Gambling has become one of the most popular activities worldwide, which can be seen by the searches in the online bookmakers. The gambling games are interesting. However, gambling itself can also be an interesting topic to write about. And over these past years, a lot of great literary works have come out on this subject. And despite the books about classic casinos, there are even books about online gambling, and many reviews around them state that they are helpful when playing in online casinos such as
Casino Classic. However, we are not talking about online gambling books now. Instead, we are going to focus on some of the Best Fiction books about gambling.
List of Greatest Books about Gambling
Dice Angel
Dice Angel is a novel written by Brian Rouff. The main character of this book is James Delaney Jr. Who happens to own a bar in Las Vegas, inherited from his father. Jimmy had a gambling problem that even ended his marriage. But when we meet Jimmy, he is recovered and has been staying away from the casino life. He gets an unexpected call from the police department informing him that his bar got robbed.
The burglars took $12,000 from the video poker machines that he had set up in the bar. The police quickly turn their eyes on the bar's employees, but Jimmy doesn't think the same. The IRS starts pressuring Jimmy, and if he doesn't recover all that lost money, he may lose his bar.
So he needs to obtain a huge amount of money, and fast. Jimmy runs into a homeless man who gives him a business card of a character that goes by the name "Dice Angel". This mysterious character,
Dice Angel, supposedly could help him win at craps. At first, Jimmy thought that it was a crazy idea, but at this point, he had only two weeks to come up with the money, and he was desperate. So, if you are looking for a story that will make you laugh and at the same time sympathize with the main character, then you should definitely buy a copy of Dice Angel.
Gambling becomes a problem for many people in real life too. A review on
Zodiac Casino Canada states that online casinos nowadays are pretty popular but playing a game in the Zodiac Casino doesn't make you an addicted gambler. Those fictional tales hold a lot of truth in them and can be fun to read for both gamblers and non-gamblers.
Casino Royale
Casino Royale is written by Ian Fleming, and the first book was published in 1953. It is a spy novel that tells the story of the secret agent 007. The book may not be exactly about gambling, but the best part of the book takes place in a casino. It is the part where James Bond encounters the novel's villain, the Russian Spy Le Chiffre.
Sex, Lies, And Video Poker
This book is written by Bob Dancer. It is an educational but also erotic novel.
The main character of this book is the extremely good businessman named Chris George. In an attempt to get the girl of his dreams, he becomes a video poker player. The girl that he is after is very good at gambling, but she has a troubled past. And to make things even more interesting, Chris needs to deal with his sister-in-law that wants to lure him into bed.
Casino: Love and Horror in Las Vegas
This novel was written by Nicholas Pileggi. Many other authors explored the connection between organized crime and gambling houses. However, Nicholas Pileggi did it best. The book covers the subject of the Las Vegas casinos that were controlled by mafias back in the '70s and '80s. The main characters are Anthony Spiloto and Frank Rosenthal, two mafia members who operate a casino with illegal operations. The biggest plot is that Frank's wife has an affair with his friend Anthony. The movie Casino from 1995 got inspiration from this book.
The House Always Wins
The writer of this book is Brian Rouff. He mostly focused the story on Anna Christiansen, who is the main character. Anna is a reporter in a small town that falls in love with a bass player. She decides to move to Las Vegas but ends up in a haunted house by a Las Vegas racketeer.
A casino owner wants to buy Anna's property, and she decides to fight him with the help of the ghost that inhabits her home. It is an interesting story that has a take on the genre of gambling fiction.
Losers Take All
Losers Take All is a short story written by Graham Greene. The main character of this story is Bertram. Bertram and his fiancé go to a yacht meeting in Monte Carlo with his boss. However, the boss never shows up, and they stayed in the expensive hotel trying to make the most out of the remaining money. When they ran out of money, Bertram tries to create a system to win big money at the roulette wheel. Meanwhile, his fiancé falls in love with another gambler.
Conclusion
This concludes our list of the recommendation for the best fiction books about gambling out there. However, the material for talented writers doesn't end up with fiction. There are many books on the market about sports betting, strategies for all casino games, winning ways, etc.
