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 The Book of Proposition Bets by Owen O'Shea
In the modern world the theory of probability is used extensively in mathematics, science, engineering, medicine and, of
course, gambling. A proposition bet is one that involves the use of probability –both estimated and actual –where an individual makes an apparently
attractive bet to someone who is easily deceived by the odds, which are at first glance in his favour.
The Book of Proposition Bets gathers together,
and reveals the true mathematics behind, over 50 classic and original proposition bets. From the famous Three Card Monty (really an exercise in the Monty Hall
Paradox), to probabilities based on rolling dice and pulling playing cards, or whether or not a mark can guess 3 correct digits of a one dollar bill’s
serial number (spoiler: the odds are against it), author Owen O’Shea here compiles a fascinating and engaging survey of prop bets. In addition, Part 2 of
the book contains a brief history of the theory of probability and some examples of cons and scams perpetrated on the general public to this day around the
world, (plus a few more mathematical proposition bets!).
Whether to learn the intricacies used by hustlers, or borrow a couple of tricks for yourself,
we wager that there is a high probability that readers will enjoy this entertaining and illuminating book!
Paperback - Prometheus Books
180 pages (15 Aug. 2021) £15.99
Kindle - Prometheus 159 pages (15 Sep 2021)
£14.95
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 Statistical Sports Models in Excel by Andrew
Mack
What does it take to create a winning sports betting model?Many people are interested in learning how to make
smarter sports betting wagers. Not many of those same people are excited at the prospect of learning applied statistics to better inform their choices. You
can't entirely blame them. Statistics has a well-earned reputation for being somewhat inaccessible by non-academics
If you want to be introduced to or
enhance your ability to create and understand predictive analytic models in the sports wagering world, this book is for you. I consider myself a neophyte in
statistics and have a basic working knowledge of excel. I have been searching for some time for a tutorial that I can use to understand how predictive
analytics works and what I need to do to create a model to help determine what the real outcome of games should be and where I can exploit for profit lines
that are incorrect. The author takes the time to break down complex ideas and theories into manageable and understandable steps. He provides examples and
analysis of several different types of models along with their strengths and weaknesses. This book will give you the knowledge necessary to put together your
own model, back test it, and make any necessary adjustments. If you are want to take your wagering knowledge to the next level and actually be able to look at
a line and determine if you have an edge or not , rather than just tailing some tout or going by your "gut", read this book.
The examples and methods in
the book are very straightforward and the author does a good job walking the reader through their advantages, disadvantages and some basic applications. The
book is not going to tell you where value exists (nor should someone expect it to) rather it provides you with some tools that you can experiment with in order
to find your own value
Paperback - Independently published 162 pages (9 Jul 2019) £24.70
Kindle - Amazon Media EU 176 pages (9 Jul 2019)
£15.96
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 Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game Pro-Edition
David Sumpter
Football - the most mathematical of sports. From shot statistics and league tables to the geometry of
passing and managerial strategy, the modern game is filled with numbers, patterns and shapes. How do we make sense of them? The answer lies in the mathematical
models applied in biology, physics and economics. Soccermatics brings football and mathematics together in a mind-bending synthesis, using numbers to help
reveal the inner workings of the beautiful game.
Welcome to the world of mathematical modelling, expressed brilliantly by David Sumpter through the
prism of football. No matter who you follow - from your local non-league side to the big boys of the Premiership, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A or the MLS -
you'll be amazed at what mathematics has to teach us about the world's favourite sport.
Really interesting read and Sumpter manages to strike the
balance between explaining his reasoning and not going into too much detail for people who haven't studied maths at a higher level. And if the maths does
interest you there are further explanations and links in the appendix.
Paperback - 352 pages Bloomsbury Sigma; Reprint edition (9 Mar
2017) £6.49
Kindle - 352 pages Bloomsbury Sigma; 1 edition (5 May 2016) £6.17
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 Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All
the Facts by Annie Duke
Annie Duke is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, the winner of the 2004
Tournament of Champions and the only woman to win the NBC National Poker Heads Up Championship. Now, as a professional speaker and decision strategist, she
merges her poker expertise with her cognitive psychology graduate work at UPenn. She is a founder of How I Decide, a non-profit that creates curricula and
tools to improve decision making and critical thinking skills for under-served middle schoolers.
Thinking in Bets offers a compelling, and eminently
useful, new way to think about life's decisions. Annie Duke has written an important, and often hilarious, book that will help you understand your own
shortcomings--and make smarter choices as a result. You can bet on it.
A book both entertaining and practical, based as it is on lessons learned from
thousands of hours of decision making under pressure, as Annie Duke played high-stakes poker. At heart, it's about how we distinguish skill from luck in
decisions, how we can improve the skill part of the balance,while understanding that luck will always play a part.
