The best books about gambling are written by experts for gamblers, detailing the skills and knowledge you can use to create a practical betting strategy.

What Are the Best Gambling Books for Sports Betting and Online Casinos?

Whether you’re a seasoned or a novice casino or sports bettor, there’s a potential to widen your skill and knowledge about online gambling. But that comes at a price: reading expert and fiction brand novels about casino and sports betting strategies.

Sports betting books reduce overreliance on luck, minimizing the risk of losing money on bookmaker events, such as horse racing or casino games like blackjack, roulette, and Caribbean stud poker. Gambling books emphasize having a solid gambling strategy based on proven insider tips and information to boost your winning odds.

But what are the best books about gambling?

We’ve curated a list of casino and sports gambling books covering everything from betting basics to advanced poker strategies.

Why Should Every Gambler Read Sports Betting Books?

Gambling is a game of chance, and you need the right skill and knowledge to minimize the risk involved. Understanding the betting landscape, from the games on offer to odds to winning strategies, is the foundation for a better online gambling experience.

In his book, the New Complete Guide to Gambling, John Scarne introduces the concept of odds. He talks about the mathematics and psychology of gambling, explaining why a player has higher odds of winning a blackjack or baccarat game compared to a slot machine.

In his novel, John Scarne also covers the history of gambling. One of the exciting things you’ll learn is that Venice, Italy, is home to the first casinos established in the 1600s. Additionally, the modern deck of playing card games was made in the late 1700s in France.

Learning doesn’t stop there. In the Win at Gambling guide, Avery Cardoza covers betting terminologies, the specific rules of each game, how to avoid common, and bankroll management. The author also provides insider betting strategies, such as card counting when playing games like blackjack.

Cardoza also discusses the concept of comps. Comps are rewards a crypto casino or sportsbook gives to players for their loyalty. These freebies include free meals and bonuses, such as cashback on your accumulated losses.

Gambling Books for Sports Betting

The idea of potentially making some cash while cheering on your favorite team makes sports gambling fun and entertaining. For this reason, several sports betting books have been written for seasoned and novice bettors.

Below are some of the best books about gambling that a sports bettor can use to analyze data and place informed bets on baseball, football, basketball, or horse racing.

Football Gambling Books

Football is a darling to many, making it the most widespread form source of entertainment in the world. With all the fun experience football brings, gamblers can potentially make money out of it. However, they need strategies based on mathematics to analyze football data to increase their chances of winning.

While it is hard to settle on one novel as the best book for sports betting, Football Betting Made Easy and The Complete Guide to Sports Betting are top picks for understanding soccer.

In Football Betting Made Easy, Jonathan Burges explains football bets in detail. He covers all the available markets, from 1X2 to over/under to half-time/full-time to handicaps (Asian and European).

In The Complete Guide to Sports Betting, Kevin Dolan gives strategies and tips gamblers can use to maximize profits. Kevin explains the bankroll management formula and the common mistakes punters should avoid to minimize the risk of losing money.

Betting Books for Horse Racing

If you are a horse racing enthusiast, you need to understand the basics of the sport before making a wager. A classic guide you can rely on for horse racing is Andrew Beyer’s Beyer on Speed. The book covers the ins and outs of horse racing, from reading past horse performances to analyzing speed figures.

Another horse racing masterpiece is Brad Free’s Handicapping 101. In this book, Brad introduces handicapping, making it an easy topic to digest. He discusses how to analyze past horse performances, read a horse’s racing form, and identify value bets.

Basketball Betting Guides

Are you a fan of NBA and college basketball games looking to make informed bets? Basketball Betting 101 by John Avello and Jay Kornegay should be your next read. This book covers all the basics of basketball betting, from basketball terms to analyzing betting strategies, helping you hedge your bets.

Another piece you should read is The Art of Betting on Basketball by John Rothschild. The novel revolves around the foundation of basketball betting, covering strategies players can use to analyze data to maximize winning odds and manage their bankroll.

