// event contract trading · risk management · football intelligence

You already watch the game.
Now trade it properly.

Sports events are the fastest-growing category on prediction markets. But 97% of participants lose money — because they trade without a system. We fix that.

Risk Management Framework
Event Contract Tools
Football Archives
// the numbers don't lie
Three ways to trade events. All three have the same problem.
Whether you use a sportsbook, a betting exchange, or a prediction market — without systematic risk management, the math works against you. Here's the evidence. Learn the system →

Traditional Sportsbooks

you vs. the house
97% lose money long-term

Sportsbooks build a 4–10% margin directly into every set of odds. That's before you place a single bet. In 2024, Americans wagered $148.7 billion on sports — sportsbooks kept $13.6 billion. For every dollar bet, the average bettor loses 7.7 cents. Only about 3% of regular bettors report profits after one year. Worse: sportsbooks actively limit or ban winning accounts.

Sources: American Gaming Association, Milken Institute Review, industry profitability studies

Betting Exchanges

peer-to-peer, better odds
~60% still lose

Exchanges remove the house entirely — you trade against other participants. The platform takes 2–5% commission on net winnings only, not on every bet. No built-in odds margin, no winner discrimination. Roughly 40% of exchange users achieve profitability vs. about 3% at traditional sportsbooks. A massive structural improvement — but most participants still lack the discipline to manage risk properly.

Sources: BettorEdge profitability data, Techopedia exchange vs. sportsbook analysis

Prediction Markets

cftc-regulated contracts
−20% average return

Platforms like Kalshi are CFTC-regulated financial exchanges — not gambling sites. CNN and the Wall Street Journal use their data. The Federal Reserve studies their forecasting accuracy. But a CEPR analysis of 300,000+ Kalshi contracts found a clear favourite-longshot bias: contracts priced under 10¢ lose over 60% of invested capital. The median user loses about 7% of their balance within 90 days. Cheap "lottery ticket" contracts are the biggest trap.

Sources: Bürgi, Hegarty & Whelan (2025) CEPR, Federal Reserve FEDS paper, Kalshi API data

Systematic Risk Management

the missing piece
This is where we come in.

The pattern is clear: each level up reduces structural disadvantage — but no platform solves the behavioural problem. Chasing losses (52% of bettors do it). Oversizing positions on binary events. No idea what the Kelly criterion is. Treating uncorrelated contracts like a single bet instead of a portfolio. The same risk management that keeps investment portfolios alive works here. Position sizing. Fractional Kelly. Diversification across uncorrelated events. Drawdown limits.

// two halves, one platform
Trading Tools + Football Intelligence
Systematic risk management tools for event contracts, plus the deepest independent football archive anywhere.
commerce side

Event Contract Trading

The same analytical discipline that runs financial portfolios — applied to event contracts and prediction markets.

  • 📐 Kelly Criterion Position Sizer
  • 💼 Bankroll & Portfolio Manager
  • 📊 Expected Value Calculator
  • 🔗 Curated Exchange & PM Tools
  • 📈 Correlation & Diversification Tracker
content side

Football Archives

Deep-dive content: football history, club analysis, longform storytelling. Akte Bundesliga + Worldplay.

  • 📁 Akte Bundesliga (22 dossiers)
  • 📖 Worldplay Longreads
  • ⚽ Club Histories & Scandals
  • 🏆 European Football Archives
  • 🎙️ Audio Stories (Period Radio)
// position sizing
Kelly Criterion — the formula most traders never learn
Most prediction market participants size positions by gut feeling. The Kelly criterion is the mathematically optimal formula for position sizing given your edge and the odds. See all tools →
Kelly Criterion · Event Contract SizerTry it live →
Your estimated probability62%
Contract price (Kalshi/exchange)$0.55
Current bankroll€1,000
Kelly fraction¼ Kelly (conservative)
€39
Recommended position · 3.9% of bankroll · Positive EV · Fractional Kelly reduces variance
// curated tools
Platforms & tools we recommend
No mystery ads, no sponsored tipsters. Only tools we'd use ourselves — exchange trading software, analytics platforms, essential reading. Full Market Directory →
exchange trading

Bet Angel

Professional trading software for Betfair exchange. Ladder interface, automation, dutching, custom strategies. The standard tool for serious exchange traders.

