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Online gambling resources


A comprehensive selection of quality gambling websites, books and software. The links in the index take you to the relevant sections and descriptions further down the page; the links in the descriptions themselves will navigate you to the websites in question.


• Blackjack and Video Poker sites:
    • The Wizard Of Odds
    • BJ21
    • Blackjack Info
    • Blackjack Forum Online

• Online casino specific sites:
    • Beating Bonuses
    • Casinomeister
    • The GPWA
    • Slotcharts

• Software:
    • Winpoker
    • Video Poker Strategy Master

• Blackjack books:
    • Basic Blackjack
    • Professional Blackjack
    • Blackjack Secrets
    • Blackjack Attack
    • Knock Out Blackjack
    • Beat The Dealer
    • The Theory Of Blackjack
    • Million Dollar Blackjack
    • Burning The Tables In Las Vegas
    • The Money Spinners

• Video poker books:
    • Video Poker Optimum Play
    • Million Dollar Video Poker
    • The Frugal Gambler

• General gambling books:
    • The Theory Of Gambling And Statistical Logic

• Gambling literature:
    • The Gambler
    • The Queen Of Spades
    • Thirteen Against The Bank
    • Bringing Down The House




Blackjack and Video Poker sites


• The Wizard Of Odds: Straddling both the blackjack / video poker specific and the online casino categories, this is the premiere site for information on every casino game under the sun and is run by Las Vegas mathematics professor Michael Shakleford. There are three main sections: a general gambling information section, including many excellent articles, on subjects such as betting systems, the house edge and standard deviation and probabilities in poker and lotteries; a section on casino games in general, including some useful articles on blackjack and video poker and several web-based versions of the games for practising, and a section dedicated to online casinos in which each game offered by the major providers (Microgaming, Cryptologic, RTG, Playtech, Boss Media and several others) is analysed down to the bare bones. The strategies for the unusual games like Caribbean 21 and Pontoon were developed by Michael, and, as such, all online players are beholden to him for their mastery of these games. There is also an "Ask The Wizard" section, in which questions sent from readers on matters pertaining to gambling maths are answered. The "Godfather" of online gamblers.    ( Top )


• BJ21.com: BJ21 is owned by the well'known blackjack player and author of several seminal books on the subject, Stanford Wong. There is one public posting forum for blackjack-related questions and a number of private subscription-only pages called "green chip". There is also a good catalogue of blackjack, video poker, poker and sports betting books and software from which I've picked up several items over the years myself.    ( Top )


• Blackjack Info: Don't be put off by the "the world's most popular blackjack website" claim at the top and Ken Smith's face grinning out at you! - this is an excellent site I've used time and again. The most useful resource is the "Basic Strategy Engine" which can generate a house edge figure and strategy tables for just about any combination of rules. There's also a "strategy trainer" for practising the game - again, you can select any combination of rules and the trainer will correct your play if you make a mistake. A recent addition to the site is a blackjack forum where Ken is available for answering blackjack-related questions. Ken's also a hands-on webmaster who responds quickly to emails. This site is a great little resource.    ( Top )


• The Blackjack Forum: Another site combining blackjack writings and a posting forum - including one for internet casinos - hosted by blackjack luminary Arnold Snyder.    ( Top )



Online casino specific sites


• Beating Bonuses: Beating Bonuses is the best site on the internet for learning everything there is to know about bonuses and how to get the most out of them.    ( Top )


• Casinomeister: this popular discussion forum has been in business since 1998. There is also a disputes mediation service which may be of help if you have a problem.    ( Top )


• The GPWA: The Gambling Portal And Webmasters Association has an unethical behaviour reports forum where casino problems can be posted.    ( Top )


• Slotcharts: A site dedicated to giving up-to-date information on current online progressive jackpot games, authored by Ken Smith. Slots, video poker and roulette progressives.    ( Top )



Software


• "Winpoker", excellent video poker practice and analysis software by Bob dancer, available for download or in CD format from Bob's Zamzone site. Over twenty ready-made games, playable in single or multi-line format, with the option to define games of your own choosing; you can change the paytables, analyse the game, analyse any hand and analyse your overall play or your play for any given session. There's are both simple and advanced training modes, including an auto-hold function (make sure that's switched off if you don't want any clues) and a useful "warn" mode which tells you the cost of any mistake you make. All hands dealt come with an analysis sheet of the values of all the possible plays, from best to worst, and there's also an "autoplay" function which can be set to deal up to 99,999,999 hands, from slow to lightening-fast, which can be used to amongst, other things, to get an idea of the sort of percentage return and the fluctuations you can expect over reasonably limited number of hands. An excellent resource which no serious video poker should be without. Customer support is also very good - they reply swiftly to emails.    ( Top )


• Video Poker Strategy Master, by Tomski, also available for download at Zamzone. VPSM produces accurate strategy charts for most of the main video poker games, and you can customize the paytables any way you want. You can't play the games, but you can learn HOW to play them and then apply the strategies to your practice on Winpoker.    ( Top )


Blackjack books


Many of the good blackjack books on the market deal specifically with card-counting, which is beyond the reach of this site. That said, they still contain a mine of excellent information on the subject that all players can learn from, and no blackjack enthusiast should be without at least a couple of books on the subject.

