From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles K. McNeil (died 1981) is credited with inventing the point spread in sports gambling. McNeil earned a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago. He then taught math at the Riverdale Country School in New York and in Connecticut. His students included John F. Kennedy. He was also a securities analyst in Chicago. While gambling on the side, he developed the point spread, betting not on the probability of the final outcome, but on the expected difference in score. He eventually opened his own bookmaking operation.
[edit] Sources
- Excite Gambling Times, Winter 2001
- Bill M. Woodland, Linda M. Woodland. The Effects of Risk Aversion on Wagering: Point Spread versus Odds The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Jun., 1991), pp. 638-653
