The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time

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The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The first thing I wanted to know was how to learn how to count cards, too. He referred me to The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book by Lance Humble.

  • Cashing in on Blackjack Gold
  • The Game of Blackjack
  • Choosing a Place to Play
  • Dealing with the Dealer
  • How to Play Smart (Without a System)
  • Having Fun on Vacation: Basic Strategy
  • Winning in Occasional Casino Play: Hi-Opt I Card Counting
  • Professional Casino Play: Hi-Opt I Play Strategy
  • Blackjack Outside the Casino
  • Ten Tips for Hi-Opt I Players
  • Playing Courtesy of the Casino
  • Staying Ahead of the Game


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each)


Best Gambling Books


I’d have a hard time listing all the gambling books I’ve ever read.


As a professional gambling writer who’s been in the business for almost 20 years, I’ve read countless books on the subject.


I don’t have a hard time drawing a conclusion, though.


Most gambling books stink.


They’ll waste your time with inaccurate information.


They’ll waste your time with strategies that don’t work.


They’ll waste your time with silly anecdotes that don’t apply to any current reality.


But some gambling books stand apart from the others. They offer accurate information, practical and effective strategies, and anecdotes that illustrate points which will help you achieve your gambling goals – no matter what those may be.


Below, I’ve listed the ten best gambling books I’ve ever read.


I’ve included brief reviews of each, along with their tables of contents. I feel like the table of contents gives you a sample of what you can expect from reading the book that a simple review can’t match.


1 – Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong


I can think of no better book about betting on sports than Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong. In fact, no other book on the subject even comes close.


Most sports betting books are awful.


Sharp Sports Betting is excellent.


The reasons for this might not be immediately obvious, but here’s the first thing that comes to mind: most books about sports betting are easy to read. They sacrifice usefulness and accuracy for readability.


Wong’s book, on the other hand, is a tough read.


Some of these concepts are complicated and/or unfamiliar.


Reading Sharp Sports Betting requires effort and commitment.


But if you offer that book the effort and commitment required, the book will reward you with knowledge of how to win at sports betting that you won’t easily find elsewhere. This might mean taking some notes and doing some re-reading.


Here’s a list of the chapters.



  • How to Place Bets

  • Money Management

  • Betting Sports on the Internet

  • Basic Math of Straight Bets

  • Handicapping

  • Fan Money

  • Testing W-L Records for Significance

  • Parlays

  • Poisson Props

  • Season Wins

  • March Madness O/U Props

  • NFL Home-Field Advantage

  • NFL Results Against the Spread

  • NFL Money Line vs. Spread

  • NFL Totals

  • NFL Teasers

  • Facing the Super Bowl Champion



Sharp Sports Betting also offers appendices, glossaries, and tables of data.


It’s the only book about sports betting I know of that can actually help you gamble on sports with a positive expectation.


2 – Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways by Andrew Brisman


The first detailed book about casino gambling I ever read was Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways by Andrew Brisman.


It’s still the best book on the subject I’ve ever read.


But since it was published in 2004, Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways is dated in some places. In particular, it provides more information about some games that aren’t really offered that much in most casinos.


Let It Ride might be the best example. The game just isn’t popular enough to warrant an entire chapter, although I’m sure in 2004, it was.


Also, a number of similar house-banked card games based on poker have been rolled out into the casinos over the last 14 years. Obviously, these games are too new to have received coverage in this book.


The sections on probability and how casino gambling works are still the clearest explanations of those subjects I’ve read.


I’ve referred to this book repeatedly throughout my career as a gambling writer. It’s still my favorite reference most of the time.


Here’s a list of the chapters.



  • Welcome to the Casino

  • Becoming a Smart Player – Part I

  • Blackjack

  • Slot Machines

  • Video Poker

  • Craps

  • Baccarat

  • Roulette

  • Caribbean Stud Poker

  • Let It Ride

  • Pai Gow Poker

  • Poker

  • Sports Betting

  • Keno

  • Other Casino Games

  • Becoming a Smart Player – Part II



If you don’t already know, Mensa is an organization of people with genius-level IQs. That’s the overall theme of the book, too – gambling like you’re a genius.


Unfortunately, with most casino games, there’s no way to gamble like a genius. You can make all the best bets with the lowest house edge in the casino, but you’ll still lose all your money eventually.


The only way to overcome the house edge is with some kind of advantage strategy.


Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways is not really a guide to advantage gambling, although it does touch on the subject.


It’s out of print now, but you can find used copies cheap on Amazon and/or eBay.


3 – American Casino Guide by Steve Bourie


If you’re looking for a book that’s updated annually with the latest travel information related to casino gambling, American Casino Guide by Steve Bourie is the book to look for.


The author has four decades of gambling industry experience, and he’s recorded a series of incredibly popular YouTube videos about how to gamble. Besides his annually updated travel guide, Bourie occasionally writes features for various gambling, travel, and personal finance magazines about casinos and gambling.


Bourie is not the sole author of American Casino Guide. Contributing writers include experts like Anthony Curtis, Bob Dancer, John Grochowski, Max Rubin, and Jean Scott.


The editions change based on the changes in the casino industry throughout the United States each year, but you can expect detailed chapters covering the following subjects in any edition of American Casino Guide.



