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Strangely,
over the past 20 years, but a handful of books have arrived on my
desk and onto the shelves of Gambler's Book Shop on the subject
of betting on basketball. One wonders why? Is the game that difficult
to describe when it comes to handicapping. Are the statistics too
difficult to analyze throughout the season? Are there too many numbers
to think about? How tough is to get a handle on pro basketball teams'
performances? Has the fact that free agency shifted hundreds of
players around the franchises makes a difference? Is there no validity
to pointspread histories and trends? What about those who live and
die by the numbers?
In
any case, once baseball is over and those curious about how to bet
pro basketball raise their hands and ask "how," then what
is there to recommend to tutor the uninitiated?
Presently
there are only two decent "pure" basketball books I can
recommend:
Betting to Win on Hoops: A Textbook for the Basketball Bettor
by Robert Ross (216 pages, paperbound, $29.95) published in
2001 and Basketball: Picking Winners Against the Spread by
A.J. Friedman (64 pages, paperbound, $7.95) published in 1978.
Ross'
book covers both pro and college basketball betting-with really
only 30 pages devoted to the colleges. Yet the same factors worth
considering when betting the pros can be applied to the colleges-and
this includes injuries, home court edge, and fatigue.
Ross
deftly explains the line-how it's made, what makes it move; how
difficult it is to "middle" a game; power rating and the
way to evaluate them or establish your own; the difference between
straight up losses and pointspread losses; boxscore and statistical
analysis; proper record keeping; the importance of money management;
how teams changing in overall ability can be identified.
In a way, the same principles to be considered for betting basketball
may be applied to baseball and football as well. It's all a matter
of discipline and developing a system or method and sticking to
it. Ross defines how to accomplish it.
This
book was written by a man who not only understands the bettors,
but also knows well the fascinating multitude of numerical and psychological
factors which affect creation of the virtual daily line for basketball-two
factors that make
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