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Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting

Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting

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Author: King Yao
Publisher: Pi Yee Press
Category: Book

List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.38
You Save: $7.57 (38%)



New (23) Used (7) from $12.37

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 8 reviews
Sales Rank: 14615

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 250
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7

ISBN: 0935926305
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780935926309
ASIN: 0935926305

Publication Date: July 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SHIPS from 5 locations based on your Zip Code and availability! (PA TN IN OR SC) *-* Gift Quality *-* Orders Processed Immediately! - We get your book to you Very Quickly! -L2352.79321

Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-8 of 8
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4 out of 5 stars Digging Deep in Sports Betting   December 16, 2007
 1 out of 4 found this review helpful

Can a book be too good? First, you must decide what is meant by "good" . . . Deep insight to some, is inscrutable for others. I've run a major sports betting website for many years, and what is undebatable is that the average fan is looking for guidelines, rather than a complicated forumla. But if you are looking to dig deeper, this book offers valuable insight.


5 out of 5 stars positve EV for $13.57   August 23, 2007
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

the reading is full of good math tips for converting percentage into money lines and vise verse. The EV discussion is pretty basic and many advanced gamblers will be bored by this but really for me it was a nice re review of addressing basic probability theory into your bets and if you cannot mathematically define your advantage in a bet assume it is negative EV and don't bother. Later in the book King has tables and graphs of NFL games from 1989 to 2006 (great sample size IMHO) and the advantage of half points and other tip bids are addressed (so even the advanced gambler will at least get utility out of this book.) Since basketball and other sports are out of season now I did not read those sections yet. The reality is that there are few great books on sports betting due to the fact that the computer teams see huge negative EV in writing about their 'edge.' The fact that King even bothers makes this book a steal for $13. Anyone that puts this book down, I would be very dubious of that review due to the price point of this book being pretty low.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent academic textbook approach to sports betting   July 26, 2007
 32 out of 32 found this review helpful

This book is clearly written for math-oriented people who have never bet on sports, or gamblers who know about sports but do not have a mastery of the fundamentals to win long-term. This is NOT geared towards professional sports bettors (who will already know most of what is in there).

The first 99 pages are directed towards the technical fundamentals of winning at sports betting. While the mathematics are easy (requiring Algebra at a minimum), it is a component of nearly every analysis. Mastery of this material will teach you how to think like a winning sports bettor. The topics are diverse, including everything from EV (expected value) to evaluation of half-points in a sport. There is an in-depth analysis of hedging (which beginning sports bettors seem to misuse constantly). The quantitative analysis and methodology might make you feel like you are studying a book on stock investing (and in fact, there are a lot of similarities in stocks and sports betting).

The remainder of the book is intermediate material, which uses the principles taught in the first section. How do you determine a fair first-half line in NFL if you know the game spread? How do you determine the fair price on a prop like "Will the shortest TD in a football game be less than 1.5 yards?" There are many exercises that pose a gambling problem, presents research, and shows an analysis of the research to analyze a problem. The reader isn't likely to show an immediate profit from this material, but it WILL show you the thought process used by a winning gambler. If a person understands what they read, they can identify and analyze their own problems, which is the first step to profiting in sports betting.

The author does not give away any "secrets" that will cost him money. While it points you in the general direction, it cannot give away everything - the reader will have to apply what is learned, and do additional research on his own to win. Very few winning sports bettors would disclose more.

If you have never bet on sports, and are wondering what type of work must be done to have a chance, this is the best introductory text on sports betting I have read. Another good beginner's book is Stanford Wong's "Sharp Sports Betting", although that material is dated.


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