Scarne, John: Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling ©1961 John Scarne, Simon and Schuster, NY Hardcover, w/dj, 700 pages

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Comments:There is a new, revised edition of this book. Not directly magic, but a lot of magic is based on gambling themes.

Contents (from book ToC):

1 Chapter 1 GAMBLING: America’s Biggest Industry
1 The Biggest Gambling Boom
5 The Scarne Survey
4 The Law vs. Gambling
9 Types of Gamblers

12 Chapter 2. THE MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE OF GAMBLING
12 What Is Gambling?
13 Gamblers and Scientists
15 Chance and How It Works
16 What Are Odds?
17 Percentage and How It Works Against the Player
19 Gambling Operators Also Have Headaches
21 Hot and Cold Players
22 Luck and How It Works
25 Gambler’s Fallacy
26 The “Guesser's Disadvantage”
26 Gambling Systems
28 Skill vs. Chance
28 How to Better Your Chances of Winning

30 Chapter 3. HORSE RACING: The King of Sports
30 The Historical Background of Racing
34 Bookmaking as an Industry
38 Win, Place and Show Betting
40 Types of Races
41 The Track Line and the Morning Line
43 Origin of Bookmaking and the Parimutuel Betting System
48 How the Totalisator and the Parimutuel System Work
52 How Nickel and Dime Breakage Work
56 How the State and Track Cuts Beat Down the Players
57 Minus Pools
58 Race Touts and Their Methods
60 Betting Rings
61 Crooked Horse Racing
63 Hunch and Form Players
64 System Players
67 Portrait of a Bookmaker
69 Women Bookies
70 Horse Mobs Who Cheat Bookmakers
75 The Inside Operation of a Bookmaker
81 Scarne’s Advice on Betting the Races
82 Legalized Off-track Retting vs. the Illegal Bookie
83 Protection and Graft
85 Legalized Off-track Betting
91 Legal Off-track Bookmaking in Nevada
93 How Pari-mutuel Off-track Betting Would Work
94 What Congress Should Do About the Bookie Tan Law
96 How a Racing State Can Quadruple Its Racing Revenue

99 Chapter 4 BETTING ON SPORTS EVENTS
100 Sports Offices and Bookmakers
101 Misconceptions About Betting Scalpers
102 Race Bookies and Sports Betting
103 The Sports Line
104 Betting on Baseball Games
105 Baseball's 40-Cent I inc
108 20-Ccnt Line
109 10-Cent Line
112 5-Cent Line
112 Why Some Sports Bookies Get Ulcers
115 How to Figure Your Winning Baseball Bets
117 Betting on Football
119 on Basketball
120 on Hockey
121 on Elections
122 on Prize Fights
123 on Golf Games

125 Chapter 5 LOTTERIES, SWEEPSTAKES. POOLS AND RAFFLES
127 The First Public Money Lottery
128 The British Lottery Mania
130 Great Britain's Premium Bond Lottery
131 The British Football Pool
134 Small British Lotteries
134 Early American Lotteries
137 Policy Shops
138 The Louisiana Lottery
138 The Puerto Rican Lottery
140 Crooked Lotteries
143 Treasury Tickets
144 Baseball and Football Pools
146 The Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstakes
151 Taxes on Sweeps Tickets
154 What Are Your Sweepstakes Chances
156 Raffles

157 Chapter 6 WHY THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE A NATIONAL LOTTERY

164 Chapter 7 THE NUMBERS GAME
165 Operation
168 Origin of Today’s Numbers Game
168 Treasury Tickets
169 Clearing House Numbers
169 The Racket Boys Move In
170 The $6,000.18)0 Numbers Swindle
170 The Pari-mutuel Handle Number
171 Protection and the Law
172 New York City’s Numbers Game
173 Lucky Numbers
176 Number 614
177 Numbers Bets and Payoff Odds
178 The Economics of the Numbers Bank
179 The Numbers Game Odds
180 The Numbers Bank Percentage Take
182 Chapter 8 BINGO: The $2 Billion National Pastime
182 Legal vs. Illegal Bingo
184 The Origin of Bingo
186 The Mechanics of the Game
187 Bingo Equipment
189 The Play of the Game
191 The Bingo Debate
192 State Laws
195 Bigtime Games
196 Bingo Mathematics
199 Cheating at Bingo
201 Your Best Bet at Bingo

203 Chapter 9 Gambling Casinos: Carpet and Sawdust Joints Yesterday and Today
205 Carpet Joints
206 Sawdust Joints
207 The Barn
208 The Racket Boys Move In
209 Early Casinos
213 Faro
214 Monte Carlo
218 Canfield and Bradley
220 New Casino Games
221 The Las Vegas Strip
225 Government Supervision of Puerto Rican Casinos
227 Casino Operation
231 Honest Casinos vs. Steer Joints
233 Tips on How to Spot a Crooked Casino

