Charles K. McNeil
Charles Kline McNeil[1] (16 August 1903 – 7 April 1981)[2][3] was the inventor of the point spread in sports gambling.[4][5] McNeil earned a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago. He then taught math at the Riverdale Country School in New York and at the Choate School in Connecticut. His students included John F. Kennedy. He was also a securities analyst in Chicago.[4] 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 in the 1940s.[4] McNeil's method is used today in different areas; anything from basketball to poker. He started the new method of trading and changed the way people bet.[6]
Charles Kline McNeil | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1903 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | April 7, 1981 (aged 77) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
| Known for | Creating the points spread in sports betting |
References
- "Ancestry.com".
- "Find a Grave".
- Social Security Death Index
- Robert H. Boyle (March 10, 1986). "The Brain That Gave Us The Point Spread". Sports Illustrated. p. 34.
- "Point Spread". Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- "Boycott Tote Bookmakers". Retrieved 2011-05-20.
Further reading
- Bill M. Woodland, Linda M. Woodland (June 1991). "The Effects of Risk Aversion on Wagering: Point Spread versus Odds". Journal of Political Economy. 99 (3): 638–653. doi:10.1086/261770.
- Boyle, Robert (March 10, 1986). "The Brain That Gave us The Points Spead". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- Miech, Rob (June 25, 2022). "The spread, white and blue's very own Charles K. McNeil". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.