2 comments about Roulette: Playing to Win.

1. I play roulette alot and of course I have read a lot of books on roulette. Some of the books were good and some of the books were not so good. This book takes you inside the casino and let's you know what it is like. The book covers the subject of how to read the dealer. The book also rates many of the common systems that are out there. Also covered are systems for playing the outside edge bets. The book is selling for $14.00 on Amazon and I believe you will easily make that back by employing many of the strategies that covered in this book into you roulette game.



2. Not as good as I was expecting. Lots of I saw this happened here or I saw that happened there. Book could have been half the size with the same amount of info.

1 comments about Roulette At Its Best.

1. Amateur offering, author does not even know correct names for bets, keeps calling the street bet the "streak bet," 90% of the book explains the bets you can make and what they pay, 10% goes into combo betting (columns and colors, black-low-even, etc.), nothing original and he doesn't even give correct figures, keeps saying you lose on 5 numbers when you lose on 7 numbers (example-- cover red, high and odd, says "the only numbers that are uncovered are black 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10"-- WRONG, genius, you lose on those number and the zeroes too.) None of his bet offerings change the casino's edge or give the player an advantage over the wheel in any way, shape or form, and if the author had bothered to calculate out the probabilities for his bet suggestions he would come to the conclusion that you always end up with the exact same negative expectation, no matter what combination of chips you stake and no matter how you place them on the board (except for the basket bet, the one bet which is even worse than all the others.) The bet suggestions in this book are nothing you haven't thought of or tried before if you have thought about or played roulette more than a few times. The only thing this book proves is that anyone can write and publish a book on roulette (and find a sucker like me to buy it.) Got it, read it, studied it, re-read it, and threw it out. Worthless.

2 comments about Blackjack Dealing and Supervision.

1. Excellent book for experienced and novice dealers. Explains all of the procedures for dealing and supervising blackjack in a casino.



2. It explains the concept of black jack in a simpler form rather than manuals given by a specific casino. Although some of the procedures are different, the book helps you to become a better dealer and player. He makes learning the process easy. If you're attempting to enter a black jack class in the near future, you can get a heads up on the options that most casinos provide to the players. He also provides you with practice tests and an evaluation sheet that could be helpful with your auditions. It's worth buying for a reasonable price.

2 comments about Roulette for the Weekend Gambler: How to Get In, Make Your Hit and Get Out a Winner.

1. This book warns you to stay away from the Roulette tables because there is not a system to beat it. After reading it I decided not to waste my money at the Roulette tables, just try blackjack instead.



2. save yourself 10 bucks and instead use it for a couple extra roulette spins. The game is not beatable long term unless the odds somehow turns in the players favor (biased wheel, etc). The title of the book is deceiving because it tells you how to walk out a winner when the back of the book states that there is no such things a "professional roulette" player. You can learn all you need to about the game through a google search.

5 comments about Thirteen Against the Bank: The True Story of How a Roulette Team Broke the Bank with an Unbeatable System.

1. The fascinating account of how Norman Leigh took a team to break the bank at Nice using his roulette system. Dryly funny, it offers an insight into how gambling affects and alters personalties. It also illustrates a winning roulette system for those with the exceptional discipline, stamina and bankroll required to play it.



2. I read this book as a teenager and enjoyed it immensely. Since then, I've often wondered if it was true. I recently decided to write a simulation program that plays the system exactly as laid out in the book. What did I find? Email me at jwoodger@sympatico.ca, if you're interested.



3. I read the book in less than two days....truly was hard to put down....if you are just picking up a book to browse through and try and pick up a system, then you don't want the book...the system is explained throughout...no charts or graphs or any other BS....I found it to be a great read and have used a part of the system(mostly red/black and high/low) 5 times in the casinos(hardly enough to prove anything)but have walked away with $100+ each time...Now I don't have the capital to get a "Mushroom" as they call it, but if you can consistently walk away from the casino with $100-$200 for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of play...isn't that worth it.....Not quite as profitable as the European wheel, but it can still turn a profit with patience....BUY IT, READ IT AND ENJOY IT!



4. While the tale of a team of gamblers taking down a famous casino in Monte Carlo is an engaging story, here's the problem: The gambling system described is simply not possible.
   
