Betting Cheap Claimers

Introduction

PREFACE

Betting on horses is fun. You have mountains of information to analyze. You can back your analysis with hard cash. You can compete against other people who are trying to do the same thing you are. You can yell at the horses and jockeys. You have to wait only minutes until the race is over and you learn the correctness of your analysis. You can interact with your opponents, the other bettors, as much as you want before, during, and after the race.

On page 164 of Betting Thoroughbreds, Steven Davidowitz says to get ready to bet just one track "takes about thirty to fifty hours of advance work, requires two hours of daily follow-up, and yields approximately one to three good bets a day." Other expert handicappers probably would agree with Davidowitz on the hours invested. And they probably would agree on the number of worthwhile bets per day. Tom Ainslie, one of the most respected names in handicapping, mentions days when he went to the track intending to bet but ended up making not a single bet all day.

Suppose you don't want to devote thirty to fifty hours to learn all about one track. Suppose you don't want to devote two hours a day to keep up with one track. Suppose what you do want is on occasional visits to Las Vegas to be able to walk into a racebook and find a good bet. If that is what you want, then this book is for you.

This book explains three ways that a casino customer who visits a racebook only occasionally can make money betting on thoroughbred horses. These three things do not require a continuing daily investment of time to keep up with the news of the sport.

Many people made helpful suggestions on prepublication drafts of this book. Much of what is good about this book is due to their comments. Some of them did not give me permission to name them here. Those that are willing to be thanked publicly are listed alphabetically:

• Barry Burkan
• Bryce Carlson
• Anthony Curtis
• Dave Douglas
• Marvin L. French
• John Gollehon
• Dave Mackett
• Mason Malmuth
• Barry Meadow
• David Rogers
• Donald Schlesinger
• Laurance Scott
• John Slivka
• John Speer
• Howard Stanley Warshaw

A special thanks to Barry Meadow, John Speer, and Howard Stanley Warshaw, whose comments were particularly helpful.

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