  • Best Casino Bets

  • Casino Comps

  • Slot Clubs

  • Casino Coupons

  • Casino Tournaments

  • Slot Machines

  • Slot Tournaments

  • Video Poker

  • Blackjack

  • Craps

  • Roulette

  • Baccarat

  • Poker



Also, each state with a “casino scene” is given an entire chapter.


These states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.


American Casino Guide is also one of the thickest tomes on this list, clocking in at almost 500 pages.


4 – The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book by Lance Humble


In a former life, I had a job as a middle manager in corporate America. One day, I had an interesting conversation about counting cards with the company’s attorney.


The first thing I wanted to know was how to learn how to count cards, too. He referred me to The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book by Lance Humble.


It’s still my favorite book on the subject. Humble’s an interesting author because he’s clearly from another generation.


His writing style reminds me of an old-school Frank Scoblete, only Lance Humble seems to understand gambling and advantage play more clearly than Scoblete does.


This book is dated in the extreme, but it’s also entertaining as all get-out.


The strategy advice isn’t dated, but the sections on game conditions can be safely ignored.


You can also ignore most of what Humble has to say about cheating in the casinos. It might have been a bigger problem when he was writing this book.


I LOVED the sections where he was sharing anecdotes about Lawrence Revere, another earlier blackjack card counter and notorious character. That was probably the most entertaining part of the book.


Here’s the table of contents.



  • Cashing in on Blackjack Gold

  • The Game of Blackjack

  • Choosing a Place to Play

  • Dealing with the Dealer

  • How to Play Smart (Without a System)

  • Having Fun on Vacation: Basic Strategy

  • Winning in Occasional Casino Play: Hi-Opt I Card Counting

  • Professional Casino Play: Hi-Opt I Play Strategy

  • Blackjack Outside the Casino

  • Ten Tips for Hi-Opt I Players

  • Playing Courtesy of the Casino

  • Staying Ahead of the Game



The book also features a glossary and multiple basic strategy charts in the appendices.


You might be able to find a better book about card counting, but this one’s at the top of my list.


5 – The Theory of Poker: A Professional Poker Player Teaches You How to Think Like One by David Sklansky


I don’t know any serious poker player who suggests any book besides The Theory of Poker when asked about essential strategy guides.


It’s safe to say that you could master everything in The Theory of Poker and never really need any other poker strategy book. You could figure everything else out you need for any poker variation by getting a complete grasp of the concepts in this book.


One of the virtues of Sklansky’s writing style is clarity.


The most important concept I learned from The Theory of Poker was the semi-bluff.


When you’re bluffing, you have a hand that’s dominated, but you’re hoping your opponent will fold.


With a semi-bluff, you have a hand that’s probably not the best hand, but it has potential to improve to a better hand.


You win if your opponents fold, but you also win if they call, and you hit your hand.


This makes a semi-bluff more profitable than a naked bluff.


I was completely unfamiliar with this concept before I read The Theory of Poker.


That might not be the most valuable topic inside the book; it was just the most valuable thing that I learned from it.


Here’s the table of contents.



  • Beyond Beginning Poker

  • Expectation and Hourly Rate

  • The Fundamental Theorem of Poker

  • The Ante Structure

  • Pot Odds

  • Effective Odds

  • Implied Odds and Reverse Implied Odds

  • The Value of Deception

  • Win the Big Pots Right Away

  • The Free Card

  • The Semi-Bluff

  • Defense Against the Semi-Bluff

  • Raising

  • Check-Raising

  • Slowplaying

  • Loose and Tight Play

  • Position

  • Bluffing

  • Game Theory and Bluffing

  • Inducing and Stopping Bluffs

  • Heads-Up on the End

  • Reading Hands

  • The Psychology of Poker

  • Analysis at the Table

  • Evaluating the Game



The book also includes appendices with the rules for various poker games (5-card draw, 7-card stud, Texas hold’em, 5-card stud, draw lowball, razz, and high-low split) and a glossary of poker terms.


6 – The Frugal Gambler by Jean Scott


Most people spend little time thinking about how to become a successful low roller at the casinos. After all, it’s the high rollers that get all the perks, right?


The Frugal Gambler is all about how Jean Scott uses her frugal approach to getting maximum value from her gambling activities in Las Vegas.


You can think of The Frugal Gambler as a modern, practical version of Max Rubin’s Comp City (which is also worth reading, by the way).


Scott focuses largely on combining video poker with the best pay tables and comps programs to get a small mathematical edge over the casino.


But she also provides information about other casino games and how to use the same approach with those games – even if that approach works better with video poker.


It’s as good a resource for anyone interested in coupons and comps in Las Vegas as anyone could ask for.


One of the best tips in the book involves intentionally getting bumped from flights so that you can get credit toward future travel. I’ve done this in the past, and it works.


Here’s the table of contents.



