Value Handicapping: The Art of Making Your Own Line and Identifying Overlays [Paperback]

Mark Cramer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: City Miner Books (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933944225
• ISBN-13: 978-0933944220
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good one from Cramer., April 27, 2005

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Value Handicapping: The Art of Making Your Own Line and Identifying Overlays (Paperback)

Mark Cramer, Value Handicapping (City Miner Books, 1994)

The most frustrating thing about Mark Cramer's handicapping books is always that Cramer's handicapping process is so right-brained that, while he's explaining what you do with an odds line in an accessible manner, you've no idea how he actually comes up with it. Value Handicapping gives far more insight into this than the rest of his books, and in all honesty it's a whole lot simpler than any of us have likely thought (he makes one horse 3-1 simply because its connections are hitting 25% in that particular kind of race, for example).

Cramer takes races here and breaks them down into various recognizable race types, giving us variations on how to make an odds line for each (though some are of the usual "what is he doing?" variety readers of The Odds on Your Side, etc., will easily recognize), for the most part updating information found in some of his earlier books, adding some new things here and there.

Basically, if you're already a Cramer fan, you probably want this. If you're not familiar with his work yet, you may want to start with Kinky Handicapping or The Odds on Your Side first to get some idea of that man's rather quirky writing style. *** ½

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT VALUE FOR THE HORSE PLAYER, May 30, 2005

By 

Michael W. Kennedy "insane book lover" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Value Handicapping: The Art of Making Your Own Line and Identifying Overlays (Paperback)

Mark Cramer's VALUE HANDICAPPING is a good value for horse racing handicappers. It is perhaps the only in-depth book on how to set an odds line. With an odds line, the horse player can make decisions about which horse to bet on based on value. Mr. Cramer explains it better than I can in this small space but value essentially is when a horse goes off at odds greater than the horse's true chances of winning. In other words, if a handicapper thinks a horse would win a given race 33 out of 100 times then he feels the true odds for that runner is 2-1 or 1 out of 3 times the horse will win. If before the race the toteboard says that same horse will pay at 7-2, then you have value. The horse may lose but, if your handicapping is good, he will win enough times to show a profit. VALUE HANDICAPPING is not only about making an odds line. It is also a primer on handicapping because handicapping in an integral part of setting an odds line. The approach is a two-step process where first contenders are placed in a hierarchical order (done through handicapping) and then odds are assigned to each contender. Mr. Cramer, in a lucid writing style, takes the reader through various handicapping scenarios from "the low-priced overlay" to "contentious races" to "action stakes" to "the legitimate favorite race" and others, using actual races as examples and explaining how he handicapped each one. VALUE HANDICAPPING is a must-have book for every horse player's library for making an odds line and for keen handicapping insights.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lays new ground for handicappers, August 25, 2004

By 

R. Pitlak "sports-bet-advantage.com" (Vermont USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Value Handicapping: The Art of Making Your Own Line and Identifying Overlays (Paperback)

This is one of those few books on handicapping that won't bury you in calculations. Mark Cramer ignores the traditional method of categorizing races by class, and instead offers a revolutionary set of handicapping categories.

He explores each and shows how to apply the race category toward setting a personal odds line, which either points to value bets or tells you to skip the race. I was particulary impressed with his "Lesser of Evils" race and his approach of looking for the fewest negatives instead of trying to find positives.