Gambling Books

Just as good, probably better, than Casino Games. Much more detialed and advanced than Casino games. He offers a very good betting strategy. I followed his strategies in the casinos and won almost all of the time. He teaches about learning how to be winner and not a loser. I always take this book with me on my gambling trips.

This is a great gift for a gambler. It looks cool sitting on my desk... and I always get questions about it. The little book that comes with it is filled with some great gambling quotes.

This is a remarkable book about a remarkable man. Captain Robert Barclay Allardice was one of the most famous figures in England in the period from 1800 to 1830. A self-absorbed gentleman of a minor Scottish family, with a comfortable income, Barclay broke with convention and became one of the leading figures of "The Fancy". The Fancy was the name given to wealthy and often dissolute members of the aristocracy who devoted themselves to the pleasures of sport, particularly horse racing and prizefighting. The Fancy also included large numbers of the lower classes, who, like the rich spent much of their money gambling on sporting events. In its worst sense, the Fancy combined criminals of both the higher and lower classes into one aggressive group which worked to subvert the laws of middle class England. In its best sense, the Fancy ( which Thorstein Veblen would later describe as "The Leisure Class" )was a democratic body focused upon sport which may have protected England from the class violence of revolution which racked all of Europe during the nineteenth century.

As a member of the upper class portion of the Fancy, Barclay might have simply spent his time in gambling and dissolution, but he did not. Instead he became a superb athlete and the most famous "pedestrian" of his time. "Pedestrianism" was a popular sport in the early nineteenth century when men and women were accustomed to taking long walks of many miles from place to place. The Romantic poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge, were famous walkers. Their emphasis upon Nature grew out of their habit of regularly walking 20 or 30 miles a day while composing their poems.

Captain Barclay himself would often walk 50 to 70 miles a day for pleasure. Eventually he found that his ability to walk extraordinary distances could win large bets in gambling. The book opens with the most famous of Barlcay's bets that he could walk 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas. This feat attracted vast crowds to both watch and bet upon the outcome. It was said that over 100,000 pounds ( 40 million pounds in today's money) was bet on this race. With his victory, Barclay became one of the most famous men of England, and a leader of the Fancy.

Barclay also interested himself in prizefighting and horse racing. He himself was a powerful amateur pugilist and a superb coachman, both activities which ordinarily were fit only for the lower classes. He knew and associated with all of the major prize fighters of the era, from Gentleman John Jackson to John Gully to Tom Cribb. He earned his title of Captain by his military activities in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a gentleman farmer with 3800 acres in Scotland and even wrote a book on an Agricultural Tour of Canada and the United States. Finally, he became a trainer of athletes when the very concept of training for a sporting event was something new and unexpected. In all he was a man's man, who when in his 70s could lift a fully grown man standing on his open hand, from the floor and place him upright on top of a table.

Peter Radford, himself an Olympic athlete, has written an absorbing and well-documented history of this fabulous man and his times. The prose is flowing and the research excellent. The only fault I found was the fact that Radford did not realize that Bill Warr, a prize fighter and friend of Barclay's, was actually the older brother of Joe Ward and had himself been convicted of manslaughter as the result of an impromptu boxing match in 1789. Ward's conviction of manslaughter was typical of the type of men with whom Barclay associated in The Fancy.

I may be wrong about this, but I remember Frank Zappa mentioning somewhere that his FATHER wrote a book about gambling, and this appears to be it. My friend's father had it stored in his garage, and he gave it to me, knowing that I'm a Zappa fanatic.
Wouldn't this book be highly collectible? I think so.

H. Bruce Franklin's finely annotated Melville is once again available.

Perhaps not the best place to discuss the story, at least let's discuss the edition. I have always thought these footnotes have been a necessary part of this long running joke. The book seems tough and well-constructed. Not everyone's copy will be read through, but the others will be thumbed to death, almost like an airliner in static test destruction.

And what a ride! This is a story about story-telling and about story-telling techniques. One of the longest and most absurd being Wilbur/Thoreau's honking of the story of China Aster. Everyone is fighting over how to tell this tale! Himmlerian Mark Winsome lays down the Party Line, Wilbur trying to strain off the tannins. Frank Goodman tries to redeem it. Melville attempts to hide behind it. I find myself arguing with myself about it. Is it genius? Is it that bad? Is Emerson so hateful? Did The Confidence Man actually get angry -- or did he know the barber was just about set to close up shop for the night.

Melville's greatest work in a clean new lifetime edition, available right now.

Through the use of personal stories, Mr. Gollehon provides advise in a non-threatening or judgemental way for both the beginning and the seasoned gambler. He covers table games and slots in easy to understand language while still providing entertainment. A must read prior to planning a gambling adventure and a definite re-read enroute!

Very well organized for report writing offering many points of view and a well laid out historical perspective. No illustrations in this book but will recommend it for students from the 7th grade level up. Also recommended for parents and teachers.

Legalized Gambling by David M. Haugen is an excellent reference to the diverse issues surrounding the legal aspects of gambling. Providing a complete chronology of important events, a glossary of terms, bibliographical listings, and a comprehensive index, Legalized Gambling offers readers a compendium of the essential information relevant to the complex workings of gaming casinos, the legal premises of gambling, ethical questions and analysis of gambling, and a great deal more useful, critically important information. With the increasing popularity and availability of gambling in America today, Legalized Gambling is very strongly recommended for all readers as a thorough guide to the manifold issues of gambling and its history in America.

Access to gambling has never been greater. Internet gambling, the poker explosion, most states running lotteries is just some of the new temptations that lead some to serious gambling addiction. Treatment of problem gamblers has had a low success rate.

Joseph W Ciarrocchi has put in one book clinical wisdom and research into a treatment package aimed at developing the skills for successful recovery.

Covered in this manual:

Step-by-step treatment plans
Diagnostic instruments developed by the author
Focus on specific cultural concerns, with clinical applications for women, minorities, and religiously committed persons
Integration of spirituality in treatment
Coping strategies for family members

This is the book for counselors dealing with these very serious problems.

Annie Raye is back in Vegas. She left Vegas to go straight, leaving her card counting father and the life she hated behind. She was a bright child, and at the age of twelve began card counting - for a living. When she beat one of the most successful casino owners of all time, she began refusing to play blackjack because she watched her father almost beaten to death over the game.

Annie is back to find a life for herself and her daughter, Maddy. She has come home to Vegas to take a job at Slotto, but a private investigator, Sam Knight has rejected her for the position over her background check. Annie wants to know why, and sets out to prove herself to him. When Sam finds out she is THE card counter from years ago, he is intrigued, but still has illegal players to find before the casinos are run broke by card counters.

Sam and Annie are exact opposites and play upon each others weaknesses to create chaos and situations that left this reader laughing out loud at times. They also come together with a bang, and when their attraction blows up, they are both torn between wanting each other, and knowing what might happen. Sam passing out every time Maddy comes into his vision makes for a unique twist that made this reader sigh with frustration and to hope he can overcome his past to make a future with this family.

This reader loved numbers growing up and made counting objects a big game. As Maddy counts things, and plays, she makes a great secondary character and gives a great dimension to this tale. Her antics and the love that surrounds her turn this tale into a family tale to treasure.

In this reviewers opinion this one of the best Super Romance novels publishes so far this year, and this author will be put on auto-buy for future books to come!

Review Courtesy of LoveRomancesandmore