Many authors have written about the game of craps using computer simulations, statistics, or probability tables to represent the game outcomes. This book analyzes over 2100 actual rolls of the dice. The data is provided for you to test your own wagering strategies.
“In truth, to only use statistics is flawed because it totally ignores other factors such as individual shooter’s ability, shooter fatigue, shooter position at the table, casinos, table lengths, time of day, duration of the throw, etc., which indeed have an impact on the outcome of each and every roll.”

Like playing other games, learning to play craps and ways to win entails a sequence of steps. Much like other games, craps can be easy to learn and understand.

Craps is the fastest-moving, action-packed casino game especially when the dice is hot. There are 2 parties in this game, your bank. Since this game is associated complexity, you shouldn't be intimidated to try out since this game is easy to learn and understand. Craps is probably the loudest and one of the most exciting games in the home.

Eric's previous Podcast at Gamblers Book Club was Episode 55-- Craps Roll Strategies with Eric Cybulski. Check it out by going to the archives or telling I Tunes to find it at the Gamblers Book Club.

David Medansky is a practicing attorney who has studied a number of "games of chance" for more than 20 years. Medansky has worked with several professional gamblers to help develop his techniques and philosophy, and goes to casinos on a regular basis to refine his skills. Medansky shares his techniques at public and private events and personally teaches the game of craps on a full size craps table obtained from the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

Playing craps professionally requires you to avoid distractions, maintain mental discipline, adhere to precise rules and techniques, and to control your emotions. The greatest reward as a professional player is the freedom to “work” your own hours and to be your own boss. Playing craps as a business avoids typical problems and/or costs. For example, it requires no accountants, bookkeepers or attorneys to operate. You will have no collection problems with receivables, no inventory, no advertising, no “customers” and no employees, which means you do not need to contribute to employee benefits or taxes. Playing craps as a business requires no insurance, licenses, dues or registration. There are no “competitors” playing craps professionally. If anything, you have a commonality with other players at the craps table - to take money from the casino, not each other. Caveat: Playing Craps is Gambling! There are no fool proof systems, strategies or methods. You will not get rich overnight. There will be times when you will lose money. How you handle these loses will determine if you will be successful or not. Success requires a lot of patience.
All of this sounds great right? Wrong. Here are some problems with the logic.  First, unless you live in Las Vegas, Laughlin or Reno, Nevada or you need to live in a geographical area where the local casinos operate craps tables. So there is a cost and expense to travel to Vegas to play craps.
Second, you will not win on every shooter. So you need to have a large enough bankroll to withstand some losses. An adequate bankroll is $3,500 of money you can afford to lose. Having an adequate bankroll is a must to ensure you have a proper psychological attitude. Herein is the problem because most people play not to lose instead of playing to win. Third, the majority of people who play craps do not have the discipline to stick with a betting strategy or to be satisfied with earning $200 per day, let alone per hour. Greed has turned many winners into losers. Fourth you need to have a betting strategy wherein you can make $25 on each shooter while minimizing your risk of loss. So you need to understand the basics of the game and then some. There are many different betting strategies that will allow you to win $25 on a shooter. Some are better than others. Again, the method I use is very simple and unique.
129 Pages Paper bound

Michael Hesse has been a consistent winner at poker for three decades. A professional analyst of mathematical systems and a graduate of UCLA and MIT, Hesse became a part-time professional online and live poker player when he realized how much money could be made at the tables. For the last 35 years, he has been teaching professional poker players and other gamblers on how to increase their edge using systems he’s developed.

After prepping at New Orleans, Louisiana's prestigious Isidore Newman School where Miller was a standout performer on the school's renowned forensics team and in the same graduating class as noted author Christopher Rice and American Idol finalist Judd Harris. He was a member of the U.S. Physics Team. Ed Miller received degrees in both Physics and Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. Initially, Miller worked as a software developer for Microsoft. After many months of poker playing in the Seattle area, Ed moved to Las Vegas in 2002 where he met Dr. Alan Schoonmaker, the author of The Psychology of Poker . Schoonmaker introduced Ed to David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth of Two Plus Two Publishing, LLC.[3] Ed married Elaine Vigneault in 2005. In 2006, Miller was made over by the Fab Five of the Bravo television show, Queer Eye.

