Horse Betting Systems Articles and Reviews

Beyer and Ainslie Head to Head Cage Match

I just finished up my second read through of Andrew Beyer’s book, “Picking Winners A Horseplayer’s Guide” and am getting ready to go through Tom Ainslie’s “Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing” again and I had to laugh. Both of these guys are stellar punters and great authors, there is no question…but I got such a kick out of how they poke and jab at each other…sometimes deliberately and sometimes with a “tongue in cheek” approach. I guess they are no different than any other punter out there who thinks that his particular system is the “end all be all” of racing systems and that none other can compare. There were times when I was reading that I felt like a parent who wanted to say “boys, boys, BOYS! Just get along….you’re both right! Class is important but so is speed!” Yes, they both humbly admit that one without taking the other into consideration is lunacy but still when push comes to shove they stand by their preference. Funny stuff!

I picked up both books, and plan on reviewing more as time allows, but my intention or ultimate goal was to educate myself. I am still working through Puntology and have to say that I like it. It does have a bent more towards British racing but much of it is very relevent no matter where on the planet you live or what sort of racing you fancy. The ultimate goal is to become a professional gambler at the end of a year’s time and the funny thing is that the author, Michael Wilding, knows human behavior pretty well and includes a simple betting system in the beginning of the lessons since I think he figures that you’re going to want to get up and running as quickly as possible. From there he helps you to refine or create your own betting system tailored around your own interests. What I found was that, for myself, I wanted a system that was a little more granular or detailed…I wanted more in depth knowledge of some of the statistics that many of us use in handicapping a race or even remove some of the key elements of the beginners Puntology betting system that weren’t relevent to racing here in the US…that is why I picked up some books to supplement my education, so to speak.

I was actually surprised to find that the Beyer figures that so many speed handicappers live and die by that are posted in the Daily Racing Form aren’t as accurate as they might seem! It definately is a large endeavour to create your own charts but it made sense after reading these books…and what better way to create a signifcant edge than to be able to have super accurate speed figures that nobody else is privy to… (other than those that might also wish to create their own charts, which is highly unlikely in this day and age of a public that demands immediate gratification!)

The long and the short of it is, Puntology is great and it will give you a wonderful education and make you a Grade I punter within a year’s time…there is no question about that…but why not do some “extra credit” stuff to ensure that you have a signifcant edge over the rest of the punters out there and ensure that you are solidly a part of the 2-5% of punters who make money and are successful instead of hoping and praying that you aren’t a part of the remainder that fill the pockets of the upper eschelon?

Tags: "Picking Winners A Horseplayer's Guide", andrew beyer, Andrew Beyer's book, betting system, complete guide to thoroughbred racing, michael wilding, michael wilding puntology, puntology, puntology betting system, tom ainslie, Tom Ainslie's "Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing"