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Picking Winners: A Horseplayer's Guide | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew Beyer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $0.75
You Save: $14.25 (95%)
New (26) Used (41) Collectible (4) from $0.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 27858
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0395701325
Dewey Decimal Number: 798.401
UPC: 046442701327
EAN: 9780395701324
ASIN: 0395701325
Publication Date: May 6, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
Just as football evolved with the introduction of the forward pass and basketball with the development of the jump shot, so too was handicapping forever changed by the use of speed figures--and it all started with Andrew Beyer's Picking Winners. This edition features a new foreword in which the author discusses the changes that have swept the sport since the book's original publication. Picking Winners remains a classic in the field of thoroughbred racing.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Beyer is the man and get his stuff for only $10.95 COME ON! October 4, 2008
Beyer is nothing short of a genius in my opinion, but the book is a little outdated but for $10.95 how picky can you really be?
 I've never been a huge fan, but I LOVED the anecdotes.... July 9, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've never been a huge fan, but I LOVED the anecdotes. I've always had the opinion that Mr. Andrew Beyer is a very stereotypical Harvard Grad. Pompous, arrogant, and most of all very Howard Cossell-esque in his vernacular. I also believe that a lot of what he writes is pure "fluff". I'm much more direct and to the point in my writing style. In my first two public offerings (The Ultimate Guide To Handicapping The Horses:From and Horseman and a Gambler and in "The Tuttle Way" on sale here @ Amazon.com), I let my feelings be known for my utter disdain for how "subjective" I believe the "Beyer Speed Figures" to be, toward the horse racing community and to the general betting public. But, I did give this 33 yr-old relic (this book has a copywrite date of 1975) 3-stars on the basis of the anecdotes, alone!
Signed,
Joseph J Tuttle
Signed
Save your time and your money March 3, 2007
13 out of 21 found this review helpful
Nothing against Beyer or any other handicapping writer, but devoting significant time to the study of handicapping is a fool's errand. The mathematics of beating the game are so prohibitively against the bettor that anyone with the ability to even approach break-even would be better served dedicating his/her time to more lucrative pursuits. Regardless of the race, the only thing that is certain is that the track will take about 20% for straight bets and 25% or more for so-called "exotic" wagers. In order to just break-even, you need the ability to identify errors made by the betting public of at least 20%. For any reasonable series of races in which the market is "efficient" (i.e. the betting populace has done a reasonable job of setting pay-outs) you have zero possibilty of making a profit. Studies have consistently shown that the betting public does a remarkable job in setting an efficient price. Obviously, in order to overcome the 20% "tax", you need superior information to that which is available to the general public. Given that "Beyer" speed figures are now common currency, the advantage clearly doesn't lie here. The racing form and video of previous races are common currency as well. You could take a walk down to the paddock and try to infer something there, good luck! Unless you have the ability to somehow communicate with the horse, this isn't going to really be that fruitful. Some horses look like garbage before a race and spring to life when the gate opens. Others look like Secretariat in the paddock and like a candidate for the glue factory once they hook up at full speed w/ other nags. Another point to consider is that your betting competition includes owners, trainers, stable boys, etc. who are around the horse all the time and certainly have superior information about the horses physical and mental state. Additionally, you can only speculate as to what the owner and trainer are intending from a given race. I'm not talking "fix" here, but it's not always the case that the horse's connections have entered this race with the main objective of actually winning it. Beyer is one of the leading thoroughbred writers in America and revolutionized handicapping with his speed figures, but the difficulty in beating this game should be clearly understood before you find yourself on the proverbial boulevard of broken dreams.
Funny, but not helpful. January 14, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
It was hard for me to give three stars for this book, because the author revolutionized handicapping. But I didn't think any of the information in the book was useful to me. However, I did enjoy the book as there were a lot of funny stories that I could relate too.
 Intelligent & Enlightening horse racing information! June 25, 2006
Andrew Beyer has been a godsend to horseplayers. He has made it easy to understand and gave us an edge when making selections. Understanding horse race betting and the past performances of horses has opened doors to novice and expert handicappers alike!
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