 The Queer Eye summary: "You can't be in Vegas without running into a card shark and Ed is that card shark. But you wouldn't know it by looking at him. The wild hair, the overgrown beard, and the overall unkempt look keeps Ed from looking like the high roller that he is. He has a nerdy look but nerdy can be cool. Unfortunately, Ed hasn't gotten the 'cool' part. Even more unfortunate, Ed's parents lost their home during the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. This is a great time for our boys to 'make better' Ed and throw a poker tournament benefiting the relief efforts in New Orleans."

After living in Manhattan for two years,  Miller now lives and works in Las Vegas.

As Director of the Center for Gaming Research, he oversees the acquisition of new materials for the Center and seeks to encourage its utilization by scholarly, media, government, and industrial researchers. He also created and maintains this website, gaming.unlv.edu.

Complementing his work at UNLV, Schwartz is a writer, and consultant on gaming and related issues. He has consulted with law firms for prior art in gaming patent cases, delivered expert witness testimony about casino history, and helped casinos research and share their own company histories.

As a speaker, he talks to a variety of audiences, from visiting classes to convention groups, who enjoy his wide-ranging, fast-paced introduction to casino topics, including his "Seven Things You Should Know About Casinos" presentation.

Born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Schwartz earned his bachelor's degree (a double major in anthropology and history) as well as his master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania before seeking his doctorate in US History from UCLA.

He became the youngest Ph.D. in recent memory from UCLA's history department, filing his dissertation and receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 26 in early 2000. His dissertation, Suburban Xanadu,charted the evolution of the casino industry on the Las Vegas Strip from 1945-1978. It is now a published book, the first of three currently available. 

After completing his graduate studies, Schwartz worked in the surveillance department of an Atlantic City casino resort and taught casino history, communications, and hospitality courses as an adjunct professor, before coming to UNLV. In his current work, he combines his "real world" experience in the casino industry with his academic expertise. 

For more information about Dr. Schwartz's creative and professional activities, including his speaking, executive seminars, and consulting work., visit his website: http://www.dieiscast.com. 

Schwartz has written three books and numerous articles. His books include Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond, Cutting the Wire: Gaming Prohibition and the Internet, and Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.  Suburban Xanadu is a look at how casinos began and developed on the Las Vegas Strip in the years after World War II, and how they changed late 20th century ideas of gambling.  Cutting the Wire looks at how the Wire Act, the culimation of a half-century's effort to contain interstate bookmaking, ended up being used to prosecute legal online sports books in the early years of the Internet.  Roll the Bones is a comprehensive history of gambling, from the dawn of civilization to roughly 2 AM, April 28, 2005, incorporating cards, dice, lotteries, horseracing, and several other forms of gambling.  He also writes regularly for Casino Connection, Vegas Seven magazine, and Las Vegas Business Press.  - For Casino Connection, Schwartz writes a monthly Atlantic City history column. - For Vegas Seven, Schwartz pens the weekly "Green Felt Journal" gaming and tourism column and occasional essays and feature articles. - For the Las Vegas Business Press, Schwartz writes bi-weekly opinion essays on the past, current, and future state of Southern Nevada's gaming industry. 

The eight essays in Gambling, Space, and Time use a global and interdisciplinary approach to examine two significant areas of gambling studies that have not been widely explored--the ever-changing boundaries that divide and organize gambling spaces, and the cultures, perceptions, and emotions related to gambling. The contributors represent a variety of disciplines: history, geography, sociology, anthropology, political science, and law. The essays consider such topics as the impact of technological advances on gambling activities, the role of the nation-state in the gambling industry, and the ways that cultural and moral values influence the availability of gambling and the behavior of gamblers. The case studies offer rich new insights into a gambling industry that is both a global phenomenon and a powerful engine of local change.

The new edition has a whole new columnar format, similar to The Chip Rack, making it easier to read whilst continuing to provide all the additional data within the same single volume. Approx 800 existing listings have been consolidated, and a further 7,400 edits and new entries have been made so that this edition now contains some 31,400 records. The 4th edition of The Gaming Table was published in January 2012.

The Chip Rack Edition 13—A Price Guide to the Casino Chips and Checks of Nevada is now available for immediate shipping. The Chip Rack is the leading source of information for collectors of Nevada casino chips. With its all new design, the 432 page book now has detailed descriptions of 32,000 chips; house, roulette, baccarat, poker, commemorative and limited edition, making it the most comprehensive guide book available. Over 900 Nevada casinos are listed. Only 500 copies of edition 13 have being produced.

