Betting in the blood book review 4: A bloody good winner by Dave Nevison

This book is a very, very good read, for the two simplest of reasons: Firstly the book is easy to understand and follow (I'm not a horse racing follower, but there was never any point in the book where I was left confused in the systems and wandering what the hell Dave was talking about) and secondly Mr Nevision is a self confessed action junkie, a trait that all gamblers will recognise.

The book starts with the usual boyhood history of betting before he was allowed, and frittering away most of it with little success. A session in the City followed where he obtained a good job trading currencies, although he continued to follow the gee gees intensely. Throughout the book, Dave employs a "work hard - play hard" approach to things, and certainly likes to have a few drinks after meetings.

Then comes the decision to leave the comfort of the City to make a living from betting on horses on a full time basis, travelling by train to one meeting a day. To begin with he just goes with his Timeform analysis, but quickly finds that making his own prices, and then comparing them with the bookies, is where the real value lies. Unfortunately, Dave can't just pick one or two horses a day, he has to have action in nearly every race he watches, and has several gut wrenching "chasing" disasters, which all gamblers will be able to relate to.

One of the best aspects of the book is Dave's brutal honesty (which I think is essential when it comes to this genre of reading, there's just no realism to people who just constantly win all the time) when it comes to how he's done over the years. Although as he became more successful, he found it harder and harder to get his bets down. Therefore he uses a number of associates to put his bets on, and his associate looks after all the accounting (very trusting really).

The Betfair revolution sadly didn't work out for him (which I found surprising). Instead of doing the work on the train on the way to meetings, he became lazy and didn't put the work in that was needed. One aspect of Betfair which I found very true, is the way Betfair layers are completely insensitive when dealing with long shots on most horse races. It's very true that you'll see a horse that may win with a SP of around 33/1, where on Betfair it'll have been matched at over 100/1.

There has been a bit of criticism within racing circles of Dave's harsh treatment of certain jockeys and trainers, although I think it comes across, not as bitterness, but as rounded and well argued. As punters, there's nothing worse than feeling that a certain jockey could have ridden a ride more aggressively. Although he really does stick the knife into certain towns and cities he has the misfortune to stay in.

I think the biggest compliment I can pay to this book is that, one the back of what I read, I've actually starting buying the Racing and Football Outlook every week just to read Dave's column. He's just as honest there

My rating: 91%