the dealer.Play Blackjack at Pinnacle Casino

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Side bets provide an exciting way to make Blackjack games more interesting whilst offering you a greater number of ways to win. So what are side bets, what side bets are available and are they worth it? Read on to find out.

Blackjack Side Bets Explained

Finding a niche market in betting can often lead to value. This can be anything from specialist knowledge of handball betting to extensive experience in betting on Japanese baseball. Providing you know more than the bookmaker, there is money to be made.  &lt;Bet on soccer at Pinnacle&gt; They also make for interesting and potentially profitable bets, as they can be a little more reliable

Soccer odds

A corner is one of the most inexplicably exciting events in soccer. Only around three per cent of them lead to a goal, but you can guarantee that the attacking team’s fans will roar their approval and encouragement if their team are awarded one. Read on to find out how you can benefit from betting on corners.

Corners betting in soccer: Value in a lesser-known market

Poisson Distribution is a mathematical concept for translating mean averages into a probability for variable outcomes across a distribution. For example, if we know Manchester City average 1.7 goals per game, so by putting the Poisson Distribution formula tells us that this average equates to Manchester City&nbsp;scoring 0 goals 18.3% of the time, 1 goal 31% of the time, 2 goals 26.4% of the time and 3 goals 15% of the time.

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Poisson Distribution: Predict the score in soccer betting

What is Expected Value?The amount a player can expect to win or lose if they were to place a bet on the same odds many times over, calculated through a simple equation multiplying your probability of winning with the amount you could win per bet, and subtracting the probability of losing multiplied by the amount lost per bet.A simple example of Expected Value (EV) put into practice -&nbsp;if you were

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The Expected Value of a bet shows us how much we can expect to win (on average) per bet, and as such is the most valuable calculation a bettor can make when comparing bookmakers' odds. How can you calculate Expected Value in sports betting in order to predict your winnings? Read on to find out.

How to Calculate Expected Value

We have a team of editors and writers at Pinnacle, as well as a collection of external contributors, ranging from university lecturers and renowned authors, to ex-traders and esteemed sports experts. Collectively, the Pinnacle team and external contributors produce the educational content within Betting Resources.

<h3>Golf betting strategy - The rub of the green</h3>



Luck plays some part in how all individual sporting events pan out, but more so in golf than in almost any other - some might argue that it is&nbsp;baseball betting that is&nbsp;influenced by luck the most. Famous hustler and gambler Titanic Thompson summed it up neatly: "In poker, pool and dice you've got to worry about your game and the other man's. In golf there is also the weather". Of course, the weather is just one of many factors that make golf a hard sport to predict; getting the rub of the green can have a huge impact on an outcome in golf betting.



It's a general rule in sports that the greater the number of interacting elements (like the <a href="https://www.pinnacle.com/en/betting-articles/soccer/the-effect-of-weather-on-soccer-betting">weather in soccer betting</a>) the harder it is to predict the outcome. Once bettors know <a href="https://www.pinnacle.com/en/golf/how-to-bet-on-golf">how to bet on golf</a>, they should consider the following&nbsp;characteristics:
<div class="articleV2 unordered-list">
<ul>
<li>Golf is an outdoor sport, so is subject to the unpredictable nature of weather.</li>
<li>Tournaments last four days with no consistency to tee times for each competitor, so it is unlikely that players will experience consistent conditions.</li>
<li>A golf course covers vast distances with widely differing surfaces.</li>
<li>Pin-positions (what golfers are aiming for) change each round.</li>
<li>The field of potential winners is large by betting standards.</li>
<li>The scoring format of 72-hole tournaments is such that a player can lead throughout 71 holes yet potentially lose on the outcome of the final hole.</li>
</ul>
</div>



Given such a large number of random variables that can impact a golfer's score, it is no wonder that golf betting appears to offer much higher odds - something that is&nbsp;highlighted by the current <a href="https://www.pinnacle.com/en/betting-articles/golf/masters-betting-2017-analysis">US Masters betting odds</a>.



In poker, pool and dice you've got to worry about your game and the other man's. In golf there is also the weather. Famous Gambler, Titanic Thompson.
Despite a small selection of players&nbsp;dominating the overall PGA and European Tour standings, 28&nbsp;of the last 43&nbsp;major winners going back to the 2009 Masters have been unique.&nbsp;To further illustrate this point, see the following list of big outsiders that won majors in the last decade and the particular circumstances in which they were won in:



