Maj Ragain, Twist the Axe: A Horseplayer's Story (Bottom Dog Press, 2001)

Twist the Axe is the best book I've read this year, a conglomeration of Ragain's writings on racehorses and the culture surrounding them culled from many years of work. This book collects previously published and unpublished work, poems, stories, journals, and the odd drawing or two, pairing them with newspaper clippings, result charts, family trees, and just about anything else one could think of. Ragain can lay claim to being one of the ten or twenty best poets working in America today; his distinctive poetic style, the storytelling diction Williams tried and failed to achieve time after time, meshes with the juxtaposed images of hopeless, cheap horses and the memories they raise. On one level, of course, it's all about the horses; on another level, it's about the rest of life.

Ragain never makes the reader dig too far; there are layers beneath, of course, for those who want to pursue them, but the average John Q. will certainly be able to understand the connections in 'Morning Line;'

Jim Henson, father beard of muppets,
died of bacterial pneumonia, May 17, 1990.
The next day at Thistledown, fifth race,
a mare named Big Time Bird went off,
unacknowledged, at odds of 134 to 1.
Big Time Bird ran the race of her life,
drenched in and driven by grief,
the hot lasix of tears.
She finished second, a half length short,
beaten by a horse named Woman in Love.
You will never figure out this one.

This is one of those books that, if anyone outside the world of poetry knew of its existence, might have the power to draw thousands back into the fold. It is understandable, perfectly written, accessible not only to the poetry junkie but to the average reader. For most people, it's a pleasurable new world; for the chosen few who have been lucky enough to have been reading Ragain's books for longer, it will be another rest stop on the way to Paradise. They are all too few (this is Ragain's fifth book, with the first published in 1979), and should be eagerly devoured, once found. *****

This is THE best guide that I have ever come across in regards to wagering on horses and greyhounds. It is a must have book for any novice gambler, explaining every type of wager, defining track terms, and providing a guide of tracks of North America.

While the book is a must have for beginners, even most veteran gamblers would find this book quite beneficial. Mr. Andersen begins his book with the most basic of wagering information and progresses into more exotic wagers which would provide much needeed insight to all but the most seasoned gamblers.

There is an entire section devoted to wagering tables. I have found this to be quite indispensible while at the track trying to calculate how much a particular exotic bet will cost. I never go out to the track without this "tool".

The only complaint that I had with this book initially, was that I thought it was a greyhound handicapping book. It covers horses as well as greyhounds and definately is NOT a handicapping book. With that stated, I was very pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful information contained in this book and am happy to have made this particular "mistake". I would definately recommend this book to wagerers at any level.

This is such a great book. It's the kind of book that you can't put down. If you love golf you will love this book.

Mr Border presents some very practical information on the mechanics of managing your wagering dollars. He covers everything from straight betting to the exotics, in easy to follow fashion. Very good discussion on how to pick contenders, and how to make high probability bets without having to create your own speed ratings or track variants, etc. Most profitable book I've read all year.

Since reading Modern Pace Handicapping I have really increased my winnings at the track. I hit a [money] trifecta because of this book. It has an excellent way of explaining pace. The calculations aren't too difficult but it does take lots of time before the races to determine the best horses. This was a great investment but it is for serious handicappers. Great Book.

If you are serious about horseracing and want to beat the public, this is the book for you. Tom Brohamer introduction to the reader of Dr. Howard Sartin's methodology on pace handicapping will change the way you look at horse racing forever. After reading this book you may want to find out more about Sartin methodology, and eventually obtain an easy to use computer program to make your handicapping job much easier and more effective. I hit a $2400 trifecta using this method last month.

Whether you subscribe to one handicapping theory or many, Tom Brohemer's explanation of modern pace handicapping is the best I've read.

Brohamer clearly and succintly outlines his tenents of pace handicapping and makes it easy to convert running times into meaningful handicapping information. He uses charts from actual races to illustrate his theories. The book is easy to follow and understand for semi-experienced handicapper, but takes a bit of practice to convert 1st and 2nd call fractions into pace numbers. The book covers modern tenents of pace handicapping, including running style,class drops, energy distribution. Even if you chose not to do the arithmetic, Brohamer's explanation of pace will increase your profit.

