With betting making its way through different mediums to its users, books emerge as one of the favorites. Books in sports betting are not a new genre; they have been there for ages. But, with the advent of technology and eBooks becoming a trend, books based on sports betting based is being read widely.
No matter how many articles you read or videos you watch, there is always a lack of proper information. Books are the warehouse of knowledge. It teaches you the craft of betting properly by professional gamblers. So, if you are new to the betting world, we present here the top five books for sports betting to leverage you with detailed knowledge.
Top 5 must-read Sports Betting Books for Beginners
1) Sharp Sports Betting (2001)
Source: medium.com
The book Sharp Sports Betting is written by Stanford Wong, the pen name of John Ferguson. He is a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Wong is known for his expertise in gambling, and his books are a testament to his expertise. He was not satisfied with his teaching career and thus switched to make a career in the gambling industry.
If you are just starting off as a beginner in sports betting, reading this book is a must. It especially focuses on NFL Football, whereas few chapters are completely devoted to talking about the basics and giving advice related to sports betting.
The author takes betting from the mathematical point of view and has provided various charts and probabilities to show the odds of pushing on sides/total and win-loss possibility. The ‘Sharp Sports Betting’ book is almost 400 pages and mentions Poisson Distributions for Football. Let you know that Poisson Distributions is the method of quantifying the probability of random occurrences.
2) Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World’s Greatest Gamblers (2002)
Source: medium.com
Gambling Wizards is authored by Richard W. Munchkin, who is also a professional gambler. He has been gambling since age three and played backgammon for money when he was 12. He worked as an occasional pit boss at The Castaways Casino in Las Vegas after graduating from college. He joined the Blackjack Hall of Fame in the year 2009.
As its title suggests, the book ‘Gambling Wizards’ is a series of interviews of all-time eight popular gamblers. The personalities who were interviewed for this book were – Billy Walters, Chip Reese, Doyle Brunson, Mike Svobodny, Stan Tomchin, Cathy Hulbert, Alan Woods, and Tommy Hyland.
This book for beginner sports bettors gives an insight into how the gambling industry works, straight from the greatest minds. The books tell us what all it takes to be an unbeatable gambler.
‘Gambling Wizards’ book is in the question-answer format, following a short introduction about each of them. It contains their journey of becoming professional gamblers that starts from their personal and candid information. This makes for a great read if you want to start betting on sports with a proper strategy.
3) Fixed Odds Sports Betting: Statistical Forecasting and Risk Management (2003)
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Joseph Buchdahl’s Fixed Odd Sports Betting is the most widely read among all his books on gambling. He has his website called football-data.co.uk, where one can access closing line histories and read his articles.
For the last two decades, Joseph has worked as a betting analyst. He also regularly contributes to Pinnacle, an online sportsbook. He also has a Twitter account by the handle 12Xpert.
Fixed Odd Sports covers deals with the subject of risk management and gives an insight on prediction and placing bets to turn high-risk bets into low-risk. This book is ideal for those who are just starting as bettors as it deals with the nitty-gritty of the betting business.
In the Fixed Odds Sports Betting book, the author tries to make his points clear through various graphical techniques. All the concepts that are required to build a strong foundation in betting are presented by Buchdahl.
4) The Signal and The Noise: Why Most Predictions Fail – but Some Don’t (2012)
Nathaniel Reed Silver, in his book ‘The Signal and The Noise,’ has explained why predictions on betting fail today. By connecting the art of probability and statistics to real-world phenomena, he has tried to give an insight into the right way of predictions.
The Signal and The Noise is a New York bestseller that became an instant hit as soon it was launched in the market. Many books on gambling tell us what should be our approach to betting, but this book adopts an approach to what should not be done.
The author tells us that as humans, we have blocked our common sense and completely rely on statistics which sometimes do not give us the desired result. Critical thinking based on our reasoning has now become a thing of the past. He also suggests that bettors use Bayes’ theorem to make betting predictions more accurate. If you are a novice or even an expert in betting, you must consider this book a read.
5) Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football
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Wayne L. Winston is the author of Mathletics. He is an Emeritus of Decision Sciences professor at the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University. He has written about 25 research articles and spreadsheet modeling coursework for Harvard. Even in the book, Mathletics, the author uses a spreadsheet framework to demonstrate the method of figuring sports statistics. With this approach, you can even start winning in online casinos. To try your luck, visit Joker 123 and try this method in a few slot games.
The author applies Applied Methodology to describe mathematical methods to evaluate individuals and improve their performance in betting. Statistics and probability have been used to predict outcomes. The easy-to-read tables, illustrations, and Monte-Carlo simulations are presented with easy examples.
Monte Carlo is a mathematical model to predict possible outcomes of uncertain events. The book is divided into 4 parts- the first one being focused on baseball, the second on American Football, the third on Basketball, and the final part focuses on Gambling. Even though many mathematical tools are used, it proves to be an informative and entertaining read. It can be beneficial for coaches, sportspeople, and bettors.
Takeaways
The shared list of the best books on sports betting is undoubtedly the ultimate collection available in the market. You can get insight into the craft of betting with its minute details. These newbie books written on sports betting seem to be lengthy at first, but investing time in research will reap you benefits; sooner or later.