<div class="table-holder-article-content">
<div class="table-modal">
<div class="table-modal-head">
<div class="table-modal-head-inner">
<h2>Shock victories in golf majors in the last decade:</h2>
</div>
</div>
<div class="table-modal-content">
<div class="article-table-content">
<table class=" article-table">
<tbody>
<tr class="red-header"><th>Player</th><th>Golf Major</th><th>Odds</th><th>Exceptional Circumstances</th></tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Brooks Koepka</td>
<td class="centre-data">2017 US Open</td>
<td class="centre-data">41.700</td>
<td class="centre-data">First ever major and joint-lowest score US Open score (16 under par)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Danny Willett</td>
<td class="centre-data">2016 US Masters</td>
<td class="centre-data">101.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Hasn't finished better than T37 in any major since</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Darren Clarke</td>
<td class="centre-data">2011 British Open</td>
<td class="centre-data">126.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">In his next major at the 2011 USPGA he carded +15 for first two rounds</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Keegan Bradley</td>
<td class="centre-data">2011 US PGA</td>
<td class="centre-data">151.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Debut in a major</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Louis Oosthuizen</td>
<td class="centre-data">2010 British Open</td>
<td class="centre-data">201.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Had made 1 cut in 8 previous majors</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Lucas Glover</td>
<td class="centre-data">2009 US Open</td>
<td class="centre-data">201.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Event was wettest and most disrupted in US Open history; Glover missed cut at US Open in three previous attempts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">YE Yang</td>
<td class="centre-data">2009 US PGA</td>
<td class="centre-data">151.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Missed cut in 5 of previous 7 majors</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="centre-data">Michael Campbell</td>
<td class="centre-data">2005 US PGA</td>
<td class="centre-data">151.000</td>
<td class="centre-data">Campbell had to sink a 6ft putt just to qualify</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>



<h3>Golf betting - Analysing both talent and luck</h3>



Any successful golf betting strategy will be able to analyse a player's&nbsp;talent and ability, but also understand how luck can influence results. A bettor's view shouldn't differ that of a player, something that can be summarised by:



<div class="equation">
Success = talent + luck
</div>



If you accept the relevance of this to the world of golf, bettors must also take luck into account alongside handicap. But how do you quantify the element of luck?



One method would be to understand the importance of <a href="https://www.pinnacle.com/en/betting-articles/betting-strategy/regression-to-the-mean-in-sports-betting">regression</a>. For example, if you were to wait for completed Round 1 scores of any given major, you might infer from players scoring below par that their talent on the day - judged on that narrow criteria" - was above the average participant. Using our formula for success, we should also appreciate that good fortune played some part.



By the same token, those players who shot over par would be judged to have performed below the average, but poor luck could also have contributed. This can produce these broad statements:
<div class="equation">
Above average Round 1 score:
Above average performance + Good luck
</div>

<div class="equation">
Below average Round 1 score:
Below average performance + Poor&nbsp;luck
</div>



The aim of golf betting is to make accurate predictions. This means we&nbsp;need to use this analysis to predict what might happen&nbsp;in Round 2. If you assume that performances remain constant (and this is a broad assumption), luck becomes the variable element, which you have no way of exactly measuring other than to say that with a best guess that it would be very unlikely to be the same as on Round 1.



You can elaborate to say that those players that played above average in Round 1 would play equally well in Round 2, but that the luck they enjoyed wouldn't hold so their scores wouldn't be as impressive.



The inverse would be true of those under-performers from the first round, whose scores would (on average) marginally improve, as they would not experience the same degree of bad luck.
<blockquote>Why does a large number of the stars that appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated go on to suffer a decline in their fortunes? The statistical answer is regression.</blockquote>



The interesting observation for bettors is that regression suggests that scores of players for Round 2 are more likely to be closer to the average score than the evidence on which it is based (Round 1 for that player). This moderation is the influence of regression to the mean, which we should expect to be more noticeable with extreme scores.



It is important to note that regression doesn't guarantee anything, however. Some players who do well on Round 1 will do equally well or better on Round 2, and vice-versa. On average - if we accept the role of luck - scores will regress back towards the mean.



<h3>Regression &amp; the Sports Illustrated Jinx</h3>



As stated throughout, we are dealing with average expectation, but regression is nonetheless a statistical fact – a particularly misunderstood one. A great illustration of regression in action is shown in the Sports Illustrated Jinx,&nbsp;an urban myth that suggests that a disproportionately large number of the stars that appear on the cover of the famous magazine go on to suffer a decline in their fortunes.



This has nothing to do with jinxes, however, the reality is more mundane and can be explained by simple regression. A large number of cover features should be expected to fall from their giddy heights as the performances that led to their feature are extremes from which they should statistically be expected to regress.



Regression is certainly something that should be considered for betting on major tournaments in golf, but not across a season where luck should average out and the impact of talent dominate. This is even more relevant over longer time periods, hence multiple major winners like Tiger Woods.



But extreme as their talent is, it doesn't insulate them from the impact of luck over the shorter timescale in what is such a uniquely challenging sport for both players and bettors. Now that you understand the role luck can play in a golf betting strategy, take advantage of the best&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pinnacle.com/en/odds/specials/golf/pga-tour-the-masters">US Master betting odds</a> online!

With the 2017 golf season now well underway, bettors will be refining their golf betting strategy. Unlike most sports, luck plays a significant role in determining the result of a golf match or tournament. Regression analysis can help build an understanding of how chance operates thereby providing a valuable insight for golf bettors. Read on to find out how to quantify luck when developing a golf betting strategy.