Secrets of Professional Turf Betting

[SAL]

This book always go for big money on eBay. I'm curious as to why it does. It's a pretty old book, is there some juicy stuff in there that still applies to today's game? Is it worth paying $50+ for?

Any opinions by readers of this book would be appreciated.

[Figman]

If it is by BOB BACON the answer is a resounding NO!

[John]

I have it,well whats left of it. its not in good shape as it is an old book.

beats the hell out of me why people will bid $50 + dollars for it.

BACON, the author.writes very well and has a sense of humor as he tries to teach you "to copper the public"
What BACON means is to look for value when the public is going along with the favorite.{ How do you do that ?] well BACON has a deferent method for every month of the year.You play that method in that month as long it is winning.Now if the value is gone on that play.BACON says, the public has caught on.So you drop playing that angle. Hopefully the month is over and you are ready for a new method. He also talks about other facets of racing,Diamond Jim Brady and a few others from the 20's and 30's

All and All it is a good read and has a few good nuggets that I kept over the years.

John

[Tom]

There ware a couple of chapters on speed handciapping that were actually pretty interesting.
$50 worth of interest?
If yes, I guess I have a copy to sell!:eek:

[ranchwest]

Guess I must've been lucky. I bought a copy of the book for $4.98 at Half Price Books about 6 months ago. Mine is 11th printing and is in fairly good condition, the dust cover is still on and in fairly good shape for an old book.

I found the book interesting from an historical perspective. There are some sections that are still relevant today.

[GameTheory]

The demand comes from stock market traders, not from handicappers (and is bolstered by the fact that it is selling for high prices, and no one knows why). There is nothing in that book, really. However, you can read it cheap even if you do pay $50 on ebay because you can also re-sell it for that amount when you are done.

But the hype over that book seems to have been caused by a few references to it in literature on market cycles and trading. The references are to a simple principle which in the book is called "the principle of ever-changing cycles". The idea there is that the public is always one step behind in the way they bet. The author talks about seasonal cycles that occur every year with young horses (and how the public is always reacting to each new part of the cycle after it is already over and something else is now happening), and also how the odds actually affect the results of races because the trainers want to win at prices. So this idea about the behavior of the pari-mutuel market is applied to actual financial markets in the stock market literature. The idea is mentioned only on one or two pages of the book...

[John]

GameTheory

"NIICELY SAID"

[SAL]

Thanks for all the replies. I don't think I'll be footing out the money for this one.

[BeatTheChalk]

On sale at Amazon for a mere C Note plus shipping ...It was
published in 1965 .. Hmm .. Think I will pass for now ...and go
bet the C Note on some nag today .. .. . . :)

[Hosshead]

When I bought it, it was at a used book store for $7.00

[Tom]

I bought it from Amerpub for next to nothing-brand new, back in the day (heheh)!

[Lefty]

Yeah, when published it orig cost $5.00
One chapter tells you not to bet horses that run with overweight. Think that one misses the mark.