Luca Camossi is the Founder of Sbostats, an Italian platform of statistics on initial odds and training in sports betting.
Luca became an entrepreneur in betting at the age of 22, managing sports betting agencies. Previously, Luca worked in the family business.
In 2015, you founded Sbostats, an Italian statistics platform on initial odds and training in sports betting. How did the idea of Sbostats come about?
Luca: I started as an entrepreneur very young, at the age of 22. I played football, and once I got my diploma, I decided not to continue my studies at the university because I wanted to be a professional footballer. So I played for the Brescia youth team and Italian Serie D championship (forth division) for a while and then worked in the family business.
When I was 22, I realised I wanted to do something else. I’ve always been passionate about statistics, and I’ve always believed that numbers rarely lie. Because of my passion for football, I decided to apply statistics to the world of sports betting.
Consequently, I decided to quit my job in the family business and open my first sports betting agency. I then opened a second one with Andrea Gorini, my partner in Sbostats, and thanks to the agency experience, I understood some of the dynamics of betting. In particular, I understood that it was possible to apply portfolio management models to the world of sports betting.
Therefore in 2015, I started to study betting from a mathematical point of view to identify a correct method that could guarantee good performance in the medium to long term. After three years of study, in March 2018, Sbostats was born, a platform that puts people at the centre by guiding ethical, conscious and responsible gambling without promising life-changing wins.
Sbostats is an innovative tool to have fun consciously and ethically, also thanks to training activities that aim to encourage responsible choices. Can you tell us more about the company?
Luca: Sbostats’ approach to gambling is based on scientific, statistical data. Our starting point is the bookmakers, who quote the first three days of the Premier League months in advance and are never spectacularly wrong, even without the information that usually determines the bets of ordinary players.
Thanks to our models, which mathematical engineers rigorously validate, users, once they have identified the event on which to bet, can see what percentage of the prediction has occurred when offered with identical odds. For example, if this value exceeds 70%, the platform highlights green. The aim is to use the objectivity of the statistical data as an element of evaluation to confirm the validity of the prediction.
Other services, such as match analysis, allow us to identify the most likely outcomes, thanks to an internal algorithm with over 75% winning analyses. We also offer training services to teach the necessary steps for a conscious game that manages emotions and obtain results by playing responsibly.
What results have you achieved until now? What are the development plans of the company?
Luca: Since March 2018, we have worked hard to improve our service. Today we have a community of around 30k users, of which more than a thousand have a subscription with premium services.
Subscription costs vary according to duration: from € 29.99 for 90 days to € 89.99 for one year. Existing accounts can also purchase additional services, such as money management, which has a one-off cost of € 67.
At the end of 2021, we launched the free app in addition to the web platform, on which we plan to invest further in the coming months. We will also invest in further developing algorithms behind Sbostats, with a view to continuous improvement.
We are now a company of 12 people. We aim to continue to grow first in Italy and then expand abroad.
What is your view on the gaming industry and more in general of the Italian ecosystem?
Luca: The gaming industry is one of the most important economies globally. In Europe, Italy ranks second, after the UK. Spain then follows. Thanks to the “opening” to betting with the Trump Presidency, the USA is one of the fastest-growing countries.
Fortunately, in Italy, we have an excellent regulatory system of player protection and this is thanks to the gaming companies. However, I would like to see a reform that regulates communication on social networks, where the message of easy money is currently being passed on. Unfortunately, many minors are exposed to social networks, and today a third of underage gamble. It is ok to have fun, but it is important to do it in an ethical, conscious and responsible way. Regarding the Italian system, I firmly believe that Italy is a nation full of talent. And that despite the well-known obstacles, it is possible to launch and grow successful businesses.
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For more info on Sbostats, visit: https://www.sbostats.com