Gambling Books

The book talks about playing a conservative approach to the game and cutting loose in rare situations. The exercises ( a low limit session where you try to play along) were something to do to help one play a tighter game. Overall the book reminded me to start tracking my wins and losses more and stop complaining. So for me it was pretty good.

This is not a beginner's book. The author does what he says he will, he reviews some basics for low limit ring Texas Hold'em games and takes us through a game. I would say the book is worth the money (less than money spent in one hand of some low limit games in a casino or card club). I got a few things from it and like most poker books, you generally get only one or two things but the things you get will make you money at the tables. The book is a little light on the No Limit but that is okay for me. I prefer low limit ring games versus low no limit ring games (100 buyins etc).

I have read several books on Texas Hold'em poker. This is quite an amateur book. The writing is not very high quality. However it does serve as a good reminder or refresher to make your poker games more successful. The exercises in this book are great. These were very useful. Overall you can do without this book if you study other poker books. However you have some spare cash hanging around then you might find a few useful tips.

All of the sudden, books about the inner world of poker seem to be springing up all over the place. My 18yo son and his friends mess around with it for pennies or toothpicks, and I hear them arguing the rules long after I've gone to bed. But now I find myself in the unlikely position of having read three books on the subject, and I'm really getting into it.
Read 'Em and Weep is a collection of essays, short stories, book excerpts and (of all unlikely things) poems dealing with the eternally interesting world of the game. Many of the tales focus on the fast-paced newish game called Hold 'Em. But most of the contributions (from authors such as Mark Twain, Maugham, and Thurber) deal with the traditional more gentlemanly games from a bygone poker era. It's a good melding of the two worlds, past and present.

You do not have to be a poker aficionado to enjoy this book. It contains 38 short stories, excerpts from books or essays, all of which have poker as a theme or main story element. With authors the likes of Stephen Crane, James Jones, Mark Twain, David Mamet, Bertolt Brecht, Sumerset Maugham, Clark Clifford, Barbara Tuchman and James Thurber you can't go far wrong. The stories range from comic to tragic, with just a little instruction on the finer points of the game thrown in for good measure. You may not love all of the chapters, but I am sure that enough will entertain you to make reading this short book very worthwhile.

This is a collection of short stories or snippets of books all about poker there are 39 authors this is taken from those of you who have read other poker memoirs will recognize Anthony Holden,Michael Konik ,A. Alvarez and other notable poker writers.Then there are notable authors like Mark Twain,John Updike,Martin Amis,and many others.

This covers subjects from the wild west river boat gambling to the current modern day of world series of poker.So give this book a try and possibly expose yourself to some different authors or refamilarize yourself with some of the old poker authors.

This book is a look back at Las Vegas and the area from prehistoric times to the present. It is very informative and packed with information that history buffs will love. It also explains the evolution of Las Vegas from a western town teetering on the edge of becoming a ghost town to the boom that started with the building of the Hoover (Boulder) Dam and continues today. This book is very academic in nature, so you have to love history to like this book. Overall a very interesting book.

This books gives an general overall history of Las Vegas and its chameleonistic changes over time. From the dawn of mans first wanderings into the Las Vegas area to modern day gambling mecca and suburban success, this book packs a short, but sweet punch into a somewhat short span. This book is good for people interested in Las Vegas history where general Nevada history leaves off,

The Lands have an easy, breezy writing style. In particular they bring the last 100 years of Las Vegas history alive with many photos of the times and observations of citizens and visitors alike who were there. Although they do not discuss the role the divorce business or the wedding industry played in the city's development (and weddings are associated with Vegas almost as much as gaming), the picture of the city presented here is fun and informative. To quote the authors quoting Steve Wynn, "Las Vegas is a party that never stops. God bless this daffy place."

This is the first book I have read on casino gambling. I am a novice gambler and I found John Patrick's advice to be solid and sound. He wants you to make smart decisions and not expect miracles. There are no gimmicks, no empty promises. He has little tolerance for a loser mentality and is uncompromising on what he thinks is the right or wrong way to go. I will continue to go back to the book as I play more and more because there are many different strategies and I can only absorb and put into practice so much information at once.


