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A few months back someone on here recommended "One of a Kind" (Stu Ungar biography). Thank you to whoever it was, what a fascinating character, the stories/tales we can all relate to, albeit not at those levels.
Any other similar reads that could rival that?
Cheers
Any other similar reads that could rival that?
Cheers
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A synopsis please
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you'll be quicker googling
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Easy meat by Peter Mcloughlin
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That was me Wicklow, glad you enjoyed it.
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Peter o'sullevan " Calling the Horse's " is very good imo.
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The High Rollers Of The Turf by Raymond Smith, 25 mostly Irish short stories i found a good light entertaining read.
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I'm severely off-piste with this recommendation, but the finest biography I've ever read is Life by Keith Richards. It helps if you like music, and particularly the Rolling Stones, but it's a sumptuous story of sheer, unbridled excess and wild success. As you'd expect, Richards is a good writer and is both humble and disarmingly honest and he tells his own story in both a charming and witty style.
If you don't like the Stones - apologies! |
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Glasgow - Thank you. What a character eh, I remember him from the poker tv days but I never knew his back story. Us gambler appreciate those loses he took better than most would, that boxing bet would take some getting over
 Thanks for the other recommendations, I will check them out (second again/johnny V) I will go off piste with mine, if any of you like running you will hopefully enjoy Born to run by Chris Mcdougall Cheers |
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Not a racing book and you'll not have heard or recognise the name. The book was written by his son.
But a great read. No Ordinary Man, A life of George Carman, QC Basically a QC who had a reputation of hard drinking legal showman of his time at the Old Bailey. Defended the likes of Richard Branson, Ken Dodd and Jeremy Thorpe Well worth a look |
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That sounds right up my street Flatcap, many thanks for the recommendation.
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Cheers ThePomp & Flatcap - sounds interesting.
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not to everyone's taste but you could check out trading game by gary stevenson
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Fairly sure One Of a Kind is the only book I have read more than once , what a compulsive gambler.His highs and lows in a week would take some beating.
Never played Gin so don't fully understand but clearly the best ever by the sounds of it , giving an edge to the other top players to get a game. |
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"Most of Ungar's winnings at the poker table he lost quickly betting on sports or horses, always looking for "action"
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Can't wait for the stewy book myself
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lee-gibson-betfair-court-case-b2841460.html
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interesting fred football correct scores ffs
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'Follow Your Leader' by former trainer Gavin Pritchard-Gordon.. an easy, interesting read, especially if you are of an age to remember those times.
O/T.. 'Dead Doubles' by Trevor Barnes, about the infamous Portland Spy Ring, if you like that sort of thing. Terrific detailed account, brought up to date. |
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Agreed about the GPG book,Smokey.
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apparently Oisin Murphy and Katerina Johnson Thompson
have written books..leave it for a couple of months and you will be able to buy them.in a charity shop for 50p |
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A licence to print money by Jamie Reid is one of the best gambling books I've read.
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How to make 3 million by a formite……from the northeast……
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I recently read Warren Gatlands autobiography and it was top notch.
Interesting, insightful and very open with what he has had to overcome and it left me in awe of the man. ol One of the best autobiographies that I've read. |
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And Giving A little Back by Barney Curley, he really was a great character who`s like we probably will never see again in this game.
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Some old faves here but what is new for Christmas?
Oisin's done a book. https://www.racingpost.com/news/britain/blood-ridden-boxers-battling-the-bottle-and-a-big-decision-on-the-title-race-five-revelations-from-oisin-murphys-new-book-a8TGb0g16eae/ Oisin Murphy's new memoir Sacrifice is published on Thursday, a series of diary entries covering the time between March and December 2024, when he was in the process of landing his fourth jockeys' title. Here are five things we learned from reading it. 1. He had no intention of winning this year’s jockeys’ championship Depending on which month you're reading, Murphy is either probably not going to go for the championship in 2025, still pondering whether or not to go for the championship in 2025, or definitely not going to go for the championship in 2025. The second volume of Sacrifice may cover how he won the championship in 2025. 2. He sent the BHA photos of his blood-ridden boxer shorts When Murphy missed a racecourse breath test at Kempton, he felt so miffed that the BHA didn't believe his excuse that he'd had to go to hospital with his haemorrhoids that he sent them photographs of his bloodied boxer shorts by way of proof. The offending bottom grapes had been seeping more than usual, apparently, and the rider was having to change his Bill Grundys on a far-too-regular basis, so he went to get them looked at, which was when the confusion arose. It was a bum rap. 3. His battle with alcohol has been long and hard If you're thinking of judging Murphy for his well-catalogued misdemeanours, bear in mind that, as the son of an alcoholic father, he has a cross to bear when it comes to drinking – one that was quite a burden in the early days of his career, especially when the winners dried up. "The more I drank the less it mattered and eventually I would pass out," he says. "I would reach for it every time I rode a horse that didn’t win, which was virtually every day. Even on the very few occasions when I did have a day of winners, I’d celebrate by having a drink or ten." He later accepts: "If the process of me drinking in order to avoid having to deal with difficult situations returns, that’ll be the end of my career. It would also be deserved and all of my own doing. There’s no question about that." 4. He has no time for prizes Despite his burning desire to be champion jockey, there's precious little sentiment in Murphy's mind when it comes to the prize-giving. He's grateful not to have to go through the loud music and magnums of champagne that the top driver gets in F1, appreciating the greater dignity that horseracing brings to the occasion, but the pot itself isn't something that motivates him. "In fact, if they decided to melt it down and turn it into an ashtray or something it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest," he admits. "The trophy could be ten feet high and made of solid platinum but it wouldn’t make any difference." Although it might be a bit precarious on the mantelpiece. 5. He is tired – a lot If there’s one overwhelming theme of the book, brought out by the diary layout, it’s Murphy’s tiredness, which gets repeated airings throughout. He’s tired in the morning, tired in the car, tired in the evening, partly because of his busy workload, his sparse diet and racing's crazy demands, but also partly because his mind refuses to switch off when he wants it to. He'll be obsessing about horses he'll soon be riding, horses he'll no longer be riding and rival jockeys who are riding too many winners for his liking, rather than getting his regulation eight hours. He's also tired of pesky journalists and racecourse stewards – but then who isn't? PS) If you were going to read Sacrifice to find out the latest on Oisin's drink-driving altercation with a tree, don't. It isn't in there. Another for Volume 2, perhaps. Read Peter Thomas’s full review of Sacrifice in Sunday’s Racing Post |
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Felix Francis has a new book out, but I've recently created a thread on that.
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Oisin's book, Sacrifice, is the subject of a post that has disappeared for moderation. I doubt we shall see it again. To be reviewed in Sunday's Racing Post.
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Pro-punter Moray Smith has a self-published book out.
Cheltenham Man: My Life In The Shadows is available to buy at https://www.cheltenham-man.co.uk/ I shan't be sending him (or anyone claiming to be a pro-punter) my name and address but I would buy the book if he sold it through Amazon like sensible authors do but if you do not share my paranoia, it sounds an interesting read based on: https://www.racingpost.com/news/features/interviews/meet-the-pro-punter-and-master-of-disguise-finally-stepping-out-of-the-shadows-after-years-of-battling-the-bookies-a0SYD4m2Gens/ |
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All that Glitters - Fall of Barings Bank.
Gives a good analytical summing up of things going tts up, alot better than the glamour side of how it was, and what you heard. |