Beat the Racetrack

by William T Ziemba, Donald B Hausch

Overview

Discover the irresistible allure of horse racing and the thrill of winning. This invaluable book shares a proven, easy to learn system that you can use to beat the odds and win big at the racetrack. It helps you determine which horse to pick and what size your wager should be based on tote board data, and it reveals strategies for maximizing your winnings.
With clear writing and entertaining real-world examples, authors William Ziemba and Donald Hausch explain the fundamentals of track racing and show how patterns of public inefficiency in betting pools can lead to you reaping big payoffs. Rather than focusing on the complicated details of thoroughbred handicapping, the groundbreaking "Dr. Z" system offers mathematical models based on stock-market analysis. After their initial scientific analysis of historical data from past races, the authors verified their betting method by testing it with real bets--and it worked. It teaches you when to bet and what a good bet is, and advises how much to wager based on your betting stake. When properly applied, the method's average profit per dollar wagered is about 10%. Using it, you will be able to minimize risk and increase your winnings.
"This book is for people who want to win. The gambling system it presents is one of the few I have ever seen that I think really works. I am convinced enough to bet my own money on it."
Edward O. Thorp, from the book's introduction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635617443
Publisher:	Echo Point Books & Media
Publication date:	02/04/2019
Edition description:	Reprint ed.
Pages:	430
Sales rank:	681,245
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

William T. Ziemba is professor of management science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is an expert in operations research and portfolio management and has served as consultant to the Canadian government on lotteries and pari-mutuel betting systems. Donald B. Hausch has a doctorate in managerial economics and decision sciences from Northwestern University, and is currently teaching in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Hausch has co-authored two books and two edited volumes, and written numerous articles that have been published in the American Economic Review, Review of Financial Studies, International Economic Review, Management Science, Journal of Business, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Economic Theory, RAND Journal of Economics, and other journals. He was an associate editor of Management Science for 10 year. He has consulted for the World Bank on the resolution of systemic financial distress, and he received a Vilas Research Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research has explored the game-theoretic analysis of auctions and competitive bidding, with a special focus on information acquired prior to and discerned through the auction process itself. He also has researched bankruptcy reorganization and financial restructuring through negotiations and security design, the design of contracts and their ability to achieve efficient trade outcomes, and an empirical investigation of market inefficiency.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD BY EDWARD O. THORP

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1 Discovery of the Dr. Z System

2 Betting at the Races

3 Applying Stock Market Efficiency Concepts to Horseracing Betting Markets

4 Finding Profitable Place and Show Bets

5 How Much Should You Bet?

6 Using the Dr. Z System at the Racetrack

7 Using the Dr. Z System in Other Situations

8 A Great Race: John Henry versus Lemhi Gold in the Oak Tree Invitational at Santa Anita, October 31, 1982

9 Results of Computer Studies Using the Dr. Z System over Long Periods

10 The Kentucky Derby: The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports

11 A Great Day for Canada: Sunny’s Halo Wins the 1983 Kentucky Derby

12 Betting on Favorites

13 A Typical Day at the Races: Making the Best Bet in Each Race, Hollywood Park, May 30, 1982

14 Minus Pools

15 Refinements to the Basic Dr. Z System

16 Epilogue

APPENDIXES

A Thoroughbred Racetracks in North America: Seasons, Purses, Betting, and Track Takes

B Mathematics of the Dr.Z System

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"A brilliant book"
--Barry Meadow, harness betting columnist, Gambling Times
"The Dr. Z system is a legitimate, mathematically sound winning strategy for betting on horses. It does not require handicapping to use. Ziemba and Hausch have provided us with a very nice application of money management in a complicated gambling situation." --Joel Friedman in Systems and Methods
"A landmark book, a masterpiece, a classic, an analytical tour de force. It's all that and more. But most importantly, for the serious horseplayer, it presents an unimpeachable, scientifically proven system for winning consistently at the track." --Alan Goldberg in Systems and Methods
"Ziemba's basic proposition rests on scholarly foundations. He is very much on top of a vast literature demonstrating that pari- mutuel betting at racetracks is an efficient market, just like the stock market. He believes that there are substantial market ineffi- ciencies in place and show betting, and Beat the Racetrack is an effort to explain how you can profitably exploit these." --Daniel Seligman, Fortune
"Destined to become a classic in the literature of racing. The prin- ciple is sound; the evidence is overwhelming. Any serious horse- player who does not read this book is missing a good bet." --Dick Mitchell, Gambling Times
"This book is for people who want to win. The gambling system it presents is one of the few I have ever seen that I think really works. I am convinced enough to bet my own money on it." --Edward O. Thorp, author of Beat the Dealer
"Dr. Z.. .turns betting into an exact science and turns the handicapping over to other people." --Archie McDonald, Vancouver Sun

From the Publisher