Comment by hunterpayne
3 days ago
The most money can be made in markets which have the worst correlation between reality and the market price. There are types of markets on PM which are very far from reality. There are types of markets which are very close to reality. It isn't surprising that sports markets are in the first category.
There are also political markets, where it is clear campaigns manipulate the prices for the same reasons they will publish polls showing they are gaining or ahead. The CA governor market is especially far from reality. This is compounded by the fact that Americans can't trade this market so the distance from reality is especially bad for American election markets.
That being said, that most people don't make money on PM isn't surprising. The same thing is true for most markets. You only invest (business) time into something if you are getting a return. So those that are actually good at making predictions put the time into making trades, so they are the bulk of the trades and the bulk of the profit. Same thing happens with day traders on the equity markets.
> There are types of markets on PM which are very far from reality. There are types of markets which are very close to reality. It isn't surprising that sports markets are in the first category.
I think you're claiming here that sports markets are "very far from reality". What do you mean by that? Scores, injuries, fouls, etc are very well documented and objective things, so I can't figure out what you mean by "far from reality". If anything, these markets seem exceptionally "real", with well defined criteria and outcomes.
What I mean is that people disproportionately bet on their home town team. And they often bet with their hearts and not their heads. But different places have different amounts of gambling and different quality teams. So places that gamble a lot but their local team isn't very good often have lines that are off from what they should be. So a team that might only have a 20% chance of winning a given game might be given a 40-50% chance on PM. Larger betting markets (eg Vegas) tend to not have these gaps as pro betters will take advantage and move the line back to where it should be. That's what I mean.
Oh I see, you're saying the line for sports markets is significantly distorted because there's lots of fans throwing money around unwisely. I guess I just doubt this claim. The pro betters that make money at vegas can just as easily make money on polymarket. In fact in many respects it's even easier. If it's getting so distorted, then this is basically free money, and the pros will eat it up, bringing the line back to where it should be. Additionally, if you personally believe with high confidence that the line is distorted, you have the opportunity to make a lot of money. So the real evidence should be in your behavior -- do you bet on these mispriced markets? How much have you made?
Not OP, but I guess he is saying these (elections, sports) are markets where the participants have their own ideas about how they want them to resolve, and aren’t just markets with neutral participants only.
Interactive brokers have prediction markets open to usa people
No PM though and that means the markets have very little liquidity. Also, I think you need to be an accredited investor to do it. Its very new but it is interesting.
You do not have to be an accredited investor for IBKR or Robinhood.