Gambling Wizards

[Robert Goren]

I was thinking about buying Gambling Wizards by Richard Munchkin. Has anyone read it? Is it any good?

[thaskalos]

Excellent book.

[46zilzal]

IF that book addresses the game from the gambling BACK to handicapping, it would be a gold mine.

We should learn to judge value long before we open a racing form.

[nalley0710]

Ive read any biography of gamblers and traders I can find (I have over 500 books on gambling). This is definately one of the best books on the topic on par with the interviews Barry Meadow did in his newsletter(also excellent). Ive read it several times.

[DeanT]

Killer book. Definitely a good pick up.

[acorn54]

this is what one reviewer from amazon had to say about the book

"Do not expect this book to tell you anything about how the professional gamblers bet or what they perceive the right betting strategy is or how money management is about. This book is just some kind of fiction. By adopting a question-answer or interview approach, this book reveals how those professional gamblers started his/her first betting, how they became professional gamblers and what their interesting experiences were. This book is more of a leisure reading. "

[Robert Goren]

this is what one reviewer from amazon had to say about the book

"Do not expect this book to tell you anything about how the professional gamblers bet or what they perceive the right betting strategy is or how money management is about. This book is just some kind of fiction. By adopting a question-answer or interview approach, this book reveals how those professional gamblers started his/her first betting, how they became professional gamblers and what their interesting experiences were. This book is more of a leisure reading. "That is what I am looking for. From what I have gathered, a lot of it deals with blackjack players. The players are more interesting than the game.

[thaskalos]

That is what I am looking for. From what I have gathered, a lot of it deals with blackjack players. The players are more interesting than the game. These are the people featured in the book:

Billy Walters - sports bettor
Chip Reese - poker player
Tommy Hyland - blackjack counter
Mike Svobodny - backgammon player
Stan Tomchin - sports bettor
Cathy Hulbert - Blackjack/poker player
Alan Woods - Horse player
Doyle Brunson - poker player

[facorsig]

I posted the following review in Amazon.com five years ago:

"This book contains a series of 8 interviews with gamblers across a range of games (backgammon, horse racing, poker, other) of proportionate length and content. There is a standard range of in each discussion including youth, introduction to gaming, books, going broke, children and recommendations to others. Each interview is structured as an open ended question and answer session.

The author is not famliar with some of the answers as evidenced by reference to Harvel (for Harville) and may have lost other details in the transcription. An interesting aspect of the book is the definition of gaming slang (e.g. going broke). None of the questions are very pointed and the answers are equally dull. There is nothing about the questions or answers which is going to "open the bank" for any one. Instead, the book points to hard work and frequent losing streaks for the interviewees. Recent interest in poker may stimulate some interest. It was interesting to compare and contrast the answers and come away with my own picture regarding the key factors to success."