Betting Books

The Newmarket Wizards - interviews with 8 top UK punters

or

anything by Quin or Quirin, both American authors

Dave, what part of the country do you live ?

market wizards, new market wizards are about financial punters, and not uk based

gambling wizards (munchkin) might be the one you were thinking of

My standard reply to this is "Moneyball"

It's not a gambling book, it's a book about baseball.
It's not an advanced stats book. It's a true story and very readable for the most part for anyone interested in sport and with a rough knowledge of baseball.

I believe you'll learn more about gambling from reading it than any of the standard answers given, if you read it from a gambling angle (It's nothing to do with gambling)

Ken, I live in Derbyshire.

No their is a book called The Newmarket wizards containing interviews with top UK horse punters

Moneyball is an excellent read

The Zulu Principle is both the name of a book by Jim Slater and an insight he had when his wife did some reading. As he tells the story, his wife was reading a four page article on Zulus in Reader's Digest. If she had gone to the library and borrowed as many books on the subject as she could find, she would have become one of the leading experts in her city on the subject. If she had flown to South Africa and lived in a Zulu kraal for a couple of months and studied all the literature at a South African university she would have gone on to become one of the great experts of her country, and possibly the world on that subject.

Slater realised that the more you focus your attention on an area, in particular an area neglected by the wider community, the easier it would be to become an eminent expert in that subject. Slater's books are all about investing in small growth companies that are ignored by the institutions. He suggests a form of specialisation that will enable you to outperform the markets by gaining a massive competitive edge in areas neglected by most investors.

Handicapping 101 by Brad Free is a good read. The best American Book I have come accross.

Just bought Moneyball based on the reviews here, sounds like a good read!

Be curious to know how you get on CJ :)

DaveEdwards 28 Apr 11:54
I like to ask this every so often.

Anyone read anything recently that was good/of interest?

Any to recommend generally?




The best way is to learn by yourself and primarily from your own mistakes. Anybody that writes a book clearly is not a success.

Not into baseball but it seems that isn't an issue here. I'm not into Italian football but 'A season with Verona' was the best sports book i've ever read.

We all love an underdog, and those that go against the grain. It sounds a fascinating read.

Alex, I like to keep myself appraised of current thinking, even if it is for me to go in the other direction...

It's not an issue, though a working knowledge of the rules and some of the more basic stats would probably help the enjoyment. (You could google and learn enough of these in 15 mins if you have a zero understanding I suspect)

As you say, it's an underdog story, both with the team and the fact that the guy running them has to cope with scepticism from "the old guard" with his new-fangled approach.

Familiar enough thx Lori, went to Fenway to watch the Red Sox play Texas 3 or 4 years ago. Loved the experience of the stadium and 50s atmosphere more than the actual game if i'm honest.

Like many things its a sport which needs investment from the watcher to fully appreciate it. A close friend who moved to New Jersey 5years ago adores it and now has a Mets season ticket.

When a last minute goal goes against you and you're about to give your feline a taste of shoe leather, think of the wise words of Moneyball's Billy Beane:

"Winning is simply a matter of figuring out the odds, and exploiting the laws of probability... to get worked up over plays, or even games, is as unproductive as a casino manager worrying over the outcomes of individual pulls of the slot machines."

DaveEdwards 29 Apr 12:03
Alex, I like to keep myself appraised of current thinking, even if it is for me to go in the other direction...



IM is a good plan. A 30% gross arb posted up there currently.

However people that have the time to write books cannot possibly be good punters otherwise they would be punting full time. And even on IM the info is restricted.

"However people that have the time to write books cannot possibly be good punters "

Yes the list is endless

Alan Potts
Dave Nevison
Andy Beyer
Steve Davidowitch
etc

You need to change you name ot bitter old wrinkler

Joshuag, I think to be fair the truth lies somewhere inbetween. There are some great books out there, but there is also a lot of dross written by people who have little idea.

May I ask, do you apply the methods of Beyer, Davidowitz & Potts? If so how successful have you found the methods?

'However people that have the time to write books cannot possibly be good punters otherwise they would be punting full time'



Very small world you inhabit, old wrinkler

Alan Potts book 'Against the Crowd' is a good book to give you a perspective on why its the market you are tring to beat. American books generally have been the best, I like Quin and Quirin, not such a fan of Beyer. Have they influenced me, for sure. Have I found them successful, well its pretty much my FT job now