RECOMMENDED GAMBLING BOOKS AND SOFTWARE

PROFESSIONAL GAMBLERS' RECOMMENDED GAMBLING BOOKS AND SOFTWARE
By Blackjack Forum Contributing Editors

"Get-rich-quick books follow a pattern. There’s a spirited pitch to get you to buy the book and discover the secret, then you read through chapter after chapter of fluff until you find some simple idea midway through. It turns out not to be work-free or risk-free…[and could] be explained in one paragraph, but gets five chapters of repetition so the book looks thick enough to be worth $19.95." (Bill Haywood, Beat Web Casinos.com)

This is not the type of gambling book or software that we will be recommending here.

We are not making any attempt to list every reasonably competent software or book related to gambling. Instead, these are the books that have meant the most in the careers of the moderators of this Web site.

The books are categorized by subject, and are in alphabetical order by author. Some are out of print but are worth extra effort to locate in used book stores. If you read all of these, you will know a lot about professional gambling.

We have provided links to purchase the books that are still in print. Purchasing the books through these links helps to support this Web site. We will be updating this page regularly.

Now available at Gambler's Book Club and Cardoza Books
(Coming to all bookstores on approx. July 1, 2008):
♠ Snyder, Arnold. The Poker Tournament Formula 2—Advanced Strategies for Big Money Tournaments
Cardoza Publishing, 2008.
500 pages; paperback; $24.95.

If you want to make money in pro-level no-limit hold’em tournaments, you must abandon a lot of what you already know about playing poker.

If you’ve been playing cash games for years and you consider yourself a solid player, that’s a handicap when you start entering tournaments.

Likewise, while there are a lot of books on the market today on how to play poker tournaments, and some of the tips in these books are excellent, for the most part, the authors who have written these books are handicapped by being a bunch of poker players, or worse, mathematicians! Coming from backgrounds of years of poker play or too much higher education, they focus so much on poker and the mathematics of poker that they miss most of what’s really important about optimal pro-level tournament strategy. A tournament is not a poker game, and the mathematics of tournaments is not the mathematics of poker.

The Poker Tournament Formula II picks up where The Poker Tournament Formula I left off. Specifically, while the first book dealt with loose aggressive strategies for beating fast-structured, small buy-in tournaments, the new book focuses on pro-level tournaments with blind levels that last 40 minutes to two hours, or online tournaments with blind levels that last roughly 20 minutes and longer. And be aware that pro-level tournaments are not all created equal. This book will show you how to optimize your strategy for each specific pro-level tournament you enter.

This book tears apart a lot of the accepted ideas on how to make money in pro-level events. It will teach you to ask new questions before deciding how to play a hand, and give you the means to answer them.

There are few books that substantially increase a player's chances of winning tournaments. This powerful work is one of them. I recommend you get this book.

—Doyle Brunson

Introduction: Most of What You Know Is Wrong

Table of Contents




Newly Released:



♠ Snyder, Arnold. The Poker Tournament Formula, Cardoza Publishing, 2006.
368 pages; paperback. Price: $19.95

This book shows players how to make money in the "fast" multi-table no-limit hold'em tournaments that are now so popular online and in poker rooms all over the world. You will find it different from every other book on poker tournaments you've read, even if you've read them all, because it's something from a different type of professional gambling perspective. And it works.

The Poker Tournament Formula shows how to stop being at the mercy of the cards you are dealt, and how to adjust your strategy to maximize your edge in every poker tournament you play. The book also shows exactly why you must learn to do these things to make money in these tournaments.

What is a "fast" poker tournament? In this book, it's any multi-table tournament that has blind levels that last less than an hour. These events generally have buy-ins from $20 to $1,000, and last anywhere from two hours to six or seven hours. If you think that the strategies for beating these tournaments are the same strategies that you would use to beat the major events you see on television, you are mistaken. And if you think you can use a single one-size-fits-all strategy to beat poker tournaments, you are mistaken again, and your mistake is costing you money.

Many players seem to believe that a no-limit hold'em tournament is a no-limit hold'em tournament, and they approach every event the same way. This book shows why they are wrong.

Beginners who apply themselves and use the strategies correctly will soon be making a lot of money in fast multi-table poker tournaments from many more experienced poker players (and you don't need a big bankroll to do it). Advanced poker tournament players and professional gamblers who have read all of the books on this subject will find analyses and strategies that will surprise them. If you are coming to poker tournament play from blackjack, you will find the edge with correct fast poker tournament play much higher than you can get with any type of blackjack play, with flux that is relatively mild. And the sheer number of weekly live and online fast poker tournaments means you can keep your money in action 24/7, with little to no expenses.