234 Chapter 10. CRAPS: The World’s Fastest Gambling Game
235 Men and Women Dice Degenerates
236 The Unfinished Crap Hand
238 Bank Craps. Money (or Open) Craps and Private Craps
239 Origin and History
240 The First Crap Bookmaker
241 The Origin of Vigorish
243 Scarne's Official Rules for Private Craps
247 Private Craps: Hustlers and Chumps.
255 Bank Craps Las Vegas Style
257 Bank Crap Layouts
259 Bank Crap Bets
259 Win Line. Do or Pass Line
259 Lose, Don't or Don't Pass Line
260 The Ace-Deuce Stand-off
261 Come and Don't Come Bets
261 Big Six and Big Fight
263 Field Bets
264 Hardway Bets
266 One-roll Action or Come-out Bets
269 Place or Box Number Bets to Win
270 Place or Box Number Bets to Lose
271 Free Single Odds Bets
272 Free Double Odds Bets
272 How to Gamble Sensibly at Bank Craps
274 Money, or Open. Craps
278 How to Detect Crooked Dice
290 How to Detect Tops and Bottoms
291 Percentage Tops and Bottoms
292 Cheating with Honest Dice
293 Crap Betting Systems
294 The Rothstcin System
295 The Watcher or Patience System
297 The Hot and Cold System
298 The Place Betting System
299 The Right and Wrong Way System
301 Scarne's Bank Crap System
302 The Crap Hustler's Private Game System

303 Chapter 11 Correct Odds In Dice Games Using 2, 3, 4 Or 5 Dice

308 Chapter 12 Black Jack Or Twenty-One: Casino Style
308 Casino Betting Limits
309 The $250,000 Win
311 The $1,000,000 Freeze-out
313 Black Jack Mechanics
314 Black Jack’s History
315 How Black Jack Got Its Name
317 Casino Variations
320 Scarne's Black Jack Rules, Nevada Style
325 The Black Jack Dealer's Exact Percentage Take

330 Chapter 13 Black Jack Strategy
330 How Black Jack Can Be Beaten
332 Casing the Deck
334 Strategy for Drawing and Standing
339 Player's Soft Hand, or Two-Way Count
340 Splitting Pairs
341 Doubling Down
342 Insurance Betting
343 Additional Black Jack Strategy
343 Cheating at Black Jack
348 Scarne's Rules for Private Black Jack

353 Chapter 14 Roulette
353 Roulette Wheels—Yesterday and Today
358 Standard Roulette Equipment
361 Roulette Personnel and Their Duties
362 Scarne's Rules for Playing Roulette
362 Possible Roulette Bets, Odds and Percentages
366 Roulette Limits
367 Roulette Systems
368 D'Alembert System
368 Cancellation System
371 System Players
371 The Mental Bet
373 The Perfect Roulette System
374 The Concentration System
376 Cheating at Roulette
377 Galfed Roulette Wheels
382 Cheating with an Honest Wheel
383 How to Protect Yourself Against Short Payoffs
384 How to Gamble Sensibly at Roulette

386 Chapter 15 Slot Machines: The One-armed Bandits
286 Legal and Illegal Slots
389 Charles Fey and The First Slot Machines
392 Federal Taxes and Law Enforcement
393 How to Spot a Crooked Slot Machine
396 Modern Slot Machines and Paybacks
399 Slot Machine Odds
402 Calculating the Pay-out Percentage on Other Machines
403 Slot Players
405 Beating the One-armed Bandit
405 The Rhythm System
410 Pinball Machines
411 Advice to Slot Machine Players

413 Chapter 16 Chemin De Fer And Baccarat
413 History
417 Scarne's Rules for Chemin de Fer
424 Baccarat Las Vegas Style
425 Scarne's Rules for Playing Baccarat Las Vegas Style

432 Chapter 17 Race Horse Keno
432 Playing Rules
436 Calculating House Percentage
437 The Breakdown on the 10-Spot Ticket
440 The House Percentage on the 10 Spot Ticket
440 House Percentages on All Tickets

442 Chapter 18 Casino Side Games
443 The Big Six
445 The Money Wheel
446 The Race Horse Wheel
447 Cheating at Wheels of Chance
447 Chuck-a-Luck
448 Cheating at Chuck-a-Luck
449 Hazard
450 Cheating at Hazard
450 Beat the Shaker
451 Cheating at Beat the Shaker
451 Under and Over Seven
452 Cheating at Under and Over Seven
452 Barbouth
454 Four Five Six, or the Three-Dice Game

