How Microsoft’s Cortana is Fast-Becoming a Gambler’s Best Friend

Cortana's gaming predictions are based on the Bing’s prediction engine, which uses search, social and cultural cues.

Ever heard of Cortana? It’s like a personal assistant for the Windows Phone. It also keeps you updated on what’s important to the smartphone owner such as being knowledgeable about your favorite team.

• Virtual PA on Windows Phone powered by Microsoft’s Bing
• New gizmo predicted correctly 10 of 16 outright winners in Week 1 NFL event
• Available in US, UK, China, Germany, Spain, France and Italy

But it does a lot more than that, the Bing-powered virtual genie, is also used in the gambling industry. The Microsoft-made Cortana seems to be becoming increasingly popular among avid gambling fans as it can actually predict major sporting events such as the Super Bowl or Premier League results.

So, how can one command Cortana to give out predictions so a gambler can bet in an online pre-match selection? It seems all you have to do is speak her. Microsoft says “Simply ask her to ‘predict Liverpool match’ or more specifically "Will Liverpool beat Everton?"

One bettor’s Premier League experience with Cortana

One owner of a Windows Phone, which will soon be renamed Windows 10, used the application to figure out the best sports betting odds for her on the football games. Out of the 14 bets this avid gambler placed, Cortana predicted 10 correctly which turned out to be a 35 % return on her initial investment.

It seems to make predictions Cortana uses Microsoft's ‘Bing Predicts’ search engine feature, implemented in April 2014 under US gambling laws, to predict sporting events. Its main line of support is the electronic analysis of the probability of a team winning, depending on the number of wins and losses, margin of victory, places where the games are held and even weather conditions and more.



It also somehow evaluates the web activity data from social media and is thus able to predict winnings and losses. So basically “asking Cortana who will win in any upcoming Premier League match will tap into Bing’s Data Modelling, utilizing a combination of sources”.

It can also predict the outcome of World Cup events such as it did in World Cup 2014, as well as the the NFL, and it apparently predicted last Week’s Super Bowl. It predicted that New England Patriots would win the Super Bowl and it did. The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28 to 24.

Global expansion of Cortana

After the US, Microsoft is taking Cortana to a higher level, hoping to conquer Europe in 2015, in its relentless marketing strategy with India, Canada, and Australia getting the alpha program which gives access to the US English version. China has a special ‘Xiao Na’ version “which also has a more face-like visualization than the default orb design of Cortana”.



Cortana is also available in Germany, Spain France, Italy, and the UK. It can surely predict the winners among this weekend’s upcoming 6 Nations Rugby tournament in the Second Round. England will face Italy at 15:30 while France is up against the favorite, Ireland, at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, Scotland and Wales are tackling the ball at 4 p.m. on February 15.

Microsoft says it hopes to extend its mobile betting predictions to other trendy events such as foreseeing who will be awarded in the next Cannes film festival in France or the best new artists at this year’s Grammys.

The digital assistant, which is only available on phones with Windows Phone 8, could probably add a "draw" call functionality to its playbook to up online gamblers’ profits too. But as the avid bettor says herself “Despite Cortana and Bing's advanced data analysis, whether I won or lost came down to what all gambling boils down to: luck. And I'd rather make my own.” Do you agree?