Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back (2nd Edition)

Where to buy

The book is available on Amazon Kindle. Here a few of the links:

USA: From Amazon.com: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
UK: From Amazon.co.uk: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Germany: From Amazon.de: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
France: From Amazon.fr: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Spain: From Amazon.es: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Italy: From Amazon.it: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Japan: From Amazon.co.jp: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Brazil: From Amazon.com.br: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Canada: From Amazon.ca: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
India: From Amazon.in: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Australia: From Amazon.com.au: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Mexico: From Amazon.com.mx: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)
Netherlands: From Amazon.nl: (Basic Betting: The Micro Bytes Back)

Preface

I wrote the first edition of this book in 1993. That edition was a self-published, spiral bound book that was distributed by word of mouth. Technology has moved on a lot since then and the book can now be offered in electronic form. Having a web site (you are here!) that supports the book is another benefit that technology offers. The computer programs that were distributed on a 3.5" floppy disc can now be made available via the Internet.

The main elements of the book remain the same. I describe why bookmakers and casinos always win, and why this is the case. Next I present some betting systems, focusing on roulette, horse racing and football. I provide computer programs so that you can run them for yourself. The systems/programs that I present are the same that were presented in the first edition.

The programs are written in GW-BASIC. This was the predominant language back in 1993 and it is still possible to run these programs today. Although GW-BASIC is not supplied as a matter of course now, there is an excellent emulator available and I have found that it runs the programs perfectly. How to download and use the emulator is detailed on the web site, describing the process for both PCs and Macs.

The book comprises 13 chapters, following the same structure as the first edition. The first two chapters explain why bookmakers (and casinos) win. Chapters 3 to 8 present roulette systems. Chapters 9 to 11 considers football (in the UK sense), presenting three systems that we could use to predict the outcome of matches. In chapters 12 and 13 I consider horse racing. Chapters 3-13 comes with a computer program that you can run to see how good (or bad) the system is.

Some of the systems that are presented benefit from having a computer program to test it. This is especially true of the roulette systems where it is useful having a computer program simulate a roulette wheel and make, perhaps, thousands of spins. Other systems demonstrate that technology has moved on a little. Chapters 9 and 10, for example, could easily be tested using the basic functionality that is now available on a spreadsheet and if I was to implement these systems today, I would certainly use that tool rather than developing a bespoke program.

The book also has a theme that runs through it that talks about the problems of data entry, data security and the problems we may have it trying to fit all of the data on a 3.5" floppy disc drive. These issues are no longer of concern today. Any data you require can be downloaded, either freely or through a suitable subscription. The ability to store high volumes of data is unlikely to be a concern and how do you back it up is probably covered through automated backups and/or utilizing cloud technology. I have largely left these discussions in place just to show how technology has moved on and also to provide some historical perspective.

It should be noted that I am presenting the systems for testing. I am not suggesting that the systems will make you money. Indeed, some of them will definitely lose money, which we know before even running the system. If this were not the case then bookmakers and casinos would be out of business. Your task is to decide whether any of the systems have any potential and then, perhaps, develop the ideas further into something that you are happy to test out in the real world.

These pages, which support the book, show how you can run a GWBASIC emulator running on a modern computer, which is what you need to run the programs provided in the book (they can be downloaded from here). The web pages also enable you to download the programs, and associated data files, so that you do not have to key them in. I have not listed the programs as part of the book as it seemed a waste of space when they are easily accessible via the book's web site.

In the final section, the book is concluded, and I have included a recommended reading list. This is a collection of titles that I have found useful in compiling this book, as well as books I have read which has increased my knowledge of gambling.

It is not necessary to read the book from beginning to end. If you already understand how the gambling industry works you can skip over the opening chapters. Each chapter largely stands alone, if you are just interested in one particular system.

It would be remiss of me not to say that the gambling industry exists to make money. Somebody must lose. If the loser turns out to be you, make sure that the money you lose is money you can afford.

DO NOT BET WITH MONEY THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO LOSE.

Finally, I hope that the systems in this book enable you to eventually profit from gambling. However, the author cannot accept any responsibility for any losses that might occur as a result of using the ideas in this book.

Good luck, and please let me know what you think.

Graham Kendall

September 2016

Support

To set up the environment to run the programs listed below, please see the GWBASIC Emulator page.

Once you have installed the emulator, you need to be able to run the GWBASIC programs. You can see how to do on this page.

Programs

These are programs discussed in the book.

Data

These are the data files discussed in the book.

Installing GWBASIC Emulator

There is a GWBASIC emulator available for PC's and Macs. The details how to get this running (from a PC perspective) is available here. If you want to run the programs on a Mac, the process is similar but if you are struggling to get it working, drop me a note and I'll update the web page to include Macs as well.