I have been reading Bukowski for 25 years now--and I can honestly say this is not very good here at all. Maybe 5 to 10 percent has merit and is worth reading--and the rest? Babble, gibberish, flat. Mind you, this is not easy for a Buk fan to admit--but the way it is. I bought it cheap so I don't really regret getting it. But if you're looking for great writing, great poetry you won't find it here.
If you're looking for excellent Buk prose try Notes of a Dirty Old Man, Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (broken down into two volumes and titled something else, from City Lights) Factotum, South of No North--even Hollywood. Living On Luck worked for me as well, so did Screams From the Balcony (letter collections, etc.) As far as his poetry? As someone else stated: the early or middle stuff. Septuagenerian Stew (stories and poems) isn't very good either. Could be one reason why Martin decided to sell the store.

The problem with Buk's later stuff is just this, I believe, he liked to say that writing was too easy for him, that there was nothing to it--and that what he produced was all good stuff. Well, as any writer knows, if it's that easy and you think everything you write is terrific, it very often means just the opposite.
I believe his publisher continued to publish the Buk's stuff because he was THE BUK, and we understand that.

My conclusion regarding Bukowski's work is just this: a third of his output is truly great and original, a third is fair--and the rest is blatantly bad, just too awaful to have any meaning or worth reading. And yet, having said that, as terrible as it may sound to the diehard Buk fan, I maintain it is a great compliment to the man, because the third that is good will forever keep him up there at the very top of the best writers ever. So, please don't despair because not everything he wrote isn't gold--it can't be. Nobody is that good; nobody can be. Buk was human and had his limitations.

Collections of poetry tend to be uneven--especially when they're as enormous as Bukowski's work (as packaged by Black Sparrow).

Betting on the muse is uneven also, but it is surely worth the money spent. There are enough poems in here ranging from 'superb' to 'good enough' to make this worth buying.

The poem "Drink" is hilarious. Buk takes us into a New Orleans bar and excellently describes what he sees. The dark humor in it keeps me coming back to it.

"Until it hurts" is a poem about writer. It's a statement to any true writer.

Betting on the Muse has the usual fare: getting drunk, hanging at the horsetrack, woman troubles... and it never gets tiresome; but it also has Buk's words of wisdom about life and the process & meaning of writing.

I'd recommend this book above any of Buk's other collections.

I give 5 stars because as far as collections go it's about as consistent, from page to page, as you could ever hope for

This is the first work of Bukowski that I have purchased and I love it. I love his style of poetry, though its sometimes like little short stories always revealing the mystery, the joys the sorrows. He's the common working man's poet. The heart and soul of America. His stuff is soothing to read and sometimes I find it puts my own life in perspective. I also find that his stuff can be really funny at times though it's usually dark humor.

I don't know how this book relates to his mass of other books, but after thumbing through a few at the bookstore I seemed to like this one for what seemed to be shorter poems with stories. When I obtain some of his other work I will be able to put this book in better context.

Tina Trapp herself learns how to play craps, and then for a full year she learns more and more and eventually becomes an expert player. It doesnt happen overnight. I learned all about craps from this book, plus parts are funny and it is easy to read. There are a lot of "adult" parts too so this not a kid's book, but the main emphasis is on craps. It takes place in Las Vegas and is very realistic, who knows, it might have really happened. Later on in the book she goes into advanced systems which were pretty interesting. The plot was interesting too and it had a happy ending as well.

Really informative.....opened up the complex game of craps and
I actually understood it......great book!

If like me, you love the game of craps, then you will want this book. Tina tells you all about her life as a Vegas "Lady of the Night" and about learning to play craps. Follow along as she goes from a callgirl to business woman. Along the way Tina passes along lessons learned at the craps table. Some interesting and profitable systems are laid out for you. This book does have adult content so be warned.

Missing Links is an outstanding book that everyone can read. The book is about a middle-aged man and his friends that all play golf at a course called Ponky. When the course was first built, it was decent but over the years, it's been let go. These guys all have a stay at home job so they are out on the golf course everyday. One morning whn they are out on the course, one of his friends get's a club stuck in a bush. So they all try and pull it out, and as a result they rip a hole in the bush. The hole gives them a great view of one of the greatest courses in the world called The Mayflower Country Club. This club is as private as you can get, you have to have a special invitation to have a chance in getting accepted. All of them had heard of the golf course right next-door but none of them had ever seen it. The course is well protected by fifteen foot brick walls all around and guards patrol day and night. I'm not going to tell you much more about the book because that would give away the rest of the book. This book would be good for high school age and up because of the language. This book is for fans of Rick Reilly's writing and for sports and golf fans everywhere. Missing Links was one of the best book that I have ever read.

This is a fun book to read. It centers around a group of friends(the chops) who play at Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Course(known as Ponky) and Deli, the single worst golf course in America. One day they discover that Ponky is next to the Mayflower, an exclusive upper-class golf club, They make a bet to see who will be the first to play at the Mayflower. The bet ends up affecting their friendship and their lives. After many (often hilarious) schemes, things work out for our heroes. Reilly is best known as a columnist for Sports Illutrated and this is his first novel.. As such it is a great effort. He creates a memorable group of characters and while the plot is often predictable, there are some great one-liners and very funny conversations..