Bonus Books for Sports Betting

Sports betting is a wide topic, and there’s no one-fits-all betting novel unless it’s about gambling addiction. Every guide caters to a specific sports bettor, appreciating the diversity of sports betting. Additional books you can read to enhance your knowledge of sports betting include:

Soccernomics

I agree with Simon Koper that each sports betting event is unique and must be studied individually. Whether it is football, basketball, or niche events like eSports, cricket, and horse racing, you must establish a strategy that will help you to win more than you lose.

Soccernomics is based on the 2018 World Cup, from which Simon Koper studied all the games, arguing that analyzing specific events in a match forms the foundation of creating a strategy based on a particular market.

Thinking in Bets

Annie Duke’s Thinking in Bets, described by the New York Times as a modern investing blueprint, digs deeper into providing solutions for multiple outcomes. This book is the sum of holistic approaches you can use in gambling, from behavioral to strategic to business, to help you succeed in sports betting.

Thinking in Bets is a motivation to use different strategies when betting, including maximizing bonuses. For unbeatable promotions that can boost your bankroll, try your hand at bookies like N1 Bet, Fairspin, Weiss, and JooCasino

Sports Betting Audiobooks

If you prefer listening to reading, you can add many audiobooks to your shopping cart on Amazon Kindle.

The Logic of Sports Betting leads the way. This 6-hour, 41-minute audiobook answers the critical questions of sports betting, such as how sportsbooks make their lines, which types of bets are the best, and whether you can beat the house.

The Gambler, narrated by Billy Walters, is another masterpiece audiobook talking about the secrets of life at risk. The audiobook talks about the strategy of controlling the odds, a secret that made Billy Walters the Michael Jordan of sports betting.

Another piece you should add to your Amazon Kindle shopping cart is Sports Betting for Dummies. This 15-hour, 53-minute audiobook discusses how to define the kind of sports bettor you are, choosing the best bookmaker, managing your bankroll, and how some basic statistics and probability concepts can make you a better bettor.

Other sports betting audiobooks that come at a friendly price include:

  • The Darkside of Sports Betting
  • The Smart Money
  • The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told

The Best Gambling Books for Casino Games

With the popularity of online gambling, some players prefer online casino games like Caribbean stud poker to sports betting. While casino games largely depend on luck, there are proven strategies you can use to avoid losing your money at casinos. You can find these strategies and other insights in, but not limited to, the following books:

Gambling Guides for Blackjack

A blend of skill and luck increases your winning odds when playing blackjack, and some books can help you understand this game better.

Let’s start with the Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder. In this book, Arnold Snyder discusses the basic strategies of winning at a blackjack table, from card counting to rule variations. He backs up his theory with real-world scenarios.

Another must-read piece is Beat the Dealer by Edward Thorp. This book covers the famous Thorp’s card counting strategy that most professional players use. The strategy involves mimicking the dealer if the dealer’s up card is 7-A and never busting if their up card is 2-6.

Last but not least is Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. This non-fiction book is about six Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) students who took Vegas for millions. The students, together with their mathematics professor, designed a card-counting system that correctly predicted when the decks were ready to count the cards.

A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market Hardcover is yet another blackjack masterpiece by Edward Thorp. As a mathematician, Thorp designed a card-counting formula that beat dealers in Las Vegas and Wall Street, making him a remarkable force at blackjack tables.

The Best Gambling Books for Slot Machine

Do you understand how a slot machine works? Frank Scoblete’s book, the Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines, explains the basics of a slot machine, including the interpretation of pay tables.

Another novel with slot machine secrets is The Slot Machine Answer Book by John Grochowski. The guide has everything you need to know, from the history of slot machines to video slot trends to tips for maximizing your profits.

Gambling Books for Roulette

Like other casino games, roulette is a game of chance. But with the right strategies, players can increase their winning odds when making roulette bets.

