The Italian Draw: a betting hypothesis, registered before the season
Our backtests found the draw systematically underpriced in Italian football. Backtest discoveries are usually mirages — so instead of selling it, we froze the rules in advance, hashed them, published them with an OpenTimestamps proof, and are testing them live for a full season. In public. Either way it ends.
Status
Live since August 2026 · evaluated once, at the end of the 2026-27 regular season · selections appear in the ledger below, logged before kick-off.
The hypothesis
Across six seasons of opening odds, the draw in Italy returned more than it should: Serie B blind-draw EV +7.2% (CI95 +0.5% to +14.3%, positive in 6 of 6 seasons), Serie A +4.9%, with a clean gradient — short draw odds (≤3.5) strongly positive in both leagues, long draw odds negative. Plausible mechanism: nobody loves the draw, so its price receives the least market correction.
The frozen rules (summary)
- Every 2026-27 Serie A and Serie B match with Pinnacle prices in our feed.
- Flag the draw (X) if and only if Pinnacle's opening draw odds are ≤ 3.50. No other filter, no discretion.
- Flat 1-unit stakes; entry at our first Pinnacle snapshot; benchmark = Pinnacle close (same-book CLV).
- Primary metric: average CLV with 95% bootstrap CI. Full season, no early stopping.
- Success declared only if the CI excludes zero. Otherwise the strategy is declared dead and gets a public autopsy.
- Every selection is logged before kick-off in the public ledger on this page and settled automatically, wins and losses alike.
🔒 Proof the rules were fixed in advance
The complete specification is frozen in a public file; its SHA-256 hash is shown below. The file and its OpenTimestamps proof file were committed to our public GitHub repository on 17 July 2026, before the season. If we ever changed a comma after seeing results, the hash would change and the Git history would show it.
Read the frozen specification → OpenTimestamps proof (.ots) Verify on GitHub (with OpenTimestamps proof) →
Live ledger — every selection, logged before kick-off
Break-even at these entry odds: 30.9% of selections must win. Flat-stake ROI is published from 100 settled selections (80 so far).
95% bootstrap confidence interval for average CLV: -0.71% to +1.51% (on 80 settled selections with a closing price). The pre-registered success criterion is an interval entirely above zero at season end.
| Match | Entry (open) | Pinnacle close | CLV | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lecce — Genoa
Serie A ·
|
3.03 | — | — | pending |
| Juve Stabia — Hellas Verona
Serie B ·
|
3.41 | — | — | pending |
| Carrarese — Arezzo
Serie B ·
|
3.24 | — | — | pending |
| Pisa — Palermo
Serie B ·
|
3.13 | — | — | pending |
| Parma — Udinese
Serie A ·
|
3.22 | — | — | pending |
| Ascoli — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
3.13 | — | — | pending |
| Virtus Entella — Avellino
Serie B ·
|
3.18 | — | — | pending |
| Padova — Sudtirol
Serie B ·
|
3.20 | — | — | pending |
| Mantova — Cremonese
Serie B ·
|
3.26 | — | — | pending |
| Sassuolo — Lazio
Serie A ·
|
