Handicapping the tob action

Making Book

Based on many factors, a little pseudo-science and a hunch or two, here's how we have handicapped the Fifth Annual Morning News Tournament of Books which pits the best books af last year in a bracketed and judged competition. Place your $20 bet and help us buy a truckload of new books for underprivileged kids.

Morning Line Odds To Win

Netherland 2/1
2666 3/1
The White Tiger 3/1
Unaccustomed Earth 7/2
A Mercy 9/2
The Northern Clemency 5/1
Home 6/1
Shadow Country 6/1
The Lazarus Project 8/1
My Revolutions 10/1
The Dart League King 17/1
Steer Towards Rock 20/1
City of Refuge 20/1
...History of Frankie Landau-Banks 20/1
Harry, Revised 30/1
A Partisan's Daughter 30/1

Bet $20 on Every Book: $320

Betting Window Open

Here's how it works. Place a $20 bet on one or more of the books in the Tournament here. We've listed our "Morning Line" odds to help you decide where to put your money.

At the conclusion on the 2009 Tournament of Books we'll choose ten people at random who have backed the winning book and send them each a huge prize package. Details on that to come, but don't worry it'll be worth it.

Aside from the fact that your book has to win (there is no Place or Show betting) maybe backing a favorite might not necessarily be your best bet. If only a few people are on a longshot and it wins they're each more likely to be the random prize winner. Of course there's no rule against laying down $20 on each novel and covering the field.

Making Book

Each bet costs $20 and all the money bet will go to First Book, "a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books." Last year we bought 5076 new books for kids and we want to smash that record this year.

Matching Sponsors

Field Notes Brand
37signals
Metafilter
Happy Cog Studios
Crush + Lovely
Gimmestock
Sifter

Sponsors agree to match up to $500 worth of wagers. Shouldn't your super-cool company be on this list? Write and she'll hook you up.

Track Record

By the way, our record is pretty good. We made last year's winner, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao the co-favorite and predicted the win for The Road in 2007 outright. In 2006 we had the winner, The Accidental, listed at 8/1. Here's a breakdown of all the books in the last three tournaments, how they finished and how we handicapped them.

BTW: The first step in getting a handle on your gambling problem is to confront it. Use this handy graphic to make your admission and link it back to this page.