456 Chapter 19 Carnival, Fair. Bazaar. Arcade, And Amusement Park Games
458 The Language of Carnival Games
460 Why New Jersey Legalized Carnival Games
463 The Lowdown on Carnival Games
464 Hanky-panks
465 Percentage Games
465 Wheels of Fortune
467 One-Ball Game
468 The Mouse Game
469 Carnival Dice Games
469 Penny Pitch
471 Crooked Carnival Games
472 Crooked Carnival Wheels
477 The Flatty's "Ten Points or More Win" Gimmick
479 Six-Ball Roll Down
481 Razzlc Dazzle
488 Razzle Dazzle Variations
489 Drop Cases
490 Three-Marble Tivoli
491 Pin Stores and Peek Joints
495 The Dart Game
95 The Devil’s Bowling Alley
497 Fish Pond
498 Hoop-tossing Games
499 Watch-La Game
503 Ring a Peg or Pitch Till You Win
504 Cane Rack
504 Knife Rack
505 Cover the Red Spot
507 The Needle Bet
508 The Swinging Ball and Pin
508 Nail Hammering Game
510 Bucket and Bushel Basket Games
512 The Milk Bottles
513 Cat Game or Cat Rack
515 String Game
515 Hand Striker or Binger
516 Three Shell Game
520 Three Card Monte
524 A Final Word to Carnival Game Players

525 Chapter 20 Private Card Games: Cheating and How to Detect It
527 The History of Playing Cards
537 Cheating at Private Games
538 Card Cheats
540 The Amateur Cheat
541 Professional Card Cheats
544 The Mechanic's Grip
545 The Pick-Up Stack
546 The Riffle Stack
546 The Old-Style Overhand Shuffle Stack
547 False Shuffles
547 Nullifying the Cut
552 False Cuts
553 The Prearranged or Cold Deck
554 Second Dealing
555 The Peek
556 The Bottom Deal
556 The Scarne Cut
558 Palming
559 Belly Strippers
560 Marked Cards
567 How to Spot a Marked Card Cheat

568 Chapter 21 Poker America’s Favorite Card Game
570 Women Poker Players
571 Origin of Poker
573 Poker Not According to Hoyle
574 Poker Has More Science than Bridge
577 How to Win at Poker
577 What Every Poker Player Should Know
581 Poker Odds and Probabilities
586 General Strategy at Poker
588 Do's and Don'ts
590 Study Your Opponent's Style of Play
592 Strategy at Draw Poker
594 Strategy at Stud Poker
596 Strategy at Seven-Card Stud
597 Strategy at High-Low Seven-Card Stud
597 Strategy at Low Ball
598 Strategy at Low Poker
598 Strategy at Wild Games

599 Chapter 22 Gin Rummy
600 History of Gin Rummy
603 What Every Player Should Know About Gin Rummy
603 Cheating at Gin Rummy
604 Bottom Stack
605 51-Card Deck
605 No Cut
605 Dealing from Half the Deck
606 Signaling
606 Pecking at Two Cards
606 Recognizable Cards
607 Cheating on the Count
607 Shuffling Cards Face Up
607 Hiding a Card
607 The Counterfeit Meld
608 Protection Against a Crooked Gin Deal
608 How to Beat a Gin Rummy Hustler
608 How to Play Winning Gin Rummy
610 The Skill
613 Taking or Passing the First Card
614 When to Go Down
615 The Knock Reserve
615 Holding High Cards or Low Cards
615 Keeping Under
616 Tips on Discards
616 Taking an Up-Card That Does Not Help
618 Discarding
618 Fattening
619 Looking at Discards, or The Magic Eye
619 Laying Down Hand When Knocking
619 Slicing a Layoff
620 The Mathematics of Gin
622 Chance for Gin with Three-Card Melds
623 When to Knock
623 Sauce for the Goose
624 Observation

625 Chapter 23 Punchboards, Chain Letters and Pyramid Clubs
625 First American Punchboards
627 Push Cards
628 The Operator’s Percentage
629 Punchboard Cheats
631 Jar Games. Tip Books. Tip Boards and Match Paks
633 The Chain l etter Racket
636 Pyramid Clubs

638 Chapter 24 The Match Game
638 Scarne's Match Game Rules
642 Three or More Players
639 The Two-Handed Game
643 Four, Five, Six or More Players

644 Chapter 25 General: The Best Private Dice Game
644 Value of Poker Hands and Point Numbers
645 The Play of the Game
645 First Throw of the Dice
645 Second Throw of the Dice
645 Third Throw of the Dice
646 Additional Rules

648 Chapter 26 Private Betting Propositions: Hustlers and Cheats
651 Fly and Sugar Proposition
652 The Odd Man Coin Proposition
653 The Spinning Coin Proposition
654 The Tossing Coin Proposition
654 The Spelling Proposition
656 The Lollapalooza Hand
657 Put-and-Take Top Proposition
659 The Match Pile Proposition
660 The Birthday Percentage Proposition
662 Auto License Plate Percentage Propositions
662 Percentage Propositions with Cards.
663 The Matching Card Proposition
664 The Deck Cutting Proposition
664 Dice Propositions
666 A Poker Dice Proposition
666 Crap Propositions: Barring the First Roll
667 Two-Roll Crap Propositions

670 Picture Credits
671 Glossary
695 Index