ContentsIntroduction
1. Gambling: America's Biggest Industry
America's $500 Billion Gambling Handle
Does the Mafia Control Gambling in America?
The Law vs. Gambling
Another Scarne Gambling Survey
Types of Gamblers
Gambling and the Federal Tax Problem
2. The Mathematics and Science of Gambling
What Is Gambling?
Gamblers and Scientists
Chance and How It Works
What Are Odds?
Percentage and How It Works Against the Player
Gambling Operators Also Have Headaches
Hot and Cold Players
Luck and How It Works
Gambler's Fallacy
The "Guesser's Disadvantage,"
Gambling Systems
Skill vs. Chance
How to Better Your Chances of Winning
3. Horse Racing: The King of Sports
The Historical Background of Racing
Bookmaking as an Industry
Win, Place, Show and Exotic Bets
Types of Races
The Track Line and the Morning Line
Origin of Bookmaking and the Pari-mutuel Betting System
How the Totalisator and the Pari-mutuel System Work
How Nickel and Dime Breakage Works
How the State and Track Guts Beat Down the Players
Minus Pools
Race Touts and Their Methods
Betting Rings
Crooked Horse Racing
Hunch and Form Players
System Players
Portrait of a Bookmaker
Women Bookies
Horse Mobs Who Cheat Bookmakers
The Inside Operation of a Bookmaker
Scarne's Advice on Betting the Races
Scarne's Advice on "Exotic" Pari-mutuel Bets
Legalized Off-Track Betting vs. the Illegal Bookie
Protection and Graft
Legalized Off-Track Betting in Various Countries
Puerto Rico's Track and Off-Track Betting
Legal Off-Track Bookmaking in Nevada
New York City's OTB or Off-Track Betting
What Congress Should Do About the 10% Federal Excise Gambling Tax Law
Scarne's State Off-Track Betting Plan
4. Betting on Sports Events
Sports Offices and Bookmakers
Misconceptions About Betting Scalpers
Race Bookies and Sports Betting
The Sports Line and How It Is Made
Betting on BaseballGames
Baseball's 40¢ Line
Baseball's 20¢ Line
Baseball's 10¢ Line
Baseball's 5¢ Line
Why Some Sports Bookies Get Ulcers
How to Figure Your Winning Baseball Bets
Baseball's Run Spread Bet
Betting on Football
Betting on Basketball
Basketball's Under and Over Bet
Betting on Hockey
Betting on Greyhound Dog Racing
Scarne's Advice on Betting the Dogs
Betting on Jai Alai, the World's Fastest Game
Betting on Elections
Betting on Prizefights
Betting on Golf Games
Scarne's Legalized State Sports Betting Plan
5. Lotteries, Sweepstakes, Pools and Raffles
The First Public Money Lottery
The British Lottery Mania
Great Britain's Premium Bond Lottery
The British Football Pool
Small British Lotteries
Early American Lotteries
Policy Shops
The Louisiana Lottery
The Puerto Rican Lottery
Crooked Lotteries
Treasury Tickets: Father of Today's State Lotteries
Baseball and Football Pools
The Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes
Taxes on Sweeps Tickets
What are Your Sweepstakes Chances?
Raffles
6. State Lotteries and How They Work
Scarne's Proposed Triple-Action Lottery Plan
The Giant Sweepstakes and How It Works
7. The Numbers Game
Operation
Origin of Today's Numbers Game
Treasury Tickets
Clearinghouse Numbers
The Racket Boys Move In
The $6 Million Numbers Swindle
The Pari-mutuel Handle Number
Protection and the Law
New York City's Numbers Game
Lucky Numbers
Number 614
Numbers Bets and Payoff Odds
The Economics of the Numbers Bank
The Numbers Game Odds
The Numbers Bank Percentage Take
Scarne's Proposed State Numbers Plan
8. Bingo: The $3 Billion National Pastime
Legal vs. Illegal Bingo
The Origin of Bingo
The Mechanics of the Game
Bingo Equipment
The Play of the Game
The Bingo Debate
Bigtime Games
Bingo Mathematics
Cheating at Bingo
Your Best Bet at Bingo
9. Gambling Casinos: Carpet and Sawdust Joints Yesterday and Today
Carpet Joints
Sawdust Joints
The Barn
The Racket Boys Move In
Early Casinos
Faro
Monte Carlo
Canfield and Bradley
New Casino Games
The History of the Las Vegas Strip
Is Gambling in Nevada Honest?