The first book that can hedge you against the casino is Adam Kucharski’s The Perfect Bet: How Science and Maths are Taking the Luck out of Gambling. This hardcover uses science and mathematics to explain the physics of roulette and insider betting strategies that give you an edge.

If you’re looking for more advanced roulette betting strategies to help you avoid common mistakes, including bankroll management, Spin Roulette Gold by Frank Scoblete should be your next read.

The Best Poker Books

You need to master a skill and strategy to have better odds of playing and winning poker. There are many books about poker, but here are our best picks.

The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky introduces the theory of poker and explains in detail all the mathematics used in the game. David Sklansky then goes on to explain insider poker betting strategies, such as slow-playing and semi-bluffing.

The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova is another great book for poker enthusiasts. Maria Konnikova focuses on how to pay attention, master oneself, and win. Doubling as a psychologist, Maria accounts for how she moved from a novice player to winning over $311,000 and still counting.

The Biggest Bluff has deeper insights on how to attain the impossible. By reading this book, you will learn how to sit at a live poker table and win. And here is some good news: You can always play live casino games at our top casinos.

We will close gambling books for poker with Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Hold’em. This hardcover covers all the basics of Texas hold ’em poker and provides quizzes that deepen your understanding of poker betting strategies.

If you want to master poker, including more advanced strategies, we recommend the following books:

  • The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter
  • Super/ System by Doyle Brunson
  • The Godfather of Poker by Doyle Brunson
  • Casino Royale by James Bond

If you are a high roller with excellent poker mastery or are looking to become a professional poker player, don’t miss out on high stakes poker. The high stakes poker is a card game television program that brings together the best poker players in the world, competing for millions of money.

Responsible Gambling

Gambling, whether sports betting or casino games, can result in addiction. If you find yourself chasing losses when playing video poker games or sports betting on college basketball, among other events, it’s an early sign you are running into problem gambling.

Remember, gambling should be a source of entertainment rather than income. So, approach gambling with mindfulness and responsibility. Set betting limits to ensure that the fun remains within the realm of enjoyment and doesn’t tip into distress.

If you want to make an extra coin from gambling, ensure you design a sports betting strategy using science and mathematical concepts. To make this hassle-free, you can read the best books about gambling and combine the knowledge to your advantage.

Why You Need to Set Limits for Sports Betting and Online Casino

Despite the fun of sports betting and online casino games, you might end up leaving the bookmaker empty-handed. To avoid this menace, which has become so popular with the advent of the internet and online gambling, we advise players to set limits.

Setting betting limits ensures that the excitement of potentially winning big at a game of baseball, college basketball, horse racing, blackjack, or video poker doesn’t overshadow the primary reason for gambling—entertainment.

Deciding on a budget before visiting any online gambling platform should be a rule of thumb. This ensures that your time spent at a casino on an online gambling site enhances your fun experience without leading to regrettable outcomes.

Where to Get Problem Gambling Help

Problem gambling is a personal, mental, and social issue that must be talked about enough. If you or someone you know is going through a gambling addiction, help is always one step away.

Every sportsbook and online casino has a page dedicated to responsible gambling. You can find this page at the bottom center of any online gambling platform. On this page, you will find resourceful information, including self-exclusion tools and other methods that can minimize the adversity of problem gambling.

Similarly, you can use premium self-exclusion programs to foolproof yourself from gambling addiction. You can use software that blocks online gambling websites and apps, ensuring you don’t access any betting content for a specified period.

Gambling Books: A Hidden Treasure for Sports Betting and Online Casino

Knowledge and skill are the first lines of defense when venturing into online gambling. Whatever your skill level is, there’s always something new worth learning about sports betting and online casino games. Reading the best books about gambling comes with a prize: learning and understanding the ins and outs of every game, from sports events like baseball and college basketball to casino games like blackjack, roulette, and video poker. The knowledge and skill set you find from these gambling books can help you create a science and mathematics formula, boosting your winning odds.

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