Abstract In this paper the author examines the market efficiencies that can be seen in the national football league. In particular, he looks at the wagering systems that are used. He examines a few case studies, and uses these to try and explain how the odds and efficiencies of the markets are determined. He especially relates all of his points to wagering on football games, looking at all of the elements which will add to efficiencies of betting. Further to this, the author looks at the stock market, taking certain examples to emphasize his discussions. In conclusion, the author summarizes the two main theories of market efficiencies, the random walk theory and select strategies.
Table of Contents
Efficiency and Football Wagering
Additional Evidence of Inefficiency
From Bachelier to Bookmakers
From the Paper "After noting that totals bets tend to attract more attention when two high-scoring teams are playing each other, Paul and Weinbach point out that "rooting for scoring tends to be easier than cheering for a lack of scoring." With these two factors in mind, the authors theorize that bettor psychology may push totals too high, making the "under" a consistently profitable wager. To test this hypothesis, Paul and Weinbach examine the entire sample of NFL totals from 1979 to 2000. And as the table below indicates, the under indeed won with a frequency that calls the efficiency of the totals market into question - particularly in games where the total was significantly higher than average."
Abstract This paper discusses the illegal and legal business activities that organized crime/Mafia partakes in. It includes bookmaking, loansharking, gambling, and stock fraud. It gives historic examples of each business, as well as recent events.
From the Paper "Organized crime has been involved in business ventures both legitimate and illegal since the very beginning. In the early days they were involved in prohibition; selling liquor illegally and running speak easys. However time has evolved and prohibition ended. Nowadays the members of OC are into things like bookmaking, loan sharking, gambling, stock frauds, sex and much more. Though certain laws have been put in place to help control these activities, such as RICO, they still exist throughout the syndicates."
Abstract This paper gives a brief history of the evolution of the European manuscript. The paper begins with the invention of the Roman codex, then describes the development of Merovingian and insular manuscripts. Next, it discusses the Carolingian Renaissance of the 8th to early 10th centuries. In the medieval period, the manuscript developed through Romanesque, Gothic, and High Gothic phases, and the quantity of books and genres greatly increased. By the Renaissance, England and France had passed their zenith as centers of illumination, but manuscript production in Italy and the Netherlands began to flourish. The final period discussed is the late Renaissance revival of Roman themes. By this time, movable type had overtaken manuscript creation as the primary form of bookmaking.
From the Paper "After the Carolingian Renaissance came the Romanesque period, which many consider to be the "golden age of illuminated manuscripts." This period took place in the 11th and 12th centuries in England and France, but did not reach its height in Germany until the 13th century. All elements of the Romanesque manuscript were in harmony: the proportions of lettering and text, the page texture, and the polychromatic illumination. Pages were decorated with 'increased economy and concentration." Initials were the central feature and were decorated with foliage scrolls "inhabited by biting beats, birds, and climbing human figures." Word separation, which had begun in Ireland, was introduced on the continent. During the 12th century, books became larger and developed a two-column format. In this century, tables of contents and indices were added. Romanesque manuscripts showed a widening range of themes. There were more classical works, saints' lives, and chronicles; scientific, legal, and philosophical manuscripts also appeared."
Abstract This paper explains that, at the time of John Gotti's arrest in 1992, the Gambino family was the richest and most powerful organized crime family in the United States, operating in diverse criminal activities that included cargo hijacking, labor racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, bookmaking, pornography distribution, counterfeiting and murder. The author points out that, until his death in 1976, Carlo Gambino was the head of the family, consisting of twenty-three crews of up to four hundred members in each; he was succeeded by Paul Castellano, who remained as head, or "don", until he was assassinated by John Gotti's men and Gotti became the new head of the Gambino crime family. The paper relates that most of the men, who later formed the network of crime families known as the Mafia, came from Palermo, in Sicily, an area, which was an area of unrestrained corruption in the government and the city torn by family feuds that reached across generations.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Beginnings
Structure, Organization and Code of Conduct
Gambino's Rise
Capo di Tutti Capi
After Don Carlo
From the Paper "By the mid-1960s, Gambino was devoting more attention to the illicit moneymaking opportunities offered by the John F. Kennedy International Airport, which had begun to replace the waterfront as the entryway for foreign imports into the United States. By 1966, $30 billion dollars in goods was passing through JFK airport. He first took control of the unions that handled the unloading of cargo from the planes. Through kickbacks to shop stewards and foremen, the MThe paper relates that most of the men, who later formed the network of crime families known as the Mafia, came from Palermo, in Sicily, an area, which was an area of unrestrained corruption in the government and the city torn by family feuds that reached across generations. was allowed free rein in lifting cargo. Securities entered the country in pouches on the flights, and fencing stolen securities soon became a rich source of profit. Gambino's heroin smuggling operation has been estimated by Federal investigators to be second only to gambling as Gambino's most profitable business."
Abstract The paper examines the Gambino crime family, which was one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in America. The paper discusses how the origins of the Gambino family's grip on New York City's illegal network of activities, such as racketeering, loan sharking, and narcotics, trace back to 1913. The paper explores how Gambino has the distinction of being the first crime boss to engage in wide-spread drug trafficking. The Gambino and Lucchese families also began the technique of using legitimate businesses such as pizza parlors, meat markets, restaurants, construction companies, trucking firms, dress factories, and nightclubs, as fronts for more profitable illegal operations.
From the Paper "After Carlo died, the remaining Gambino crime family divided into two factions: the Manhattan faction, which was loyal to John Dellacroce, "the real brains of the family" and the Brooklyn faction who sided with the official new boss, Paul Castellano, although the general opinion of Castellano was the he was "selfish, greedy, and not as smart as he liked people to believe." (Bruno, 2005, "Manhattan versus Brooklyn) There was also a considerable difference in the two faction's styles and methods of making money. The Dellacroce faction preferred to make money from gambling, street-level extortion, narcotics trafficking, prostitution, loan sharking, and hijacking."