Hardcover - 288 pages
Portfolio (7 Jan. 2019) £15.24
Kindle - Portfolio (6 Feb. 2018) £7.49
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 Finding an Edge: Horse
Racing Systems, Sports Betting, Betfair Tips by Ron Loftus
Take your betting to a more sophisticated level *
A credible book of substance, containing invaluable information that is more relevant in today's betting world than any other book * Written by a full time
Professional who has been a successful backer with the bookmakers for the last two decades and has proven to be just as successful on the betting exchanges
since there inception, so this book is the real deal and should be taken seriously as it could turn out to be the best wager that you will ever
make!
"The surprising thing about this book is that it does show you how to win, and what is even more surprising is that it is perfectly plausible." -
A.N. Punter
• Convert Win odds into True Win prices. • Convert Win odds into True Place prices. • Identify profitable Each Way
Bets. • On-Course Strategies (Track Betting) • Professional Staking & Betting Bank. • Beating the Betting Exchange Starting Price. •
Backers Book, Trading, Hedging, Backing, Laying etc. • Plus Lots More
Paperback - 142 pages Ron Loftus (16 April 2012) £14.41
Kindle - 146 pages Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. £7.76
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 Born to Punt: Steve Palmer's Betting Year by
Steve Palmer
Steve Palmer is that rare commodity, a journalist with a huge and very loyal following for his
regular columns in the "Racing Post". His many thousands of fans enjoy his idiosyncratic and amusing interpretation of his own and others betting activities as
well as life in general. Where others see pain and misery Steve inevitably sees a unique and amusing angle.
"Born to Punt" brings the best of Palmer's
often hilarious anecdotes and stories together under one roof for the first time. These stories frequently involve the hideous misfortune and sometime joy
which befalls the many of millions of punters who regularly bet each week.
Absolutely hilarious from the start! For anyone that is regularly involved
in financial combat with the bookmakers, or simply intrigued into what makes thousands of people regularly frit away their finances on a variety of sports,
Steve's account is frightfully recognisable. Chasing the dream! The lazy boy lifestyle led with his accomplice through various fast-food establishments adds
the required light humour!
Hardcover - 288 pages (22 Feb 2011) £3.29
Kindle - 304 pages Racing Post Books; 1 edition (24 Feb. 2012)
£8.39
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 Intelligent Gambling: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Beating the Odds by Tim
Phillips
Gambling isn't a mug's game, but if you approach it like a mug, you'll lose. Have you been throwing good
money after bad? You're not alone. For years the bookies' jealously guarded the tricks of the trade, their edge, because if you won, they lost: and odds-on,
you lost. "Gambling is easy - but winning is tougher. It takes discipline, hard work and an agile mind, but when you win, believe me, there's no sweeter
feeling. In this book you can find an insider's guide to how to bet, where to look for your edge, and how to turn that edge into the maximum profit. Gambling
can be profitable, and it can be fun: read my tips on how to bet, and maybe you can have both at the same time." - Tim Phillips.
We've recently
witnessed the biggest revolution in 200 years of legal gambling. The way we bet has been transformed: exchanges allow us to make a bet not with a bookmaker,
but on the Internet with anyone who has money and an opinion. There are now many more ways and places to bet, many more games to bet on, and many more ways to
find the 'edge' that may be your path to profit.
Paperback - 256 pages (24 Jun 2008)  £10.49
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 The Art of Bookmaking by Malcolm Boyle
Why do you try and beat the bookmaker, without knowing the basics of the business? The bookmaker offers punters prices
based on his/her expertise, luring you to invest in a betting scenario from your amateur viewpoint. Yes, you have an opinion and might have even researched
previous results and form guides from time to time, but unless you approach betting from a professional viewpoint, you will continue to lose money to the
dreaded enemy.
"The Art of Bookmaking" explains how 'Turf Accountants' approach any potential betting scenario, and the (simple) mathematics that
govern transactions. From a detailed look at 'percentages' through to frame betting in snooker, it shows you how to 'price up' any sporting event in the
calendar. And it will show you how the Odds Compilers create prices for tournament betting (World Cup - US Open Golf Championship - Wimbledon etc), and inform
you of the mistakes bookmakers have made down the years.
