Gambling for a Living
This book is authored by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth, both of whom are respected authors and are well-known for their other combined efforts in the gambling world, most notably their works on poker and blackjack. While their other books are sound manuals that are considered well-written and accurate, Gambling for a Living simply doesn't live up to the hype.
The first problem is that the book doesn't accomplish what the title promises. Nowhere in the pages will you, the reader, learn how to gamble for a living. What you will learn are the basics of various casino games, and even those will be written in a seemingly slack manner which leads one to question the purchase of said book.
This is a general overview book. If you enjoy the authors and desire this type of book, then go ahead and buy it. The problem is not the fact that this is a bad book: it's not. The problem is that this is an okay book by good authors. We have seen the skill and insight that these authors have in their previous collaborations, and that insight was simply missing from this book. Slansky and Malmuth have done better work than Gambling for a Living, and the titles of their other works weren't misleading.
If you’re going to write a general guidebook on gambling that's fine, just don't let people think you are writing a guide that allows them to quit their job and enter the world of the professional gambler. That's just mean.
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