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.

To win at the races you need to eliminate the losers. This book gives the serious handicapper the tools to choose the horses that are really in contention for todays race. With the help of this book and some reasonable handicapping skills, one can see a difference at the betting windows. The only criticsm is that there is not any great insight on money management, which was not the purpose of this book but would have been a nice bonus.

A great book that fully explains class differentials and what horses to look for to win certain classes...Must read for any player

This was truly an eye opener for me, a casual Thoroughbred bettor. James Quinn has positively showed me the light! This book is an up to date, complete analysis of modern formulas to understand how eligible horses qualify for certain races and how to spot the probable winner. 100 stars!!!!

This is a great book primarily because, in addition to being one of the world's foremost handicappers, Beyer is also an excellent writer. He conveys the ups and downs, the exhilirating highs and crushing lows of the life of a horseplayer in the context of the narrative of his own life. Highly recommended!

The information in 'Picking Winners' is accurate. I bought it as a present for my younger brother. Tremendous buy.

I've read many fine books on handicapping and this one is probably the best of them all. A real easy read, its peppered with fascinating and often humerous anecdotes and rules of thumb.

Beyer first introduced his speed handicapping concept in this book, and he shows how to compute the now famous Beyer speed figures. Even though they're available in the Form, its still good to know how they were derived.

At the time Beyer wrote this book, he focused most heavily on speed handicapping, and he would more thoroughly embrace other factors such as pace or trip handicapping later in his career. But he does at least touch on all facets of handicapping in this book, and either a beginner or expert will find it a informative and amusing read.

Enjoy!

After reading and researching statistical techniques applied to horse racing this book is by far the most important and complete book I have read. The techniques are proven using complex math and statistical calculations and if repeated can earn a consistant and reasonable profit.

William Ziemba and Donald B. Hausch, eds., Efficiencies of Racetrack Betting Markets: Economic Theory, Econometrics, and Mathematical Economics (Academic Press, 1994)

I believe this is the only review I have ever written for a book I do not own. While I was working at a university in the late nineties, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a copy of this in their library after reading Ziemba and Hausch's landmark Beat the Track. For the year between my finding it and my switching jobs, the book was out of the library and in my hands every day. I renewed as often as I could, and when I couldn't, I would drop it off on my way to work and take it out again on my way home. They were inclined to be lenient, because I was the only person who had ever taken the book out of the library.

Let me get one thing straight from the outset: folks, this is not your momma's handicapping manual. For that matter, it's not your shady Uncle George's handicapping manual, either. It's a graduate-level econ textbook. And if you have no background in math (as I didn't at the time, and I still have only what I've gleaned thanks to Howard Sartin and Tom Brohamer), your first trip through this large and ponderous tome will be torturous. You might want to bone up on your equations, not to mention keeping a small handbook of "what Greek letters mean to economists" by your side at all times.

Eventually, however, you will dig your way down to the meaning of the first paper. And then the second. And then the third. And so on. And for the horseplayer with an academic bent (definition, gleaned from some nasty comments during a discussion on the book that irked some folks who didn't like what they were hearing: any bettor who read Rosecrance's The Degenerates of Lake Tahoe and was able to laugh when finding a description of someone a lot like him), figuring out what these people are on about is the rough equivalent of discovering the tombs of Tutankhamen, Rameses, and Nefertiti all at the same time, and finding incontrovertible proof that Anubis really DID carry their souls off to the realm of the dead in the process. It's true that any bright middle-school student who has a good grasp of fractions will be able to get Beat the Track, and praise the powers that be that Ziemba and Hausch are capable of translating this morass into something most people can understand, even if they only touched on a portion of one of Ziemba's papers (which is the first one presented here). If the middle-school student is really, REALLY bright, is what the classifieds today call a self-starter (read: willing to try and figure this stuff out on his own), and has access to a tutor and/or writings that can explain some of the more esoteric facts, and has six months or so free to decipher this stuff full-time, said bright middle-schooler can probably find the keys to the kingdom. And get a pretty solid understanding of econ jargon in the process (which could lead to blowing the curve in Freshman-level econ classes in a few years).

