Sports
The use of data in the analysis of sporting performance is well-known but not yet universally employed.Many teams say they are going all ‘Moneyball’ but few truly follow it through. Often, decision-making is still emotional, made without evidence and based on the eye rather than the numbers.Poker has become viewed as a Petri-dish for strategic thinking based on probability which, if applied correctly, can provide long-term success.Dan Weston is a former professional gambler and poker player. He was also one of the UK’s top slot-machine players in his young days.Now, he is applying his shrewd statistical knowledge to cricket as recruitment analyst of Leicestershire CC and the Birmingham Phoenix. In this podcast, he discusses his career, his current work and the move towards game theory. TOPICSHis role at Leicestershire Dan’s Table of JusticeUsing poker as a ‘thinking process’The trend for ex-pro gamblers to run Premier League football clubs… and run them well“Poker is a long-term skill game but short-term luck game.’Proving the case for giving him a role at a cricket clubHow his content helped this processTaking the emotion out of decision-making The importance of accountability The myth of ‘the eye’How to build a squadDealing with DraftsWhy fans and the media need to fully understand an evidence-based strategyLINKS