Since the publication of edition 12 in 2010, the editors have added approximately 2,000 new chip records to The Chip Rack, and have revised a further 2,000 existing entries in addition to price changes. We have once again maintained a single volume issue, with no change in price. 

                       Biography of “Valarie Amber” 

My family moved to Los Angeles California when I was 5 years old and we have lived humbly ever since. My mother was a housewife and my father was a workaholic, very strict parents. Coming from a family of 5 brothers and sisters, we were always in competition with each other. I married at age 28 when my husband decided to become a drug addict, our marriage ended and caused me to flea from L.A. for my own safety & financial reasons and that’s when I discovered Las Vegas. Since I didn’t begin dancing at a young age like most dancers do, I come from a business background where I worked for private investors helping to open up various businesses and organizing the functions of the business. Also, I was involved in the entertainment industry, formally a Soul Train dancer, model, trained professional dancer, actress (playing extras on several TV shows etc…) and worked as an executive secretary for Channel 52 (Telemundo). My background gave me focus as I entered a world unknown to me and to the average person. I quickly had to figure out the type of business I became involved in and create a technique that would work for me to keep my reputation in good standing without running into trouble or getting involved with various groups that may cause me my future. I created and became my own media mobile for this industry and it worked for me. This industry showed me a different side of life and learned survival skills. For that I am thank full. It has made me who I am today and allowed me to explore areas of my life I would have never known.  Prior to writing my book, dancers were offering me money to teach them techniques that can work for them. I ultimately approached one of the biggest Gentlemen’s clubs in Las Vegas offering to teach its dancers how to work in this industry in such a way that it would also benefit the club. Other clubs heard about what I was doing and inquired about my courses, trying to get me to teach in their facilities as well. Although soon after I had to stop teaching the classes to dancers when my older sister became ill of a brain tumor, I needed to help take care of her. At the same time, I also know that a huge need for training existed in this industry. I decided to write a book for the industry about how to earn good money as a dancer in a respectable way all the while taking care of my sister with her illness. As she passed, I inherited her kids and kept a solid promise to her that her kids will always be taken care of and that I would finish my book as she saw a huge need for this type of information to be told. Having worked in Las Vegas for the past 10 years as a tope VIP dancer and maintaining my status at my age proves that no boundaries exist that prevent a woman from being sexy and successful at any age regardless of the business she is in. Currently, I am working on my second book of a three part series of “The Naked Truth in a Gentlemen’s Club”. This industry has become a huge trend and an epidemic within dancers. 

An odd cast of characters is woven throughout these memorable stories. You’ll meet, among others:Gravelly-voiced Aunt Flo who blew her husband’s entire savings at the racetrack while he was on a WWII Navy ship. “Uncle Dick thought he was returning home to a comfortable nest egg, only to find out that Aunt Flo did not understand the nest egg concept — she had gambled away every cent. To his credit, as the story was told to me, Uncle Dick went on a four-day bender and Aunt Flo lived to tell the tale.”

Two overly eager co-workers whose wily wagers cost them their jobs: “By the last race Howie was in the box for over $76,000! With only one race left, his only hope was to hit the Trifecta. Hey, what’s another $24,000 when you are already stuck 76 large.” “Louie’s eyes were glued to the television, as the lead horse was ahead by 3 lengths on the backstretch. He quickly punched in $200 to win, the maximum bet the machine would allow, punched the number of the horse on the lead, and started hitting the repeat button. This feature allowed clerks to issue multiple tickets rapidly and Louie was working that machine like a construction worker holding a jackhammer.”

Tommy and his plan to rule roulette: “When the ball bounced around it landed on red, but only momentarily before it leaped into a black slot like a poisonous frog.” Tommy had fallen prey to a common condition called “Gambler’s Fallacy”. Simply stated, this is the “incorrect belief that the likelihood of a random event can be affected or predicted from other independent events.” The “law of averages” is one phrase that gamblers should strike from their vocabulary.”

Avid gamblers as well as non-gamblers will be highly entertained by a myriad of sagas, which also include sports betting, dog racing, and poker. By the end of the book, like the author, readers will end up asking themselves, “Is today going to be my lucky day?” You betcha!

Like his father, Elliot possesses a natural talent for mathematics and computing that has proven extremely helpful in his gaming career. This became evident when Frome junior was still in high school. He was able to design a Blackjack analysis program nearly 25 years ago using nothing but his high school computer.

