By Garry Robinson

At the casino you can play dice. The odds against rolling a total of seven with a pair of dice is 5/1.

Powerball is consistently the biggest paying lotto game in Australia. The chance of winning Powerball is 1 in about 55 million.

Ozlotto and Tattslotto is much easier. You have one winning chance in 8 million.

For regular lotto the chance of winning the major prize is one in 7 million.

The easiest to win is 6 from 38 Pools with one chance in 2.7 million.

A $2 lottery ticket has one chance in 180,000, and a $5 ticket one in 140,000.

Yes why risk Racing? The cost of standing out the first and second favourites with the field in the 1999 Melbourne Cup was $1012. The return was $30,000, that’s one good reason.

In a 10 horse race the chance of picking the winner with a pin is one in ten. Backing the favourite , you increase your winning chance to better than 3 in 10.

The chances of making money at Racing are clearly better, and the more knowledgeable you are the more likely that you will win. It makes sense , therefore to look at as many Racing books as you can to learn the facts.

One new book that was recently released is Roger Biggs’ Thoroughbred Handicapping Tables. This is a book that not only contains a lot of interesting information, but also sets it out in a way that is usable.

The main things which affect a horses chances are, barrier position, state of the track, recent placings, fitness , weight change, and beaten distance.

All these factors and more are covered in Thoroughbred Handicapping Tables. A glance at the charts will quickly tell you whether or not your selection is a valid one. We can recommend Roger Bigg’s new book Thoroughbred Handicapping Tables and have admitted the new book to our Winform Bookshop.