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Roulette wheels, card tables, lucky streaks and ruinous debts: gambling has given literature some of its greatest scenes. Casino Novels is our section on gambling in books, from Dostoevsky's The Gambler and James Bond's baccarat duel in Casino Royale to Las Vegas in fiction and the best poker writing of today, plus practical advice for authors writing casino scenes.
Whether you play every week or only enjoy the atmosphere of a casino from a comfortable armchair, there is a long and brilliant shelf of books about gambling. This is our curated list: classics, thrillers, Las Vegas stories and the best non-fiction about poker and luck.
Casino scenes are irresistible to novelists. A card table gives you hidden information, rising stakes and a moment of truth, all in one room. But readers who gamble will spot a fake game instantly, and one wrong detail can break the spell. Here is how to research, write and pace a casino scene that rings true.
Las Vegas is a city built on stories: the lucky streak, the last chance, the fortune won and lost before sunrise. Since Nevada legalised casino gambling in 1931, writers have treated it as a stage for American dreams at their most dazzling and their most desperate. Here is a guide to the city in books.
Continue reading Las Vegas in Fiction: From Fear and Loathing to Fools Die
Poker has produced a surprisingly rich shelf of books. Some are memoirs and reportage, some are strategy manuals, and a few are genuinely great non-fiction about risk, luck and the people who live by them. Here are the essentials, with a note on what each one is really about.
Continue reading The Best Poker and Gambling Books: From Fifth Street to Thinking in Bets
James Bond's first adventure does not open with a gunfight or a car chase. It opens in a casino at three in the morning. Fleming's first line, "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning," tells you at once that this is a book about gambling, and about the man who sits down at the table when everyone else has gone to bed.
Continue reading Casino Royale: Ian Fleming, Baccarat and the Birth of Bond
Few novels have a better origin story than The Gambler. In October 1866 Fyodor Dostoevsky had less than a month to deliver a complete novel he had not yet started. If he missed the deadline, a publisher would own the rights to his work for years. He hired a stenographer, dictated the book in about 26 days, and drew on the one subject he knew better than almost anyone: losing money at roulette.
Continue reading Dostoevsky's The Gambler: Roulette, Debt and a 26-Day Deadline