   When I read the book, I had my father write a program to simulate 100,000 spins of a roulette wheel, using each of the gambler's moves (the outcome of the spin affects each team member differently).
   
   It took about 5 seconds on this massive computer (at Abbott Laboratories) to re-create 100,000 spins. Results weren't even close to making money. We ran it again, several times, same outcome.
   
   I then had him invert the program, that is reverse the logic revealed by Leigh's system. Maybe, I figured, the author was altering his strategy to hide the real method.
   
   Back to the computer, back to the same results - nothing that amounts to winning money.
   
   Cash in on good readaing from a fun older book, but don't get your hopes up to make a living off a the author's gaming system.



5. I read this book years ago and it captivated me. I have always thought that this would be a great movie with a young Michael caine In the lead role. I cannot vouch that this is a truue story (I have heard conflicting reports that Norman Leigh never Existed - his system doesn't work etc etc) However its a great read even if its a work of fiction. The Book ends with the "hero" about to depart for Vegas, I have wondered what happened Ever Since. Sounds like time for "Thirteen Against the Mobs bank!"

No comments about Warriors of the Wheel: Roulette Can Be Beaten This Book Shows You How.

5 comments about The Eudaemonic Pie.

1. What this team set out to do was only possible to get away with during a very narrow window in history. Sharp analytical and electronic skills at the dawn of the microelectronic age made it possible, and at a time when casinos weren't paying much attention to the threat posed by this emerging technology. Those days are gone forever. The casinos finally wised up around 1983.
   
   Bass has done a great job of telling the story of how a couple of physics postgraduate students and their friends develop tiny computers controlled by toe switches enable them to achieve an edge over the casino at roulette.
   
   This was particularly poignant for me, because I independently developed similar wheel-clocking methods and verified a 26% advantage over the house on a rented casino quality roulette wheel in 1976. The 'device law', which Nevada passed in the early 80's in response to people attempting to use technology to sack their coffers, largely put an end to concealed computers in casinos. Those to whom a felony rap is no deterrent are presumably still at it, using extremely advanced and difficult-to-detect hardware.
   
   Bass' story is a fascinating read and highly reccommended.



2. I'll admit it: I'm a geek, and the idea of a bunch of math geniuses using homebuilt computers to beat roulette is right up my alley. The plot does not disappoint, as an eccentric band of high-octane misfits create a commune motivated by discovery, innovation and greed.

   Unfortunately, the author's style is often ham-handed, leaving the reader with the unsettling feeling that the story should have been told differently. For one thing, the plot follows the project's timeline with mind-numbing accuracy. It's okay for journalism, but it leaves many of the juiciest details buried amongst mundane activities. In addition, the pacing does not change, giving the book a feel of bloodless efficiency rather than real passion or excitement.

   A few years ago I read Paul Hoffman's "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers," the excellent biography of mathemetician Paul Erdos. The whole way through "Eudamonic Pie" I found myself wishing that Thomas Bass had emulated Hoffman's engaging intertwining of Erdos' life, the history of math and the obscure culture and argot of top mathemeticians. Instead, I found this book to be an interesting plot bogged down by a flat and lifeless style.

   Sort of like Leonard Nimoy singing "Proud Mary."




3. hey if you want to read a well written book look somewhere else. I managed to finish this book because I kept in near my bed and it got me to sleep faster. Well not sure how this author got published but you can read the book for yourself if you want to fin d out. If you know what this book is about already then there's really no point in actually reading it. You certainly won't gain any insight into physics or science, the writing only skims the surface and does keeps it relativelly bland. Kindof of like a science fiction movie with computers that flash a bunch of images on computer screens for effects without actually attempting to penetrate the actual science of it all. I could go on and on, but that's what the book already did.



4. A group of students and researcher types are hanging out together and generally having a good time. They come up with a project, trying to beat casinos at roulette. After a long time spent on experiments and various methods, they manage to come up with one. It, of course involves various social techniques as well as the scientific ones to prevent them being booted out, as per usual. It is something that won't work today, though.



