Gambling, Betting - A LICENCE TO PRINT MONEY Jamie Reid

Gambling - on horses, dogs and roulette wheels - has been the subject of countless films and novels, but this is the first book to examine the facts, while retaining all the excitement of fiction.  How have the big bookmaking firms got away with printing money for three decades?  How much government control of the industry should there be?  How have the bookies achieved their extraordinary transformation from spivs operating in smoke-filled rooms to executives of multi-million-pound leisure industries taking bets on anything from the weather to archbishops?  And who are the punters - the professionals and the mugs - persevering in desperate attempts to prise their fortunes from them?

Jamie Reid, a punter since the age of seven, introduces the reader to the rich cast of characters who've adorned the history of bookmaking and betting.  He anatomises the codes and practices (legal and illegal) that make up the betting industry and, above all, captures all the atmosphere, comedy and madness of 'doing your money'.