I just got back from Vegas and I cannot report that I came home with more money than I left with, but I did go there with some parameters to begin playing with and enough confidence to step up to the craps table. Hopefully the dice will be hotter during my next outing.

This book is terrific. Through using the approaches described in it, I have had a great deal of fun playing craps in casinos around the world, and have managed not to lose my shirt in the process (an amazing feat given how much I have played and the fact that the house always has the advantage of the "vig"). I highly recommend this book to craps players of any experience level.

This is an absolute must for anyone who wants to step foot in a casino. I can't say enough good things about this book. John Patrick lays out a road map for minimizing losses and maximizing your chances to WIN. If you follow his rules, you will become a winner.

This is a great book for people starting out with poker. I learned a lot from it quickly and I stopped bleeding money on the online poker sites!

If you get one book to help you learn the game of poker, make it this one. Scharf's theories on low-limit poker are outstanding, and the best part is, they work! If you play the way this guy tells you to play, you WILL be successful at low-limit poker. Excellent readability and the spiral binding makes it fun to read. The book also teaches you to be more patient and to just accept the down times of your poker playing. I was a good player before reading this book, but now I am even better after reading it. Thanks "Rambling Dave"

This book takes a quick casual look at certain facets of low limit Hold'em, and sprinkles in some Omaha and Stud for good measure. This $10 book has helped me net over $400 in poker winnings online and in a casino in the last 2 months, never higher than $2/$4 stakes. The starting hand table is absolutely necessary for beginners, and easy to master. Once you see how well it works, you'll be ready for the more advanced texts about tells, betting strategy, etc. A must-read for anyone who wants to change their bad card luck, and only play when the odds are in their favor!

This book did not quite meet my expectations. Since I have more reason to criticize I shall start my review by listing the flaws.

First thing that strikes me as a mistake is the fact that the works are not arranged in any order, but rather just thrown in at random. Although the authors make it clear in the introduction that this was done deliberately it still strikes me as a poor decision.

Next, neither one of the two authors is an art historian. Too bad, because a lot of the works merit better descriptions.

In my opinion the authors included too many works by LeRoy Neiman, and at the same time failed to include some very important works of art that should really have been included to make this book complete. LeRoy Neiman also wrote the Foreword, which is fine, except that he made a big mistake in his description of the world famous painting "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs" by Georges de La Tour. He says, "Women gambling pops up frequently in this collection. Georges de La Tour's painting of a woman being cheated..." The famous painting in question shows a young man being cheated by small conspiratorial group of two women and a man. How could such big mistake slip through the cracks and end up in print? Sloppiness?

While at the subject of La Tour's masterpiece, "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs". The authors do mention that this painting is a virtual clone of another work by the same artist, "The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds", however they did not include a color plate of the other one. Why not? Furthermore the authors have totally failed to provide an accurate description of this masterpiece. According to the authors this painting is about a cheat switching cards. Yes, a cheat is seen holding out two aces behind his back, however there is more to it; the main foundation for this painting is a moral essay on the three main temptations of the 17th century - women , gambling and wine. A quick glance into a few art books would have made this fact known to the authors.

Although the authors did note that the above-mentioned work was strongly influenced by Caravaggio's "The Cardsharpers", they failed to include any paintings by Valentin de Boulogne, a celebrated artist, also influenced by Caravaggio, and the only one said to come close or even surpass Caravaggio's talent. The two masterpieces by Valentin that should have been included are "Cardsharpers" and "Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice" (aka "The Cheats").

Other paintings that should have been included are works by Theodor Rombouts, such as "Card and Backgammon players" (aka "Fight Over Cards"), and two renditions of "The Card Players". The exclusion of the above-mentioned works makes this book incomplete.

As I had already mentioned, the descriptions of the paintings tend to be a bit incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and often tend to focus on irrelevant subjects. For example, in the description of "The Dice Playes" by Georges de La Tour, which was painted in 1650, the authors slip away to a description of an event that happened in 1984 when a Texan (unnamed) made a one million Dollar bet at the Craps table, at Binnion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Although this is undoubtedly a good story, what does that have to do with the painting that La Tour painted in the 17th century?

