Customer Reviews

Winner's Guide To Greyhound Racing

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is pretty basic. The first 23 of the 32 pages are devoted to very basic material such as reading the program, the tote board, types of bets, and how to place them.

If you are going to the track for the first time with a group, and you want to bone up on the sport real-quick, this is the perfect book for you.

If you are a serious handicapper looking for an innovative theory or deep discussion on overlays and handicapping, this is not that book.

Prof. Jones book is a great basis book to use for handicapping. It will help you develop you system, and gives honest, sound advice. (there is another review of a different book under this book I also reviewed, sorry for the mixup)

Prof. Jones steps through the basics of handicapping greyhounds in this book. His method handicaps by calculating the following variables: Effective Grade (determined by assigning scores to the WPS results over the dog's last 12 races), Current Form, Speed, Run Style (Inside, Outside preference in relation to post position) and Kennel (looks at all Kennel's WPS results...top kennels make sure their dogs are ready to race). These variables are then weighted with Effective Grade receiving about 50% of the weight. Based upon the total, bet determinations are made. This approach is good for the higher classes, but will not help you much in the lower classes or Maiden races (which he states). The chapter on betting strategies is rather short. Beyond WPS, Jones covers Trifecta Keys and Wheels and when to use those betting strategies.
Overall, this is a good intro to handicapping. The one tip I picked up about betting a favorite to show/place and the second highest rated dog to win, in certain situations, has paid for the book many times over. Good handicapping!

This book gives pretty good insight and suggestions on handicapping, and the techniques work well with the higher grades.

My father-in-law just moved to Daytona Beach and started going to the racetrack but knew nothing about it! I bought him this book and he became an expert in a few days! Very informative book!

This book is very matter of fact. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It gets right to the handicapping system, with only minimal explanations given for the underlying theory.

The book, however, has a MAJOR flaw. The handicapping system requires that have 12 past performances for each dog. For the casual greyhound player (for whom this book is marketed to), this is pretty much impossible. In order to have these statistics, you need to go to the track very often and keep old programs. The only other alternative is a very laborious search for the information on the internet - which may or may not be fruitful.

Because of this, the handicapping system is nearly useless for the occasional track goer.

I bought this book for my husband,who is not a reader but he has been reading this.I was shocked because other than a newspaper or the mail I have never seen this man read anything.We have been married for over 22 years.So,I guess he must like it.

I think this book is for a weekend trip to the dog track, maybe even a week in advance. That is the sort of book it was.