5. - Love this story! There is some validity in the reviews that critique the pace/style of the writing. However, I read it back in the early 90s, and the fact that it is still a vivid recollection counts for something. The advantage of time passage in analysis is better context and objectivity. Of course the disadvantage is that the details are not fresh. Probably I have forgotten minor irritations with style, while the strongly positive impression lingers. I do not give 5 stars lightly; though in this case the rating is more for the intrinsic wonder of the tale more than the technical adeptness in the telling.
   
   - The story is ultimately not about the goal, not about winning or losing or beating the house. Its really about the journeying. A unique shared human experience of some ordinary yet extraordinary people in ordinary yet extraordinary times. The ordinary draws the reader in with a continual reminder that it's a true story, magnifying the extraordinary nature of events. Somehow I found it intensely compelling to follow the characters and realize that in the same month I was, say, starting a newspaper route or trying to make the varsity soccer team, these offbeat-yet-practical, idealistic-yet-enterprising, brilliant-yet-sidetracked, anachronistic hippie-tinged grad students were mathematically modeling a roulette table in their central california bungalow or troubleshooting a shock-giving computer taped to their body in a casino bathroom hoping security won't find them out. Its a human story because its about about creativity, determination, curiosity, fear, motivation, joy, friendship and pain. Its a techno-geek-as-hero story as they blaze trails at the forefront of computer technology before you could even think about buying a TRS-80, much less a Commodore 64. I think Azeel's review quite accurately hints at a successful fusion of eclectic but fascinating elements.
   
   - Is the book too long? Should the pace be quicker? Perhaps, but the bottom line is it works. Some other stories may be generally comparable as far as being in the category of true story of a group on some venture (e.g. Fullness of Wings by Dorsey) but Eudaemonic Pie is different than anything else I've read. Partially this is because the slice of time and place in the silicon valley spanning the era of post Vietnam-disco-hostage crisis-Reaganomics is different. It's not for everyone, if you don't give it a try you may miss out on a flavor not to be served anywhere else.

1 comments about The European Roulette Book: Innovative Strategies for the Single Zero Roulette Wheel.

1. The European Roulette Book was very interesting in its explanation of how the roulette wheel was laid out and its relationship to the betting layout. This also applies to Kimo Li's other book The American Roulette Book.The cover of the book has under the title innovative strategies for the single zero wheel. Kimo Li really does'nt promise any more than what the title suggests. The only problem is that all of his information appears absolutely useless for betting purposes. His book is the best to date explaining why the wheel is the way it is. Perhaps after reading other books by different authors you may be able to apply his Pie in the Sky interpretation of roulette. I don't think so though. Fascinating but does'nt help me one bit.

5 comments about Beating the Casinos at Their Own Game : A Strategic Approach to Winning at Craps, Roulette, Slots, Blackjack, Baccarat, Let It Ride, and Caribbean Stud Poker.

1. Beating The Casinos At Their Own Game is a book you should consider if you'd like some help playing at the casinos. It's a well, written and nicely illustrated 278-page gambling guide with instructions for most of the games you'll find at any casino. The author, Peter Svoboda, knows his math because he has the credentials: a degree in both mechanical and civil engineering.

   You'll find casino basics in chapters 1 and 2 including some history, odds of winning and losing, what the casinos do to get you there, the house advantage, advice on managing your money and when to quit. And if you have a gambling problem, Peter will direct you to the right place. Chapters 3 through 13 list rules of the ten most popular casino games, with playing strategies and some betting systems you can try. The illustrations will help you learn the games and the math listed will explain the odds and probabilities of winning.

   Peter includes some known strategies for Craps, Roulette and Baccarat. So, if you're inexperienced at any of these games, you can take an expert with you to the casino. Peter also presents some of his own winning systems.

   If you've never been to a casino, but think you might want to try some of the games offered, I'd recommend studying this book before you enter. It has all the basic playing information you'll need to improve your chances of winning...




2. This is the first review I have written on Amazon. I felt compelled to write this to keep unsuspecting people from purchasing this book. I do not know the author, I am not an author, and I have no interests in whether this book does well or not. I am simply giving my opinion.

