Lady Luck in Literature: How Authors Portray Gambling

Gambling has been documented and storied in practically all forms of arts and mediums. We have songs about gambling, casino games that appear in film, and even art that is inspired by the effects or some consequences of playing with fate. Literature is one of the most creative and comprehensive forms of expression. And in books, we get a deeper and more detailed view of gambling.

The games that play with fate, or the aftermath of these types of risks, have inspired tales since time immemorial. From the ancient mythological views to contemporary stories of gamblers and chancers, gambling has taken on many forms in literature. It has also become used as a metaphor to describe the gambles and risks we take in other aspects of life, from taking on challenges to falling in love. And these portrayals of gambling in literature are rarely one-sided. They take the reader through the ecstatic highs and abysmal lows, and can even break through to provide morals or anecdotes.

Why Gambling in Literature is More Thorough

Gambling in music tends to be very brief, summarising the emotional rollercoaster in short form with poetic allegory. When watching a movie about gambling, the portrayal is more visual. Thus, it is either villainised as a business for the crooks and mafia-related characters like Frankie Rosenthal. Or, it can have criminal elements, but with a glamorous twist, such as in films like Molly’s Game, or those based on card counting and genius players or highly proficient blackjack teams.

But literature provides a larger lens through which we can observe gambling and understand the appeal of risk, and why people engage in gambling. From the elegant gambling halls in Germany where Dostoevsky played roulette, or the Old West poker dens, gambling has inspired countless individuals all over the world.

Gambling as a Force of the Divine

In ancient civilisation texts and stories, gambling was more of a means through which people could understand fate and destiny. Gambling and games of chance were an important part of ancient Egyptian mythology. It was understood that people had to engage in a game of Senet to pass on to the afterlife. The ancient Greeks and Romans were not short of their own gambling games. Whether it was flipping coins, dice games using animal knucklebones, or betting on athletic games, they too understood luck and chance to be a communication tool from the gods. Both civilisations deified luck, and had goddesses of Luck and fortune whom they could pray to for favor.

From ancient Sumer to the Galicia, the ancient world was fascinated by chance and destiny. You can even find traces of gambling in the Bible. Casting lots, flipping coins and drawing straws were used in Biblical times for many purposes. They could be used to allocate land, determine innocence or guilt, and as ways for God to reveal his will.

Gambling Becomes a Game for Material Gains

Not all games of chance were used to divine fortune and fate. The use of gambling as a divination device would gradually change and become more a game of risking material gains. The first casino in Europe, Ridotto in Venice, opened its doors in 1638. In the next few centuries, casinos become more widespread, creating regulated table games and a more mainstream source of gambling. Sure, there were still social practices of gambling using dice, horse races, and playing cards, but the casinos brought a new element to the games. The house edge and a gambling establishment players had to beat.

The widespread availability of these games, and the relative naivety of players, was a very dangerous combination. Players fell for all kinds of fallacies, many people lost big sums of money, and there was trickery on both sides. One of the biggest works of literature to emerge in this epoch of casino history was The Gambler, by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This was one of the most important works on gambling, because it painted a pretty realistic and unfiltered picture of gambling. It shows how gambling can entice players and they can form all kinds of irrational fallacies that can lead to their undoing. The novel reflects the writer’s own personal struggle against gambling. Dostoevsky was not a greedy or undereducated person at all. A deep thinker and intellectual, it showed how the vices of gambling can trick practically anyone, regardless of how clever, witty or educated they are.

Non Fiction Books That Explore Gambling

Where Fyodor Dostoevsky describes games that could literally captivate anyone, it was not a game of winning money. It was an existential crisis that tested the human spirit and exploited any weaknesses or indecision on the player’s part. He inspired countless modern writers to challenge gambling as a battle of wits and daring.

