The literary arena is peppered with an incredible selection of casino books. Every year self-styled authors and acclaimed experts lend their advice to aspirant players. Whether you’re looking to beat the dealer in a game of blackjack, or understand the rules of play for general casino games, it’s important to access the right information from the best sources. A smorgasbord of educational casino books abounds, including best-selling titles like Casino Gambling for Dummies, Winning Casino Craps, The Frugal Gambler, and Essential Poker Math, to name but a few. Many of these popular titles are written by mathematicians, statisticians, gambling experts, and industry insiders.
What Are the Hallmarks of a Great Casino Guide?
Kevin Blackwood’s Casino Gambling for Dummies is a great starting point for the modern-day gambler. This book provides a wealth of information for players including how to manage your money at the casino. Bankroll management is one of the most overlooked concepts in gambling, and it often determines your success or failure at the casino. Besides managing your money, players can also learn invaluable tips, techniques and playing strategies to avoid big losses, and to enjoy their gaming sessions more. All the top casino games are highlighted, including European Roulette, American Roulette, Blackjack, Slots games, Poker games, and Craps. The book covers issues that are typically hands-off for many other authors, such as dealing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), online gambling, avoiding bad bets and gimmicks, and understanding RTPs and the house edge. These are all important concepts to novice gamblers and professionals alike.
Player-Friendly Gambling Books
Gambling guides are presented as an uncomplicated way for the average player to understand the rules, gameplay and winning possibilities in specific games or categories of games. Unfortunately, there is nothing simplistic about understanding card counting methodology in Blackjack, and working with probability analysis and Blackjack strategy charts. The best authors are not always the best players, for there is a divide between the theory and the practical application thereof. A player’s ability to understand the subject matter presented in a didactic fashion will determine his or her success at the casino tables. For example, a great Blackjack strategy guide should be accessible to a greenhorn, and a professional Blackjack player alike.
Blackjack is one of a handful of games that routinely makes headlines. Why? It is a true numbers game – there is an element of skill, strategy, and good fortune that determines the outcomes in this classic card game. At its heart, Blackjack is about beating the dealer’s hand total without exceeding 21. Precisely how best to do this is up for debate. Various Blackjack experts have weighed in on this matter with fantastic theories, playing strategies, and advice. For example, John Bukofsky inked a terrific blackjack guide titled Blackjack: Play like the Pros: a Complete Guide to Blackjack Including Card Counting in 2006.
The book is available in paperback and on Kindle, and it indicates why Blackjack is widely considered the best casino games to play. For starters, it offers the lowest house edge of any game at the casino, and players can effectively apply tactics and strategies to reduce the house edge further by playing with perfect strategy. The book succeeds because it does one thing that many other guides failed to do: it keeps things simple and engaging. The game of Blackjack is played one-on-one against the dealer – the actions of other players do not count. This book goes to great pains to extol the virtues of Blackjack and how players can apply their newfound skills in a practical sense.
Are Gambling Guides Better Than Gambling Books?
The average casino player may not be interested in devoting days or weeks to reading a complex statistical guide on playing Blackjack, Poker or Craps. To these folks, an article written by an expert such as Elliott Jacobson PhD, Michael Kaplan, or Nicholas Colon may be a better idea. Gambling experts have fashioned their careers off educating their fans and followers with the tools and resources needed to understand game mechanics, payouts and winning possibilities. Henry Tamburin PhD is perhaps one of the most legendary gambling experts. He has penned multiple Blackjack strategy guides and card counting articles over the years. He succeeds as a player and an author by dint of his ability to connect with the reader in an easy-to-understand fashion.
Keeping It Simple with Casino Strategy Guides
One of the best examples of a blackjack strategy guide is ‘Blackjack by Henry Tamburin PhD: The Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.’ This guide has been described as the consummate resource for Blackjack players. Of course, Tamburin has a distinguished career as an author and a player. Perhaps his most famous book was Blackjack: Take the Money and Run.
Learning how to beat the casino is less about understanding complex mathematics than it is about the peripheral issues such as variations of the game, comps, negotiating better bets with casino management, and understanding all the dynamics that go into play. Whatever book you opt for, it’s important to keep things simple. In a Blackjack setting, this means that one should focus on Classic Blackjack games, with 1 or 2 decks of cards initially. Once players advance to higher levels of understanding, they can make better decisions with 4+ decks of cards in Blackjack games.
The literature on strategy-based card games like Blackjack is populated with many classic titles. Sometimes, players can benefit from reading a couple of pointers from a Blackjack strategist, but if you’re looking for a detailed understanding of the mechanics of the game, guides and books are the best bet. Whatever you choose, there are certain inalienable truths such as the merit of Blackjack charts, Blackjack odds, Blackjack calculators, and Blackjack basic strategy. Legendary players such as Herbert Maisel, Roger Baldwin, Ed Thorp, Julian Braun, Alan Wilson, Al Francesco, Ken Ustin, Arnold Snyder, Max Ruben, and Don Johnson have made their mark at the casinos. TheseHall of Famers are revered for their prowess at the tables, and their ability to transcribe their love of the game to paper for everyone else to enjoy!
