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[pandy]

Originally Posted by pandy

This thread really got off topic, so I'll get it back on track. I just finished reading Betting With An Edge by professional horseplayer Mike Maloney. I liked it a lot. If you like racetrack stories, Mike has been doing this a long time and has some great stories in this book. I really enjoyed that part of it. As for the handicapping information, in a way it's fundamental, albeit thorough, handicappiing, but I liked it. Most people play the horses for entertainment and don't actually do a lot of work. Maloney does a lot of work, it's a full time job and then some. I have a friend who's a professional harness bettor and his approach is very similar to Maloney's, he does his own speed figures for at least a couple of circuits, he keeps strict records on track bias, etc.

One thing that I'll tell you is that even though Maloney uses Speed Figures, he doesn't trust one number, not even his own. I found that interesting because I believe that it's better to use more than one set of figures if you are serious about handicapping and betting. For instance, Maloney will compare the Beyer figures against Timeform's. If they don't agree, that's a red flag, and then he can't be that confident about the horse's ability.

If you want to read a book that's all about handicappping you might be disappointed, but if you like racetrack stories, you may love this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. As for the handicapping part of it, there are certain parts of this book, where Maloney writes about how he bets the horses, that I truly think will help me, even though I've been doing this for a long time. I don't want to say too much because it's not fair to give out his secrets, you have to read the book. But I loved how he shows how he implements his Lock It Up and Kill Bet strategies. I'm going to use both from now one. Other parts of the book will also help me and I'll be using my copy as a reference when I'm placing my bets.

I'm pretty much the only one who has come out with handicapping books the last few years. I like reading about handicapping and horse racing and I was anxious to read this book by this renowned professional bettor. it didn't disappoint.

Another thing about Maloney's book, it's interesting to see how a professional gambler thinks. It's different because he's more attuned to the various parimutuel pools. You get to see how he manages his bankroll and figures out how to bet each key horse that he likes.