  • Introduction – from Uncle Wiggley to Deuces Wild

  • Raining on the Casino’s Parade

  • Great Expectations – A Reality Check

  • Slot Machines – Handle with Care

  • Video Poker – The Meat and Potatoes

  • Slot Clubs – Join or Else

  • Comps – Your Just Desserts

  • Promotions – Casino Gravy

  • The Bump – Airline Comps

  • Long Term in Las Vegas – or Having a Life

  • Pyramid Power

  • Ethics and Gambling – Strange Bedfellows

  • Breaking Even is a Terrific Thing



7 – The Man with the $100,000 Breasts and Other Gambling Stories by Michael Konik


Unlike most of the books on this list, The Man with the $100,000 Breasts and Other Gambling Stories isn’t a how-to book.


It’s a book of anecdotes and stories about gamblers.


You might be able to learn something from these stories that you can apply to your own gambling career, but you might not.


That’s okay – because this book is more entertaining than almost any other volume recommended in this post.


And you’re bound to be curious about the title.


It refers to a gambler who took a $100,000 prop bet involving getting breast implants and living with them for a year.


I’ll let you read the book for more details on that story.


Here’s the table of contents – this book is organized into sections



  • Introduction

  • The Man with the $100,000 Breasts




10 Best Casino Books of All Time


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


Both amateur and professional gamblers are familiar with the books offering useful advice and winning strategies. If you visit a casino on a regular basis, you could spend some time reading about the potential ways of winning money and improving your strategies. In addition to the online reviews of casinos such as the review of Foxy Bingo, books motivate a gambler to think differently and to focus their thoughts on winning.


American Casino Guide 2018 Edition


This is a guidebook written by Steve Bourie. Since it is published annually, it is never outdated. It offers the description of more than 750 casinos in 40 countries all over the world. The book includes maps, information about the accommodation, prices, and tips for every casino game. It can be described as a travel guide for casino visitors. However, if you plan to spend time gambling online and not visiting a real-life casino, then this book is not useful for you.


Gambling 102: The Best Strategies for All Casino Games


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


If you are an amateur gambler, you will find this book very helpful. The author, Michael Shackleford, presupposes that you are familiar with the rules of the casino games, so he does not waste your time presenting them to you. He gives you the practical instructions on how to increase the odds of winning in different casino games.


Beating the Casinos at Their Own Game


This book is written by Peter Svoboda. It will be useful especially for beginners. The book has a really interesting design, too. All the pages are in full color and the nice illustrations are contained in it. It gives you all of the details about every casino game. If you are interested in learning all of the basics about the rules and strategies for winning money, this book is a really nice investment.
The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book


This book really stands out from other books about the blackjack. The author, Lance Humble, wrote it to be pleasurable and readable. He included the anecdotes from the casino, which are really entertaining. He tries to give you the tips and tricks on how to prevent being deceived by a casino by presenting different strategies on how to successfully play the game of blackjack.


The Ten Best Gambling Books I’ve Ever Read (With Reviews of Each), 10 Best Casino Books of All Time


Doyle Brunson’s Super System by Doyle Brunson


Doyle Brunson’s book is among the first books about poker. He wrote it primarily for the professional poker players. His book can by no means be taken for granted since Doyle Brunson is the winner at the World Series of Poker tournament. He gives a lot of the detailed explanations about different poker games and he tells that you have to be actively involved in the game if you hope to win, and not only rely on fortune.


Burning The Tables in Las Vegas


This book is a sequel to Turning the Tables on Las Vegas, written by Ian Andersen. This book is a presentation of his own multi-year research on how to win money. He believes that winning the games such as blackjack or poker, you have to rely on mathematical and psychological principles. Andersen talks about how emotions and skills affect your gameplay and how to control them to increase your winning chances.



Best gambling books all time


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The 17 Best Gambling Books Money Can Buy in 2020


Like gambling movies, gambling books are a great source of inspiration to discover betting systems and find new ways to play casino games.


You might not find many gambling books at the most important international book awards or in the list of the books of the month, but it's undeniable that the world of Slot machine games, horse racing, and real money Casino gambling have always set the scene for exciting stories.


Whether it's a novel that takes place in the most secret rooms of the Casino de Paris in Montecarlo or the true story of how Fyodor Dostoyevsky lost his fortune in Baden Baden — gambling is always the perfect subject for an excellent literary work.


Check out all the best Casino games pro gamblers love and play from desktop, Android, and iOS.


Start your journey from zero-to-hero with a bonus!


Advanced players know all too well that there isn't any super system to win at Casino gambling every time you play.


The only way to do well and potentially get more chances is to learn everything there is to know about the basic strategies and the betting systems of all the games you play.


The only way to make that happen is to use the best books on gambling.


The 17 gambling books you see on this list are a mix of fictional stories and strategy books.


They have been chosen by our editorial team to help you become the type of player you always wanted to be.


In this article:


Check out the description of all the best gambling books money can buy, order them online, and remember to use what you learn on them in combination with the free Casino strategy articles you find on CasinoSmash.com.


These 17 gambling books include the best guide to gambling ever written.


If you plan to find better ways to play casino games, you need to take this list of gambling books seriously.


Be consistent. Don’t be afraid to go back to the early chapters whenever you need to and get ready to see your bankroll raise to new heights. These these excellent books on gambling contain all the knowledge you need to become a smarter player!


Scarne’s Complete Guide to Gambling


John Scarne (pronounced 'Scarney') is one of the most famous heroes in the history of gambling - and being the pro that he was, he wrote an excellent book on the subject.


Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling is an excellent book for beginners who are looking for a guide to online and live Casino gambling.


This gambling book has it all, including the history and the rules of all the most popular casino games, some gambling math, and even some tips to cheat. Which you are supposed to know but never use, of course.


It is a sort of an encyclopedia that any avid gambler would love to have. Also, the many anecdotal accounts of real and fictional events included in this gambling book make it a fun and easy read, too.


Beating the Casinos at Their Own Game


This book isn't just a great source of in-depth knowledge of all things gambling, it also looks cool. The glossy pages and the ample and the colourful illustrations are what readers first notice when they get their hands on a copy of Beating the Casinos at Their Own Game, making it the ideal gambling book to give as a present.


Svoboda’s book about gambling is the kind of text that was openly written for amateurs, and as such, it takes its sweet time to explain all the basics of every game.


If you are looking for a starting point, for a gambling book that explains in simple words how to play Casino games, this book comes handy and covers all the most important aspects of table and card games.


The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King


The game of Poker is one of the most exciting ones you can play at a Casino. and read in a book. ]The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King by Michael Craig is a window on the exciting world of high stakes Poker and the characters that play at the nosebleeds.


The book is set in the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and follows the unfolding of events around the highest stake poker game ever played.


As you progress through the story, you will get to know some of the best professional Poker players who have ever set foot in Vegas Casinos, including American real estate and banking guru Andrew Beal. The characters, the intrigues, and the huge bankrolls make this one of the best gambling novels on the market.


If you have ever wondered what goes through the mind of a high stakes gambler, you need this book in your library.


Roll The Bones


The stories on this book come right from the first-hand experience of David G. Schwartz, the director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada.


While you might not want to base any of your next betting strategies on the stories you find on Roll the Bones, Schwartz did a truly excellent work to reconstruct the origins and history of all the most popular gambling and card games.


And it doesn't stop there. Schwartz takes time also to narrate the stories of some of the most famous gamblers in history like that of France’s writer Voltaire, who in the 18th century reportedly figured out a trick to win a lottery and took home a 9 million franc prize.


Another remarkable story is that of Russia's Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the world-famous writer who bankrupted himself at the in-house casino of the German resort town Baden-Baden.


Lay The Favorite


With Lay the Favorite, the author brings us on a journey to discover the underworlds of sports betting and gambling.


As you can imagine, this isn't a lighthearted story on the social aspects of sports betting but rather a way to understand how fraud and crime still dominate the darker corners of the gambling industry.


Lay the Favorite by Beth Raymer is a semi-fictional book with most stories coming from the author's first-hand experience as Raymer worked four years as a bookie before writing these pages.


This is a favourite sports betting book in the gambling community and also a useful one to understand how things balance out when there is a professional who knows how to beat the house. If you bet on sports, you should consider giving it a good read.


Read our ultimate guide to betting on eSports online to get all the tips you need to become a true expert in no time!


The Biggest Game in Town


With The Biggest Game in Town, renowned poet and literary critic Al Alvarez takes us on a first-class trip into the gambling world.


The stories in this vivid depiction of the Las Vegas Casinos wind around over-ambitious players who are ready to bet suitcases full of cash on a single roll of the dice, serial losers who never learn from their mistakes, and dreamers who keep chasing luck.


The Smart Money


How the World’s Best Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions


Now that the US sports betting market is (finally) starting to re-open, The Smart Money is a great book to get into the works of sports betting operations in the United States.


Being Michael Konik a professional journalist, it doesn’t come as a surprise that his book on sports betting uses tasteful writing to delve into the author’s own story of making millions wagering on sports and beating the bookies.


The book explains how the author's life changed the moment he met Rick Mathew, a man known as the best sports bettor in the world. The string of events that take place leads him to join the The Brain Trust, a big money gambling group where everything is possible and limits exist only to be broken.


The Smart Money offers a new take on high-stakes sports betting and also some useful do's and don’ts to consider every time you bet on sports.


Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner


How could a list of gambling books ever be complete without at least one recommended read about video Poker?


Bob Dancer is a world-famous video Poker master with proven results at video Poker machines around the world. In his book on gambling, Dancer pens down all the most successful strategies he used over the years to beat the house and make a living out of gambling.


This gambling book unveils and explains all the most effective techniques to find the games with the highest returns and to implement computer-perfect strategies that yield maximum profits.


Get ready to ask yourself “are we humans, or are we Dancers” the next time you’ll play video Poker after you read this book (I know, it's a terrible joke).


Gambling 102


The Best Strategies for All Casino Games


By Mike Shackleford
The author of this gambling book attempts (successfully) to share strategies to be better at all Casino games.


Gambling 102 is a 19-chapter book on gambling that the author claims to be the result of the experiences he gathered playing at Casinos for an entire year, combined with mathematical calculations and computer modelling.


Gambling is an activity that some think relies on chance while others believe it relies on math. If you are among those who believe in the power of calculations and you are not afraid of numbers, you'll love Shackelford's gambling theories.