Another writer who had first hand experience with gambling was Ian Fleming, the creator of the James Bond novels. He also used his experiences to paint the characters in his book, but Fleming’s take on gambling was a far cry from Dostoevsky’s. Instead of looking for the morality or exploring the psychological realism in gambling, Fleming took a much simpler route. His character, James Bond, played Punto Banco and various other casino games that have elements of control, and thus required wits. This helped give Bond some crucial characteristics. His quick wit, ability to read people, and his risk taking in the casino games very much echoed Bond’s work as a spy. James Bond gave us a character who had seemingly mastered the gambling games, and was capable of beating even the most insightful and experienced foe.

Simplified Portrayals of Gambling

Authors need to sell their books, and to whatever end they want to portray gambling, they will rig the games. When it is needed, they will make it look easy for a player. These characers are, after all, the experts who are seemingly invincible and don’t even really need Lady Luck on their side. But at other times, when the opposite narrative is needed, the player is seemingly doomed in their ventures. It is almost destiny that every dice roll, drawn card, or roulette game escapes them. Anything they do points to their ruin.

In fiction, readers don’t want entire chapters where protagonists are playing dollar slots and using a Fibonacci betting sequence. The stories require a dynamic or impulse to set off a chain of events that the narrative will follow. The poker expert who plays for blinds and folds before the Flop is not as exciting a read. They would need to make grand gestures, either losing money faster than if they were burning it. Or, creating a masterful web of deception and conning their peers out of tremendous sums of money.

Non Fiction Gambling Literature

There have also been many novels about real gambling exploits. From Charles H Wells, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo, to Wild Bill Hickock and the dead man’s hand, not all novels need to make up the gambling stories from scratch. There have been countless figures with novel-worthy stories, however unbelievable some of the details really are.

Other examples include Archie Karas, the man with the longest streak in the world, and Titanic Thompson, the world’s most deceptive props betting con man. These characters lived recklessly and created stories that, if you didn’t know, you would think are fiction. They aren’t role models for gamblers by any means, but they show the extent to which some gamblers will go. And in most cases, the taller they grew, the harder they fell.

Semi Biographical Works on the Dangers of Gambling

The portrayals of gambling are wide and diversified in modern literature. Books such as Losing Mariposa by Doug Little or Might Bite by Patrick Foster are intriguing insights into the descent into addiction. Both men developed gambling problems, and the books detail the devastating consequences of gambling addiction.

Gambling is a lot more accessible nowadays than it was, so the dangers are also closer to home than before. But on the other side, the educational programs and studies about addiction are also far more mainstream today than they were in the 20th century. It is not as much of a taboo subject, and there are countless organisations that problem gamblers can reach out to for help.

Literature that Focuses on Odds, Probability and Math

For writers, there is also the question of how much detail is too much detail. If a writer goes into very nuanced aspects of a game, they risk alienating the demographics who aren’t into gambling. Games of chance and risking money is merely a device to set up a plot. They aren’t giving minute journals on the incoming and outgoing bankroll of a baccarat player. Unless we look at the novels that specifically do that.

There are writers who focus exactly on the odds and the games themselves. Writers like Edward Thorp, who was a math teacher, look at the probabilities and odds of casino games. Or, some writers may be more fascinated in the physics of the games. For instance, Edward Thorp’s Beat the Dealer was the first book to indulge in card counting techniques. Or, Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Taleb, which looks at the math of chance and how players can understand the house edge.

Summarising Gambling in Literature

So as you can see, there is no shortage of literature and written works that revolve around gambling. Whether they are using games of chance to create the setting for a story, they document real people’s exploits, or, they are written by professors seeking to understand probability, they all have their entertainment factor.

Regardless of which books on gambling you read, you should always be pragmatic with your own gaming. Gambling is one of those activities that people love to big up and exaggerate. Even for ourselves, we can develop cognitive biases and forget just how lucky we got in our own exploits.

So you should always gamble with caution, and never spend money that you can’t lose. There are no guarantees that your slots, roulette or other games of chance will win. Don’t assume volatility, RTP, or any kind of luck will help you out. You have to remain vigilant and aware of the risks when gaming, and always control how much you spend. By using responsible gambling tools, you will never exceed your budget. Don’t play like James Bond or despair in losses like Dostoevsky. Keep a cool head, take regular breaks, and make your own narrative.