- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (Oct 25 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743277139
- ISBN-13: 978-0743277136
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 558 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#91,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Gambling > Sports
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
In 1997, gaming journalist Konik joined the Brain Trust, a sports-gambling operation that took in millions by beating the Vegas bookies at their own game. This fascinating inside look at the gambling biz (perfectly suited, incidentally, to fans of the recent movie Two for the Money) reveals so much information that you would swear the author was breaking some sort of Omerta-like code of silence; in fact, the parallels between organized gambling and organized crime are numerous. The book created plenty of buzz in the publishing community well before its release, so expect a great deal of publicity and high reader interest. The author conceals the identities of the principal players behind fake names, but his fictionalized stand-ins are so compelling (especially the Brain Trust chieftain, Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews) that the book feels like a mixture of true-life expose and high-stakes fiction (fans of Puzo's Fools Die may see some similarities but only in a good way). A definite must-read for the gambling crowd. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Michael Konik knows the world of high-rollers, big losers, hustlers and handicappers as well as anyone anywhere, and the . . . tales of risk and reward he recounts might read like fiction, but they're not." -- The Dallas Morning News
"Dean of the world's gambling writers." -- Detroit Free Press
"Michael Konik knows the gambling milieu from the inside. His collection of far-out gambling stories is both amazing and authentic." -- The Independent (London)
"You'll search the whole bookstore and never top Konik's gambling writing." -- Las Vegas Review-Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Dean of the world's gambling writers." -- Detroit Free Press
"Michael Konik knows the gambling milieu from the inside. His collection of far-out gambling stories is both amazing and authentic." -- The Independent (London)
"You'll search the whole bookstore and never top Konik's gambling writing." -- Las Vegas Review-Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written insight into the hidden world of sports betting,
By
This review is from: The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions (Paperback)
"The Smart Money" is a fascinating voyage through the world of big time sports betting. This is not the average fan betting $10 or even a $100 or a $1000 dollars on a football game, but a little-known subculture where $10,000, $20,000 and even $100,000 is wagered on the outcome of a sporting event and where gains and losses of half a million dollars over a weekend is commonplace. The author was drawn in to an exclusive club, the "Brain Trust", who used inside knowledge of the teams, highly paid handicappers, and computers to determine what contests to bet on and how to beat the bookies at their own game.Though it does not go into too much technical detail of the wagering process (i.e. the actual algorithms that the Brain Trust used to beat the system), this is a well written account of the author's years working as an agent for a large betting cabal. His main responsibility was to find a way to place enough bets of high enough value to make it worthwhile which involved weekly trips to Las Vegas, hidden identities, and large bags containing bricks of cash. Once someone starts winning in Las Vegas, however, the casinos are no longer interested in taking your business. Yet, the Brain Trust was not to be denied, moving their action to offshore organizations where the seediness factor increases significantly. Truly an inside look at a level of sports betting that the average fan never sees, "The Smart Money" weaves its way through the largely hidden labyrinth of how point spreads for football games are set and, more importantly, the mysterious forces that change these critical values during the week before the game and sometimes only minutes before kickoff. After reading the first third of this book, which covered his first foray to Vegas to make bets, I doubted that the author could fill the rest of book with similar stories and keep the reader riveted. While the following seasons of betting and the move to using offshore accounts pretty much mirrors the action early in the book, it is told in such a style that it kept my interest right to the end. The author manages to realistically convey the tension and anxiety of large sums of money riding on a meaningless touchdown by a team that is hopelessly behind or the shock of watching an interception being returned for a score knowing that $50,000 was lost in that instant. I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in learning more about how sports betting actually works. Read more at paulmcrae.ca
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smart gambling,
By
This review is from: The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions (Hardcover)
Top read. Not a gambler but this has some riveting stuff.Highly recommended read. Good pacy and infectious story.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sports Gamblers must read,
By Ginger Bread Man "Ginger Bread Man" (Vancouver) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions (Hardcover)
I am a real fan of gambling in general, and love sports gambling. The attention to the smallest detail regarding point spreads made me realize that I do not know anything about gambling. I do know that I am a "square", the type of gambler that Casinos make their living off!! The fact that many people make a living gambling full time, and many attempt to, is well covered by this book. Once again, the allure and mystery of Vegas is a dominant theme, and the amount of money on the line is staggering.Best Sports gambling book I have read so far.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