Gamblers Fight Back


A Professional Gambler’s Journey on How to Survive and Thrive in the Casino


This book on gambling is dedicated to all those times you found yourself dreaming of life as a professional gambler. After reading the true story of a player who gave everything up to embrace gambling as a profession, the author Greg Elder decided it was time to do the same and see what would happen to him.


The result is an epic journey in the gambling world that makes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas look like a Disney movie. In Gamblers Fight Back tells the story of how he went 'from zero to hero' and managed to become a pro gambler is just 12 months of 'practising.'


This is the kind of gambling book you need to really understand how it is to wake up every morning and have your destiny depends on your results at the table.


The Frugal Gambler


Before The Frugal Gambler went to print, the name of Jean Scott, a retired teacher born in 1938, was known to only a handful of pro Casino players who got used to seeing her around the Casinos in Vegas.


After the release of her book, however, everything changed to the point she earned the nickname of 'Gambling Grandma' and became a true hero for many casual players from all around the world.


In her book about gambling, Scott reveals all the best ways for a low roller to get the most from what the Casinos have to offer. Scott boasts a vast knowledge of the Poker tables around the world, having enjoyed enormous success during her time, and she's not shy to share anecdotes and precious pieces of advice to gamble on a budget.


Burning the Tables in Las Vegas


Keys to Success in Blackjack and in Life


This is the long overdue sequel to Ian Andersen’s first editorial success "Turning the Tables on Las Vegas", and it came out right when the author seemed to have gone out of the radar.


In his second work, the author demonstrates how well he has perfected his strategy to win at blackjack and how everyone can use his findings to get better results at the table.


His hands-on approach to playing Blackjack at the Casino explores the importance of math in Blackjack, the psychological intricacies of the game, and the physical well-being that one needs to emerge as a long-term winner.


Comped


Comped is all about the life of Richie V., a player who enjoys a short but luxurious life in Atlantic City.


The book brings you a fascinating gambling story with all the elements you would expect from a book about someone who spends more time at the Casino than at home. It's exciting, it's full of thrilling adventures, and it's a non-stop sequence of adrenaline-pumping moments that only the real high rollers will ever get to experience.


Blood Aces


The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker


If you are looking for great Poker books that tell you something more than how to play Texas Hold Em or how to use David Sklansky's knowledge to become the next Doyle Brunson, this is one of my favourite my recommended reads.


Blood Aces follows the story of Benny Binion as he rises to prominence as the originator of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the most important Poker event in the history of gambling.


Known to be a real cowboy, a cunning gangster, and a Casino eager to succeed in the Las Vegas scene, Binion is one who knows how to combine determination, vision, and genius to reach whatever goals he decides to set for himself.


Throughout the book, you will see him do his very best to motivate the players, develop a sustainable Casino business. and also get rid of some competitors with the help of crooked Vegas cops.


In case you are not too familiar with the history of the World Series of Poker and the history of gambling, Binion is not a product of the author's fantasy but an American gambling icon who once dominated the scene in Las Vegas through skilful wit and cold-blooded business tactics.


Blood Aces is the story of a criminal who became a revered figure in gambling and is told with masterful precision.


Blackbelt in Blackjack


Playing Blackjack as a Martial Art


Bringing down the house isn't easy if you don't know exactly what you are doing. And even then, not even a science fiction book on gambling could ever promise you'll win every single bet place.


Knowledge is vital, and great Casino manuals like Blackbelt in Blackjack are the ones you need to step up your game and become a much, much better player.


This book by Arnold Synder, a true legend in Blackjack, teaches you the ins and out of the most played Casino game of all time.


Throughout 21 chapters, Synder gives you valuable Blackjack tips on team play, card counting, and multiple deck camouflage techniques. If you want something that shows you how professionals play Blackjack but doesn't make the game sound too complicated, this is a perfect choice.


Beat the Dealer


A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One


A true classic for Blackjack players. Edward O. Thorp is a world-famous mathematician who pioneered the modern applications of probability theory and spent a good part of his life looking for mathematical models that could guarantee him to beat the dealer and gamble for profit.


Known to be also behind some of the most successful investment systems in the history of Wall Street, Thorp uses his Beat the Dealer to shares his expertise and knowledge with all the wannabee Blackjack pros out there.


On this book, the author turns the tables on the house with his systematic explanation of the point system that has countlessly been used by players to win.


Even if you don't believe that science can help you succeed at online Casinos or you are afraid you won't be able to handle the calculations and methods Thorpe came up with, I suggest you pick at least the Kindle edition of this book and give it a try.


Thorp's charts alone are well worth the read.


The Man with the $100,000 Breasts: And Other Gambling Stories


Last, but not least, get on an insightful journey and discover some of the most memorable stories that ever happened in the gambling world.


American author, TV personality, and longtime gambler Michael Konik went above and beyond to collect some of the most absurd and exciting gambling anecdotes and The Man with the $1000,000 Breasts is a genuinely great read.


Go through the pages of this exceptionally well-written book to enter the lives of poker players, card counters, proposition gamblers, sports bettors, golf hustlers, and lucky grifters, and discover all the stories that make Vegas Casinos the most exciting ones in the world.


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The 10 best blackjack books for improving your game


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There have been hundreds of books written about blackjack and the best way to play it. While it is a relatively simple game to enjoy, players are always looking for an edge.


