Exotic Betting: How to Make the Multihorse, Multirace Bets That Win Racing's Biggest Payoffs

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.

I thought this was a pretty solid book on the proper ways to construct exotic betting tickets. I found Crist's discussions of exacta and trifecta plays to be particularly interesting. Specifically, Crist tells the player to get away from the boxes (and other "chance plays") and go for big payouts by trusting your handicapping skills. Anyone can throw five longshots into a $1 exacta box and get lucky once and a while. Crist's philososphy, and that of many professional players, is to play less combinations at a greater price. Key your top horse over your second choice for $10. Then the top horse over a longshot play for $5. Crist encourages the player to structure bets in a manner that will reward them the most when their handicapping is spot on.....not just when they get lucky by throwing every longshot on the borad underneath and exoctic play. Why play four horses equally in a leg of the Pick 4 when you like two of them much more than the other two? This book, along with Steve Davidowitz's classic, is an excellent read for the intermediate player who wants to learn to take his bet structuring to the next level. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer....I would love to be able to sit down with Steve Crist and talk betting strategies all day. The only caution that I would give is that this book is not at all about how to pick winners. In fact, this book is not going to be valuable at all to a player who does not possess solid handicapping skills. If you have trouble picking winners to begin with then its probably not a good idea to try and get creative with exotic betting.

Very insightful on reasons and methods to break out of the Box/wheel mentality. Gives a different perspective on ways to bet both verticlly and horizally.

This book elaborates on ticket-tailoring techniques, not on how to identify the contenders in a horse-racing program. Steve Crist does a great job explaining (with clear arithmetical arguments) when to opt for an intrarace exotic bet instead of playing to win/place, and when not to. "The master of the pick-6" also shares his ABC-X technique to build interrace bets. In the last chapter of the book, Crist shares his experience betting the 2005 Breeder's Cup. How he allocates his bankroll first, tabulates the horses in his A B C and X categories, the ticket execution, the on-the-fly adjustments and hedge bets, the after-the-fact analysis with lessons learned. It was a very enjoyable read too. Crist style is great.

If you've ever picked nearly 37% winners over three months, or picked nine in a row, including a 15-1 shot, and still have gone home stooping for tickets in your Hanes, this book is for you. Wise, relentlessly tested,"Exotic Betting" has an almost Buddhistic approach to thoroughbred wagering: Lose the ego, the King-of-the-Handicappers mentality, allow yourself to be wrong in the right spots and then bam, you're on your way. Not since Andrew Beyer's "Picking Winners" 30 years ago has a book given horseplayers more hope. An obvious must.