An article in The Monthly described the method used by computer-betting king Alan Woods as follows: ‘Alan and his computer team win by capitalising on bad betting by the general public … Alan’s team...

An article in The Monthly described the method used by computer-betting king Alan Woods as follows: ‘Alan and his computer team win by capitalising on bad betting by the general public … Alan’s team employs a dozen or so staff to analyse and compile data for every horse running in Hong Kong … The data is then plugged into a computer program, and using a formula based on past results, a probability for every horse in the race is calculated’ (Wilson 2005). How could you interpret the ‘formula’ that is described in this quote?