3.19 | — | — | pending |
| Genoa — Venezia
Serie A ·
|
3.15 | 3.34 | -5.7% | ❌ |
| Arezzo — Benevento
Serie B ·
|
3.22 | 3.22 | +0.0% | ❌ |
| Napoli — AS Roma
Serie A ·
|
3.50 | 3.25 | +7.7% | ✅ |
| Catanzaro — Ascoli
Serie B ·
|
3.24 | 3.20 | +1.3% | ❌ |
| Cagliari — Bologna
Serie A ·
|
2.91 | 3.03 | -4.0% | ❌ |
| Virtus Entella — Mantova
Serie B ·
|
3.12 | 3.24 | -3.7% | ❌ |
| Avellino — Padova
Serie B ·
|
3.35 | 3.14 | +6.7% | ❌ |
| Sudtirol — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
2.85 | 2.92 | -2.4% | ✅ |
| Torino — Monza
Serie A ·
|
3.41 | 3.34 | +2.1% | ❌ |
| Empoli — Vicenza Virtus
Serie B ·
|
3.39 | 3.21 | +5.6% | ❌ |
| Parma — Torino
Serie A ·
|
3.08 | 3.11 | -1.0% | ❌ |
| Monza — Cagliari
Serie A ·
|
2.99 | 3.18 | -6.0% | ❌ |
| Cesena — Avellino
Serie B ·
|
3.03 | 3.04 | -0.3% | ✅ |
| Juve Stabia — Sudtirol
Serie B ·
|
3.33 | 3.17 | +5.0% | ❌ |
| Pisa — Cremonese
Serie B ·
|
3.19 | 3.32 | -3.9% | ❌ |
| Mantova — Palermo
Serie B ·
|
3.32 | 3.41 | -2.6% | ❌ |
| Padova — Virtus Entella
Serie B ·
|
2.90 | 2.88 | +0.7% | ❌ |
| Frosinone — Sassuolo
Serie A ·
|
3.31 | 3.67 | -9.8% | ❌ |
| Torino — Udinese
Serie A ·
|
3.36 | 3.08 | +9.1% | ❌ |
| Modena — Hellas Verona
Serie B ·
|
3.36 | 3.25 | +3.4% | ❌ |
| Padova — Carrarese
Serie B ·
|
3.32 | 3.31 | +0.3% | ❌ |
| Lecce — Bologna
Serie A ·
|
3.21 | 3.28 | -2.1% | ❌ |
| Catanzaro — Mantova
Serie B ·
|
3.46 | 3.25 | +6.5% | ❌ |
| Arezzo — Cremonese
Serie B ·
|
3.18 | 3.16 | +0.6% | ✅ |
| Vicenza Virtus — Pisa
Serie B ·
|
3.46 | 3.16 | +9.5% | ❌ |
| Genoa — Fiorentina
Serie A ·
|
3.35 | 3.24 | +3.4% | ❌ |
| Virtus Entella — Juve Stabia
Serie B ·
|
3.05 | 3.23 | -5.6% | ✅ |
| Sudtirol — Ascoli
Serie B ·
|
3.13 | 3.03 | +3.3% | ✅ |
| Avellino — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
3.15 | 3.08 | +2.3% | ❌ |
| Mantova — Pisa
Serie B ·
|
3.38 | 3.23 | +4.6% | ✅ |
| Arezzo — Sudtirol
Serie B ·
|
3.17 | 3.03 | +4.6% | ❌ |
| Parma — Genoa
Serie A ·
|
2.91 | 2.92 | -0.3% | ❌ |
| Fiorentina — Napoli
Serie A ·
|
3.48 | 3.29 | +5.8% | ✅ |
| Venezia — Lazio
Serie A ·
|
3.42 | 3.58 | -4.5% | ❌ |
| Ascoli — Avellino
Serie B ·
|
3.31 | 3.19 | +3.8% | ❌ |
| AS Roma — Inter
Serie A ·
|
3.19 | 3.52 | -9.4% | ✅ |
| Sampdoria — Catanzaro
Serie B ·
|
3.43 | 3.52 | -2.6% | ❌ |
| Cremonese — Virtus Entella
Serie B ·
|
3.39 | 3.15 | +7.6% | ✅ |
| Carrarese — Benevento
Serie B ·
|
3.30 | 3.25 | +1.5% | ❌ |
| Udinese — Cagliari
Serie A ·
|
3.29 | 3.08 | +6.8% | ❌ |
| Monza — Sassuolo
Serie A ·
|
3.33 | 3.32 | +0.3% | ❌ |
| Juve Stabia — Cesena
Serie B ·
|
3.26 | 3.30 | -1.2% | ✅ |
| Avellino — Palermo
Serie B ·
|
3.24 | 3.24 | +0.0% | ✅ |
| Mantova — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
3.30 | 3.19 | +3.4% | ❌ |
| Lecce — Monza
Serie A ·
|
3.20 | 3.03 | +5.6% | ❌ |
| Cesena — Cremonese
Serie B ·
|
3.27 | 3.28 | -0.3% | ✅ |
| Lazio — AC Milan
Serie A ·
|
3.23 | 3.24 | -0.3% | ✅ |
| Vicenza Virtus — Juve Stabia
Serie B ·
|
3.12 | 3.47 | -10.1% | ✅ |
| Padova — Ascoli
Serie B ·
|
3.20 | 3.32 | -3.6% | ❌ |
| Sudtirol — Modena
Serie B ·
|
2.87 | 3.28 | -12.5% | ✅ |
Show the 30 older selections