A nice fun read - ideal for a flightor trip.

If you play this crazy game, if you love to gamble on the golf course, and if you have a regular group you play with, this is one book you can't pass up. Once started you can't put it down. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I'm ordering a couple of copies for my golfing buddies right now!! I belong to a "Mayflower" type club but I still golf regularly with my "chop" buddies at another course. Read the book and you'll understand why.

I am amazed to see so many reviews from gamblers stating how great a book this is. This book will not help you win at sports gambling! It will only help you lose your money more slowly.

There are two simple reasons that the better always loses and they are stated on page two. The bookie makes the spread and when you lose you always pay the bookie more than when you win. Mathematically speaking you have to win 53% of the time just to break even. And that's with a juice (the amount extra you pay the bookie) of 10%. On props and parlays and teasers the juice is much higher.

The reason I give this book two stars instead of one is for the pure entertainment value. I read this book cover to cover and this "James Jeffries" is a world class jerk. If anything, this book should make you want to stop betting because of the attitudes of the bookie.

If you want to actually become a bookie then I would definitely recommend it. He does miss a few points though like how much of a bankroll you need to start. And I'm curious why one would pay out the day before he collects.

I must point out that there are numerous errors in the book also. Mr. Jeffries states that he goes by Vegas odds but he has the 3 team parlay only paying out 5-1 when it should be 6-1. He also believes that half of all college basketball games are played on Sunday when in fact only a handful of televised games are played that day.

If you want to know how a bookie acts and feels, read it. Otherwise, don't bother. It won't help you win.

This book delivers everything that is promised and it's a great read. It really DOES teach you how to start your own book and how to run it professionally. By doing that, it also helps a gambler understand how lines work and why a bookie always ends up winning in the end. The first chapter on "Gambling Basics" (which is much more than "basic") is perhaps the best explanation of sports lines on every sport that I have ever read; this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

I didn't think any book would help me stopping paying my man and actually help me collect for once, but this did it. This isn't about gambling systems or trying to sell a pick service or any of the other gambling bs most other books are like. This tells how the bookie works, how he changes the lines, WHEN he changes the lines, what bets i have the best chance to beat him on, what bets i have no chance on and stuff like that. This book is great for anybody who ever puts down a play on sports. I recommend it to anyone who needs help beating their man. This is really good.

Is this an entertaining book? Absolutely. Does it tell stories of all different type games, blackjack, sports books, horseracing, poker? Yes, this book gives a good overview of gambling and interesting stories to entertain the reader.

And that is it in a nutshell. I am not a big gambler but casually enjoyed this book. But I have a complaint. The title. The first story in the book is about the guy who had breast implants to win a $100,000 bet even though the story alludes to it being more of a dare than an actual bet. A picture is included and I assure you it's not fun to look at. My problem is the sensationalized title when it's less than 15% of the book.

I was referred this book by Amazon after reading Bringing Down the House, a story of MIT students who card count their way to millions. I strongly recommend that book for an interesting gambling story. The reviews for this book were very good so I decided to try it. If you have an interest in gambling, you'll enjoy this book. But it's probably only for people for whom gambling is a significant interest in their life.

I didn't want to like this book, because I'm a gambling writer myself and I was envious of its success before I ever read it. But it was impossible not to like it. Konik writes very well, has selected some fascinating characters and subjects, and provides his readers with both entertainment and education. I think that's a very effective way to write about gambling; I employ both of those elements in my own book, CASINO GAMBLING THE SMART WAY, although my style is different from Konik's and my book is more focused on the education side.

If you like to gamble, I think you too will find it impossible to avoid enjoying Konik's book. Put in a more positive fashion, you will both learn and have fun while reading it!

It's also an easy book to pick up and put down, because it's a collection of essays rather than one story which must be read to conclusion. In today's hectic world, I consider that an added bonus.

Every book I've ever read about gambling is informative and helpful. But I've never read one that you would call "well-written" or "entertaining." Michael Konik's book is like something out of "The New Yorker": it reads like literature.

I could not put this book down. Each chapter is like a delicious appetizer in a 26-course meal. I found myself laughing frequently, shaking my head in amazement and actually saying "wow" out loud.

Originally, I wanted to read about the man who got breasts to win a bet. (And I wanted to see the picture.) But then I got hooked on the other stories.

This has got to be the best book I've read in a long time.