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HomeShop at BookSurgeBiography & AutobiographyArtists, Architects, PhotographersThe Psychology Of The Winning Horseplayer |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 10 customer reviews )
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14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 Groundbreaking Book ! Apr 17, 2009
By Thomas Nalley
A practical book on the psychology of betting thoroughbreds that was obviously written by an experienced horseplayer. After collecting and reading several hundred books on thoroughbred handicapping and betting, I would rate this as one of the best I've encountered.
For me making consistent money at the track consisted of 2 steps.
The first step was accumulating the knowledge and experience to be profitable on an annual basis betting part time. There are a whole bunch of books and people available to help make this possible. I profited for a decade betting when my jobs allowed me time. Believe it or not, this is the easy step.
The second step is hitting the track every racing day with adequate capital and turning this activity into a real income. After a while it was evident that I was gaining a much deeper knowledge of the game and that betting had become mostly a psychological battle against my own human nature. At this point until this book came out, you were basically on your own at the beginning of a painful journey.
I've seen a bunch of good handicappers lose this battle before I tried. At the end of an 8 month period of tackling this problem from every possible angle I discovered this book. I mean I looked at this thing from every possible angle including consulting a shrink that I brought into the process. After reading and internalizing the information in this book, I finally started reaching my full effectiveness in betting.
After incorporating the information in this book, I had a horse I bet to win by my method that went off at 80-1 and lead the whole race only to be beaten by the favorite at the wire. No emotional effect at all. Several racing days later I had a horse I bet to win by my method that went off at around 9-1 or 10-1 I thought. I went and used the restroom and when I came out my horse and one of the low odds horses hit the wire for a photo decision. I was looking at the next race when I saw the order of finish and my horse had won at 23-1 because of all the late money bet on the favorite. Again, No emotional effect at all.
This is an extreme situation but it made me realize that this book helped me change the track from a somewhat emotional activity to place where I conduct my business. If you're trying to become a profitable bettor and are willing to do whatever it takes, this book is a real find.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
A helpful book for the advanced player Dec 29, 2008
By Frank Smitha
The table of contents made me think that this was going to be a textbook, but it is a long way from that. What is obvious right from the first chapter is that the writer has been around racetracks and gambling for a long time. He writes in the language of racetrackers, not the broken-down kind that Damon Runyon used to write about, but in the language of smart racetrackers who know how to find their way to the cashier's window.
Even though the sense of humor of the author made me smile at times, what makes this book valuable are the insights into the gambling process at the track. These insights I am sure are going to make me a stronger horseplayer because they will keep me from doing the foolish things year after year at the track that I was not even aware of.
All twenty chapters in the book develop useful concepts, but I thought the chapter on statistics was especially helpful. It showed with examples from Chicago racetracks how statistics can enable a horseplayer to develop rational methods of selection and minimum odds requirements when possibly betting on these selections. This chapter needs working through closely. A single reading is not enough. In fact, many chapters need more than one reading. This is complex material. But betting on Thoroughbreds is a complex game. A simplistic formula will not get the job done. There are no simplistic formulas in this excellent book.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Professor Trackman Dec 08, 2009
By Randall Parker
I really want to credit the author with how he successfully brought psychological research results into a readable form that could benefit horse players. This was not an easy task. Even coming close to bringing a flow to technical lab results and such must have taken great thought and concentration on his part. Congrats. (I especially loved your comment about how Andy Beyer looks on the cover of his book Picking Winners). Every horse player cannot be reminded of these psychological principles enough.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
The Psychology Of The Winning Horseplayer is a Winner Dec 06, 2009
By L.Picharsik
I don't know anything about horse racing. And I know even less about betting on horses. However, since a man I have been dating is a professional gambler and he spends practically every weekend at the race track, I figured if there is to be any future in the relationship, I'd better read up.
I chose "The Psychology of the Winning Horseplayer" as my introduction to the subject because I am a student of psychology.I also occasionally do take risks and make decisions under conditions of uncertainty. "The Psychology of the Winning Horseplayer" has helped me understand some of the emotional pitfalls - the cognitive traps - that get in the way of rational decision making.
The writing style of this book is not dry. Mr. Hagerty uses the idiom of the racetrack although not in a condescending way. His sentences are full of the dark pessimistic humor that inveterate gamblers engage in. I found myself smiling at some of the images and concepts he uses to explain destructive gambling patterns.
I think it might take a few readings before the concepts developed in the book really sink in. Even though I never intend to be a professional gambler, I can apply much of what is in this book to risk-taking in my own life. And it certainly has given me more insight into what is going on in the mind of my friend and,as a result, has added more dimension into our relationship.
I recommend this book.....and, see you at the races!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
I needed this book Jun 26, 2009
By Gamblin' Mama
"Alicia"
Many of the concepts in Tom Hagerty's book are based on the relatively new subject called either behavioral finance or behavioral economics. This subject mostly discusses the intellectual and emotional biases that negatively affect the decisions of investors in the stock market. But these biases also affect the decisions of horseplayers when they are placing bets day after day at the track or on the Internet.
I needed this book because I can see how these biases often distort my decision making at the tracks I go to. Sometimes I become too conservative when the odds are too long on a prime selection, and sometimes I push too much cash through the windows when the crowd bets my selection down to below value. This is just one example of how the confirmation bias works to keep a player from profitable play.
One of the characteristics that make a guy or a gal in my case a strong gambler is the ability to overcome emotional biases - to maintain a psychological balance. I found useful concepts on almost all the pages of Hagerty's book that helped me gain that balance, although I'm not really there yet as I found out yesterday at Churchill Downs. And these concepts are presented in the language of a man who obviously has been around racetracks a long time. And the language is laced through with a sardonic humor I enjoyed.
The critical comments about the book by The Lying Thief I found mystifying: "I purchased this book and returned it after acquainting myself with its contents."
He goes on to say: "The book does not offer much psychological illumination." We must have been reading different books.
I read through some of the comments The Lying Thief made about other books. He is evidently an honest critic with a wide knowledge - gambling, investment, and chess. I wonder why he came down so on Mr. Hagerty's book. He certainly is right about one thing though: "It doesn't contribute anything to the technical side of handicapping either."
I was hoping the book would have something about Mr. Hagerty's method of selection, his ideas on exotic play and structuring the bet, and his betting strategy. But perhaps that's another book.
See all 10 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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