Michael Konik is smart money. Bob McCune's strategy - Smart money or “Smart money. “Sports betting: making money for smart people”, Andrey Bask

There is so much information in the world that it is no longer possible to keep track of everything. Therefore, people choose certain areas that are interesting to them. In order to practically realize oneself in a specific business, high-quality theoretical training is necessary. And the world of betting is no exception. There is a lot of good literature in this area, and we offer you our top 10 books about betting. Enjoy reading!

1. Signal and Noise (Nate Silver)

Nate Silver brings up a serious issue that every bettor faces every day. How to catch the most necessary information from a huge flow of information? The information space is limitless, and a day may not be enough to study all the materials on one fight. “Signal and Noise” is a book whose main goal is not to teach the reader how to bet correctly, but to teach how to predict correctly. After all, these are different concepts.

2. Agreement. A book about corruption in world sport (Declan Hill)

3. Fooled by Randomness (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a man with a tough and straightforward position, which can be seen on the pages of his work. The language of the book is quite simple, without complicated terms and concepts. On its pages you can read that in most cases we tend to draw the wrong conclusions. Much attention is paid to the fact that if your theory fails once, then you should not immediately forget it and go in search of a new one. But, on the other hand, if your approach fails over a long distance, then you should still abandon it.

4. Professional Player (J.R. Miller)

In this case, the author is a real betting player, and it is worth noting that he is quite successful. George Miller is an American, and it is not surprising that he chose American football as his core sport. In the book you can find information about the preparatory stage before choosing one or another outcome. The genre of the book is similar to an autobiography with an emphasis on betting. The value of this material is that its approaches are applicable to almost all sports.

5. Trading the Basics: Wall Street, Gambling and Baseball (Joe Peta)

This book is called by many “the bible of the betting world.” The author described his methods in betting in fairly simple language. The basis is betting on baseball, but most methods have the right to life in other sports. Joe Peta explains how to analyze matches and what to look for. Particular attention is paid to approaches to playing on the stock exchange, which are perfectly implemented in bets. The synthesis of stock exchange techniques and betting theories led the author to amazing results.

6. Profitable tennis (Andrey Plakhov)

The book is unique in some way, because it does not focus on team sports. From the title it is clear that the content is directly related to tennis. The author talks about the specifics of this sport, features that, for example, are absent in football. Andrei Plakhov also did not forget to mention match-fixing, which is easier to organize in tennis than in other sports. The book is based on the practical activities of a real person, so it is quite easy to read.

7. The Last Express (Alex Curvey and Dmitry Fakovsky)

This book is distinguished from others by at least the fact that it was written in collaboration. The attitude of bettors to this book is twofold. It is not instructive in nature, it relates more to fiction. At the center of the story is a hero who spends a lot of time in bookmakers. And superstition plays a serious role in his bets. So, he divides all cashiers into lucky ones and unlucky ones, for example. This book is attractive because many can see themselves in the main character. Especially at the moment when, having lost all the money, he makes his “express of hope” to win back everything.

8. How professional players hit the odds line (J.R. Miller)

The author is a recognized person in the field of betting with more than 20 years of experience. This book is based on betting on American football. In particular, the author pays a lot of attention to the factors that influence the choice of forecast. Miller considers fundamental, circumstantial, and even abstract factors. The book contains the basics and fundamentals that every self-respecting capper should know. As with most of the books mentioned above, the methods and patterns that apply to American football can easily be applied to other sports.

9. Smart Money (Michael Konik)

The author of this work was once a member of a real syndicate in the field of online betting. In addition, he managed to create his own company to work in the field of betting. The essence of the book is about the “right” environment. If you decide to engage in betting, then several experienced partners will not hurt you. The book is based on real events, such that after publication the author was sued. Of course, some moments are embellished, and the artistry of the narrative does not allow us to consider this book as scientific literature, but it will be useful for both beginners and experienced bettors.

10. Kings of Agreements (Wilson Raj Perumal)

The author of this book is not like anyone on our list: he is an organizer of match-fixing. Once he was caught by law enforcement agencies, but then made a deal with the investigation. Wilson then described it in his book. In particular, it tells about the process of organizing agreements and which performers are involved in this. Some chapters mention a club from the Russian championship. Such revelations at one time shook up the world football community. You will find little practical advice, but you will begin to look at some football outcomes completely differently.

Smart Money is a story about a famous sports analyst named Michael Konik. This man, well versed in all the intricacies of sports betting, left behind a decent book legacy.

His next book "Smart Money", tells the story of the author’s encounter with a professional sports bettor and, in his free time from sports betting, a student named Herbie.

It was this professional student who suggested that the author of the book join the largest syndicate "Brain Trust". By joining forces, these two people were able to make a fortune for themselves.

After they learned about these people in the sports betting and gambling community, the two of them - a student and an analyst - began to be invited to give private games. The casino owners were their regular customers. Later, casinos became their means of accumulating wealth for several generations to come.

It turned out that this generation already has quite deep roots. The fact is that the owner of the Brain Trust syndicate was Herbie’s uncle, Rick Matthews. Under the now common pseudonym “Big Daddy,” Matthews owned the Casual Gourmet restaurant and was also the terror of Las Vegas.

And after such ambitious desires, like any person or group of people, when they set their sights on something high and significant, Konik and Herbie began to suffer defeats. When the bookmakers realized that Brain Trust could be liquidated, they did so by simply ceasing to accept bets from this company.

