A Post About My New Book, an Ad, and a Bonus

The Bonus is at the bottom of this post, or just go here:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mexinger

Yes, I wrote another eBook.  About horse racing.  What?  A book about Horse Racing?  Aren’t there like about 500 of them? 

Yes there are, but only four of those 500 deal with horse racing online.  No, really.  I looked it up.  And frankly, I didn’t think much of any of those four.  Nor did anyone who bought one, apparently.

The fact is, horse racing is going through a bit of a revival – thanks to American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown AND Breeder’s Cup winner ever.  Well, there’s more to it than just that…and in my opinion, we have the Internet to thank for it.  There are several online sites that act as your personal bookie, giving you a box seat on tracks all across the country, and around the world as well.

Setting up an account with these sites, known as ADW sites (Advance Deposit Wagering) is easy.  Learning to use the betting pad is easy, too.  Handicapping the race to bet a winner…yeah, that’s a little tougher.  But it can be done, and I’ll show you how.

Granted, I scratch the surface here.  There are tons of books about handicapping, about speed, pace, class, angles, form and consistency and finding longshots and frankly, everyone has their own theories.  Some work.  Some don’t.  That’s what makes this game so damn much fun (and profitable sometimes).  It’s a little like poker, in that it’s easy to learn and difficult to master.

Unlike poker, doing it online is legal in most of the country.

You might not know, but I cut my teeth in the gambling world at the track.  I’ve been following racing since I was 10 or 11.  My Dad used to take me to the harness tracks in Michigan on the nights when Mom didn’t want to go with him, or we couldn’t get a babysitter for my brother.  Did I know what I was doing back then?  Actually, a little bit – I was always good at math, and so I found it a challenge to look at the past performances and try to figure out which horse was the fastest of the bunch, and I was amazed that if you were right, they’d give you money!  Of course, I couldn’t legally bet, but after I started repeatedly saying, “I had that one…I had THAT one, too,” my Dad took a bit more interest in my handicapping prowess.  For a while, anyway, and then he went back to his old routine and I found girls more exciting than horses and drifted away from racing for years.

I got back into it in the 80s when we moved to Idaho, and there was a track at the fairgrounds, just about a mile from our first house there.  It wasn’t long before I discovered thoroughbreds and quarter horses and the joy of handicapping.  And winning.

In the 90s I created a database program to do some fairly sophisticated analyses of races, based on speed figures and trend lines (trying to calculate who would run better than their last race, and who would falter).  It sold pretty well, even better with the upgrade that allowed you to download information via the Internet rather than enter it by hand.  Alas, it was based on a DOS system and when Windows 2000 was released…well, that was the end of Mike’s Handi-Man.

And when we bought the ice cream parlor, racing (and spare time) went on the back burner.   When I did get a little extra free time, I got involved with the online poker boom.  Then came Black Friday.  Throughout all of this I kept my horse racing account active, but I didn’t do much with it until I got tired of waiting for poker to be “legal and regulated.”  I even started programming a new version of Mike’s Handi-Man in MS Access (still not as good as the old one, sadly…but it does pick ‘em pretty darn good).

Then last year, American Pharoah and the launch of the revolutionary DerbyJackpot made me all excited for horse racing again.  I also realized that, like poker, horse racing was trying to get new fans involved using the Internet.  Like other types of gambling, people WANT to get involved, but they’re afraid to try if they don’t know what’s going on.

Hence, the need for a beginner’s guide to online horse racing. 

And since my ABC’s of _____ series (craps and blackjack) has been “fairly successful” (by my standards), a horse racing book of the same nature was inevitable.  If you’ve considering getting into “horse futures” as I call it, it’s a nice, simple, straightforward introduction to the sport and to handicapping.  My hope is that it gives you a taste, saves you a few lost quid, and and “whets your appetite” for more. 

That’s what all those other books are for.

OK, now here’s the advertisement.  And the bonus!

If you’re like me, you’re tired of waiting for online poker to be legal everywhere again.  But there IS a sport where you can wager legally online, and, it’s a skill-based sport, too.  Horse racing.  Yup, you can watch, wager, and win with the nags online – and I’m here to help you do it.

My new eBook (number five if you’re counting at home), is The ABC’s of Online Horse Racing:  Watch – Wager – Win!

This book is geared to the beginning horseplayer (or someone who wants to be), and is a very easy-reading guide, complete with illustrations and examples.  And it’s cheap, too – just $3.99.  Available in seemingly every eBook format known to man, at iBooks (Apple), Google Play, Kindle (Amazon), Nook (Barnes and Noble), Smashwords, and others.

But wait…for the next few weeks, you can take 30% off!  And, should you be so inclined (and need extra gifts for special someones…or yourself), you can take 20% off any of my other eBooks.

Go here: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mexinger

Use the specific coupon code shown below for each book, and thanks!

The ABC’s of Online Horse Racing – was $3.99, now $2.79 – Use code BB22W

Also:
The ABC’s of Craps – was $3.99, now $3.19 – Use code HE85J

The ABC’s of 21– was $2.99, now $2.39 – Use code XF67M

Be The King! (of Small-Stakes Tournaments) – was $6.99, now $5.59 – Use code NQ65Z

Let the Chips Fall: A Collection of Short Stories About Gambling – was $2.99, now $2.39 – Use code CX87K

Hurry, this offer ends March 11 (when I go back to my real job at the ice cream parlor).