   Simply put, my problem with this book is that it is full of incorrect statements and poor advice which completely ignores probability theory. For example, on roulette, Mr. Svoboda actually says, "The house will always have a 5.26% edge, but you can increase your winning probabilities by playing it smart." What?!? When I read that, I knew he had a very weak grasp of probability theory. It is impossible to change the odds in roulette; they are fixed. You are always at a 5.26% disadvantage, no matter what your betting strategy is. Period. I suggest you run away from any book that asserts otherwise.

   The surprising thing is that in several parts of the book, Mr. Svoboda agrees that the casino has an advantage over the player in the long run. However, to overcome this, he recommends that players play in the short run! I couldn't believe that an engineer, and someone who supposedly understands mathematics and probability, would actually write such completely incorrect information. True, in the short run you may win, but odds are that you will lose. The percentage disadvantage you face does not change.

   Over and over, Mr. Svoboda asserts that his strategies increase your chances of winning. How can you increase your chances of winning if the odds against you are fixed? For example, after several pages of detailed and complex tables and charts, Mr. Svoboda admits that his craps betting strategy gives the house a 2% advantage. Yet he still advocates following his strategy, saying that you just need to know when to walk away when ahead. What he fails to mention is that you will be behind more often than you will be ahead.

   In games of chance and independent trials (such as craps, roulette and keno, to name a few), the house has a fixed percentage advantage over the player. This is a proven mathematical fact. There are no betting systems or strategies whish can change this percentage advantage. The only thing a player may do is bet slowly and bet the minimums in order to decrease the rate at which he loses. Gambling at these types of games should be viewed as paying for entertainment, not investing, as Mr. Svoboda suggests.

   Casinos love people with systems. Why do you think companies choose to spend $1 billion to build a new casino? Because they know that system betters will come in and lose more than that. Casinos exist because they make money for their owners. I had thought that with the advanced level of gaming theory available today, that books which advocated incorrect probability theory would become a thing of the past. Then I read Mr. Svoboda's book and realized I was wrong.

   On the plus side, the book does clearly state the rules of the games and the odds of winning. It has very pretty and colorful charts and tables. As a rule book, it is very good. However, as a strategy guide, you are much better off ignoring this book. Mr. Svoboda's assertion that "this book will help you learn how to level the playing field...and gain a return on your investment" is false. This book does not tell you how to even the odds against the house. The only return on investment you will get by following the advice in this book is negative.




3. I browsed through this book at the local bookstore. All I can say is don't take any pointers from this guy. He says before placing bets on "any craps", you should wait until the die hasn't produced craps for atleast 18 rolls???? He says after this the probability of any craps showing is 88 %. What is this all about? The truth is the odds of rolling craps is the same (11 %) regardless of how many times it's been rolled in the past. If you already own this book, I suggest you take your loss and throw it away.



4. Once I picked up this book I knew immediately I would breeze through the explainations easily. The text was well done and very readable = the charts, graphs and diagrams all came at the right time. The tid-bits about Mr Svoboda's experiences were fun to read, But.. most of all I was able to acquire a grounded knowledge of how to approach the games at any casino! Can't wait for the next book to come out from Mt Svoboda!! His knowledge and skills at communicating the nuances and the details of each game were very evident! Fun and easy lessons!!



5. I bought this book before heading to Vegas mainly because I wanted to brush up on the rules of blackjack. I was only going to have 4 hours there so i didn't want to waste any time getting ready to play. I found the second chapter and other sections that describe how things work in casinos (where to get your chips, what hand signals to give the dealer, etc) useful in keeping me from wasting time when i got there. The rest of it was worth reading to learn the rules of the games and to get me thinking about probabilities.

   Unfortunately, the logic's not always there and sometimes the data are wrong.

   Some examples:

   In the roulette section, he recommends that if you are going to bet on a single number, you should pick one that hasn't shown up in the past 20 spins. This, after explaining how a lot of people keep gambling on the faulty premise that if something hasn't happened in a while, it's likely to happen, and after describing bias in roulette tables, which would make a number more likely to re-appear if it HAS appeared multiple times before.