Here are our top 10 favorite blackjack books. Pick the title that jumps out at you, and then put your newfound skills to the test at BetAmerica Casino.


1. Sklansky Talks Blackjack by David Sklansky


Poker players will be familiar with Sklansky and his learned writings on that card game. He also turned his hand to blackjack in this book which, although published in 1999, has stood the test of time. He analyses just about every possible hand, and although he talks a lot of math, he does so in an easy-to-understand way.


2. Blackjack Bluebook II by Fred Renzey


If you want a book that explains basic blackjack strategy in simple language, then this is the one for you. It even includes a section on card counting, if this is your thing.


3. The Theory of Blackjack by Peter A. Griffin


This will teach you the basic blackjack strategy, including when to double down, split, and measure your play based on the dealer's upcard. It, too, talks about card counting.


4. Winning Casino Blackjack for the Non-Counter by Avery Cardoza


Seeing as so many of these books talk about card counting, we felt it only fair to highlight one that avoids it. Instead, Cardoza likes to teach you how to increase your edge by following a solid blackjack strategy on single-deck blackjack games. It includes online play – something not all blackjack books do because they were written before the Internet came along.


5. Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder


This book is more than a creative play on words. The author sees "Playing 21 as a martial art." Together with playing strategies that can improve your chance of turning a profit, Snyder looks at various counting methods, including The Red 7 count and the Hi Lo Count. The book does not, however, recommend you fight anyone, as the title might suggest.


6. Blackjack: A Winner's Handbook by Jerry L Patterson


This book deserves mention because it looks at two areas that are often omitted by other books. The first is the importance of bankroll management, and the second is how to keep your emotions in check while you play blackjack.


7. Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere


If you can get hold of it, this book is worthy of inclusion for nostalgic reasons. It may have been written 50 or so years ago, so it is old-fashioned in language and tone, but the basic strategies it suggests you use are as true now as they were then. The title is a little far-fetched, though, as few of us would ever consider playing blackjack as a business.


8. Blackjack for Blood by Bryce Carlson


This is one of the best blackjack books as it has something for everyone. If you want to become a pro card counter, you'll find out how to do it here. Further, Carlson gives practical tips on how you can disguise your cunning counting techniques, so the pit boss doesn't spot it and throw you out (card counting is not illegal, but casinos will eject you). There are great tips about making your money last and possibly turning a profit for the recreational gambler.


9. Million Dollar Blackjack by Ken Uston


You'll need to find a used copy of this book from somewhere as it's no longer in print. It was a favorite back in the 1980s, and it has step-by-step guides for playing optimum blackjack. The idea that you will read it and soon be playing for a million bucks is a little far-fetched, however.


10. Play Blackjack Like the Pros by Kevin Blackwood


If you are a complete beginner, this is a perfect starter's book. It explains how blackjack is played and introduces you to a solid and straightforward playing strategy that will reduce the house's edge. Blackwood writes in an entertaining fashion, which helps novices take his advice on board.


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Love gambling? Ten books you shouldn’t miss out


A blemish stigma of wealth is the pure omen of gambling. For the critics, it’s a game of bourgeois community that is truly vile and fatal based, but on the other side of the coin, it’s a game of inevitable luck and tenacious calculation for the lover of the game. Like any other game, the game of gambling has its theories and models to follow that are pretty well presented in various classic and fiction books. Books on gambling will dazzle you by some splendid writing and strategies.


So, here we are going to check out some mesmerizing books on gambling so that you should not miss out as a lover or beginner. So, here are the top 10 all-time books of gambling-


Dice Angel


The Dice angel is the ultimate piece of a masterclass by Brian Rouff. The book is based on a fictional story that tells a story of James Delaney, owner of a bar. He loses thousands of dollars during a poker machine robbery incident in his bar.


Now he has to gather a tremendous amount of money to save his bar from the hands of the I.R.S., and his meeting with subtle dice angel to save his bar is the essence of the book. The dice angel is one of the highest rated books on gambling and must deserve a read.


Gambling 102: The Best Strategies for All Casino Games


It is written by Michel Shackleford, an expert on statistics and mathematics. He described the best strategies for winning with some high calculations and complied with a book that contains 19 chapters. These chapters contain some great strategies and rules of playing and winning the game of gambling.


The book is not for beginners and especially for those who don’t know how to play. The writer doesn’t waste time by describing the rules essential for gambling. This book is written to make your game understanding strong and cunning.


After learning the strategies from the book, you can also apply them on online sports betting websites.


American Casino Guide 2018 Edition


As the name is showing it, this book is the complete information regarding casinos, and how you should visit casinos for gambling is the true essence of this book. It covers a vast number of casinos and its information like the payback ratio of the particular casino and game. This is one of those books on gambling that has received high praise from the lovers of gambling.


Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions


Yet another must-read book for gambling lovers! Ben Mezrich wrote this in the year of 2002 and a film was also inspired by this book, which was released in 2008, called 21. The book describes the story of a group of students who started a blackjack club and later find themselves in the mid of the terrifying gambling world.


