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Rating: 
Summary: One handicapping method you don't have time for
Review: First, I do not recommend this book for the beginner. However, I do recommend it for the serious handicapper who is interested in designing a new method for handicapping NFL games. Gordon's book would give one detailed insight into one professional's perspective.
Second, while there is useful information on trends, the primary focus is dedicated to creating one's own lines. His method, though detailed, is unrealistically complex. There are several conversion tables involving values Gordon claims to have validated over the years. The amount of manual effort needed to duplicate his recommendations is cumbersome, open to interpretation and, therefore, severely prone to error. If a computer application program were available to do the calculations, based on regularly downloaded data, I might be persuaded to study it. Otherwise, I seriously doubt anyone would take the time to do it as described.
Third, according to independent reviews, Gordon's performance as a tout is, at best, only par with most others - about 55%. For example, in one review authored by Colin Caster dated 12/04/02 wrote: "...Incidentally, his current record on sides and totals is 27-31-2, a record at or below which one would expect a 57.5% handicapper to fall less than 7% of the time..." So even with exotic statistical manipulations, the end result is not much better than flipping a coin.
On the up side, I do agree with one principle Gordon stresses: A handicapper should have an independent method of setting lines so as to be able to determine the "value" of a potential bet once the official lines are published. As for the typical weekend gamblers, with a lot of other priorities such work and family matters, I would recommend a computer program that will do the grunt work for you. There are several such program products available ranging from $10 to $200. Though more costly, these would be more useful immediately while saving time for more important matters.
Al Medrano
Greenville, SC
Rating: 
Summary: How to Handicap NFL Games
Review: Whether this book would be helpful to you, the potential NFL bettor, depends largely on what kind of information you are looking for. Beat the Sports Books is primarily devoted to teaching the reader how to handicap his/her own NFL games -specifically, how to make your own lines. The author, Dan Gordon, has over 20 years of experience handicapping and betting on NFL games and gives the reader the benefit of this experience. He explains, in considerable detail and with many examples, how to calculate your own lines and power rankings and how to determine which bets are worth making. This is an in-depth course in line-making and takes concentration and persistence to fully absorb. The author also devotes one chapter to pointers for betting at different stages in the NFL season, which is simpler and might be worth considering even if you don't intend to make your own lines. 62 of the book's 165 pages are appendices. Appendix 1 follows one NFL team through an entire season in order to illustrate the finer points of calculating a team's power ranking over the course of a season. The second Appendix contains a full season (1996) of bets that the author made with explanations of why he made each bet. Included are some bets that he didn't make and reasons that he passed on those. The appendices could prove to be invaluable references if you intend to get serious about NFL betting, especially betting over the long haul. There is some information in this book that is not about handicapping. The title of the book's first chapter is: "How Pro Football Is Bet and How the Point Spread is Set". It includes explanations of different kinds of bets (spreads, over-under, parlays, parlay cards, reverses, teasers) and explanations, with examples, of how the Las Vegas Sports Consultants set their lines each week. In chapter 2, the author goes on to explain how the media can affect betting, how touts work... These chapters contain a lot of interesting information that would be useful to both serious and casual NFL bettors. Beat the Sports Books is really dedicated to teaching you how to determine what bets to make. There isn't much advice on precisely how to place those bets beyond the author's emphasis on trying the get the early lines and shopping for a fair price on your bet. There are no lists of sports books or internet casinos or instructions in how exactly to communicate what you would like to bet once you've found one. The information in Beat the Sports Books would seem to be intended for the relatively experienced bettor. I'll risk repeating myself here, just to be clear: Beat the Sports Books is a lesson in handicapping NFL games with an overwhelming emphasis on making your own lines. Dan Gordon provides the reader with detailed instruction in the methods that he uses to calculate lines, based on over 20 years of experience as an NFL bettor. There is relatively little advice on other methods of handicapping. If you would like to be able to calculate your own lines in order to exploit the errors of the lines the sports books use, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: How to Handicap NFL Games
Review: Whether this book would be helpful to you, the potential NFL bettor, depends largely on what kind of information you are looking for. Beat the Sports Books is primarily devoted to teaching the reader how to handicap his/her own NFL games -specifically, how to make your own lines. The author, Dan Gordon, has over 20 years of experience handicapping and betting on NFL games and gives the reader the benefit of this experience. He explains, in considerable detail and with many examples, how to calculate your own lines and power rankings and how to determine which bets are worth making. This is an in-depth course in line-making and takes concentration and persistence to fully absorb. The author also devotes one chapter to pointers for betting at different stages in the NFL season, which is simpler and might be worth considering even if you don't intend to make your own lines. 62 of the book's 165 pages are appendices. Appendix 1 follows one NFL team through an entire season in order to illustrate the finer points of calculating a team's power ranking over the course of a season. The second Appendix contains a full season (1996) of bets that the author made with explanations of why he made each bet. Included are some bets that he didn't make and reasons that he passed on those. The appendices could prove to be invaluable references if you intend to get serious about NFL betting, especially betting over the long haul. There is some information in this book that is not about handicapping. The title of the book's first chapter is: "How Pro Football Is Bet and How the Point Spread is Set". It includes explanations of different kinds of bets (spreads, over-under, parlays, parlay cards, reverses, teasers) and explanations, with examples, of how the Las Vegas Sports Consultants set their lines each week. In chapter 2, the author goes on to explain how the media can affect betting, how touts work... These chapters contain a lot of interesting information that would be useful to both serious and casual NFL bettors. Beat the Sports Books is really dedicated to teaching you how to determine what bets to make. There isn't much advice on precisely how to place those bets beyond the author's emphasis on trying the get the early lines and shopping for a fair price on your bet. There are no lists of sports books or internet casinos or instructions in how exactly to communicate what you would like to bet once you've found one. The information in Beat the Sports Books would seem to be intended for the relatively experienced bettor. I'll risk repeating myself here, just to be clear: Beat the Sports Books is a lesson in handicapping NFL games with an overwhelming emphasis on making your own lines. Dan Gordon provides the reader with detailed instruction in the methods that he uses to calculate lines, based on over 20 years of experience as an NFL bettor. There is relatively little advice on other methods of handicapping. If you would like to be able to calculate your own lines in order to exploit the errors of the lines the sports books use, this is the book for you!
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