The same failure befell our players and bookmakers providing their services via the Internet. They started placing bets with offshore bookmakers, and when online bookmakers understood the essence of their business, they also stopped accepting bets.

This book also talks about some feelings and serious things. The fact is that due to the lack of success in attempts to get closer to Matthews, or Big Daddy, Konik decided to create his own syndicate.

He left Herbie, stopped working with him, found new friends and companions and founded a new syndicate. This syndicate received a much louder name than Konik’s previous brainchild - “Hollywood Boys”.

This company was not as well organized as the previous one, but it still made a profit. At one point, Konik realized that sports betting had ruined his life.

He realized that he had betrayed his close friend and with it his reputation and authority. After thinking and weighing all the pros and cons, he decided to leave this changing world sports betting and start writing books.

The book is useful not only because it teaches life, places emphasis in life and helps to better understand the whole essence of our life. It also has practical significance - it perfectly presents all the subtleties of the game, it tells about people who are associated with

Sports betting is a whole science, a whole art and its own, separate world. To enter it and have income from betting, you need to know many features and nuances. Beginning bettors would benefit from reading one or more books on betting. On the Internet you can find advice on which works are worth reading, but often you come across rubbish among them. That's why we've put together our selection of books. We judge their usefulness not only from the experience of our team of professional analysts, but also from your reviews on various portals. So, here are the books we recommend.

This is, in fact, a great guide for beginners with an explanation of the terms and basic concepts of betting. It contains a lot of expert opinions and advice from Stephen Harris, the main author, as well as Alexander Bubnov, Kirill Dementyev, Konstantin Genich and other famous people who understand the subject of betting. By the way, the bookmaker’s office provided great assistance in creating this guide for beginners.

“Sports and Money”, Maxim Pokrovsky

This is another work intended for beginners. Here we have a hit from the 2000s, which even then helped many people start betting on a professional level. There is also an explanation of the basic concepts, as well as strategies, information about the necessary skills, and more. A must read for beginners! But even experienced bettors will find a lot of useful information here.

“Sports betting: making money for smart people”, Andrey Bask

In our articles we often write that it is necessary to bet wisely, without letting emotions take over the player. So, a certain Andrei Bask wrote a whole book about what this means. In it, he tells how the bookmaker's office works, what loopholes it has that allow you to earn money. If you use Andrey’s advice, betting will truly become a science, the way it should be from the player’s point of view if he wants to have a regular income.

"There's no such thing as easy money" by Dave Nevinson

Another book that tells you how difficult sports betting is and what exactly you need to do to make money in this area. The author himself is a former professional gambler, and he knows firsthand how hard it is to get money in betting. He shares examples of real betting enthusiasts, examples of difficulties and how to overcome them. The book also contains many useful ready-made strategies.

"The Professional Gambler" by George Miller

Here the author is also a famous professional bettor, that is, a person who makes predictions on sports and earns money from it. He has been doing this since the 80s of the last century. When George realized that he had something to tell the world about, he decided to write a book. In it, he writes about how to make the most accurate sports forecasts, where to get information and choose the most necessary one from it. There is also information on how to win at a bookmaker.

Smart Money, Michael Konik

Michael Konik was a member of a large shadow organization that made money from sports through illegal means. She organized match-fixing, bribed players and referees, and bet on the desired result in bookmakers. In the book, this whole system is told as if from the outside. You will read the story of a student or analyst who meets Big Daddy, the head of the aforementioned organization. This, by the way, is on the topic of whether .

"Think slow, decide fast" by Daniel Kineman

In this work you will learn how to subordinate your emotions and desires in order to achieve good results in betting. The author divides thinking into two categories: emotional and logical. So, he teaches what needs to be done to turn off the first and sharpen the second. It is contraindicated for a professional bettor to act without this skill.

"Signal and Noise" by Nate Silver

This work deals with probability theory and forecasting. The information you will receive from this book will allow you to make much better predictions for sports matches. Having a mountain of data is not enough; you need to know how to manage it correctly. Nate Silver devoted a lot of time to studying and applying it in betting. He outlined his thoughts in the book “Signal and Noise.”

"Trading the Bases: Wall Street, Gambling and Baseball" by Joe Peta

Simply an indispensable book for those who bet on baseball. Joe Peta worked on Wall Street and is a big fan of the sport, so over time he decided to combine his two passions. When he was fired, he created his own unique baseball betting system. In the book you will find the strategy itself, as well as the history of its compilation. Pretty interesting!

“Profitable Tennis”, Andrey Plakhov

A very useful guide for those who decide to bet on tennis. Andrey Plakhov himself worked a lot in the field of betting, including in the structures of some bookmakers. In his work, he explains what loopholes there are in bookmakers regarding tennis, and how to correctly assess the chances of a particular athlete. There is especially interesting information here about match-fixing. You have no idea how common they are in tennis!

Bonus. "The Last Express", Alex Curvey and Dmitry Fakovsky

A very interesting story about a betting enthusiast who believes in examples, tries to catch lucky cashiers and other factors that supposedly contribute to his victory. It is placed only at collection points. As a result, such actions lead to complete collapse, which is obvious. However, he decides to bet an express bet that will win back all the lost money. The book is very useful for those who pay attention to all this nonsense instead of analyzing. If you think you don't fall into this category, we still recommend reading The Last Express. It is very likely that you will find some traits of the main character in yourself.