He put his gambling ambitions aside, however, to pursue a career in computer science. Elliot graduated from the State University of New York, where he majored in Computer Science and Business Administration. He spent 15 years as an analyst, systems designer and business analyst before finally deciding to get back to his roots and pursue casino gaming once again.Back to Video Poker

This time he put everything he had into the dream and designed a video poker analysis program to aid in his strategy research. Even though there were already several video poker programs available at the time, Elliot wanted control over his own program so he could tweak it as he wanted and update it for the newest video poker variants. He would go on to use this program for years to help develop optimum strategies for the newest video poker games.

Elliot now writes a weekly column for the "Gaming Today" publication and for the website "Casino City Times." His book titles include "Expert Strategy for Caribbean Stud", "Expert Strategy for Three Card Poker", "Expert Strategy for Four Card Poker" and "Expert Strategy for Five Deck Frenzy."

Elliot's personal website is www.gambatria.com . Although Elliot is well known for his video poker writings, his emphasis is actually on analyzing all the newest casino games. The titles of his books show how far Elliot has expanded into the gambling world.

Video poker is the one casino game in which players can gain an edge but his books on other casino games still come in handy for gambling enthusiasts. Whether or not a game is beatable in the long run, Elliot still provides expert strategy advice to help players make the best possible plays every time.

If you'd like to get your hands on some of Elliot's most prolific writing, you should check out the book "Winning Strategies for Video Poker." It was originally written by his father at gamblersbookclub.com.

Just keep in mind that the book was written by a major math mind, so some of it will be pretty advanced. You'll probably want to read up on our basic video poker strategies before tackling the advanced material presented in "Winning Strategies for Video Poker."

Anthony Curtis is the author of Bargain City—Booking, Betting, and Beating the New Las Vegas(OUT OF PRINT and co-author of The Art of Gambling. Curtis has served as a consultant and gambling authority for Disney Studios; ABC’s "20/20", and NBC’s "Crime Story." Articles about or by Curtis have appeared in USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Casino Player, Chicago Sun-Times, L.A. Times, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Discover Magazine, the London Times, and other high-profile publications. Curtis has also been featured on "48 HOURS" and "DATELINE NBC." As a professional gambler, Curtis’ top tournament wins include $76,000 World Matchplay Blackjack Championship, $125,000 Atlantic City Craps Championship, $50,000 Las Vegas Keno Championship, and $60,000 Las Vegas Blackjack Championship. He is the publisher of Huntington Press and lives in Las Vegas.

Cardoza is a five-time Gold and Platinum award-winning designer (48th annual awards, National Paperbox Association) and the author of the 432-page bible on publishing, The Complete Guide to Successful Publishing, which the Publisher’s Marketing Association called “the most comprehensive guide on publishing…maybe ever.” The Guide has laid the foundation for thousands of writers and publishers in bringing their dreams to fruition.

Cardoza expanded his reach into the world of gambling in 2010 with the purchase of the Gambler’s Book Club (www.gamblersbookclub.com), rescuing a legendary gambling institution with a history dating back to 1964 when founders John and Edna Luckman first opened its doors. Publishers of more than 250 titles—including the first manual on hold'em poker, written by David Sklansky in 1976—and mentioned in over 1,000 others, the store has mentored untold numbers of authors, researchers, documentary filmmakers, and preproduction personnel from Hollywood and television during its almost 50-year history as the reigning authority on gambling publications. John Scarne, Walter Gibson, Sonny Reizner, and the great Harry Houdini are just a few GBC Press authors. Ex-mobsters, FBI agents, and law enforcement personnel regularly shop at Gambler's Book Club, as well as casino owners such as Steve Wynn, Jackie Gaughan, Bob Stupak, Carl Icahn and Jack Binion have patronized the store. In fact, pretty much anyone who was or is anyone in the gambling world has passed through the doors of the GBC. Nick Pileggi (Casino, Wise Guys), Jimmy Breslin (Damon Runyon biographer), and poker legends Brunson and Amarillo Slim are but a few of the memorable book signings that have taken place at the GBC. With the most extensive library of gaming books for sale anywhere, the GBC is an astounding 3,000-book superstore of gambling books—plus a wide range of biographies, Vegas interest items, Mafia titles, and popular games such as chess, backgammon and sudoku.

