Anybody read Mathletics?

**Justin7** · 09-25-09, 08:34 PM

I looked it up, and just ordered it. Give me a week or so.

**InTheHole** · 09-25-09, 10:21 PM

Justin7 and Ganch are Division I Mathletes

**luigi** · 09-26-09, 09:20 PM

yep, got it a few days ago.. overall i thought the book was very good, it answers a lot of neat questions. I'd be caareful using the idea of least squares regression using points for/points against... especially in the nba, unless certain adjustments are made to account for injuries and scheduling.

The author was part of the team (jeff sagarin) who created the winval system for adjusted +/- ratings for the NBA.. i suppose the premise is that since so much of what occurs on the court is not accounted in the box score, a +/- rating helps estimate all of a players contributions to the team.

there's a lot of other good stuff in there.

the book itself is far more informative than a typical handicapping book.

**Wrecktangle** · 09-27-09, 12:59 AM

Interesting, Roland Beech also works with the Mavs...

**bookie** · 09-27-09, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by Justin7

I looked it up, and just ordered it. Give me a week or so.

Looking forward to your take on the book. It would be good to have a review suggesting some of the ways his analysis could be turned to handicapping purposes. Even though "gamblers" are in the subtitle, he's not interested in including ATS numbers as part of his toolbox.

**Wrecktangle** · 09-28-09, 07:59 AM

Some of the best "handicapping" books come not from the handicappers but from the sabermetric types who love to deal in formulas. Handicappers don't share well anyway.

**luigi** · 09-29-09, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by Wrecktangle

Some of the best "handicapping" books come not from the handicappers but from the sabermetric types who love to deal in formulas. Handicappers don't share well anyway.

agreed.... i enjoy reading sabermetric type books, of course i find myself frustrated at times when little minutia is trying to be solved that has no purpose for gambling... but it is still fun to read nonetheless.

**MickChunky** · 09-29-09, 08:32 PM

Looks really interesting, added to Amazon wishlist

**Wrecktangle** · 09-30-09, 12:18 AM

...I need to talk to Santa it seems...

**waiverwire** · 10-01-09, 09:41 AM

Originally posted by Wrecktangle

Some of the best "handicapping" books come not from the handicappers but from the sabermetric types who love to deal in formulas. Handicappers don't share well anyway.

Any books of this sort that you can recommend for NFL football?

**arwar** · 10-03-09, 01:04 PM

I read it. It has good stuff in it. On the teasers and parlays that I play drop back if a leg is a push - from 3 to 2 team or whatever. All of his examples have a pushing resulting in no action on the total play. Also he uses absolute values rather than squares in some of the examples.

**InThisMoment** · 10-03-09, 04:29 PM

If you have an extra copy laying around I'd love to read it and can send you postage plus a fair price.

**MartinBlank** · 10-04-09, 08:07 PM

I just got this book!! And so far it has been exceptional. A genuine fun read.

**Peeig** · 10-04-09, 09:07 PM

Reading it now.....can't wait to try some of these methods in Excel......the author does have a ridiculous pic of him in a Mavs jersey that was really unnecessary....but funny.

**Justin7** · 10-05-09, 09:29 PM

FYI, I read it and posted a review of it here:

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1KJS7QLDAC2GB/ref=cm_pdp_rev_title_1?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview#R1BQH373TTEROW

An enjoyable read.

**LT Profits** · 10-06-09, 05:15 AM

Thanks Elihu.

**Wrecktangle** · 10-06-09, 10:32 PM

Originally posted by waiverwire

Any books of this sort that you can recommend for NFL football?

None that are in print anymore.

**20Four7** · 10-07-09, 02:53 AM

you can find out of print books via amazon as well. Depending on the book and condition you might pay way more than original price mind you.