Customer Reviews

Handicapping for Bettor or Worse: A Fresh Perspective to Betting the Races

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think generally speaking, this book is worth reading for horse racing fans who are serious about handicapping. This book is precise and is also easy to read. I am particularly impressed by topics like "Do horses know they have won" and "Can statistics lie" as well as his opinions on the tricks/strategies regarding claiming races.

The only drawback of this book is that it does not teach a veteran horse handicapper many new ideas about handicapping. Being an experienced horse handicapper, I find this book a little bit simple. If you are a veteran in horse handicapping, I recommend you a miss on this book. If not, you should read it!

Frankly, I bought this book to fulfill an Exclusively Equine requirement for free shipping. After reading the book, I wish it was available ten years ago when I started handicapping. The book covers many aspects of handicapping from both handicapper and owner perspectives. The book's treatment of trainers and claiming race conditions is good. Other books like the aforementioned books by Ainslie, Quinn and Mitchell are good, but talk about races at the highest level. The author's use of races from a smaller track, EmD, makes this book relevant to the 90% of American race going fans who follow smaller tracks and lower level races. I thought this book was very good for the beginner and intermediate level handicapper. Advanced handicappers will find the content covered elsewhere, but there are still unique perspective worthy of consideration.

John Lindley, Handicapping for Bettor or Worse (Eclipse, 2004)

Not a bad little book, for what it is, and does provide some insight into a number of aspects of racing that will hopefully serve to demolish some myths in the more open-minded readers who pick this up. Lindley also raises the same excellent points as regards post position "statistics" that Henry Kuck brings up in Winner's File, which is quite nice to see; I'm glad that particular piece of spurious statistic-mongering, which has long been the subject of really, really stupid systems sold by faceless Las Vegas post office boxes for $44.95, is finally getting the short shrift it deserves. But, as with more and more handicapping books coming my way, Lindley's slim volume lacks the same thing that makes Ainslie, Beyer, Pizzolla, Mitchell, etc. well worth reading: any real sort of writing style to go along with the information. Andy Beyer and Dick Mitchell may annoy the hell out of you when you're reading their books, but their writing style makes what they say that much more memorable. Lindley is a writer of the "just the facts, ma'am" school, and not surprisingly, that makes even his most important sections in here somewhat unmemorable. Thus, I suggest you take notes while reading this one, as what he has to say is certainly worth hearing. ***

This book is a nice read for the novice handicapper. It is concise and well writen with some excellent examples. However, it offers little for new ideas, just a different perspective on topics which have been covered in detail previously by other authors.

There are some interesting insights into the claiming game and the interaction between owner and trainer. It also offers some nice explainations of how the Beyer numbers, the Sheets and pace figures work. The author spends many pages discounting their accuracy and usefulness, which is cerrtainly valid, but not revolutionary.

A chapter on the potentially positive aspect of horses going from a sprint to route - please give us something new! I am beginning to think the tremendous explosion of excellent materials in the late 70's and 80's has left the subject completely covered and there may not be anything of significance left to write about.

This one will join the many others in my handicapping library, but I'm not sure the pages will see the light of day again.

Handicapping expert and horse owner John Lindley, author of the well-known Parker's selection sheet, offers his wisdom in Handicapping For Bettor Or Worse: A Fresh Perspective To Betting The Races. Teaching horseplayers how to devise their own handicapping systems, add value to wagers, enhance their ability to observe races, incorporate and fully understand the effects of equipment and medication changes, and more, Handicapping For Bettor Or Worse is a solid, practical, absolute "must-have" for anyone who likes to play the ponies.

I have gone to the track casually throughout the years but did not know much about handicapping. I had already read BRad Free's "Handicappng 101" and felt ready to buy a couple of more intermediate books. This was one of them. What a waste of money. I don't know if an advanced player can get something out of this but it was just a waste of time, especially for the price. THere is little structure and it's as though someone just felt like jotting down some stuff they do and pass it off as a book. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER!!

Overall an average volume without much that really helped me. I'm not an expert, but I am an experienced handicapper and this just wasn't for me at this point in my experience.

If you are an experienced handicapper looking for some new ideas, look somewhere else.

I live in Seattle and this book will be little help to me.