Customer Reviews Average Rating 3

Jason Creighton	Rated: 2
A touch weak
I bought this book with high hopes and great expectations only to be let down with a bump. Although it contains a lot of info you really have to hunt for it as I found the way the info presented rather odd. I.e technical detail (the stuff you bought the book for after all) was hidden away amongst amusing tales. Overall a good read on the subject but not one Id buy if I was looking for the golden goose of bookmaking

Brian Blackwell	Rated: 5
The Art of Bookmaking
From Julian Mould in Practical Punting Monthly magazine, Australia --------------- The Art of Bookmaking by Malcolm Doyle is a newly released publication from the UK which aims to offer people information on the basic requirements that you will need if you are to enter into the dark world of turf accountancy. It is a commendable first-up effort from the author as the book takes its place in a literary world where few others stand and for this reason alone it is worth taking a look at it. There are many books kicking around on how the punter might succeed in the betting world and there are a few biographies published by ex-bookies on how life is but there simply aren’t enough titles on the subject of how one begins to dabble in the art of bookmaking itself. These days such books are in demand due to the rapid rise of open-market betting companies, such as Betfair, where anyone is given the opportunity to take on everyone as a layer of odds. However, this book does not appear to be being aimed specifically at Betfair customers and their like and this is probably where the book falls down slightly because, while it conveys important information about the basic things that a bookmaker must do to be successful, one gets the distinct impression that there is not enough flesh on the bones of this text to allow it to be of real and long-lasting use to the amateur layer. There are some other problems with this book too as far as Australia is concerned. Speaking as a 41 year-old Pom, who came to Oz six years ago, I can digest The Art of Bookmaking with some ease as it speaks to me in a language that I am all too familiar with, using the British punting lexicon to its fullest extent. While I find it reasonably legible I’m not sure every Australian will rejoice in its London-style “bookie” prose but, that said, if you’re familiar with the books of the professional British punter Alan Potts then you might not feel too far estranged. Another issue for Aussies is that while Mr. Doyle illustrates his points with plenty of examples these paradigms are all plucked from British sport both past and present so most of his references will be unknown to Australian and New Zealand readers (unless you’ve followed British sport for the last 30 years!). Still, as far as the content of the book is concerned it opens well by stating that successful bookmaking revolves around a number of key points, such as the basics of odds-compiling and knowing your percentages when creating a book. You’ll need to be an adept mathematician to succeed as a bookmaker but, as Mr Doyle adds, you will also need to be “greedy, accommodating, inventive, brave and, most importantly of all, accurate and consistent”. However, like punting, Mr Doyle readily acknowledges that, as far as bookmaking’s concerned, ”the game isn’t easy in all honesty” and statements like this allude to one of The Art of Bookmaking’s strengths. The book expresses enough between its covers to tell you that becoming a layer is not a fast-track to enormous wealth but that the decent living that is to be made from bookmaking is built on hard work and good maths. It is not the licence to print money as some people might think. All in all I would say that The Art of Bookmaking does succeed in beginning to shape your mind around the principles of laying prices for various events but I cannot help but feel that there is room for an Art of Bookmaking: Part 2 where Mr Doyle offers better and more universal explanations on how to build markets from scratch and on how to dynamically change your book, when you are trading ‘live’ in the market, so that you can still attract punters but remain protected. If you see The Art of Bookmaking on sale in the bookshops of Australasia then it is likely that it will be retailing at something like two-and-a-half the retail price of the book (𔙱.99) so it should be selling for a price (hopefully) of around $AUS30. $30 would be a price that pitches it in at the reasonable end of betting book prices and that wouldn’t be too bad for a tome like this – especially if you’re a forty-something ex-pat from the British Isles with some cash to spare and a mind for taking on some punters. Malcolm Boyle : The Art of Bookmaking - ISBN: 1843440261 Publisher: High Stakes Publishing Published : March 2006

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