Sports

Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal That Rocked the NBA

The media has speculated and sports fans have debated, but until now no one has known the real story. Personal Foul takes an in-depth look at former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and the betting scandal that rocked professional basketball. Containing never-before-seen documentation and correspondence between the league office, referees, coaches, players and owners, this is the decisive book that reveals exactly what was done and how it all happened. Which games were affected and how? Is it true that referees targeted particular players? Just how much did the NBA know and when? How did the mafia get involved? Personal Foul answers all of these questions and more. Thrilling and poignant, Personal Foul takes the reader on the journey of one man wrestling his own demons and shines a light on a culture of gambling and "directive" officiating in the NBA that promises to change the way sports fans view the game forever.

The media has speculated and sports fans have debated, but until now no one has known the real story. Personal Foul takes an in-depth look at former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and the betting scandal that rocked professional basketball. Containing never-before-seen documentation and correspondence between the league office, referees, coaches, players and owners, this is the decisive book that reveals exactly what was done and how it all happened. Which games were affected and how? Is it true that referees targeted particular players? Just how much did the NBA know and when? How did the mafia get involved? Personal Foul answers all of these questions and more. Thrilling and poignant, Personal Foul takes the reader on the journey of one man wrestling his own demons and shines a light on a culture of gambling and "directive" officiating in the NBA that promises to change the way sports fans view the game forever.

We Were Wise Guys and Didn't Know It

We Were Wiseguys and Didn’t Know It by Scott Schettler presents a rare and unprecedented history of the early days of “old Las Vegas” and the sports betting luminaries who set the standards and culture in the evolution of sports betting in Las Vegas. This is not a dry history lesson, but rather author Schettler has drawn multiple portraits of key players who shaped the framework and foundation of one of Las Vegas’s biggest draws. Schettler has set the record straight about what really happened in the glory days of Las Vegas sports betting, and he has done so not as an academic, but as an insider. Personal experience and hands on accounts tell the stories about a time that will never come again, and of a place even Hollywood could not reproduce. Written in easy and accessible prose, We Were Wiseguys and Didn’t Know It will educate and entertain, while it serves as witness to little known (if shadowy) characters of Las Vegas gambling history.

Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting

Sports betting can be attacked intelligently. Smart sports bettors do not gamble the same way as tourists play roulette or retirees play the slot machines. Instead, smart sports bettors are making bets that they have thought through carefully with supporting logic and/or research. The purpose of this book is to give you tools to succeed at sports betting, to show you how to evaluate, compare and view sports betting from an analytical perspective, not from a gambling perspective.

This book by King Yao, author of the widely-acclaimed Weighing the Odds in Hold 'em Poker, should be used as a guideline to sports betting rather than a blueprint. The sports betting market changes and adapts quickly. The underlying principles shown in this book should help you adapt and continue to make good bets even when the market changes.

This book is for you if you want to think analytically about sports betting. It is for you if you do not want to be spoon-fed supposed winners, but want to get some ideas to improve your game. You battle bookmakers and line makers constantly; betting sports is a game of maneuvers and adjustments. You can use as many weapons as possible in this continuous fight. This book should help in that regard.

Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves: Expert Plays For No-Limit Tournaments

Beat the best by knowing the moves that make them the best. Tournament poker is a fun way to win big money and be famous. The problem is that no one is willing to share the moves that made the top poker pros millionaires. Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves gives you 101 expert plays for no-limit tournaments. It's the poker reference book that combines winning poker moves found in almost 20 years worth of poker materials, with plays uncovered in heads-up battles against poker pros. * 40 pre-flop moves with the min-raise, isolation and squeeze * 30 flop moves with the continuation bet, steal flops, and how to set a trap. * 20 turn and river moves with action-inducing bet, scare card moves, and the naked Ace bluff. * Winning plays for your head-to-head battle at the final table. Step up to the poker table with confidence and an arsenal of winning moves. www.apokerexpert.com

The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions

A riveting inside look at the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world's most successful sports gambling ring.

When journalist Michael Konik landed an interview with Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, the largest bet he'd placed on a sporting event was $200. Konik, an expert blackjack and poker player, was no stranger to Vegas. But Matthews was in a different league: the man was rumored to be the world's smartest sports bettor, the mastermind behind "the Brain Trust," a shadowy group of gamblers known for their expertise in beating the Vegas line. Konik had heard the word on the street -- that Matthews was a snake, a conniver who would do anything to gain an edge. But he was also brilliant, cunning, and charming. And when he asked Konik if he'd like to "make a little money" during the football season, the writer found himself seduced . . .

So began Michael Konik's wild ride as an operative of the elite Brain Trust. In The Smart Money, Konik takes readers behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America, bypassing the myths and the rumors, going all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they -- and he -- got rich by beating the Vegas lines and, ultimately, the multimillion-dollar offshore betting circuit. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, that are the perks and perils of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money on the outcome of a single event -- sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game -- is a normal part of doing business.

