In part two of this series I want to take a look at one of the all-time classic books on gambling.
2. Value Betting
Author……………………….Mark Coton
Published…………………..1990
Publishing Com…………Aesculus Press
Value Betting in its day was perhaps the gambling version of “Beat the Dealer“. It was innovative and ground breaking. In fact it was perhaps the first book on gambling to discuss the concept of value.
Mark Coton became known for his Pricewise column in the Racing Post and the book hit maximum marks in so many different areas. For me personally the book was valuable with regards to understanding how bookmakers operate and the psychological nature of punters.
Both of these areas are crucial to successful sports betting and Coton does not disappoint here. There are areas of the book that are out of the date like the parts on betting tax, the methods of race horse trainers and how certain race tracks behave.
But even those out of date sections reveal the methods of what successful punters need to be focusing on in order to make the game pay. Mark Coton also mentions the odds compilers as well and goes into detail about how they operated back in 1990.
I found the book absolutely invaluable but I didn’t really practice what I read as I was too busy playing blackjack and online poker when I had this book. Unfortunately now, the book is out of print but I believe that second hand used copies can still be obtained from Amazon.
I cannot award the book maximum marks due to its now out of date content but there is no doubt that it would have merited maximum marks back in 1990 or even as recent ago as ten years.
The methods that Coton uses are probably handicapped in the modern era of punting but the book is still a must read if you can manage to avail yourself of a copy.
RATING………….9/10
See you soon
Carl
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