As an example of an inaccurate description I could mention the Carl Kronberger's "Surprised". At first glance one can see a scene in which three card players, seated under a bridge are distracted by a carriage that happens to be passing over the same bridge. The authors are attempting to guess which three-handed game of card the players could be playing. However, what they failed to notice is that the players are seated on top of their bags, around a make-shift table, and that there is an abandoned fourth bag over which the absent fourth player laid his hand of five cards to rest. Furthermore this fourth player left his wager (a few coins) on the card table. At the same time he is seen begging for change, hat in hand, on top of the bridge, as the rich man seated in the carriage in tossing spare change into the man's hat. The painting obviously shows an interrupted four-handed game, and not a three-handed game, as the authors are guessing.

On the good note, I still find the book interesting. It is probably the best gaming-related art book with good color reproductions. Despite its flaws it is till obvious that the authors did do a substantial amount of research and I do recommend this book for anyone interested in gaming and/or gambling, and art.

I bought this as a gift, and I only had time to thumb through it. I figured that I would write a quick note since it has not been rated and others might at least want an idea.

This book is full of interesting and colorful art work. From card games to horse racing it has it all. If you think you will be interested you will like it. I was very happy with the purchase.

This book is primarily for non-counting beginners who want to improve their basic strategy. Although there is no counting, the strategies provided are pretty good. There are some statistics for the different approaches, but not an abundance of support. It is basically a simple intro guide with some good hands-on information like how the dealing takes place, how to handle the IRS, how to play some other variants (which I do not care about), etc.

Having read dozens of books on the subject of blackjack, I found this one to be exactly what it is intended to be... a guide for anyone who wants to beat the multiple blackjack game. While it is a great primer on the game for anyone who has never been inside of a casino, it can also serve the more experienced player as well. It does not offer any anecdotal accounts of the author's experiences at blackjack. It does not offer card counting strategies at all. If you're an experienced player who's looking to hone your card counting skills, this book is not what you're looking for. But even an experienced player can benefit from all but the book's first chapter which details rules, equipment and blackjack terminology. It is probably the best book I've come across covering basic strategy. It not only shows you the correct basic strategy to use based on the number of decks and house rules, the author explains the "why", making it easier for players of all levels to recall what their correct play should be. It also offers a formula for determining the house advantage on the games that you may face by adding %'s of house advantage rules and deducting player advantage rules. Based on the various house rules, it gives you the variations of basic strategy that the player should employ. Whether you're an experienced player who wants to brush up on your game, a novice that wants to learn what variations of basic strategy to use, or you're simply a beginner who wants to get ready to hit the tables for the first time, this is the book to get.

This is a good book that can give beginners a good introduction to black jack and some of the casino rules. For non-beginners (people with some "know how") there is plenty of material to.

It gives you an overview of gambling/black jack history (very brief but interesting) and it tells you some of the "unwritten" rules that only people that visit casinos know. It provides you with fundamental rules, reference tables for different scenarios and advance techniques.

To the bottom line... I follow the book direction and it helped me to make enough money that my trip to Vegas was pretty much free. For my first attempt at black jack obviously I am happy, and I plan to read it again and check the advanced material for my next trip.

Finally, Black Jack is a lot more fun and intense than the roulette or the coin machines.

Blackjack Strategy is a good overview of the game. The book starts with a brief history of the game and then quickly moves on to the "Basic Strategy" of Blackjack, i.e. minimizing your disadvantage.

The chapter on the basic strategy is enough to make you confident enough to tackle any Blackjack table without looking foolish. It will teach you when to hit, stand, double down, etc...

The next few chapters go on to describe a basic card counting strategy. It is easy enough to understand but if you are looking for some serious information on card counting this book will probabaly not be good enough by itself.

Overall the book was a quick read and easy to comprehend. If you are about to hit the Blackjack tables and want an understanding of the game and its strategies I would recommend reading this book before hand. This book is also a good reference with many tables in the appendix. You can easily read it in one sitting. If you are looking for a meaty book with ton's of detailed information you may want to look elsewhere.

