Gambling books range from how-to guides to literary fiction. There are even books about gambling and casinos.

Nicholas Pileggi’s book Wiseguy, which became Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film GoodFellas, is a Mafia-style story of love, murder and revenge. It’s a must-read. Blackjack Autumn by Barry Meadow is a fun read about an expert counting system player traveling to play blackjack in all Nevada casinos.

The House Always Wins by Brian Rouff

A meld of mystery, ghost story and coming-of-age tale, this engaging read brims with strong character development and a solid plot. Rouff’s writing style grips readers right from the start and his vivid depiction of locales keeps the story alive.

Michigan journalist Anna Christiansen’s small-town life goes haywire when her interview with Aaron Eisenberg, bass player of a promising band, morphs into a whirlwind romance. Soon they’re moving to Vegas, getting married and pregnant, and living in a big fixer upper haunted by a Sin City racketeer.

Rouff wrote this book largely while traveling for work, crafting it on the road in hotel rooms and on airplanes. He clearly understands Las Vegas and its ghosts, as evidenced by this witty and entertaining tale. This is his third novel.
Fortune’s Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone

William Poundstone delves into the world of mathematics, gambling, and Wall Street in this book. He explores the Kelly criterion, which is a mathematical formula for maximizing wealth. This concept has a lot of real-life applications in gambling and investing. Moreover, it also raises ethical questions about the fairness of exploiting an edge in the stock market and casinos.

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered a scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age whose genius is ranked with Einstein’s. The other was MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp. Together they applied the science of information theory—the foundation of computers and the Internet—to a problem that interested both them and countless others: making as much money as possible, as fast as possible.

Molly’s Game by Molly Bloom

Molly Bloom’s book tells the story of her escapades as the hostess of exclusive poker games for high rollers. The sexy tale of luxury and thrills is a bit more melodramatic than the real-life events but nevertheless entertaining.

After a stint in Los Angeles and a run-in with Tobey Maguire (or at least her account of his behind the scenes machinations) she moves to New York and sets her sights on even higher stakes games. Soon she is collecting a rake from games with $250K buy-ins and making millions.

Her high-stakes world of show-offs, boorish behavior and conspicuous excess eventually comes crashing down in an FBI home-invasion and her arrest on charges related to illegal gambling. But she emerged from her ordeal with a second chance at life and found strength in solitude, self-reflection and literature.

The Music of Chance by Paul Auster

When firefighter Jim Nashe inherits two hundred thousand dollars from his father he decides to quit his job and pursue “a life of freedom.” He pays off his debts, buys a Saab, and heads out on the road.

After a while, he meets Bill Flower and Willie Stone, two obnoxious gamblers who live in an elaborate mansion in Pennsylvania. In the course of their encounter, they discuss a variety of intellectual topics, from the possibility that numbers have souls to the idiosyncratic ways in which they collect objects.

Though not as brilliant as Auster’s formal reworkings in the New York Trilogy, The Music of Chance is a compelling portrait of eccentricity and obsessionalism. It also makes a convincing argument that one’s identity is not an innate trait but rather a product of surrounding circumstance.
The Gambler by Arnie Wexler

Arnie Wexler, who placed his last bet 47 years ago, is a longtime leader in gambling addiction recovery and advocacy. He and his wife Sheila counsel gamblers and train casino workers and addiction counselors. They also answer five to 10 calls a day on the national toll-free gambling helpline.

Wexler was a compulsive gambler since childhood, flipping baseball cards and playing pinball. His addiction ravaged his family, including leaving his pregnant wife alone during her miscarriage. He lied to support his habit, stole and even engaged in illegal activities like horse racing tipping.

Wexler credits his Gamblers Anonymous group and a boss who pointed him to 12-step meetings for helping him recover. He and his wife now share their story to demonstrate that compulsive gambling can be overcome in a 12-step framework and with the help of others.