Contents
Introduction
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 Baseball Games 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