This turned out to be a very good read about Atlantic City, New Jersey.You are able to read about the early history of this resort city. You are taken to the time period when gambling is legalized in the city.All of the major gambling companies that came to Atlantic City(as well as Donald Trump) are given time in this book.You are introduced to the politicians,the unions,as
well as some of the underworld elements that have come to dominate the Boardwalk. This is a very thorough book about gambling and Atlantic City,New Jersey. Buy this book and get the
story on the Boardwalk.

The Camden and Atlantic Railroad was built to connect Camden and Absecon Island in 1854 and provided faster access than by stagecoach. The terminus was named "Atlantic City" (p.15). By 1880 Atlantic City was a thriving summer resort. Its Convention Center was built in 1929 - the largest unobstructed room in the world (488 feet long, 288 feet wide, 137 feet high). Chapter 2 explains how any political machine must work to be successful: provide gambling, prostitution, alcohol, and drugs 24X7. With police protection for those who pay for it. (This ignores any commercial rivalry or union breaking.) The Depression and changing fashions led to the downfall of this Queen of Resorts.

Did corruption and crime kill Atlantic City? Can any resort area outlive changing fashions? Chapter 5 points to Newark. With its seaport, airport, and train station, New York close by, it should be NJ's best city, not a national example of urban decay. Does this reflect the policies of the state's Ruling Class? Chapter 8 tells of the politics in passing a referendum to allow gambling in Atlantic City. It names the politicians and fixers behind this deal. Does NJ have the reputation as the most corrupt in the nation? It was run in turn by large landowners, railroads, insurance companies, and big banks (p.62). Could this be due to its powerful state government and the relative lack of democratic power of the people?

Part II tell "The Way It Is" and covers the decade after the Casino Control Act was passed. It has all the big names in Jersey politics, and the squalid scandals. Read it for all the stories on corruption that they will never teach you in school. Since the book ends in 1985 it doesn't cover the effects of the other casinos across the country, or in nearby Connecticut. Too many casinos chasing fewer gamblers? This and changing fashions could mean another decline for Atlantic City. Or maybe not, it they can change with the times. Pages 204-5 tell how Bally moved from pinball machines into video games, and opened "family amusement centers" in shopping malls, and acquired theme parks, health clubs, and the biggest supplier of lottery tickets in the nation.

After gambling was legalized, property taxes, water, sewer, and utility bills increased by 200-300%; street crimes, prostitution, and drug abuse went up 500% (pp. 367-8). Ninety percent of the businesses operating in 1976 were gone by 1985 (p.378). So who really profited?

Chapter 31 gives "The Bottom Line" and summarizes the effects of legalized gambling. Where it once had 30,000 rooms and was a family vacation resort now has a fraction of that in first-class hotel rooms. Las Vegas has far more (but this may reflect travel times). "Gambling is a parasitic enterprise that thrives on the weaknesses of people. It leaves in its wake corruption, debasement, despair, and the subversion of moral authority. That is the real bottom line" (p.424).

Budget gambling is an excellent book for the beginning gambler looking to increase his stay time at the casino. The book discusses the odds and rules of all the basic casino games, then applies Gollehon's 4 color betting strategy to each. Also included are some tips for gambling at the racetrack. The beauty of the 4 color strategy (which by the way is an excellent betting system for any level gambler) is that it is simple to learn, and can be applied to any table game. The system minimizes losses during a cold streak but lets you press your bets and cash in during hot streaks, which is the basis for all successful gambling systems. Also included are some interesting stories about gambling in general. I personally have used this system and have won a significant amount of money while the cards were going my way. For beginning casino goers I highly recommend this book. For more experienced gamblers, its still fun reading. Check it out!

Being an experienced and well read gambler, I was looking for a new approach to my gaming experiences. I found it in Gollehon's "Budget Gambler". The book gives good methods for increasing winnings without increasing the financial risk I was already comfortable with, and it is entertaining, too. Very common sense approach, and methods are easy to use "live" in casinos. Reading this book felt like having a conversation with a friend who understood me. Very worthwhile gaming book.