All of the following books can be obtained from the Amazon catalogue. If you click through from the links on the left, Hundred Percent Gambling will receive a small commission on any sales generated.


Basic Blackjack "Basic Blackjack" by Stanford Wong. Basic strategy charts and explanations of the correct strategy changes for just about any rule variations you'll come across and many more besides, plus discussion of winning techniques outside counting in the "Tells", "Warps" and "Other Tricks" chapters.    ( Top )


Professional Blackjack "Professional Blackjack" by Stanford Wong. Mostly dedicated to the ho-lo counting system and adherent topics, with comprehensive coverage of rule variations and index numbers. Included also are shuffle and "streak" studies (referenced in the "progression myth" article), and the appendices include comprehensive tables of the expected values of all possible plays of all the two-card starting hands against each dealer upcard, one deck and six deck, both S17 and H17. If you want to know why you don't split 66 against 2 in a no DAS game, this is the place to look.    ( Top )


Blackjack Secrets "Blackjack Secrets" by Stanford Wong. This book starts off with the usual introduction to the game, followed by a slightly less in-depth presentation of the "hi lo" count than in Professional Blackjack; the mainstay of the book is the subsequent advice on camouflage - how to disguise your playing skills and avoid getting barred; a lot of high-quality information is packed into the 256 pages, and although all of Wong's books are good, this one stands out as an excellent investment and a great partner to "Professional Blackjack".    ( Top )


Blackjack Attack "Blackjack Attack" by blackjack guru Don Schlesinger. A more advanced text which assumes the reader is already familiar with the basics of counting and bypasses strategy charts and counting instruction altogether. It kicks of with an entertaining account of a day spent back-counting, and topics include Don's "Illustrious 18" strategy variations, betting techniques and win rates, risk of ruin, team play and much more. Required reading for any serious blackjack player.    ( Top )


Knockout Blackjack "Knock-out Blackjack" by Ken Fuchs and Olaf Vancura. Presentation of the KO system, an unbalanced count invented and developed by the authors, which at the time surprised many sceptical authorities by performing almost as well as comparable balanced counts. If you're attracted to the concept of counting but balk at the idea of dividing 13 by 5, this book is for you.    ( Top )


Beat The Dealer "Beat The Dealer" by Ed Thorpe. The book that started it all in 1962 and enshrined the discovery of card counting. It revolves around a game very different to todays, but it remains a historical masterpiece. Included are accounts of Thorpe's casino experiences with the first ever counting techniques, and the revised 1966 edition contains the first reference to the popular "Hi Lo" counting system.    ( Top )


The Theory Of Blackjack "Theory Of Blackjack" by Peter Griffin. The definitive book on the mathematics of blackjack. It reads rather like a university exam paper in advanced statistics, and, as such, isn't exactly one for the mathematically challenged. There is, however, a fair bit that can be absorbed by those of us further down the arithmetical ladder, and Griffin's fine sense of humour adds a lot of readability to what could otherwise be a very daunting text.    ( Top )


Million Dollar Blackjack "Million Dollar Blackjack" by Ken Uston. Uston is one of the most colourful characters in the history of the game, courting publicity and frequently controversy and celebrating his successes in the kind of gregarious style anathema to most counters. The technical side of the book builds up the game from basic strategy through to presentation of the "Uston Advanced Point Count", a complex but effective system devised by the author and still very much in use today. Intermingled with this is an account of the highs and lows Uston's career as a professional blackjack "team player". Some of the material is a bit dated in regard to today's game, but the book is a great resource and a good read.    ( Top )


Burning The Tables In Las Vegas "Burning The Tables In las Vegas" by Ian Andersen, an entertaining and informative account of how the author survives as a high-stakes counter in Las Vegas. He describes how he developed his camouflage technique by observing the playing characteristics of Asian high rollers and incorporating them into his game, in terms of both the play of the cards and table comportment. The various sub-optimal playing strategies used to achieve this end were analysed by Stanford Wong, and there is a chapter in which Wong details the minimal cost to the player of these various camouflage plays, plays which Andersen refers to as his "advertising budget". There's also a lot of useful advice to the counter on the kind of inter-personal skills required in the casino environment. It's aimed mainly at the $100 base-unit player, but there is also a section for $25 "green chippers". An interesting and very readable book.    ( Top )