| Match | Entry (open) | Pinnacle close | CLV | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genoa — Frosinone
Serie A ·
|
3.47 | 3.31 | +4.8% | ✅ |
| Benevento — Hellas Verona
Serie B ·
|
3.03 | 3.12 | -2.9% | ❌ |
| Pisa — Virtus Entella
Serie B ·
|
3.32 | 3.28 | +1.2% | ❌ |
| Venezia — Fiorentina
Serie A ·
|
3.33 | 3.49 | -4.6% | ❌ |
| Empoli — Arezzo
Serie B ·
|
3.31 | 3.20 | +3.4% | ❌ |
| Udinese — Lazio
Serie A ·
|
3.13 | 3.12 | +0.3% | ❌ |
| Palermo — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
3.37 | 3.90 | -13.6% | ❌ |
| Cagliari — Lecce
Serie A ·
|
3.27 | 3.04 | +7.6% | ❌ |
| Juventus — AC Milan
Serie A ·
|
3.38 | 3.09 | +9.4% | ✅ |
| Parma — Monza
Serie A ·
|
3.14 | 2.90 | +8.3% | ✅ |
| Juve Stabia — Pisa
Serie B ·
|
3.10 | 3.09 | +0.3% | ❌ |
| Frosinone — Venezia
Serie A ·
|
3.41 | 3.61 | -5.5% | ❌ |
| Virtus Entella — Vicenza Virtus
Serie B ·
|
3.18 | 3.07 | +3.6% | ✅ |
| Cesena — Mantova
Serie B ·
|
3.37 | 3.38 | -0.3% | ✅ |
| Carrarese — Empoli
Serie B ·
|
3.24 | 3.16 | +2.5% | ❌ |
| Ascoli — Benevento
Serie B ·
|
3.38 | 3.25 | +4.0% | ❌ |
| Fiorentina — Torino
Serie A ·
|
3.23 | 3.25 | -0.6% | ❌ |
| Sudtirol — Catanzaro
Serie B ·
|
3.18 | 3.08 | +3.2% | ❌ |
| Genoa — Como
Serie A ·
|
3.21 | 3.66 | -12.3% | ❌ |
| Bologna — Lazio
Serie A ·
|
3.30 | 3.23 | +2.2% | ❌ |
| Cesena — Sampdoria
Serie B ·
|
3.29 | 3.29 | +0.0% | ✅ |
| Venezia — Lecce
Serie A ·
|
3.18 | 3.19 | -0.3% | ❌ |
| Benevento — Modena
Serie B ·
|
3.34 | 3.31 | +0.9% | ❌ |
| Empoli — Cremonese
Serie B ·
|
3.15 | 3.15 | +0.0% | ❌ |
| Avellino — Arezzo
Serie B ·
|
3.24 | 3.24 | +0.0% | ❌ |
| Parma — Cagliari
Serie A ·
|
3.01 | 2.99 | +0.7% | ❌ |
| Sudtirol — Virtus Entella
Serie B ·
|
3.14 | 3.04 | +3.3% | ❌ |
| Carrarese — Mantova
Serie B ·
|
3.21 | 3.21 | +0.0% | ❌ |
| Udinese — Como
Serie A ·
|
3.47 | 3.52 | -1.4% | ✅ |
| Vicenza Virtus — Catanzaro
Serie B ·
|
3.17 | 3.17 | +0.0% | ❌ |
Selections are written to this ledger before kick-off and are not removed; the selection, its entry price and its log time stay as recorded, while the kick-off time follows the real fixture and the closing price and result are added after the match. Entry price is Pinnacle's opening draw price from our first snapshot; CLV compares it to Pinnacle's closing price on the same market — no line shopping. Wins and losses appear here alike, and the season runs to the end regardless of how it looks in between. Documented outage (rule 6): our odds feed ran out of provider credits between 12 August and 1 September 2026, so matchweek 2 has no opening prices and no selections. It is not backfilled — logging it after the results were known would break the rule that makes this test meaningful.
Why this might fail (written before, not after)
Italy came out of a scan of 17 leagues, so multiple-testing risk is real. The ≤3.5 band was chosen after seeing the data. Market effects decay. That is exactly why this is a forward test with pre-committed rules and not a betting recommendation: if the edge is a mirage, you will watch it die here, in public, and it will get its own entry in our strategy graveyard. Read the explainer →