The world of casino regularly crosses over into mainstream media, although, traditionally, we are probably more used to seeing this in movies, rather than books, casino in literature. Similarly, we have become more accustomed to playing our casino favourites at online locations, such as Megalotto, instead of the classic brick-and-mortar establishments.
But you’ll be interested to know, literature actually features the casino theme just as much as the more modern forms of media – some of our most-loved films even originated from literature itself! With that in mind, we take a look at what you should be reading, if you love all things casino!
Casino Royale
Now you may know this classic from the well-known James Bond film, but it was originally a novel by Bond’s creator Ian Fleming – the first in the series. Published in 1953, Casino Royale paved the way for the further eleven novels and two short story collections that went on to follow, completing Fleming’s Bond literature series.
The game that features the most in this novel is Baccarat, going on to become one of the most classic Bond casino games to date. Six decks are used in this game, heavily shuffled before the game can begin. Gameplay begins to the right of the croupier, moving counter clockwise around the table of players. One of the players will be the designated “bankerâ€, and also have task of dealing, with the other players being the “puntersâ€. Each player is dealt two cards, face up, and the hand that has the closest total to nine wins. If you have bet on the banker’s hand being the winner, then you will be paid out 95% of your wager. Bond takes this challenge on board, and uses the game to out his evil opponents, one card at a time!
Odds on Miss Seeton
Originally published in 1975, Heron Carvic wrote five books about his Miss Seeton character, fleshing her out as a retired art teacher from the ’70s. The character is allegedly a light-hearted parody of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series, taking inspiration from the book’s protagonist. In this tale, Carvic gives a clear picture of the gambling world of this time, way before the invention of online casinos. Miss Seeton goes on the search for a prominent crime tycoon, on behalf of Scotland Yard, but instead ends up falling into the world of gambling! Here, she learns to play Roulette, providing her with enough money to support her lifestyle.
Roulette first originated in the 17th century, long before Carvic began writing. Prior to this, there has been evidence to suggest that games similar to Roulette were being played, but the rules we know today were yet to be cemented. In 1990, we saw the rise of online gambling. As the internet began to take off, the gambling industry was one of the first to step up, and reap the benefits. The first ever online casino is thought to have been produced in 1994, with a helping hand from Microgaming, a giant casino software developer at the time.
So, for a chance to explore some of the earlier versions of casino gambling, along with a fun little storyline, this will be the book for you!
Casino: Love and Honour in Las Vegas
Nicholas Pileggi wrote this non-fiction novel to tell a story about the loss of influence that the mobs had over the legal casinos in Las Vegas, which began in 1931. With this book, Pileggi gave a previously unprecedented insight into the somewhat shady world of the mafia, including money-laundering and battles with the local police force. The mob would skim revenue from the local casinos to make their money, until the FBI got wise to it and cracked down on their operations in the early 1980s, finally eradicating the organised crime’s influence from the Vegas gambling resorts.
Soon after Pileggi’s novel was published in 1995, it was made into a film, simply called “Casinoâ€. The film went on to be even more popular than the book, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. With actors like that, we’re not surprised it was a box office smash!
Other interesting articles found on mtltimes.ca and totimes.ca
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