The Money Spinners "The Money Spinners" by "Jacques Black". This book's main focus is a fascinating account of the development of the casino industry and noteworthy highs and lows experienced by players and casinos alike: Emperor Napoleon's authorization of gambling at the Palais Royal in Paris in the early nineteenth century; the Blanc brothers and their "Kursaal" in Homburg, almost bankrupted by an extraordinary roulette coup in 1852 and whose steady return to profitability was aided by the roulette mania of a Russian countess who was subsequently immortalized as "Grandmamma" in Dostoevsky's novel "The Gambler"; the various roulette feats of William Jaggars and William Darnsborough; the ruination of a London lord in pursuit of a roulette betting strategy. The history of blackjack is also recorded, from the earliest records of a winning player through to Ken Uston, the "king of blackjack". Slim on theory, but a gripping and unique history of the subject.    ( Top )



Video Poker books

.
There are far less quality video poker books on the market than blackjack. That said, unlike blackjack, a lot of information pertinent to online players cannot be found on the internet and a good book can be useful.


Video Poker Optimum Play "Video Poker Optimum Play" by Dan Paymar. This is an excellent book, containing a packet of great information in extremely readable format - the squiggles, Greek letters and pie charts are almost completely absent without any compromise in the quality. There is a chapter on "Precision Play" - greatly simplified rules for Jacks Or Better, Deuces Wild and Joker Wild, of the author's devising, which achieves an overall return which is extremely close to the maximum possible without any of the complexities of the hand rank charts. Other discussions include a history of the game, expected value, paytable and game variations, bankroll considerations and a section on probabilities. The appendices include a useful "tables and charts" section. An all-round excellent text. Dan is available for questions in his forum at Advantage Player.    ( Top )


Million Dollar Video Poker "Million Dollar Video Poker" by Bob Dancer. This is an account of the developer of Winpoker's years playing video poker in Las Vegas, and how he went from a $6000 bankroll to a million dollars playing this game only. More entertaining than informative, but an interesting read.    ( Top )


The Frugal Gambler "The Frugal Gambler" by Jean Scott. Although primarily dedicated to making the most of comps and promotions in brick and mortar casinos, there's a section on video poker which discusses Jacks Or Better and Deuces Wild (but no hand rank charts) and also the concept of positive and negative expectation. The section on cash comps in chapter five is also relevant to online players, giving easy to follow examples of negative expectation video poker that becomes positive with comp value factored in. An informative, easy-reading text, though concerned primarily with the terrestrial casino scene.   ( Top )


General gambling books


The Theory Of Gambling And Statistical Logic "
The Theory Of Gambling And Statistical Logic" by Richard Epstein. Now out of print but still available for purchase, this is an exhaustive treatise on the mathematics of gambling. Four hundred pages of tough reading for all but the statistically competent, but a gold mine of information and a landmark text in gambling literature.   ( Top )


Gambling Literature


The Gambler "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The most famous gambling novel ever written is both autobiographical and biographical in nature - the narrator, Alexis Ivanovitch, is a self-portrait of the author who, like his fictional counterpart, had dissipated large sums of money at the roulette table and been reduced to insolvency. The anti-hero, "Grandmamma", an autocratic, obsessional matriarch who arrives in "Roulettenberg" and proceeds to horrify her heirs by losing most of their inheritance at Roulette, is a depiction of the Russian countess Sophie Kisseleff, who Dostoyevsky would have encountered at the Homburg Kursaal casino in the 1850s, and who, like Grandmamma, had a compulsion for the wheel that stripped her of a large part of her fortune. The novel is an excellent, first-hand account of the ruinous nature of gambling compulsion, and went on, in, 1917, to inspire the opera by Prokofiev with the same title.    ( Top )


The Queen Of  Spades "The Queen Of Spades". Another work on the subject of gambling compulsion, this short story by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin tells of the young officer Hermann's attempt to wrest the secret of the three "magic cards" from another dowager, the countess Anna Fedorovna, by seducing her niece, and his ultimate demise after being tricked by the old lady (or rather, by her ghost) into wagering on the wrong card right at the end. Maintaining the tradition of setting Russian gambling fiction to music, Tchaikovsky wrote "Pique Dame" in 1890, in which the anti-hero, Hermann, receives rather more flattering treatment than he does at the hands of Pushkin.    ( Top )


Thirteen Against The Bank "Thirteen Against The Bank" by Norman Leigh. Ostensibly the true account of the adventures of a team of thirteen roulette "system" players as they ply their trade in casinos in London and Monte Carlo, and their ultimate ejection from France as a result of inflicting heavy losses on the casino. The book contains a wealth of misconceptions and inaccuracies, and as such cannot be taken seriously as a true story, but if you can sufficiently suspend disbelief it's a very entertaining read in its own right - and it might JUST have really happened.    ( Top )


Bringing Down The House "Bringing Down The House", by Ben Mezrich, is the true story of a team of students from the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology who "team-play" their way to several million dollars of blackjack winnings, through card counting and various other techniques, in Las Vegas in the mid 1990s, resulting in high levels of harassment and their eventual barring everywhere they played. Not exactly great literature, but a seriously high-octane read - and this one really DID happen.    ( Top )



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