Good Books

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I see this argument a lot...but I just can't agree with it.

IMO...you weigh the good points of a book against the bad...and THEN you decide if the book is worthwhile or not. If a book offers "one or two gems", but it also includes thirty ill-conceived or misleading ideas...then how "great" a job has the author done...and how is this book ever to pay for itself?

Are the beginning players, who are the mostly likely targets of these books, really expected to dig through a pile of questionable advice so they can find the one or two "gems"?

Perhaps I should have said that if after reading a book you are a better handicapper and bettor, then the book will pay for itself, sometimes many times over.
It may be a couple of nuggets that you were missing in your tool box that gives you the "aha moment" that improves your play.

[BettinBilly]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Very true. After mentioning Carroll's book here, I dusted it off and opened a random page. It wasn't so much what he wrote there, but what it triggered in my mind. A week or so later my program had a very useful added angle. It's often like that. New insight comes in the most unexpected ways. I can remember my mentor making an offhand remark about jockeys that absolutely rocked my world.

I understand. As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes dust off older books and glance through them.

I would also like to know whatbthe Jockey remark was.

Thanks for the post.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

If you don't mind me asking, what was the remark about jockeys that absolutely rocked your world?

Thank you

I'm sorry, but I'll have to take the silence-is-golden route on that one. In the unlikely case that I ever end up writing a handicapping book myself, the line by my mentor will be one of those italicized sections, right below the chapter's heading. Anything less than a chapter to explain and demonstrate it just wouldn't do it justice.

[BettinBilly]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I'm sorry, but I'll have to take the silence-is-golden route on that one. In the unlikely case that I ever end up writing a handicapping book myself, the line by my mentor will be one of those italicized sections, right below the chapter's heading. Anything less than a chapter to explain and demonstrate it just wouldn't do it justice.

I shall keep an eye out for your book then, DH. Curiosity is on the rise.