With SA racing on hold for the time being and most citizens subject to lockdown, this is an opportunity to catch up on some reading. Two excellent books crossed my desk recently and they are well worth sourcing.
Pro gambler and writer, Barry Meadow’s The Skeptical Handicapper is a dense, technical treatise based on rigorous statistical analysis of 168 000 races in America that would appeal to hard core punters pursuing an edge. Meadow presents 432 pages of data- driven research and accompanying analysis with trademark razor sharp insights and wit.
The book initially lays out the difficulties facing contemporary horseplayers, conveying just how tough it is to beat the game and the challenges we face in a complex, never -ending quest for a betting advantage. He then provides detailed findings in each of four fundamental handicapping categories: Class, Condition, Circumstances and Connections. The sage counsel he offers punters for improving the Mental side of betting is laden with helpful suggestions. Meadow concludes by making Future projections for horse racing – fascinating stuff.
I’ve compiled a sizeable handicapping library over the years and this book stands out as one of the sharpest treatments of a difficult topic, so it comes highly recommended. “The Skeptical Handicapper – using Data and Brains to win at the racetrack,” can be ordered from trpublishing.com
“Monsieur X – The Incredible Story of the Most Audacious Gambler in History” is a rollicking read. William Hill Sports Book of the Year award- winning author, Jamie Reid, spins an entertaining yarn about the exploits of suave, high-rolling gambler Patrice des Moutis, who devised cunning strategies between the 50’s and 70’s to make a fortune on the tierce bet, then a national mania in France.
Such was his success the authorities repeatedly altered the rules to try thwart him. This captivating, true story covers Monsieur X’s cunning efforts to stay one step ahead of the French government as they tried to criminalize his betting activities on the PMU and expose his alleged links with dubious denizens of the underworld.
There’s no point in betraying any more of the story line, but from a betting perspective what is interesting is how des Moutis obtained a crucial edge by playing the bet differently to the majority of punters.
Back then, most contributors to the French national pools were whimsical, small players who did not study form and treated the tierce (just like our 1-2-3 trifecta but only offered on the biggest field/most difficult race of the day) purely as a lucky- number type bet. In contrast, the well-educated Monsieur X would stay up all night poring through the form book, use insider connections to source vital nuggets of information before investing a small fortune in combination bets.
Whilst being flexible in bet construction depending on his reading of each race, his preferred modus operandi was to choose a base horse to run in the first three and surround that roving banker with legitimate contenders, this after eliminating about half the field as being unable to place, in his opinion. The figures involved in some of his successful coups are staggering – order the book via Amazon, savour Monsieur X’s tales of gambling derring-do and be inspired for your next assault on the Interbet tote!