Affiliate partnership£149.99/yr
pm analytics

Prediction Market Analytics

Cross-platform data for Kalshi and Polymarket. Arbitrage detection, whale tracking, portfolio P&L across all your positions. See what smart money is doing.

Curated recommendation
essential reading

Books & Resources

Kelly criterion deep dives, quantitative sports analysis, behavioural finance. Curated library of everything that sharpens your analytical edge — available via Amazon.

Amazon Associates
// akte bundesliga
22 clubs. 22 dossiers. One archive.
The most comprehensive independent Bundesliga club analysis ever assembled. Stats, scandals, key moments, full narratives. Intelligence feeds, prediction markets, and deep-dive dossiers across the entire network.
22

Club Dossiers

Bundesliga network

100+

Pages

Original research

22

Domains

akteclubname.com

Crossovers

→ Worldplay longreads

B
BVB
aktebvb.com
B
Bayern
aktefcbayern.net
L
Leverkusen
aktebayer.com
E
Eintracht
akteeintracht.com
V
Stuttgart
aktestuttgart.com
G
Gladbach
aktegladbach.com
F
Freiburg
aktescf.com
L
RB Leipzig
akteleipzig.com
W
Werder
aktewerder.com
W
Wolfsburg
aktewoelfe.com
U
Union Berlin
akteunion.com
H
Hoffenheim
aktehoffe.com
M
Mainz
aktemainz.com
A
Augsburg
akteaugsburg.com
K
Köln
akteeffzeh.com
H
HSV
aktehsv.com
P
St. Pauli
aktestpauli.com
H
Heidenheim
akteheidenheim.com
H
Hertha BSC
aktehertha.com
S
Schalke
aktekoenigsblau.com
D
Düsseldorf
aktefortuna.com
P
Paderborn
aktescp07.com
// worldplay
The stories behind the game
Three verticals. Tragic arcs, rise-and-fall club histories, scandals that shaped football. Weekend longreads with audio.
players

Tragic Arcs

Players who burned brightest and fell hardest. Garrincha's bent legs. Maradona's descent. The human cost of genius.

Published: Garrincha · Next: Escobar
clubs

Rise & Fall

Club narratives from Akte Bundesliga. Scandals, near-misses, improbable champions. Hertha BSC ready first.

Backlog: Hertha, Gladbach, Kaiserslautern
events

25 WC Scandals

Most corrupt, controversial moments in World Cup history. 25-part series. Mussolini's dinner. Escobar's murder.

Published: Mussolini 1934 · Next: Escobar
// philosophy
Not a gambling site. A risk management platform.
We don't sell tips, picks, or "sure things." We apply institutional-grade thinking to event markets.
01

Portfolio thinking, not hot tips

A single event contract is a coin flip. A portfolio of uncorrelated positions across sports, politics, and macro events — with Kelly-optimal sizing — is an investment strategy. The same diversification logic that works for stocks works here.

02

Tools over picks

We don't sell predictions. We curate tools and frameworks that help you trade systematically. Revenue comes from tool affiliates and product recommendations — not from you losing money.

03

The structural upgrade path

Traditional sportsbook → betting exchange → prediction market. Each level removes a structural disadvantage. We help you understand which platform fits your approach and how to use each one properly.

04

Content is the moat

Any site can list platforms. Nobody else has 18 Bundesliga dossiers, Worldplay longreads, a 25-part scandal series, and a complete risk management framework built by someone who runs real capital in financial markets.

// ecosystem
Publishing → Engine → Commerce
publishing
Substack
engine
closelook.net
commerce
closelook.soccer