Review of Betting the Line

Betting the Line by Richard O. Davies and Richard G. Abram is an academic look at the history of sports betting. Both authors were faculty members at the University of Reno when the book was published.

There are some interesting stories in the book, such as how the marriage between baseball and gambling came into play, the origins of the point spread, the government's crackdowns on sports betting, the shift from Minneapolis to Las Vegas as the sports betting capital of the world, Roxy and Jimmy the Greek, and quite a bit more.

There is plenty of solid information in here, as the authors did a great job with their research.

With the release of Betting the Line there was a well-documented history of sports betting for the first time, as opposed to the passing down of stories. To illustrate that point, one only needs to look at the chapter on point spreads to see the different variations people had on its origins and when it came into existence.

It basically boils down to what you're looking for regarding the history of sports betting. If you're looking for colorful tales of the wild characters that began the sports gambling revolution, this probably isn't the ideal book for you.

If you're interested in a well-researched, academic look at the history of sports betting, you can't go wrong with Betting the Line.