Review of Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting

Title:

Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting

Author:

Lem Banker and Frederick C. Klein

Publisher:

Gambler's Book Club

Date:

2005

ISBN:

--

Pages:

182

Price:

$29.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

October 16, 2005

There are a few out-of-print gambling books that are extremely hard to find on the used book market. Consequently, the few editions of these works that become available often command high prices. For many years one book in this category has been Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting, originally published in 1986. Because there is still considerable demand for this work, the Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas has now republished this classic in a spiral bound format.

The first thing to remember is Banker published his book almost twenty years ago. Many of the tools that successful sports bettors rely on today weren't around back then. In his book, Banker sees no utility in using a computer to assist his handicapping, the Internet was not available as a source for sports betting information, and one couldn't line shop dozens of online books from the comfort of one's own home. As the state of the industry has changed so dramatically since the book was originally written, the reader has to adjust what Banker says for today's market.

At the same time, many winning techniques remain the same. Banker is adamant that being a winning sports bettor is all about hard work. His research is meticulous, and he is tenacious about shopping for a line that he wants. These qualities have led him to winning year after winning year betting sports. Banker's successes have given him a legendary standing in the sports betting community.

While I greatly appreciate Banker's emphasis on his strong work ethic, the book feels weak because there's relatively little specific advice on how one turns this into winning bets. Moreover, the advice that the authors do impart, such as a general preference for underdogs, has been written in many other places. Banker deserves a lot of credit for writing this stuff long before his colleagues, but fundamental question is, should people spend thirty dollars on this twenty year old book?

There are some places where the book still shines even after all these years. Even though Banker's chapter on money management is short on data to support his claims, I believe his recommendations are among the best I've read in the sports betting literature. He also has some interesting ideas about professional basketball betting, although since his book has been so widely read by successful bettors and bookmakers, one has to wonder if his techniques will still work today.

Overall, though, there just isn't enough substance to Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting for me to recommend it anyone but the genre completist. There are enough other reasonably good books on the market that provide almost all the same information, but in a more complete, more up-to-date, and less costly package. Banker's book is justifiably a classic, but it doesn't quite hold up well enough for me to recommend it for more than historical interest.

Capsule:

Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting has long been considered to be a classic in the field. After a long absence, it is now available in print again through the Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas. While Banker has a lot of good things to say, most of them have been repeated in other books with a more contemporary view of the sports betting industry. Banker's recommendations are still worthwhile, but they are much less relevant now than they were when the book was originally written. At this point I believe that this classic is mostly of historical interest. Most interested sports bettors can probably get away with passing on this legendary book.