The Logic Of Sports Betting Paperback – May 17, 2019

This book is for anyone who wants to learn the nuances of sports betting. Ed and Matt do a great job! If you doubt it, listen to Ed being interviewed on several podcasts.

The Logic of Sport Betting teaches concepts of how to win with perspectives that have I have never seen published before. How does a Sportsbook generate a line for a given market? Looking at that process, you can identify when and what will be easiest to attack as a sports bettor. The process explains why it is nearly impossible to win at the NFL betting 30 minutes before a game starts, and which markets are easiest to beat. The math isn’t too heavy, but enough to teach basic concepts you must know to have a chance. What is a break-even percentage? How do you calculate a theoretical hold on a multi-way market, or a synthetic two-way market? Why do players lose so much on parlays (it isn’t the hold)?In addition to the process, this book teaches about the markets. What do different line moves mean? What types of market moves warrant betting more (or less)? Much of the book focuses on helping you understand the operation of a sportsbook, and the inherent weaknesses it has. If you see the enemy as they see themselves, you will better see and understand glaring weaknesses in what they do.The final section includes bread and butter things that winning players know and do. How can you best exploit a Sportsbook’s marketing (e.g., bonuses and other offers)? If you have exceptional information or an angle, how do you best use it to make money? How can you lower the market’s theoretical hold? When do you often see big value in derivatives and props?This book alone won’t make you a winning player, but it is a major stepping stone towards winning. If you are a losing player, there is a lot you need to learn from this book. If you are a winning player, it might make you think in more depth about (possibly incorrect) assumptions you have made. I gave this book 5 stars because it offered a lot of information I have never seen published, it was coherently themed to elevate players, and it was extremely well written and edited.

This book is written from a different perspective then most books. It explains the difference between the hold and the vig. It explains how the book making business really works, and the advantages the bookie has over the better. It explains how the better can minimize these advantages. The book doesn't concentrate on any one sport, it looks at the betting market as a whole. It explains the breakeven point and the expected value. How to convert from American to fraction. There is no magic formula for winning. Just solid information about the industry to educate the reader.

I concur with others that this book is critical. I would suggest to get this book in the hands of lawmakers right away.Sports betting is a low margin business. The authors explain how the business actually works from the bookmaker's and bettor's point of view.I'd try to send it to lawmakers in Kindle form if possible as a gift. Mail a physical one, too. The strategies detailed require multiple sportsbooks, so lawmakers who limit sportsbooks to one with no mobile betting (cough cough NORTH CAROLINA!) are shafting the customers, treating them as suckers. Also, it'll confirm that tax rates for some of these states are way too high. If the hold percentage is too high, you might as well don't bother. (I am not advocating this but reality is many will bet offshore, some states got greedy and their high rates will be counter-productive.)The sooner people in states that have legalized or may shortly have this book, the better. Take four hours over a couple of days to read it. Reread parts you don't grasp right away. Then re-read the book.I don't know who said "Treat it like a business and it can pay like a business but treat it like a hobby and it will cost like a hobby," but that person was spot on.This book is a God-send for the cause.

The headline says it all. The game is rigged.

Where do lines come from? What does line movement mean? What are liquid markets? What markets are more vulnerable? This is not a literal "DIY/how to" book, so don't expect that (and there is no logical reason to expect that). Instead, it is a good intro/reminder of some basic contours of sports betting markets, some ideas about what offerings are more or less beatable, and why. My main critique is that the authors don't provide a better guide to using theory as a guide for generating your own ideas of what is beatable or not. Without theory, it's hard to know why correlations exists, what might be a cause versus an effect, versus a spurious relationship. Skill (versus luck) in this endeavor requires theory, and then hypotheses testing, etc., (social science methodology). Hardly anything is explicitly discussed about this. Otherwise, if you invest in sports outcomes, this book is a good investment too. It is easy to read, well organized, and so on. I read it first quickly, set it aside, thought about it for a few days, then re-read, and the second reading was more useful that way.