Product Description

In Exotic Betting, the horseplayer takes a colorful wagering ride by learning to maximize profits by betting on a multitude of exotic wagers including the daily double, exacta, trifecta, quinella, superfecta, pick 3, 4, and 6.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39942 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From the Inside Flap
"This is not a book about how to pick winners at the racetrack," writes Steven Crist in the opening lines of this unique and long-awaited book about playing the races.

Exotic Betting instead argues that how to bet is as important as who you like, especially in the 21st-century world of horse racing, where a new menu of wagers such as the superfecta and pick four have overtaken the familiar win, place, and show betting of yesteryear.

Both serious and casual horseplayers will benefit from understanding the strategy and mechanics of making these complex wagers, a topic generally ignored in the literature of handicapping but now more important than ever. Crist explores each of racing’s so-called exotic wagers, including exactas, trifectas, superfectas, doubles, pick threes, pick fours, and pick sixes. Drawing on his personal experiences as a bettor and as a racing journalist and executive, Crist outlines both the common mistakes made by the betting public and some alternative approaches that can lead to more profitable returns and to greater enjoyment of an endlessly intricate and fascinating game.

Crist, known as the King of the Pick Six for his exploits in that jackpot wager, also explores a wide range of practical issues, including the advantages and pitfalls of betting on the sport’s biggest events, such as the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, and the unfairly onerous requirements imposed on exotic bettors by the Internal Revenue Service.

Whether you’re a two-dollar bettor considering his first exacta or a high roller regularly chasing seven-figure jackpots, Exotic Betting will forever change the way you look at and wager on horse racing.

Steven Crist has been playing the races and writing about them since a chance trip to Wonderland Greyhound Park in 1976 put a quick end to studying 18th-century English literature. He was the horse-racing columnist for The New York Times from 1981 through 1990; founding editor-in-chief of The Racing Times in 1991-92; a New York racetrack executive from 1994 to 1997; and in 1998 assembled an investment group that purchased Daily Racing Form, where he served as the chief executive until 2002 and remains as the chairman and publisher. Crist is the author of the books Offtrack, The Horse Traders, and Betting on Myself.

From the Back Cover
"Steve Crist became an extremely successful pick-six player by recognizing this truth: How you bet is at least as important as whom you bet. His book Exotic Betting will change teh way horseplayers think about the pick six, pick four, and other multiple wagers." Andrew Beyer Washington Post columnist

"With so many exotics on the wagering menu these days, players are stuck in teh quandary of exactly what pools to dive into to get the best bang for their buck. With his facile bent toward mathematics and teh understanding of odds, payots, takeouts, etc., Crist succeds in breaking down teh pluses and minuses of doubles, exactas, tris, supers, etc. in a logical way. This book is a plus for anyone who takes this difficult game seriously." Bob Neumeier NBN Sports

"In a sport known for ups and downs, Steve Crist is a beacon of consistency. Besides his intelligent horse-racing commentary, he simplifies teh complexities of exotic wagering better than anyone. Crist would be my first choice as professor in teh classroom of betting strategy." Randy Moss ABC/ESPN horse-racing analyst

About the Author
Steven Crist has been playing the races and writing about them since a chance trip to Wonderland Greyhound Park in 1976 put a quick end to studying 18th-century English literature. He was the horse-racing columnist for The New York Times from 1981 through 1990; founding editor-in-chief of the Racing Times in 1991-92; a New York racetrack exective from 1994 to 1997; and in 1998 asssembled an investment group that purchased Daily Racing Form, where he served as the chief executive until 2002 and remains as the chairman and publisher. Crist is the author of the books Offtrack, The Horse Traders, and Betting on Myself.

Customer Reviews

not bad...but...
With so many combinations suggested in this book, I find it difficult to believe that one could make money over the long haul. Getting 20 or so combinations for exactas or doubles or tris is just asking for trouble. With shorter fields these days the payoffs just don't justify the investment and risks.

I've been playing, with marginal success, straight exactas or, at most, a 2 horse box. Even then, my 20-1 exacta payoff drops to 10-1 with the box. The combinations suggested in this book shrinks your payoff odds big time. If you have a bad day, and we all have them, you could lose a lot of $. And I'm not into sinking $20 into a pick 3 for a $50 payoff. No thanks.

I guess with the big plays, like superfectas and super 7s, some of this might work. I don't know. I never play these. But I guarantee if you keep betting lots of combinations in the doubles or exactas, it's going to be a rough road.

Pick who you think is going to win, find a good runner-up and bet it straight. Even with a 2-1 favorite on top, you could be looking at a 15-1 exacta. Not bad. A common scenario for me is a nice 5-1 shot on top of the 3/2 favorite with a payoff of $40-$50. No bad again.

The most influential book on horse racing I've read this decade
Other than Andrew Beyer's handicapping books and Joe Takach's videos on appearance, there are almost no works on the subject of winning at the races that really made an impression on me - until I read Exotic Betting. Author Crist makes a cogent and powerful argument on the long-ignored art of correctly ranking and betting your contenders. Crist simply is better than anyone else at turning his opinions into profits - and after reading this book, I improved dramatically in my rating and betting skills. Just the section on his A,B,C ranking of contenders was a revelation for me. If you ever want to seriously play multihorse and multirace wagers, read this book or just stick to the lottery.

Highly Recommended Title for Every Player
I found this book to be highly informative, but not because I agree with all of the author's conclusions. The main conclusion I disagree with is the author's repeated assertions throughout that exotics are not about trying to figure out who the two, three or four most likely finishers are and betting them in the order of most likely finish. Christ somehow thinks that there is more to it than that. But there isn't.

If you find the winning horses in the order of finish, you will cash. Because that's precisely what the Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, Daily Double, Superfecta, Pick 6, etc are all about: finding the requisite number of top finishes and the order of finish. He might have meant to say that figuring out the order of finish is a complex process which it indeed is, but the way he choose to express this in the text was really mind boggling. To argue that there is something else to it is - well - nutty.

Despite this one flaw, Christ does get you thinking the right way in alot of areas. He does cover takeout and how that effects your betting decisions, the Win-Place-Show (WPS) pools vs. exotics pools and how they work, why box bets are losing bets, when not to bet and other information that is vital info for the newbie pony player. If you are a newbie to the game of playing the ponies, then this is a must-read. Veterans should also take a look so they have the benefit of a perspective possibly different than their own.