Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers

by Richard W. Munchkin

Can you imagine betting a million dollars on a football game or winning seven million on a single horse race? Can you even fathom what it would be like to be the resident backgammon player at the Playboy Mansion or to win the World Series of Poker -- twice? How would you react if a gun-wielding casino owner demanded back the money that you won playing blackjack in his casino?

It's all in a day's work for the gamblers in this book.

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

It isn't luck. Collectively, they've won hundreds of millions of dollars playing the games most people consider unbeatable. Discover what it really takes to become a master gambler.

Gambling Wizards delves deeply into the lives and minds of some of the most successful professional gamblers of all time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

328 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title, unbelievably, is legit: this features one of the only extant interviews with Stan Tomchin on bookmaking, and one of the more candid and thorough interviews Billy Walters ever gave - if you've got any taste for sports betting the book is a must just for those. It's hard to say how honest and reliable any of the subjects are, but the book is still a rare glimpse on how they see themselves and what carried (and harried) them to the peaks of the crooked path.

[Ştefan Trepăduș · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that tells not only the lives of the greatest bettors but also some of (but not too many) their secrets. It was surprising for me to find out that even in the previous century people used computers in gambling and that most of the card players or sports bettors were highly skilled (not always in a formal way) in mathematics. The book also shows the similarities between gambling and stock trading.
The book is not quite what I was searching for, but an interesting lecture nonetheless.

[Artur Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny stories but hard to extract any real value from it.

[Girish Thapa · Rating 5 out of 5]

its an insteresting subject

[Baraa Qudah · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun book to read & interviews
can be related to trading profession to high degree

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone has dreams ... mine is to gamble for enough money that it hurts ... High Stakes Poker. Nose bleed limits. This is the story of degenerate geniuses (or genius degenerates) who people tell stories about when they're not around. Doyle, Chip Reese, Stan Tomchin. Some of my heroes. You like going to Vegas (preferably more than 3x per year) this is for you.

[Charles Reimler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lives Of Professional Gamblers Is Not Glamorous, But Interesting Readable Book
Of Unique Non-Fiction Characters! People
Who Work With A Very "Tiny Edge Of Advantage" Are Skilled At The "Craft" Of Gambling; Non-Verbal Behavior; And Battle
Life Being Human!