New Features for SportsXction

As England and the Zimbabwe national team squared off on the second day of a five-day cricket test match last Friday, Interactive Systems Worldwide (ISW) launched a new addition to its SportXction betting system.

Company chairman Barry Mindes says its new release for test cricket was hugely popular and yielded more users and bets than any other previous sporting event for SportsXction.

The software enables gamers to bet on more than just the outcome of a game; most bets actually take place mid-game over very short-term action. For example, gamers bet on which team will score next, whether the next pitch will be a ball or strike or whether the next play will be a run or pass. Bets are made in real time from either the Internet or a compatible cell phone as users watch or listen to the game on TV or radio.

ISW spent $12 million on the sophisticated system and software for which it has obtained two patents in most developed countries across the globe. SportXction uses automatic adaptive programming and highly advanced artificial intelligence to calculate odds and payoffs and to balance a pool of wagers on events that take place during the contest. In calculating odds, the system must consider the probability of several factors, including the general likelihood of an event, individual player statistics, gamers’ betting habits, the balance of a given pool, and more. Then it must adjust those figures according to how users have been betting on particular events.

For example, suppose a baseball bettor wants to wager on Roger Clemens' next pitch. If a majority of users are betting that he will throw a strike, the system will have to adjust the odds accordingly and lower the payoff for a successfully called strike. But if few people are predicting a ball, the payoff will be a little larger for a successful call. All calculations are automated and made nearly instantaneously by SportsXction's computer system.

SportsXction debuted on the Internet in December 2002 with great success, especially with cricket wagering. It was during a single-day cricket match that SportXction received its record 251 bets in just 6 hours. Because the strategy and rules of test-match cricket are sufficiently different from single-day play, ISW created a new SportsXction application to deal with the new factors and probabilities. The launch of the new test cricket application was a tremendous success, with SportsXction reporting a larger number of bets from a larger number of people than it ever had before.

Mindes said more new features are in store. By the time Wimbledon rolls around, he said, SportsXction should be equipped to handle bets for events with multiple outcomes. Users will be able to wager on which player will score next, how many yards a team will gain on the next play and how many goals a team will score. Then in August, SportsXction will be available on England's Sky Digital interactive TV network, whereby punters will be able to watch events while placing bets on the action using a remote control. In addition to broadcasting the game live, the SportXction interactive TV service will likely display betting options on-screen while commentators discuss wagering and statistics.