Though not the ideal bok for the novice horseplayer, this book give insight and information most people interested in the thoroughbred racing game have no idea exists. Written by a reporter, the prose is quick and is filled with quotations by trainers, owners, jockeys and track officials in a real time, fast-paced dialog that is powerful but sometimes difficult to keep up with.

There is no glossary or index of terms and many of the terms used are over the heads of those just learning about horse racing. This book is focused toward a betting audience or readers who currently follow racing and want to learn the intricacies of this most captivating sport.

Funny and hard hitting, this is good read and for the most part well done. Again, not for those just making a foray into this unseen world of lovely mounts and high stakes, but a good book to get acquainted with what happens before and after the starting gate opens.

Mike Helm is a writer who happens to be a handicapper and racing fan. In this book he explores all aspects of thoroughbred racing by visiting and speaking at length with all the people that have a role horse racing.

This would include jockeys and their agents, trainers, owners, grooms, hotwalkers, exercise riders, vets including the track vet, stewards, the racing secretary, handicappers, gamblers, and parimutuel clerks.

If I'm making it sound dry, it isn't. The passion for horses and the game is right on the surface all the way through.

He also answers many questions I have asked myself: on what bases does a racing secretary assign weight? Why do they write a well-balanced card one day, and a full card of cheap claimers with an allowance thrown in as the feature on others? Do jockeys pay any attention to what the owner and trainer tell him before a race? Why do horses often run off form when bumped up in class? What do trainers really think? Why do stewards rarely take down a horse based on a jockey or trainer objection? Does anyone make money gambling on horses over the long haul?

This is the kind of book you will enjoy reading, and can refer back to. I wish it had an index though.

If you are a serious horseplayer and have read many books about horse racing and betting, this book will just be a summary of what you learnt in the past. You will be disappointed if you want to find new ideas on horse racing from this book.

Sadly this book reveals nothing new.....same old stagnant handicapping methods as previously outlined in most of the authors previous books.....to collect a paycheck they have again hyped each other and their own outdated methods.

Same stuff as outline previously only packaged different . Brohammer is the only one making sense in todays handicapping game

A quick overview of each authors specialty,good reading and allows you the chance to learn all different angles of handicapping.

Since I am a professional poker player, I actually hope that lots of players read this book and take its advice.

In the introduction, the author starts off by saying:

"I played for years in a weekly game in a university town".

This book shows it. Doubtful if he has ever played in Vegas or any other large cardroom for significant money. He actually recommends bluffing frequently. Hope he manages to sit in my game some time...

All the examples are for Stud or Stud hi/lo split. The latest book in his bibliography is 1975 and the earliest is from 1940.

Fortunately, I did not buy this book but checked it out from the library and skimmed through it in about 30 minutes. This book is a waste of time and money.

The book took a week to get to me, but it was in good shape -- 5 star service, if not for the shipping time. I would buy from them again!

Lots of people picking up cards for the first time just push bets in to keep things going, because it's what everyone else at the table is doing and they want action. Lynne Taetzsch gives helpful pointers about why every bet, check, call and fold you make has a purpose as well as when and how you make them. She also gives simple lessons on how playing the man or woman opposite you at the table is just as important as playing your cards correctly.

Poor. Johnston's "The Complete Book of Golf Games" is much better.

Has lots of golf games. Really enjoyable. Highly recmommended!

Have you noticed that many horse racing books contain more pages of charts from the Daily Racing Form than pages of the author's comments? This is another horse racing book that fits this description. This book is selection-oriented and gives little or no insight as to how to construct exotic bet tickets. The level of analysis here is basically, "Bet exotics because they pay a lot of money when you hit one." I have read many better horse racing books. This book is strictly for horse racing maidens.

Bill Heller put lots of helpful information in this book. He even let the best pick six handicaper Steven Crist put in his useful tips. That is why this is a five star book

Very disappointed. This book actually teaches me nothing on turf handicapping. Perhaps this is because the main stream of horse racing in the United States is dirt racing.

Turf Overlays are hard to find. This book helps bettors win much more money. Instead of leaving the track with eleven dollers. But Turf Overlays can help you leave with one hundred dollers

...Someone has finally taken the next logical step beyond thecanonical work of Andrew Beyer, 1975's _Picking Winners_, and given usthe next step in looking at speed handicapping. Which is good, because of all the types of handicapping out there, Beyer's is the one that the public seized on, and it's since become so popular that Beyer's figures are published in the Daily Racing Form, and are so deadly accurate in most cases that those races which can be unlocked through their application have become unprofitable. Carroll gives us another way of looking at speed, a new take on velocity that turns the work of Broahmer and Sartin on its head, and in doing so takes the many complex calculations of _Modern Pace Handicapping_ and instead substitutes the kind of one-number handicapping ease that the crowd loves. Does it work? I don't know, I have a whole lot of fact-checking to do before i go endorsing Carroll's methods and theories. But as a book, it's a pretty good one. Carroll doesn't go over the same old racing history as most books, but instead gives us background information that we haven't seen before-- the various schools of handicapping, how the money flows, and most notably conformation, something many handicapping books steer far clear of. Most of it has nothing to do with handicapping speed, but any knowledge a player can get is knowledge he can put to use, if he knows how. A worthwhile addition to the shelf of the horseplayer, and if it works, it becomes the sixth book in the canon.

I feel that it had a lack of detail on programming punters however if there would be a updated book concerning the detailed programming aspect that book would be number one in my opinion.

Actually, this book is amusing and might make a fun gag gift for a golfer, but as a guide to the rules and subtleties of golfs gambling games, it is of little use. My copy goes in my pal's Xmas stocking.

A cute novelty item, but not really useful. Johnston's book "The Complete Book of Golf Games" is much better.

I was hoping to get more information than this book provides. I have found all the same information on the internet, if not more, than is contained in these pages. In fact, most of the book highlights the history of betting and some of golf's more renown gamblers. the actual betting games section of the book is pretty small.

The best part of the book is that it comes with "Don't Choke" ball markers that are great to mark an opponents ball with.

As a stocking stuffer the book is fine, as an end all and be all to golf side betting, it doesn't cut it.