The Poker Tournament Formula also covers analysis of optimal rebuy strategy, live and online poker tournament cheating encountered by the author, and how to calculate bankroll requirements and flux for specific tournament formats and fields.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION TO THE POKER TOURNAMENT FORMULA Or... Why A New Approach to Winning Poker Tournaments is Long Overdue




♠ Snyder, Arnold. How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms, Cardoza Publishing, 2006.
269 pages; paperback. Price: $12.95

Arnold Snyder shows how to play and win money in the online casinos and poker rooms. The book covers the latest information on every step of the process, from choosing sites and opening an account to analysis and strategies for the latest types of bonuses. The second section covers online poker strategies, with an emphasis on analyzing the value of online poker room bonuses and the differences between live games and tournaments and online games and tournaments.
Order How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms
Table of Contents




♠ Snyder, Arnold, Big Book of Blackjack, Cardoza Publishing, 2005.
336 pages; paperback. Price: $17.95 ($12.21 through this link):

Arnold Snyder explains blackjack from the felt up with the history of the game and never before published stories of and tips from the people who have made the great discoveries and pulled off the greatest plays. The book starts beginners with the kinds of insights and logic that allow professional players to move beyond cookbook card counting and come up with original (and more valuable) approaches to beating casinos. Exceptionally clear and easy to read—Snyder is known for cutting to the heart of the concepts and explaining them simply to laymen.
Table of Contents
Order Big Book of Blackjack

The programmable PowerSim has also already been modified by players to run simulations that cannot be run on the commercial software, including simulations of the new and innovative OPP Count for beginning players.

But there is a lot more coming. I intend for the PowerSim project to develop exactly the blackjack software that is needed, 100% free for players. Download PowerSim Blackjack and Card Counting Simulation Software today courtesy of ET Fan and Blackjack Forum and get involved in the cutting edge of the game to maximize your potential as a player.

The best book for players beginning their blackjack careers. Provides three powerful counting systems (from easiest to pro), full accounts of modern casino conditions and surveillance practices, a detailed discussion of bankroll and bet-sizing, and advanced play techniques. Exceptional because of its insider insights and pointed stories of the successes and mistakes of pros. From the editor of Blackjack Forum.
Table of Contents
Order Blackbelt in Blackjack

Arnold Snyder explains blackjack from the felt up with the history of the game and never before published stories of and tips from the people who have made the great discoveries and pulled off the greatest plays. The book starts beginners with the kinds of insights and logic that allow professional players to move beyond cookbook card counting and come up with original (and more valuable) approaches to beating casinos. Exceptionally clear and easy to read—Snyder is known for cutting to the heart of the concepts and explaining them simply to laymen.
Table of Contents
Order Big Book of Blackjack

♠ Snyder, Arnold, The Blackjack Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook (How Players Win and Why They Lose with Shuffle Tracking), 2003.
114 pages; paperback. Price: $49.95

Shuffle tracking is an advanced strategy for beating casino blackjack games. Snyder’s book is the definitive guide to the subject. It explains what it is, why it works, how it’s done, and how you should practice for it, as well as how you can tell if you have the skills necessary to win with it. With the 2003 edition of this material, Snyder was the first to provide an accurate analysis of the overall win rates available from various types of shuffles, including many that had been regarded as untrackable. It also explains the common (and serious) mistakes and misunderstandings trackers have fallen prey to, and the cost of these errors.
Table of Contents
Full Review
Order The Blackjack Shuffle Tracker's Cookbook

♠ Snyder, Arnold, Beat the 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8-Deck Game, Cardoza Publishing, 2005.

These books provide frequency distributions for blackjack games and guides for using them to analyze the profit available and flux inherent in different approaches to the games. They have helped players analyze not only card-counting approaches, but a number of original advanced techniques that they would otherwise not be able to analyze without writing their own computer simulation programs. If you don’t know what a frequency distribution is and why they’re important, read Blackbelt in Blackjack first.
Revised and updated in March 2005. The 2005 editions are available now through Cardoza Publishing, at 1-800-577-WINS
or: Cardoza Publishing, P.O. Box 1500, Cooper Station, New York, NY, 10276. Also available at Gamblers Book Store in Las Vegas.

For Beating Online Blackjack:
♠ Snyder, Arnold. How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms, Cardoza Publishing, 2006.
269 pages; paperback. Price: $12.95

Arnold Snyder shows how to play and win money in the online casinos and poker rooms. The book covers the latest information on every step of the process, from choosing sites and opening an account to analysis and strategies for the latest types of bonuses. The second section covers online poker strategies, with an emphasis on analyzing the value of online poker room bonuses and the differences between live games and tournaments and online games and tournaments.
Order How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms
Table of Contents


♠ Thorp, Edward O., Beat the Dealer, Random House
Paperback. Price: $10.75

Not the book to read to get an easy recipe for card counting, but the classic is a great introduction to the theory and methods of card counting, how these methods were developed, and the initial experiences of card counters in the casinos of Las Vegas in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Table of Contents
Order Beat the Dealer

♠ Uston, Ken with Rapoport, Roger, The Big Player.
$7.95

Uston’s account of the Big Player team run by Blackjack Hall of Famer Al Francesco. A good read.
Order The Big Player

♠ Uston, Ken, Million Dollar Blackjack
Price: $18.95

The legendary player describes real-life high stakes team play, with some decent description of types of hole-card strategies, especially front-loading and spooking.
Order Million Dollar Blackjack

♠ Wilson, Allan. The Casino Gambler’s Guide, Harper & Row, 1965-70.

