Question of the Day - 12 March 2021

Well, not to toot our own horns too loudly, but you're exactly the kind of reader we've had in mind in terms of the recent sports-betting segment of our publishing program. 

The first sports betting book we published, more than a year ago, was Then One Day ... Forty Years of Bookmaking in Nevada. Written by the current sports book director at South Point, Chris Andrews, it's a collection of stories about growing up in a sports betting family (Chris' first cousin, Art Manteris, is in charge of all the sports book run by Station Casinos) and spending a long successful career in the business. This book is a fine introduction to the language, culture, customs, and consciousness of sports betting and imparts a number of lessons along the way. Chris is a great writer and has a lot of hilarious and instructive stories to tell. In fact, at this time we're working on his second book, Then One Year ..., which begins just before Super Bowl 2020, runs through the pandemic, and ends just after Super Bowl 2021. 

Our second sports betting book, 20/20 Sports Betting -- Think Like a Pro, picks up where Then One Day ... leaves off, in a way. After reading Chris Andrews' book and understanding a little more about the shape and structure of sports betting, you're ready to delve into the mindset of sports betting and that's where 20/20 excels. It's written by a professional sports bettor who makes his entire living beating the bookies and as such, author Logan Fields shows you what it takes to actually win. There's some low-hanging fruit for sports bettors, but in general, winning at sports betting is anything but easy and just like it takes a certain aptitude to become a successful card counter or tournament gambler, almost all sports betting pros possess the cerebral foundation, if you will, for being a profitable player; the rest comes down to discipline, creativity, looking endlessly for opportunities and value, long hard hours studying databases and competing lines -- in other words, plain old hard work. By the time you're done reading 20/20, you should know if you're cut out for giving it a real go.

And there's no shame if you're not. That's where our third book comes in. All About Sports Betting, by Blair Rodman, which will be published sometime in the first half of this year, covers everything prospective sports bettors need to know to get into the game: all the different ways to bet, where and how to make the bets, some simple strategies you can use to have a fighting chance against the books, and when all is said and done, how to have the most fun for your money if it turns out that recreational sports betting is the extent of your involvement. 

A quick search on Amazon turns up a handful of other books on sports betting. We can't personally vouch for any of them, but if you're really interested in pursuing this pastime, we're sure you'll find something useful in all of them.