The Football Injury Report
Most relatively competent bettors do take a quick look at football injury reports before placing a bet with their favorite sportsbook.
Yet can we assume that the information in those reports is accurate? There is evidence to suggest that coaches are
'cooking the books' somewhat in this area.
Coaches and franchises like to blur the truth on injuries as they can sometimes gain an edge in a game if they e.g. put down a star player on the sick list -
opposition coaches analyse and formulate their teams partly based on this information. But it is not really fair
on those that love the game - especially those wagering serious money!
Some definitions:
Out: Self explanatory
Doubtful: Means a 25 pc chance of making it.
Questionable: Means 50 pc likelihood of being game fit.
Probable: Means that there is 75 pc likelihood that the player will be ready for a game.
Coaches are continually manipulating the system. Lets face it, listing a player as "probable" - means just that! You are
simply stating that he will probably play - not that he will. Only "out" is a clear cut definition.
For football betting enthusiasts this kind of practice is a strong negative. Indeed the sportsbooks also sometimes struggle with posting accurate lines.
Solutions such as fines could work - but it still may be worth it for teams to ignore the rules and incur the fine - if there is a chance that
falsifying the injury report will give them the edge in a big game.
It can be worth taking a view on matters of player injury:
Some players are continually listed on the reports but always seem to bounce back and make the game. Others are 'probable' or 'questionable' and never seem to get back.
You can also check as many other sources as possible, newspapers, online news sites etc. - sometimes you will find that someone is in fact 'off the list'.
These days you can even become your own expert. If you know the nature of the player's injury you can go online and research how long it could
take to heal - it could help you - assuming the coach / team is being honest about the nature of that injury in the first place!
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