Allan Wilson was one of the early computer analysts of blackjack prior to the publication of Beat the Dealer. In The Casino Gambler’s Guide, he was the first author to provide blackjack card counters with clear and practical explanations of standard deviation, risk of ruin, and the Kelly Criterion, as well as easy-to-use guidelines for bet sizing based on bankroll when an advantage player is using a betting spread. What was particularly notable was how simply Wilson was able to describe these difficult mathematical concepts for players of average math ability.

♠ Wong, Stanford. Basic Blackjack, Pi Yee Press, 1995.
256 pages; paperback. Price: $14.95

Two thirds of this book is devoted to basic strategy. including including the math for various bonuses on naturals, doubling on more than two cards, redoubling, early surrender, and dealer takes ties. The final third contains analysis of the math of playing tells, warps, front-loading, and spooking, though not based on practical experience.
Order Basic Blackjack

♠ Wong, Stanford. Professional Blackjack, Pi Yee Press, 1975; last revised 1994.
350 pages; paperback. Price: $19.95

This book discusses the Hi-Lo count, as well as Wong’s advanced "halves" counting system. It includes index numbers for virtually every rule you’re likely to encounter anywhere in the world, plus interesting analysis and data on shuffles, fluctuation, and bet-sizing.
Order Professional Blackjack

♠ Wong, Stanford, Casino Tournament Strategy, Pi Yee Press, 1997.
352 pages; paperback. Price: $29.95

A beginner’s guide to playing tournaments with an advantage.
Order Casino Tournament Strategy

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Blackjack Card Counting Simulation Software

POWERSIM FREE PROGRAMMABLE BLACKJACK SIMULATION SOFTWARE


Background Information on the PowerSim Project:

I am sponsoring the development of PowerSim because I can honestly no longer recommend any of the commercially-available blackjack simulation software. Based on my experience as a blackjack researcher and professional player, the commercial software available is out-dated. There is no blackjack simulation software available for sale that meets my own needs as a player or that I feel is adequate for meeting the changed needs of today's card counters and other blackjack players.

Even if you don't understand the changes that are needed, and why they are needed, don't worry, because I do. And you will soon understand too. Better tools will mean more money for players.

PowerSim will already run fast, powerful and accurate blackjack and card counting simulations for you that provide the information you need for comparing games and card counting strategies, calculating risk and bankroll requirements, optimal bets, advantage and win rate for a wide variety of games and rules sets.

The programmable PowerSim has also already been modified by players to run simulations that cannot be run on the commercial software, including simulations of the new and innovative OPP Count for beginning players.

I intend for the PowerSim project to develop exactly the blackjack software that is needed, 100% free for players. Download PowerSim Blackjack and Card Counting Simulation Software today for free and get involved in the cutting edge of the game to maximize your potential as a player.

1. Download Blackjack PowerSim & Instructions
    Free (Version 3, February 13, 2006 upgrade)
2. Install XBasic Free
    (For detailed instructions, see the
    Instructions.doc in the Blackjack Power Sim
    download)
3. Download XBasic Documentation Free

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Baccarat

May, John. Baccarat for the Clueless, A Beginner's Guide to Playing and Winning. Lyle Stuart, 1998.
144 pages; paperback. Price: $12.00

John May provides information on everything from the rules, history and etiquette of baccarat to a wide range of possible advantage play techniques for the game. Most of the opportunities discussed are either weak (such as card counting) or mostly no longer available, but the book is useful for making players aware of the types of advanced advantage play opportunities that exist beyond blackjack card counting.


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Internet Casinos

♠ Snyder, Arnold. How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms, Cardoza Publishing, 2006.
266 pages; paperback. Price: $12.95

Arnold Snyder shows how to play and win in the online casinos and poker rooms. The book covers the latest information on every step of the process, from choosing sites and opening an account to analysis and strategies for the latest types of bonuses. The second section covers online poker strategies, with an emphasis on analyzing the value of online poker room bonuses and the differences between online games and tournaments and live games and tournaments.
Table of Contents
Order How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms

Dan Gordon is a professional sports bettor who has also been retained as a consultant to sports books and written sports-handicapping columns for major newspapers. In Beat the Sports Books he provides the winning betting models he uses for handicapping and betting on NFL games, as well as detailed information on how to make your own lines, size your sports bets, and succeed as a professional sports bettor. Note: The revised and expanded 2nd edition of Gordon's book is now available from Cardoza Publishing.The 2nd edition quantifies the point adjustments for each betting model and supplies numerous additional betting models.
Table of Contents
Full Review
Order Beat the Sportsbooks