Government Supervision of Puerto Rican Casinos
Casino Operation
Gambling Junkets
Nevada Gambling and Big Business
Honest Casinos vs. Steer Joints
Tips on How to Spot a Crooked Casino
Casinos' Earning Power
10. Craps: The World's Fastest Gambling Game
Casino and Candy Store Dice
Men and Women Dice Degenerates
The Unfinished Craps Hand
Bank Craps, Money (or Open) Craps, New York Craps, Scarney Craps and Private Craps
Origin and History
The First Craps Bookmaker
The Origin of Vigorish
Scarne's Official Rules for Private Craps
Private Craps: Hustlers and Chumps
Bank Craps Las Vegas Style
Bank Craps Layouts
Bank Craps Bets
New York Craps
Scarney Craps
How to Gamble Sensibly at Bank Craps
Money (or Open) Craps
How to Detect Crooked Dice
Cheating with Honest Dice
Protection Against Dice Cheats
Craps Betting Systems
11. Correct Odds in Dice Games Using Two, Three, Four or Five Dice
12. Black Jack, or Twenty-One: Casino Style
Casino Betting Limits
The $250,000 Win
The $1 Million Freeze-out
Black Jack Mechanics
Black Jack's History
How Black Jack Got Its Name
Casino Variations
Scarne's Casino Black Jack Rules
The Black Jack Dealer's Exact Percentage Take
13. Black Jack Strategy
The Science of Black Jack
Beating the Black Jack Tables
Scarne's Four-Deck Black Jack Shuffle
Strategy for Drawing and Standing
Player's Soft Hand, or Two-Way Count
Splitting Pairs
Doubling Down
Insurance Betting
Additional Black Jack Strategy
Cheating at Black Jack
Scarne's Rules for Private Black Jack
14. Roulette
Roulette Wheels -- Yesterday and Today
Standard Roulette Equipment
Roulette Personnel and Their Duties
Scarne's Rules for Playing Roulette
Possible Roulette Bets, Odds and Percentages
Roulette Betting Limits
The $400,000 Roulette Win
Roulette Betting Systems
Cheating at Roulette
Gaffed Roulette Wheels
Cheating with an Honest Wheel
How to Protect Yourself Against Short Payoffs
How to Gamble Sensibly at Roulette
15. Slot Machines: The One-armed Bandits
Legal and Illegal Slots
Charles Fey and the First Slot Machines
Federal Taxes and Law Enforcement
How to Spot a Crooked Slot Machine
Modern Slot Machines and Paybacks
Slot Machine Odds
Calculating the Payout Percentage on Other Machines
Slot Players
Beating the One-armed Bandit
The Rhythm System
Pinball Machines
Advice to Slot Machine Players
16. Chemin de Fer and Baccarat
History
Scarne's Rules for Chemin de Fer
Baccarat Las Vegas Style
Scarne's Rules for Playing Baccarat Las Vegas Style
Percentages Against the Player at Baccarat and Chemin de Fer
Advice to Baccarat and Chemin de Fer Players
Cheating at Baccarat and Chemin de Fer
Crooked Dealing Shoes Used to Cheat at Baccarat and Chemin de Fer
Private Chemin de Fer, or Slogger
Baccarat-en-Banque
17. Scarney Baccarat
History of the Game
Scarne's Rules of Play for Scarney Baccarat
Scarney Baccarat Strategy
Scarney Baccarat Strategy Table
18. Keno: Nevada's Solitaire Bingo-Type Game
Playing Rules
Calculating the House Percentage at Racehorse Keno
The Breakdown on the 10-Spot Ticket
The House Percentage on the 10-Spot Ticket
House Percentages on All Tickets
19. Casino Side Games
The Big Six
The Money Wheel
The Racehorse Wheel
Cheating at Wheels of Chance
Chuck-a-Luck
Hazard
Beat the Shaker
Under and Over Seven
Barbouth
Four Five Six, or the Three-Dice Game
Monte
Trente et Quarante
20. Backgammon
Rules of Play
Backgammon Opening Move Strategy
Backgammon Strategy
Chouette
Partnership Backgammon
Cheating at Backgammon
21. Scarne's Rules for Private Betting Games
Hooligan
Poker Dice
Scarney Dice
Scarney 3000, The Best Private Dice Game
Partnership Scarney 3000
Scarney Put-and-Take Dice
Scarney Duplicate Jackpots
Scarney 21 Up and Down
Liar or Doubting Dice
22. The Match Game
Scarne's Match Game Rules
The Two-Handed Game
Three or More Players
Four, Five, Six or More Players
23. General