   In the blackjack section, I re-calculated the probabilities for each of the tables that he has in there, and while most of his numbers are right, some of them are off by as much as 5%. True, my numbers could be wrong, but since i wrote a computer program to do it (meaning that it did it consistently for each test), why would it be right for all but one value in the table? More likely, they are hand-copying or editing errors.

   I wrote software (yes, i'm a geek) to play the game, implemented his suggestions one by one, and played 100,000 hands with each to see what kind of improvement each one made. The fact is, if you play your hand just like the dealer (hold at 17+, hit below), you will win 48% of the time, lose 43% of the time, and push 9% of the time. If you implement all of his strategies, you will win 48% of the time, lose 43% of the time, and push 9% of the time (yup! exactly the same!). What's important turns out not to be how you play the game (in most of the strategies, you are trading busts for losing hands and vice versa), but how you BET. Using his doubling and splitting strategies lets you hang on to your money much longer before going broke (sometimes twice as long). In the blackjack section, he doesn't spend much time talking about betting.

   Lastly, and this applies to blackjack again, he claims that the casino's main advantage in blackjack lies in the fact that "the players must choose before the dealer whether or not to draw more cards." While it's true that you could play a lot better if you could see the dealer's cards, that is not what gives the casino the advantage. Remember, the dealer is basically a human machine -- it hits at < 17, holds at 17+. The dealer does not have the benefit of seeing EITHER of your cards, so that can't be the advantage. The casino's real advantage is that the player has one more losing condition than the dealer has. That condition occurs when both the dealer and the player bust. Other than that, if the player played exactly like the dealer, they would both do exactly the same. You cannot overcome this handicap. If you play conservatively such that you do not bust (which is where most of Svoboda's recommendations lead you), the percentage of hands you lose because the dealer has more points than you will go up.

   That's about it for now. Just wait till I read the other chapters, though!

5 comments about John Patrick's Roulette: A Pro's Guide to Managing Your Money and Beating the Wheel.

1. Roulette, contrary to popular belief, is a game that offers various opportunities to win despite the house edge of (ugh) at least 5%. There are two reasons for this. One, the number of options for betting open to the customer offer great hedge opportunities and two, it is a streaky game. Furthermore, if you can find a wheel with just one zero (and there are some in both Reno and Vegas), you cut that house edge in half on the outside bets. Learn to beat this game with the Regression system in conjunction with hedges or with the Action-Number system, a system that spreads your money around the entire wheel, giving you the best chance to win. This knowledge alone is great, but it is Patrick's philosophy that is the real meat and potatoes of being competitive. There is simply the most logical approach to beating this game written in this book. There are critcisms that this book is redundant in terms of the philosophy that Mr. Patrick teaches. I have a reply to these silly criticisms. Winning isn't complicated, it's just real hard to do. Get this book and open up another opportunity for yourself to be a winner during your next trip to the casinos.



2. This book is based on "martingale" ? There no wayyou can win with this systeme.

   This is one of the most poorlywritten books I have ever read.The system is quite simple and could beexplained clearly in a few pages of charts, but the authors have no idea how to make a clear explanation. It would take a conscious effort to make a simple idea any more confusing than has been done in this book. Unfortunately, the authors make it as difficult to learn as possible.There is a fair amount of information for me, but, again, this information is better-presented in other volumes.

   I would strongly recommend that players at all levels go to another book.

   This book is not simple to read!




3. Patrick's book has helped me in a major way to quit throwing money around the layout, and play in a controlled manner that's still fun -- because I've won 7 of 9 casino visits since! I don't break the bank -- but I don't lose my usual $300-$400 anymore either. This book is far superior to Scoblete's, offering actual inside numbers to play in order to spread numbers around the wheel, excellent suggestions on outside bets, pros and cons of betting systems, regression bets, money management, discipline -- highly recommended for those who see that Scoblete's riff -- "biased" wheels -- is something only those looking for a ridiculous "angle" will believe.



4. This books explains a lot progressions and money management in roulette, but none of the strategies in this book will give you and edge over the house. It's for recreational players only, who want to have fun only.



5. If an edge can be gained on the Roulette wheel John Patrick knows how to do it. If you apply his small win strategies there is no doubt you will win at Roulette. Very informative and well written where any one can understand, I truly enjoyed the read!