What handicapping books does the betting public read according to Amazon?

[mishka]

I was thinking about the expertise level of the general betting public. While on Amazon I noticed that Amazon ranks their books in terms of popularity/books purchased. So I thought hey, which handicapping books were at least according to Amazon, the most purchased.

Amazon also ranks these books within categories, but I found those categories to be inaccurate against what individual pages said about particular books. Plus Kindle rankings skewed some lists--two of the most popular ebooks had no paper-equivalent. Plus some lists had books on how to win the Pick 3 and Pick 6--the lottery games (or other lottery games).

So I made a list of paper-based books based on authors I knew about and some I just found by browsing. The list is ordered by their Amazon ranking (the lower the number, the high the popularity). So Eng's book is thee most popular book on handicapping. See below.

The top five-seven may be accurate as some lists put them at the top most of the time. But obviously not a complete list, and how it might help not sure. Wong's book (#4) was a surprise as it ranks above alot of past heavy hitters in handicapping.

Also, if you are budding writer, and if you want to make money writing horse racing books, then write about famous horses and their connections. Drama basically. Hope this post is not too long.

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1. Betting on Horse Racing For Dummies [Paperback] (Eng) #65,857
2. Exotic Betting: How to Make the Multihorse, Multirace Bets that Win Racing's Biggest Payoffs [Hardcover) (Crist) #71,694
3. Expert Handicapping: Winning Insights into Betting Thoroughbreds (Drf Handicapping Library) (Liftin) #84,769
4. Precision: Statistical and Mathematical Methods in Horse Racing [Hardcover] (Wong) #90,723
5. Modern Pace Handicapping, Revised [Hardcover] (Brohamer) #112,460
6. Picking Winners : A Horseplayer's Guide [Bargain Price] [Paperback] (Beyer) #176,876
7. The Power of Early Speed (Elements of Handicapping) [Paperback] (Klein) #179,482
8. Ainslie's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing [Paperback] (Ainslie) #182,676
9. Dr. Z's Beat the Racetrack [Hardcover] (Ziemba) #197,258
10. 150 Professional Horserace Handicapping Systems [Paperback] Gambler's Book Club Press #193,673
11. The Winning Horseplayer: An Advanced Approach to Thoroughbred Handicapping and Betting [Paperback] (Beyer) #272,568
12. Betting Thoroughbreds: A Professional's Guide for the Horseplayer: 3rd version (Reference) #339,297
13. Betting Thoroughbreds: A Professional's Guide for the Horseplayer: Second Revised Edition (Reference) #388,385
14. Winning Thoroughbred Strategies [Hardcover] (Mitchell) #429,596
15. Thoroughbred Handicapping: State of the Art [Hardcover] (Quirin) #430,620
16. How to WIN the PICK 6: Horse Racing's Big $$$ Payout [Paperback] (Kolb) #515,207
17. The Handicapper's Condition Book, Revised: An Advanced Treatment of Thoroughbred Class (Quinn) revised--#520,449, orignal--#2,849,935
18. Speed to Spare: Beyer Speed Figures Uncovered (Cardello) #528,009
19. Beyer on Speed: New Strategies for Racetrack Betting (Beyer) #534,323
20. Commonsense Betting [Hardcover] (Mitchell) #534,753
21. Bet With the Best 2: Longshots [Hardcover] #611,830
22. Handicapping 101: Finding the Right Horses and Making the Right Bets [Hardcover] 1st edition (Free) #642,680
23. Thoroughbred Cycles [Hardcover] (Cramer) #676,686
24. Money Secrets At The Racetrack [Paperback] (Meadow) #678,013
25. Handicapping 101: Finding the Right Horses and Making the Right Bets [Hardcover] 2nd edition (Free)#710,792
26. The Best of Thoroughbred Handicapping: Leading Ideas & Methods [Hardcover] (Quinn) #720,109
27. Betting Synthetic Surfaces: Conquering Racing's Newest Frontier [Hardcover] (Finley) #784,497
28. Betting Maidens and 2-Year-Olds: Analytical Approach to Future Winners (Elements of Handicapping) [Paperback] (Illman) #778,991
29. Bet With the Best: Expert Strategies from America's Leading Handicappers (Drf Handicapping Library) [Hardcover] (Davidowitz) #877,093
30. Extreme Pace Handicapping: If You Doodle They Will Come [Paperback] (Giles) #889,001
31. Trainer Angles: Maximizing Profits using Formulator Software and Advanced Trainer Stats [Paperback] (Keppler) #893,015
32. Pedigree Handicapping [Paperback] (Stich) #914,561
33. Off the Charts: Turning Result Charts into Profitable Selections at the Track [Paperback] (Borg) #1,072,557
34. Handicapping Magic [Paperback] (Pizzolla) #1,275,637
35. Fast Track to Thoroughbred Profits [Paperback] (Kramer) #1,531,949
36. Betting at the Racetrack [Paperback] (Ziemba) #2,256,906

[2low]

Wong gets a bump because he's a very popular sports betting writer - known by the wider sports betting population.

EDIT: I take that back - that may be a different "Wong". Stanford Wong is the other gambling writer.

[GameTheory]

Originally Posted by 2low

Wong gets a bump because he's a very popular sports betting writer - known by the wider sports betting population.

EDIT: I take that back - that may be a different "Wong". Stanford Wong is the other gambling writer.

Wong gets a bump because that is a newish book on an uncovered (in print) subject...

[bob60566]

I have to highly rate this book which was given high marks on this thread
Horse Racing Logic A Guide For Serious Horseplayer.

By Glendon Jones

If you only read chapter six it pays for the book I would love to paste it here but i do not think that would be allowed.

Mac

[mishka]

Wong gets a bump because that is a newish book on an uncovered (in print) subject...

Seems the case. In looking around a lot of books on the mathematics of gambling, but not one focusing on horse racing. One book mentioned it in passing, but more focused on casino type of games. My impression is that some authors do have serious discussions here and there, but don't call it out explicitly like Wong who according to Amazon writes about "Differentiations, combinatorics, normal distribution, kernel smoothing .." and later chi-squres.

[mishka]

I have to highly rate this book which was given high marks on this thread
Horse Racing Logic A Guide For Serious Horseplayer.

Thanks for the heads up on the book. It is listed on Amazon. Yah, one of the best books for beginners is a book few people heard about called "How to Make Money in One Day at the Track" by Charles S. Romanelli. Covers the basics and has one of the best discussions I have read so far on when to bet on favorites and how to identify false favorites. The title is sorta deceiving. The title should be something like "Give yourself the infrequent bettor a chance to win some dinner money by understanding speed, class, connections, with some decent betting advice."

I wonder how many other gems are out.

[Overlay]

And there's at least one title that (for some reason) doesn't even come up when you do a search on Amazon for "thoroughbred handicapping", but that is on the Amazon site (if you search by title and/or author). (Must be wa-a-ay down on the ranking list!)

[John]

A lot of the good books are out of print on Amazon" Winning Moves" is one of them.