Value of Poker Hands and Point Numbers
The Play of the Game
First Throw of the Dice
Second Throw of the Dice
Third Throw of the Dice
Additional Rules
24. Money Poker
25. Carnival, Fair, Bazaar, Arcade and Amusement Park Games
The Language of Carnival Games
Why New Jersey Legalized Carnival Games
The Lowdown on Carnival Games
Hanky-Panks
Percentage Games
Wheels of Fortune
One-Ball Game
The Mouse Game
Carnival Dice Games
Penny Pitch
Crooked Carnival Games
Crooked Carnival Wheels
The Flatty's "Ten Points or More Win" Gimmick
Six-Ball Roll-Down
Razzle Dazzle
Razzle Dazzle Variations
Drop Cases
Three-Marble Tivoli
Pin Stores and Peek Joints
The Dart Game
The Devil's Bowling Alley
Fish Pond
Hoop-tossing Games
Watch-la Game
Ring a Peg, or Pitch Till You Win
Cane Rack
Knife Rack
Cover the Red Spot
The Needle Bet
The Swinging Ball and Pin
Nail Hammering Game
Bucket Store and Bushel Basket Games
The Milk Bottles
Cat Game or Cat Rack
String Game
Hand Striker or Binger
Three-Shell Game
Three-Card Monte
A Final Word to Carnival Game Players
26. Private Card Games: Cheating and How to Detect It
The History of Playing Cards
Cheating at Private Games
Card Cheats
The Amateur Cheat
Professional Card Cheats
The Mechanic's Grip
The Pickup Stack
The Riffle Stack
The Old-Style Overhand Shuffle Stack
False Shuffles
Nullifying the Cut
False Cuts
The Prearranged or Cold Deck
Second Dealing
The Peek
The Bottom Deal
The Scarne Cut
Palming
Belly Strippers
Marked Cards
How to Spot a Marked Card Cheat
How to Shuffle Cards
27. Poker: America's Favorite Card Game
Women Poker Players
Origin of Poker
Poker Not According to Hoyle
Poker Has More Science than Bridge
How to Win at Poker
What Every Poker Player Should Know
Twenty General Rules Every Winning Poker Player Must Know
Poker Odds and Probabilities
General Strategy at Poker
Do's and Don'ts
Study Your Opponents' Style of Play
Strategy at Draw Poker
Strategy at Stud Poker
Strategy at Seven-Card Stud
Strategy at High-Low Seven-Card Stud
Strategy at Low Ball
Strategy at Low Poker
Strategy at Wild Games
28. The Wide World of Bridge
Contract Bridge Strategy
Evaluating the Hand
Stayman Convention
Rebid
Defensive Bidding
Slam Bidding
Blackwood Convention
Other Contract Bridge Conventions
Defender's Play
Declarer's Play
Other Notes on General Play
Correct Bridge Odds
Cheating at Bridge
29. Gin Rummy
History of Gin Rummy
What Every Player Should Know About Gin Rummy
Cheating at Gin Rummy
How to Play Winning Gin Rummy
The Skill
Taking or Passing the First Card
When to Go Down
The Knock Reserve
Holding High Cards or Low Cards
Keeping Under
Tips on Discards
Taking an Upcard That Does Not Help
Discarding
Fattening
Looking at Discards, or the Magic Eye
Laying Down Hand When Knocking
Slicing a Layoff
The Mathematics of Gin
Chance for Gin with Three-Card Melds
When to Knock
Sauce for the Goose
Observation
Ten General Rules Every Winning Gin Rummy Player Must Know
30. Skarney: The World's Best Rummy-Type Game
Skarney Partnership
Skarney Singles
Skarney Gin
31. Punchboards, Chain Letters and Pyramid Clubs
The First American Punchboards
Push Cards
The Operator's Percentage
Punchboard Cheats and Their Methods
Jar Games, Tip Books, Tip Boards and Match Paks
The Chain-Letter Racket
Pyramid Clubs
32. Private Betting Propositions: Hustlers and Cheats
The Fly and Sugar Proposition
The Odd Man Coin Proposition
The Spinning Coin Proposition
The Tossing Coin Proposition
The Spelling Proposition
The Lollapalooza Hand
Put-and-Take Top Proposition
The Match Pile Proposition
The Birthday Percentage Proposition
Auto License Plate Percentage Propositions
Percentage Propositions with Cards
The Matching Card Proposition
The Deck Cutting Proposition
Dice Propositions
A Poker Dice Proposition
Craps Propositions: Barring the First Roll
Two-Roll Craps Propositions
Glossary
Index