The Complete Handicapper

best handicapper book for handicappingIf handicapping is the art of picking the winning horse in any given race then I reckon you could say that a handicapper is the person who predicts the winner in a horserace. If that’s true I think it’s safe to say we all want to become a good handicapper. So how do you become a good handicapper? You could just go to a whole heap of races and pick it up a bit at a time. This could be pretty costly though. And if you’re a complete novice like I am it could take forever and still be not better at being a proficient handicapper.

Why Becoming A Good Handicapper Is So Difficult

The reason why becoming a good handicapper is so difficult is because of all the variables involved. You need to know the horse. Has it run the distance before and if so how did it do? How does the horse perform on the surface of the racetrack? So you need to know how the horse performs on the different surfaces. Some horses will perform better on turf than dirt for example.

A good handicapper also needs to consider the jokey. Has the jockey won on this horse before? This could be an important factor. A good handicapper also considers the trainer. What is the win rate of the horse trainer. A horse trainer with a good win rate is more likely to win that one with a poor win rate so you should check the horses trainer as well.

If you’re lucky you may bump into trainers at the track who would love to share some of their knowledge with you. You may even pick up some handicapping tidbits by eavesdropping on conversations. 😉

Personally I think your best bet of becoming a good handicapper is to read up on as many handicapping books that you can get your hands on. I’ve done a bit of research on the subject and I’ve found the customer feedback on James Quinn’s The Complete Handicapper: You Can Beat the Races! to be exceptional. I’ve imported the relevant information on this great book into this post for your convenience.

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Are there any books that you can recommend for our readers?

 

Gamble Box Metal Piggy Bank

Even though this site is all about Sports Betting, every now and again I like to cover other sorts of gambling. Especially if it will help you to hold on more of your winnings. The Gamble Box metal piggy bank is designed to help you hold onto your winnings when you go to places like the casino. How often have you gone to the casino, won some money only to feed it back to the slot machines or on one of the many games, like Black Jack or the Roulette or something. I know I’ve done it on more than one occasion 🙁

While responsible gambling is all about not spending more than you can afford to lose I reckon helping you to hold onto your winnings should also fall under the responsible gambling umbrella. That is exactly what the Gamble Box is designed to do.

Gamble Box – What Does It Do?

The Gamble Box is a Metal Pocket Sized Gambling Casino Piggy Bank. It’s designed specifically to stop the addictive urge to gamble away your winnings. Wouldn’t it be great to actually leave the casino with money in the piggy bank? Of course it would. The Gamble Box is sturdy and pocket size. You take it with you to the casino leaving your keys at home.

When you go to the casino you take the pocket size Gamble Box and whatever money you’re prepared to gamble with. They recommend to take $20 bills. Whether you’re on the slots or playing Black Jack as soon as you win some money you place the corresponding amount into your Gamble Box. Because you haven’t got the keys your winnings will stay there until you get home. This means rather than getting home with empty pockets you have your Gamble Box full of your winnings.

Use the Gamble Box to lock up jewellery, rings, credit cards and naturally cash. It can hold 4 credit cards, 20 cash bills, a few rings and a necklace and bracelet at once. Fits great in small places so you can hide it from prying eyes.

Naturally you’re going to want to hear from some actual owners of the Gamble Box before wanting one of your own. You’ll notice it comes with some great personal reviews.

Gamble Box

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Just to finish off I’ve found a little video about the Gamble Box.

Read more about the article Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won

Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won

Scorecasting a book to help the sports punter

The more you learn about how sports work the more likely you’re going to increase your winning bets over your losing bets. This is why I’ve introduced the Sports Betting Reviews category.

This weeks review is about a book by Tobias Moskowitz called Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won. We’ve all heard about the ‘home advantage’. Amongst other things the authors look  at the ‘home advantage’ factor. Is it because of travelling fatigue of visiting teams? Perhaps referees / umpires are affected by the crowd.

Scorecasting has been reviewed quite a lot, including the following;
“The closest thing to Freakonomics I’ve seen since the original. A rare combination of terrific storytelling and unconventional thinking. I love this book…”
—Steven D. Levitt, Alvin H. Baum Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, and co-author of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics

“I love this book. If I told you why, the NBA would fine me again.”
—Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks“Scorecasting is both scholarly and entertaining, a rare double.  It gets beyond the cliched narratives and tried-but-not-necessarily-true assumptions to reveal significant and fascinating truths about sports.”
—Bob Costas“A counterintuitive, innovative, unexpected handbook for sports fans interested in the truths that underpin our favorite games. With their lively minds and prose, Moskowitz and Wertheim will change the way you think about and watch sports. Not just for stats nerds, Scorecasting enlightens and entertains. I wish I had thought of it!”
—Jeremy Schaap, ESPN reporter, Author of Cinderella Man.“(Sports + numbers) x great writing = winning formula.  A must read for all couch analysts.”
—Richard Thaler, Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics, best-selling author of Nudge.

“Scorecasting will change the way you watch sports, but don’t start reading it during a game; you’re liable to get lost in it and miss the action. I’m not giving anything away because you’ll want to read exactly how they arrived at their conclusions.”
—Allen Barra, NJ Star Ledger

“Like Moneyball and Soccernomics before it, Scorecasting crunches the numbers to challenge notions that have been codified into conventional sports wisdom.”
—Wired Magazine

“Freakonomics meets Moneyball”
—The Wall Street Journal

For an in depth review the New York Times has one titled Game Theory.
Naturally the reviews that matters most are the ones from people who have actually purchased the book. That’s why I love Amazon. You get to read real reviews from real people who don’t have anything to gain by writing their reviews. What Scorecaster seems to offer is a really good read. Everyone knows more will sink in when you’re enjoying what your reading. Boring books about facts and figures are harder to absorb. Scorecaster seems to have the entertainment factor necessary for making a good read.