The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time


As the title of the book is telling, this book tells the story of a businessman who is fascinated by the game of gambling, and how he conquered the group of highly skilled poker players in their world of gaming. The book is a classic example of Michel Craig’s masterwork.


Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One


One of the oldest and all classic time books on gambling that taught the world that card counting is a purely mathematical method. This book was used for the research purpose and over 1 million copies were published. This book was written by the writing genius Edward O. Thorp in 1966.


The Man with the $100,000 Breasts: And Other Gambling Stories


Michel Konik wrote it in 1999 that tells some astonishing stories of gambling. It also includes a tale of Brian Zembic who went through a breast implant to win a bet.


Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart: 4/6/8 Decks, Dealer Hits Soft 17


This written work is a pure note of gambling in the form of a book. It describes the strategies that are beneficial for the beginners. Kenneth R Smith wrote it in 2008.


Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner


A novel by the luminary of the gambling world, this book unveils the basic strategies of the beginners and calculation behind selecting the video poker machines. Though, it doesn’t tell about the advanced game strategies.


Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (Casino Edition)


This book deals with the dawn of gambling history; the initial days, evolvement, or we can say the profound explanation of the game of casinos and gambling. It is truly a masterpiece form David G. Schwartz.


These books on gambling are the complete course of the gambling world, and each book deserves at least one read. So, if you are also the true lover of the game of gambling, then you should not miss out on these books.



10 of the best books set in Las Vegas


Las Vegas's combination of neon glamour and seedy underbelly has attracted some of America's greatest writers, from Hunter S Thompson to James Ellroy, says Malcolm Burgess


Ralph Steadman's illustration on a cover of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson


Ralph Steadman's illustration on a cover of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson


Hunter S Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, 1972


An eccentric journalist and his lawyer travel to the Las Vegas of the psychedelic 60s in this legendary novel/memoir.


"Saturday midnight … Memories of this night are extremely hazy. All I have, for guide-pegs, is a pocketful of keno cards and cocktail napkins, all covered with scribbled notes. Here is one: 'Get the Ford man, demand a Bronco for race-observation purposes … photos? … Lacerda/call … why not a helicopter? … Get on the phone, lean on the fuckers … heaving yelling.'


"Another says: 'Sign on Paradise Boulevard- "Stopless and Topless" … bush-league sex compared to LA; pasties here – total naked public humping in LA … Las Vegas is a society of armed masturbator/gambling is the kicker here/sex is extra/weird trip for high rollers … house-whores for winners, hand jobs for the bad luck crowd."
Paradise Boulevard


Tom Wolfe on Las Vegas, 1965, in Literary Las Vegas: The Best Writing About America's Most Fabulous City, edited Mike Tronnes


This eclectic compendium of writers on Las Vegas includes Tom Wolfe's famous essay from The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, his first collected book of essays.


"He had been rolling up and down the incredible electric-sign gauntlet of Las Vegas' Strip, US Route 91, where the neon and the par lamps – bubbling, spiraling, rocketing, and exploding in sunbursts 10 stories high out in the middle of the desert – celebrate one-story casinos. He had been gambling and drinking and eating now and again at the buffet tables the casinos keep heaped with food day and night, but mostly hopping himself up with good old amphetamine, cooling himself down with meprobamate, then hooking down more alcohol, until now, after 60 hours, he was slipping into the symptoms of toxic schizophrenia."
Las Vegas Strip


Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy, 1997


The Nevadan art historian and Vegas resident has written a fascinating memoir. Here an excerpt from his essay, A Rhinestone as Big as the Ritz about the Liberace Museum.


Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy


"The balcony of my apartment faces west toward the mountains, overlooking the Las Vegas Strip; so, every evening when the sky is not overcast, a few minutes after the sun has gone down, the mountains turn black, the sky above them turns this radical plum/rouge, and the neon logos of The Desert Inn, The Stardust, Circus Circus, The Riviera, The Las Vegas Hilton, and Vegas World blaze forth against the black mountains – and every night I find myself struck by the fact that, while The Strip always glitters with a reckless and undeniable specificity against the darkness, the sunset, smoldering out above the mountains, every night and without exception, looks bogus as hell. It's spectacular, of course, and even, occasionally, sublime (if you like sublime), but to my eyes that sunset is always fake – as flat and gaudy as Barnett Newman and just as pretentious. Friends of mine who visit watch this light show with different eyes, they prefer the page of the landscape to the text of the neon. They seem to think it's more 'authentic'. I, on the other hand, suspect that 'authenticity' is altogether elsewhere – that they are responding to nature's ability to mimic the sincerity of a painting, that the question of the sunset and The Strip is more a matter of one's taste in duplicity. One either prefers the honest fakery of the neon or the fake honesty of the sunset – the undisguised artifice of culture or the cultural construction of 'authenticity' – the genuine rhinestone, finally, or the imitation pearl."
Circus Circus, Circus Circus Drive


Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form, 1972


Now seen as a bible for postmodernist architecture, Venturi's seminal book saw the urban sprawl of Las Vegas as an architecture of communication over space, achieved through style and signs.