The Madness of March: Bonding and Betting with the Boys in Las Vegas

Every spring, the first four days of the NCAA men s basketball tournament attracts a horde of basketball bettors to Las Vegas. From the tip-off of the tournament s first game on Thursday morning to the final whistle on Sunday, throngs of bettors overwhelmingly male sit in smoky casinos obsessively watching as many as forty-eight college basketball games. This book immerses readers in that action. In The Madness of March: Bonding and Betting with the Boys in Las Vegas, Alan Jay Zaremba travels to The Strip and gives us a front-row view of the betting culture that surrounds the frenzied first weekend of the tournament.


Alternating between humorous accounts of gamblers exploits and cultural theories on sports in society, Zaremba provides an engaging analysis of the sporting ritual that such gambling has become. With forays into the history of the tournament, the background of sports betting, and a little betting of his own, Zaremba raises the question of whether this subculture of March Madness is a blessing or a curse and what, finally, it all means.

How to WIN the PICK 6: Horse Racing's Big $$$ Payout

Would a $400,000 Pick 6 paycheck change your life? Can your $32 ticket beat out a syndicates $12,000 wager? Are you making the smartest Pick 6 play possible? Would you be content earning a six-figure income at the racetrack: year after year? This book can pay for itself, your retirement, AND your house!

It is not a handicapping book, and it's not a "system." It is a book about learning how to routinely win monster Pick 6 paychecks. A one-of-a-kind book with 397 pages dedicated to horse racing's ultimate wager.

If you want to become wealthy playing the horses, the ONLY way to do so is to become a Pick 6 winner. A repeat Pick 6 winner. If you're a consistent loser at the racetrack, here is your opportunity to turn it all around and become a BIG winner... fast!

Millions of horseplayers just don't get it. They are losers. They fritter their money away on Exactas, Superfectas, Super High Fives and the lowly Show wager. Playing those "fun" wagers drains their bank account. They certainly aren't the wagers big winners play.

Readers of How to WIN the PICK 6 are going to "get it." They are going to put an end to their losing days by learning how to become winners. Isn't that what you want?

Readers will be educated and mentored to put winning selections on Pick 6 tickets ranging from $16 to several hundred dollars. They will be shown the amazing 3% Solution, the eye-opening 30/30/40 Rule, and other novel Pick 6 strategies to guide them toward a life of financial freedom.

Author Steven Kolb's goal is to educate readers about the intricacies of horse racing most elusive wager. If you want to be in the Winners Circle you'll need to learn how to play the Pick 6, when to play the Pick 6, where to play the Pick 6, and what to do once you start cashing in on five- and six-figure Pick 6 paychecks. All the answers to the Pick 6 puzzle are in this book; as well as lots of humor, stories, quotes and facts.

It's time. It's time to stop squandering away your wagering capital. It's time to put on your thinking cap. It's time to make the decision that you really want to be a winner. It's time to start making money - BIG money - at the racetrack. It's time to admit that the best way to make that big money is by winning the Pick 6 again and again. It's time for you to conquer horse racing's ultimate wager. It's time to win the Pick 6!

How to Beat the Pro Football Pointspread: A Comprehensive, No-Nonsense Guide to Picking NFL Winners

An indispensable reference for football bettors covering every aspect of betting.

How to Beat the Pro Football Pointspread will set bettors on a confidence-building path lined with high-priority realities which for decades have flown under the typical football bettor's radar. Smith emphasizes that pure football knowledge must be absorbed, then applied to the world of pointspreads. He teaches his readers to look at the game with the bettor's eye instead of the fan's, and explains his theories on reasonable statistical expectations and how to challenge the oddsmakers. He also discusses the implications of coaching styles, stadium locations, and even the weather on each bet made throughout the season. With years of football betting under his belt, Smith has written a key resource for anyone wagering on America's most popular sport.

Beating the Odds: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Sports Handicapper

The amazing true story of one of the world’s greatest sports handicappers. The incredible rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches true life story of acclaimed sports tout Brandon Lang, subject of the motion picture Two for the Money (Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey). Beating the Odds describes in vivid, colorful detail Lang’s rise from small time sports-phone tout to big time national exposure, his dramatic fall, and his subsequent rebirth in the internet age. Also describes the series of improbable events, while working as a golf caddie in Los Angeles, that eventually led Lang to the optioning of his story to Hollywood and the making of Two for the Money.
24 black-and-white illustrations.

Killer Roulette

So, you thought that roulette could not be beaten? Well, you are not on your own because millions of people around the world share this view. However, roulette can be beaten and Warriors of the Wheel will show you how. This book relates the tales of daring and imaginative roulette players who have taken the casino industry for vast sums of money down the years. Of course, if you are playing on a perfect roulette table and the dealers are conducting the game faultlessly then you cannot win. However, in the real world this is rarely the case. The game has numerous weaknesses and these have been mercilessly exposed and then exploited – not only by people on the inside but by everyday punters. In Warriors of the Wheel you will read about the man who took the casinos for an estimated $50 million and many others just like him. The systems used by people to beat roulette are techniques that the gaming industry would rather you didn’t know about. Much of the material in Warriors of the Wheel has been kept under wraps over the years but there is also material here which will come as a shock even to hardened casino operatives.