NFL Annual; Wong On Dice New Arrivals at GBC

7 July 2005

By Howard Schwartz

As the football season fast approaches, so do arrivals of new books for handicappers. Ed Meyer's NFL Annual (250 pages, 8x11 plastic spiralbound, $34.95) is the latest, along with Wong on Dice by Stanford Wong (190 pages, paperbound, $24.95), which directs its attention to the latest approach of pre-setting and the art of "skill shooting."

The NFL Annual, now in its 16th year of publication, is designed to teach the bettor how to recognize the "character" of each NFL team; be better able to analyze what happened the previous week and understand how it will impact this week's performance; to help understand the team's current emotional and physical status and to clearly evaluate what a team faces in its upcoming game.

Meyer shows the reader how he did in 2004 based on the information he provided. He presents a selection of systems with an explanation (a rational or rationale for each). For many, Meyer's reasoning will make sense. For others, his approach must be integrated with other factors more carefully beyond past performance.

For each team, there are six pages. Three years of spreads and totals; including quarter scores; the pre-season and regular season schedules are included with room to keep records; this is followed by about 80 against the spread (ATS) trends in past performance, with about half devoted to totals wagering.

There are six years of how a team performed in six dozen different situations with statistical highlight averages. You can see for example, with Kansas City, the year they were 13-3 straight up and 10-6 against the spread (2003). That year KC quarterbacks completed 63.2 percent of their passes and were 12-4 with six-point teasers and averaged 2.3 takeaways per game.

For those who have the time and discipline to prepare for the 2005 season while time exists, this is the perfect guide to take notes, plan ahead.

Stanford Wong, author of Sharp Sports Betting; Professional Blackjack and Casino Tournament Strategy, is well known for his timely, accurate and groundbreaking books. Here, he delves, explores and illuminates the latest craze for crapshooters -- pre-setting dice -- controlling them and delivering them in such a way that certain numbers do or do not show up as often as probability dictates they should.

The book does not neglect the beginner. It explains the basics, the different bets, the house edge; the table layout.

Controlling dice requires skill, practice, camouflage, patience, deception. Wong teaches you what he's learned and then some. You can also expect some mental and physical fatigue.

This is a fascinating book. The people Wong met, those who influenced him, what he believed and now believes all make for good reading.

The section on the casino reaction to dice setters and how Wong learned dice control are some of the best. Wong as usual, writes short, compactly and cleanly. His style is highly readable.

He references concepts and material from books written by "Yuri," Frank Scoblete and Sharpshooter. He has absorbed, synthesized and reorganized some of the most important material and presents it in a highly understandable manner. It's well-priced and well-presented.