"The sign for the Motel Monticello, a silhouette of an enormous Chippendale highboy, is visible on the highway before the motel itself. This architecture of styles and signs is anti-spacial; it is the architecture of communication over space; communication dominates space as an element in the architecture in the landscape. But it is for a new scale of landscape."
Monticello Drive


John O'Brien, Leaving Las Vegas, 1990


This searing novel of alcohol, obsession and suicide became an award-winning film starring Nicholas Cage.


"Casinos … know that chips are a wonderful, pretty tool, and possess none of the stigma of dollars. Dollars translate too easily into hours or houses or cars or sex or food or everything, and so losing a dollar is a much more tangible experience than parting with a chip, an object that looks more like a midway consolation token than a medium of exchange."
Las Vegas Strip


Joe McGinniss Jr, The Delivery Man, 2008


An electric debut novel about Generation Y, set against the real lives and suburbs and gated communities of today's Las Vegas.


"Even though it's only May it feels like the end of July. (Minutes ago the temperature reading on the Sahara marquee read 96 degrees.) And it all lies before him: 21 stories below is the Garden of Earthly Delights dotted with clear blue rectangular pools and burgundy cabanas, and then it's the Strip and then the pink homes of Green Valley and the surrounding desert and the I-15 that leads to Los Angeles where Chase's father still lives."
Green Valley, Paseo Verde Parkway


Larry McMurtry, The Desert Rose, 1983


From the Pulitzer-prize winning author comes the compelling story of Harmony, an ageing Las Vegas showgirl, in a novel that is both tough and tender.


"When she turned off the pavement onto the bumpy dirt road Harmony looked back at the Strip, eight miles away. It looked so miniature, like a wonderful toy place, with all the lights still on … It was one of her favourite things, to turn onto her own road with the air smelling so good and be able to see the Strip, with the Trop up at one end and the Sahara at the other, and besides that have the sun coming up just as she got home. With sights like that to see every day, who could complain?"
Las Vegas Strip


Charles Bock, Beautiful Children, 2008


A mesmerising novel that has been compared to Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, as it brings together the lives of those who live, love and work in a city, as corrupt as it is compelling.


"Waves of electricity, emanating from pop art facades, actually transforming the nature of the atmosphere, creating a mutation of night, a night that is not night – daytime at night," he writes.


"The 24-hour bacchanal. The party without limits. The crown jewel of a country that has institutionalized indulgence.


"… 105 outside for the 99th straight day. That dry desert heat, a wall that hit the moment you stepped outside, then pounded relentlessly. To get local fanboys away from their liquid crystal screens, out of their air-conditioned living rooms, and into their air-conditioned cars, management at Amazin' Stories had been importing the biggest names in the fantasy game."
South Maryland Parkway


James Ellroy, The Cold Six Thousand, 2001


From Kennedy's assassination in Dallas to crime and punishment in Las Vegas, the epic and magisterial sequel to Ellroy's American Tabloid.


"Vegas sparkled – fuck death – should-haves meant shit. Nice breeze/nice sun/nice casinos. Pete crossed the Strip. Pete logged distractions: The Tropicana course. Cocktail carts abundant. Carhops on skates. Uplift abundant. Pete made two circuits. Shit popped out. Some nuns hit the Sands. They spot Frank Sinatra. They swoon and piss Frank off. They shuitz up his Sy Devore suit … Nice mountain. Neon signs. Jap-tourist shutterbugs."
The Tropicana, Las Vegas Boulevard South


Various writers, Fade, Sag, Crumble, 2011


Las Vegas writers confront the decay, physical and spiritual, at the heart of today's city in a book specially published for this year's Vegas Valley Book Festival. Here we discover The Neon Museum in Danielle Kelly's essay Live Rust: Love, Mold, and Heavy Metal in the Neon Boneyard:


"The Neon Museum and Boneyard has spent 15 years preserving the neon vernacular of Las Vegas. The Museum collection holds more than 150 signs, but fewer than one tenth of those signs are restored. The rest sit unelectrified in the Neon Boneyard. The condition of some is impeccable, and a few are on the brink of collapse, but most exist somewhere in between. Each has a beautifully disproportionate combination of elegant tubing hugging exposed metal, with unevenly corroding paint and the occasional rusted corner. Some wear the scars of decades of labour and occasional abuse, are partially crushed or dismembered. A pathway has been plotted in and around the signs, which tend to veer, all angles and abstracts, into the path as they see fit. It's like a grand promenade through a rusty Roman ruin.


"Thousands flock every year to capture a snapshot of this fallen neon. They bear witness to the itchy peeling paint and the scratchy broken tubing. They take pictures of glass. The harsh desert sun refracting through an incandescent bulb casts an inverted shadow of thin circles … The Stardust is there, the Desert Inn and the Sahara, the Tropicana and the Aladdin. There are signs that only natives or long-timers might recognize: Society Cleaners, Steiner's Cleaners, Ugly Duckling Car Sales, and the Green Shack."
The Neon Museum, 821 North Las Vegas Boulevard


Malcolm Burgess is the publisher of Oxygen Books' city-pick series, featuring writing on cities including New York, Berlin, Paris, London, Venice, Amsterdam and Dublin





So, let's define, what was the most valuable conclusion of this review: Here’s a list of the ten best gambling books and my reviews of each of them. I’ve also included the table of contents for each book. at 10 Best Casino Books of All Time

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