I've been considering going back to school and learning to be an accountant. Before I do so, I have every intention of acquiring a copy of this hefty tome, which will likely set me back a year's tuition or more, and using it so I, too, can blow the curve. Of course, if it helps me make enough money to pay for school in the process, that would be quite a bonus, but the real value here is in showing, once and for all, that depending on your point of view, either horse race investing is no more a gamble than playing the stock market, or that playing the stock market is just as much a gamble as putting your two bucks on the nose of Glue Factory Refugee in the seventh at Charles Town on Friday night. *****

You will no longer fall under the "idiot" category once you read this book. It is for those who do not know much about betting on horses or horse racing. It is handy, simple, and informative, as well as fun to read.

I always wondered if these idiot books are really intended for idiots or for someone else. Now I know that, if the series can be judged from this one small part, the title is meant ironically and facetiously. But an even better title would be Information Junkie's Introduction to Horseracing, which, incidentally, describes this little tome exactly. Packed with facts and authoritative guidance to betting on the nags, this work summarizes in a compressed modern pellet that large gaseous cloud of legend and fokelore that surrounds the sport of kings. So if you don't know the difference between a thoroughbred and a quarter horse, if you can't tell exactly how an exacta differs from a quinella, if you think eight furlongs is longer than a mile, then this is the book for you. Betting systems are adequately described and the novice should come away with an idea or two on how to work their own box or wheel, or progress the bets, or even go dutch. The only section I had trouble with was about reading the racing form. Whole books could be done on that subject, but even the small amount presented here was unclear and occasionally misleading. Some benign editor who didn't know much probably corrected some of the author's post positions to past positions especially when we are told past position is important and usually coming out close to the rail is an advantage. Also not quite up to the high quality of the rest of the book is the section on drugs. The author might profit by reading about the pharmacology of Lasix. And cocaine is not found in horse urine. If it is found in a post race urine, it simply means that the groom or the stableboy assigned to get the sample became impatient and peed in the cup himself. Such samples usually also have lots of nicotine and caffeine and always have a sky high chloride content that identifies with silver nitrate testing that the urine in question is of human and not horse origin. In the world of horses the big worry about what's stuffed up the nose is not cocaine: It's a sponge to block the favorite's breathing.

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.

Fate, Coincidence, and the Outcome of Horse Races is not so much about horse races as it is about the superstitions that plague the horse-racing fan. The author shows a rare type of humor, explaining with wry wit why the horse-racing fan should observe certain superstitions: never eat peanuts at a race track; do not keep losing mutuel tickets in your pocket; keep your eyes and ears peeled for the occurrence of coincidences, etc. Armando Benitez affirms that there is a power that arranges the occurrence of every incident on earth, and that sometimes that power is too lazy to scramble its results. Sometimes, also, when there are two or more similarly-named horses in a race, that power will tend to pick one of them to win the race . . . because it is unconsciously influenced by the repetitious occurrence of the names, the same as we are. The book is sprinkled throughout with anecdotes from the race track, quotes and examples from antiquity, and from authors ranging from Herodotus to Arthur Koestler. Whether you believe this stuff or not, or whether you are a racing fan or not, this is a book worth reading. Are there any other titles by this very funny and talented writer?

The intriguing title makes one want to open this book. Because, who has not been tantalized by the occurrence of a coincidence in his or her life? At the race track, especially, even the hardest nosed of race handicappers will occasionally throw their handicapping knowledge to the wind to follow a hunch or coincidence.

The practicality of the advice in this book aside, it is a little gem awaiting its readership. Full of anecdotes from the race track and from history, it is both fascinating and funny.

I am a HUGE Horse Racing fan and this book was terrific! Sometimes I feel that I am part horse when I read this book!

This one is ok, not one of the best, but not the worst either. It did have some decent tips and strategies for spotting an overlay and has been somewhat of a help to me in my handicapping.

I thought the book was pretty good. Some good straightforward advice that is good to take with you to the track. No systems or guarantees, just common sense. The only drawback is that the analysis is using older formats of the Racing Form that doesn't include Beyers, and other newer things. The insight from the Mig, PG Johnson etc. was helpful.

ilikethereviewu

This book is worth reading for the appendix and details on trip handicapping, but the material on track biases smacks of type 1 errors (finding differences that aren't really there).

The main theme of this book is trip handicapping and a horseplayer who mainly focuses on figures must read. This book will change your mind and ways of thinking. I am actually quite surprise that this book was written over 10 years ago.

With Andrew Beyers new approach to handicapping, I have grasped the full potential of my own creative handicapping skill. A full out knowledge investment. This book is gauranteed to lead an intelligent player to success.