Mason, what books should I have in my library?

[Dragonfly]

Hi Mason,

I am relatively new to advantage gambling. I would like a reading list for every aspect of advantage gambling. Your book reviews are helpfull. I bought Killer Poker when I was new to poker... it was a big mistake that I don't want to repeat. I am interested in all form of advantage gambling and in the maths behind it. So if you want you could recommand me good maths books, blackjack books, poker books, video-poker books, etc. I also made a bad purchase (the BJRM 2002 ) I was quite mad to see I could do an excel spreadsheet that could compute everything it did. If you want... give me a softwares list too.

[Redhotman]

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Hi Mason,

I am relatively new to advantage gambling. I would like a reading list for every aspect of advantage gambling. Your book reviews are helpfull. I bought Killer Poker when I was new to poker... it was a big mistake that I don't want to repeat. I am interested in all form of advantage gambling and in the maths behind it. So if you want you could recommand me good maths books, blackjack books, poker books, video-poker books, etc. I also made a bad purchase (the BJRM 2002 ) I was quite mad to see I could do an excel spreadsheet that could compute everything it did. If you want... give me a softwares list too.

[/ QUOTE ]
mason is gonna recommend every single book 2+2 has published.

my advice: theory of poker, hefap, gtaot, super system, inside the mind of a poker player, and then the essay books.

[npc]

[ QUOTE ]
So if you want you could recommand me good maths books, blackjack books, poker books, video-poker books, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not Mason, but here's by best-of-breed list, one per
category:

Math: The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic by Epstein
Blackjack Book: Hard to pick one. I'd have to say the best one is Theory of Blackjack by Griffin, but it's not a good book. For a first book I recommend Blackjack Secrets by Wong.
Poker: Best book is Theory of Poker by Sklansky. It's not a great first poker book either, IMHO. A good first book is Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Jones.
Video Poker: Video Poker, Optimum Play by Paymar
Other Games: Beyond Counting by James Grossjean

As for software,
Poker: Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em, latest version
Video Poker: WinPoker
Math: Software you've written yourself

Hope you find this helpful.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Dragonfly:

Reviews of many gambling books are in my book Gambling Theory and Other Topics. So you should probably get a copy of that. Reviews of books that I have read since GTAOT was published were recently posted on this forum. Between the two, you should have all the information you need.

Best wishes,
mason