brainwagon

Where your host expounds about his largely academic interest in games of chance.

Links:

::amazon(“0394703103”, “Beat the Dealer, by Ed Thorp”)::

The classic, pick up a copy and read on the flight to Vegas. You can and should read his Mathematics of Gambling as well, especially since it’s available online for free.

::amazon(“0929712137”, “The Theory of Blackjack by Peter Griffin”)::

Want to understand the mathematics behind card counting? This is the book to have, terrific for those of us with a largely academic interest in blackjack.

::amazon(“0743249992”, “Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich:”)::

The story of how a group of MIT students used team play to win millions from Vegas. I found it to be a pretty interesting look into a world that is probably best viewed from the outside.

::amazon(“1880685000”, “The Theory of Poker by Skylansky”)::

I was hoping for a book as good as Griffin’s is on blackjack. The book is good, but really doesn’t ground you in the mathematics you might think you need. It does teach you how to think about poker (and to some extent gambling), but I would almost take those as gimmes.