Hardcover - 256 pages (23 Mar 2006) £6.59
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 Exotic Betting : How to Make the Multihorse, Multirace Bets that Win Racing's Biggest Payoffs
by Steven Crist
Steven Crist has been playing the races and writing about them since a chance trip to
Wonderland Greyhound Park in 1976 put a quick end to studying 18th-century English literature. He was the horse-racing columnist for The New York Times from
1981 through 1990; founding editor-in-chief of The Racing Times in 1991-92; a New York racetrack executive from 1994 to 1997; and in 1998 assembled an
investment group that purchased Daily Racing Form, where he served as the chief executive until 2002 and remains as the chairman and publisher. Crist is the
author of the books Offtrack, The Horse Traders, and Betting on Myself.
In Exotic Betting, the horseplayer takes a colorful wagering ride by learning
to maximize profits by betting on a multitude of exotic wagers including the daily double, exacta, trifecta, quinella, superfecta, pick 3, 4, and 6.
Hardcover - 288 pages (May 25, 2006) £43.02
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 Six Secrets of Successful Bettors: Winning Insights into Playing the
Horses by Frank R. Scatoni, Peter Thomas Fornatale
Are there really people who consistently win at the
racetrack? Yes there are, and in Six Secrets of Successful Bettors: Winning Insights into Playing the Horses, you'll finally meet them and learn their secrets.
Frank R. Scatoni and Peter Thomas Fornatale have put together a one-of-a-kind gambler's gem in their quest to find the small percentage of racetrack investors
who beat the game. Do you have what it takes to join them? After interviewing more than two dozen professional players, the authors have identified the six
secrets that all of these successful individuals have in common. Whether you're a casual weekend player or a serious fan contemplating turning pro, al of the
practical elements for success are candidly revealed in this truly fascinating journey into the gambling habits of the world's greatest players.
Gamblers interviewed include blackjack expert Kevin Blackwood and poker champions Clonie Gowen, Howard Lederer and "Amarillo Slim" Preston.
Hardcover - 288 pages (April 1, 2005) £12.61
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 Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong
The book
addresses all aspects of betting. How to place bets, internet betting, book betting. Talks about shopping for the best lines. Addresses quarters, halfs, sides,
totals, straight, future, teasers, money lines vs spreads. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in becoming a better sports better with a
leaning to U.S Sports. The question and answer section after each chapter quizzes you on the material you just read. The appendixes and tables at the end of
the book would satisfy any mathematical curiosity you may have that there is alot of work that goes into beating sports. Wong is respected in the professional
community.
Paperback - 380 pages (September 1, 2001) £10.08
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 Taking Chances by John Haigh
What are the odds
against winning the Lottery, making money in a casino, or backing the right horse? Every day, people make judgements on these matters and face other decisions
that rest on their understanding of probability: buying insurance, following medical advice, carrying an umbrella. Yet many of us have a frightening ignorance
of how probability works. This text presents an entertaining and fascinating exploration of probability, revealing traps and fallacies in the field. It
describes and analyses a variety of situations where chance plays a role, including football pools, the Lottery, TV games, sport, cards, roulette, coins, and
dice. The book guides the reader round common pitfalls, demonstrates how to make better informed decisions, and shows where the odds can be unexpectedly in
your favour.
Paperback - 344 pages (May 2000) £1.53
Buy This Book
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| EVERYMAN |
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 Betting for a Living by Nick Mordin
From
an author who devises and tests his own systems, this book describes how, during the winter of 1991/2, he applied his ideas at the racetrack and took over
£1000 per month from bookmakers. It details the exact methods he used and explains the precise reasons behind every bet made.
Hardcover - 320 pages (16 November, 1992) expected price £18.00 Buy This Book
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| Real Life NOVELS |
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 Twelve Grand by Jonathan Rendall
"You probably have to be a
gambler to really enjoy reading this".
What luck, we are! The book is all about indulgence, mainly on the betting front, although sex, booze and drugs are
also high up on the inebriated agenda. The other caveats (do you need any more?) are that swearing and blasphemy feature regularly. But the most frustrating
aspect of the book is that the author sometimes uses abbreviations for common words. It is not always obvious what he means, although you get the general gist.
The main character is clearly in a state of (alcoholic) decline as he relates what he does with the £12,000 given him by a publishing company
(coincidentally, Yellow Free Press, the book's publishers) to fritter away on gambling. He ends up waging a "silent war" against a lot of things in his life,
some of them imaginary; a state of mind induced by his almost-perpetual intoxicated condition? Despite its obvious faults, it is a clever and sometimes
humorous book that gets you thinking. It neatly alternates between the past and present, until the twain inevitably meet, and it is an interesting read on the
whole, as long as you do not mind the bad language, etc. You (eventually) end up feeling sorry for the writer and applaud his raw honesty, although you
sometimes feel intoxicated yourself reading the book, particularly the fuzzy ending.
Paperback - 224 pages (26 October, 2000) expected price £5.60 Buy This Book |
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