Lay, back and think of WINNING.
Nigel Paul

A catchy title . . . "lay" and "back" being a clever reference to betting against (laying) or for (backing) something occuring, as opposed to remaining in your pit and using a mobile phone to make your selections for the day. The tag line is what caught my eye though - "Guaranteed Winning Systems for the Betting Exchange" (the "Guaranteed" bit was the bait!).

What's it all about? Basically it's a book about the joys and advantages of using betting exchanges to place your online bets, getting better prices and how by being clever as the prices move it's possible to put yourself in a win-win situation by both laying and backing an event - so regardless of the outcome you get back more than you bet out, or at the very least come out even. A simple way of making an income without ever having to get out of bed - literally - just make sure you have a plug point nearby to keep your laptop charged up.

It's a fairly easy read, although without doubt it would be useful to have an account with Betfair (or whoever) to refer to as you work your way through the chapters. There's some advice and summaries of how the author approaches things there, although I couldn't say how valid it is.

Over fifteen years since this title was published the list of online resources at the back of the book is now well obsolete, and of course the market in betting exchange services and offerings has matured greatly - some of the exchanges listed have simply disappeared into the ether, together with many of the broadband and internet services providers. Whatever happened to Telewest Communications (I do know as I was a customer over twenty years ago - they were taken over by NTL who were then taken over by Virgin; keep up!).

Overall Lay, back and think of WINNING is a sound intro to playing the exchanges as an alternative to traditional betting on this or betting on that, and worth the price of a pint that you can now pick it up for on Ebay. Reading it in conjunction with something more up to date would be best I think.

The author of Lay, back and think of WINNING, Nigel Paul, also has How to Use System Betting on the Exchanges to his name, which was published in Kindle format only in 2011. Allegedly it's simply the same material re-hashed (according to one of the two purchasers who have reviewed it at Amazon). I can't comment, so best make your own judgement if you have a care to check it out.

May 2021.