James Parsons

I purchased this book in 1973. I practiced card counting. Living in L.A., it was a short drive to Vegas. I won a modest sum. 30 years later, I won a few hundred dollars in a casino in Kathmandu (a short flight from Bangkok, where I was then living). Beat the Dealer is visible in a scene in the movie 21, and with good reason. It is the essential primer on how to walk away from a casino a winner. One caveat: You need to be able to do math in your head. If you grew up with electronic calculators (I did not.), you've got an uphill battle.