Greg Niemann graduated with a degree in journalism from California State University, Los Angeles, and is an accredited business communicator. He was a communications manager and publications editor with United Parcel Service for over 34 years before he retired in January 1995. Niemann was president of both the Los Angeles and Orange County chapters of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and was named Communicator of the Year by that organization. He has also served on the board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC).

He worked for UPS as a teenager in 1957-58, and then served in the U.S. Army in Germany where he earned the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) with the highest score in the battalion. He returned to UPS as a Hollywood center delivery driver, and was promoted into management where he edited the company magazine, the Big Idea, in Southern California. Later he coordinated the editing of numerous company publications throughout the West Coast, and often helped organize visits of key UPS executives. He has personally known every UPS CEO from founder Jim Casey to the recent Mike Eskew. 

Since retirement, he has been a newspaper columnist and still contributes regularly to several publications. Presently, Niemann is on staff of the San Clemente Journal, writing the award-winning South of the Border column and a travel column featuring Palm Springs and other desert destinations. Most of his articles are travel- or Baja-related, including a series on the Baja missions along with numerous fishing and off-road racing articles. 

Niemann’s books include Baja Fever, Baja Legends, Palm Springs Legends, Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS and Las Vegas Legends. The memoirs brought out in Baja Fever created a loyal following of Baja fans. Baja Legends, which focuses on the characters, events, and locations that put Baja California on the map, won an award from the Outdoor Writers Association of California, and is in its third printing. Palm Springs Legends has been one of the top sellers in all Coachella Valley bookstores since its release, and is now also in its third printing. Big Brown is in several languages world-wide, and Las Vegas Legends is being released by Sunbelt Publications in mid-2011. 

A popular speaker, Niemann has presented numerous slide shows and/or book signings at venues including: Barnes & Noble, Borders, Costco, Discover Baja Travel Club; Distant Lands Travel Club, Book Expo America, and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. He is a member of the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, the Palm Springs Historical Society, the Las Vegas/Clark County Library District Foundation, and the Friends of Classic Las Vegas. He enjoys big game ocean fishing, fresh water fishing, and other outdoor activities, like hiking, bicycling, and rafting. 

Niemann is a fourth generation Californian whose great grandfather at one time published the Pomona Progress and Independent. He and his wife reside in southern California. They travel as much as possible and also have a weekend home in Baja California, Mexico. 

By Mike Hillin Author/Handicapper

The Las Vegas Linemaker VI is designed to pick winners in pro football using power ratings and spread range charts. The degree of difficulty is equivalent to junior high math and is simple enough for new or experienced handicappers to use. The book takes about 20 minutes of your time to update weekly.

One of the basic fundamentals of football gambling is to determine if the point spread accurately represents the difference in relative strength of the two teams, or if it is a number to create balanced betting action. The power ratings will determine the relative strength between two teams. A comparison with the point spread will show you which team is getting value.

The spread range chart is used to track how teams are doing against the point spread. The rationale behind it is that odds makers are so closely in tune with how teams are doing against the spread. Odds makers tend to make teams that are doing well more expensive, and teams doing poorly more attractive. Power ratings will point out how much odds makers are compensating.

2011 College Stat Tracker $19.95 By Mike Hillin Author/Handicapper

The College Stat Tracker was created with a yardage per point system. The book has every NCAA division 1 college team with two stat pages each, to record statistical data for every game played. The yards per point system is easy to use and requires simple addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication.

A short exercise was added on page 9 to make sure the reader understands the calculations to achieve a theoretical score. The stat columns include team and opponent rankings, offensive and defensive points for and points against, first downs, rushing yards, passing yards, total yards, and offensive and defensive yards per point.

The second page lets you total those figures so you won’t have to go back and calculate them later in the season. The College Stat Tracker gives you the room other publications don’t.

About the Author:

Mike Hillin has been handicapping college and pro football for over 30 years and uses the material that has been the most successful for him. He has arranged this material in two solid handicapping books so that the reader has the best chance to succeed against the odds makers.

A former casino executive and 12-year resident of Las Vegas, Andrew McLean was a table games employee at the Flamingo, the Dunes, and Circus Circus. He’s a graduate of Michigan State University, 1972, and along with his partner and soul mate, Liz (Jenny) Rouse, resides along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

McLean is the bestselling lead author of Investing in Real Estate (6th Edition) and co-author with George H. Ross, Donald Trump’s right-hand man in Trump Strategies For Real Estate; Billionaire Lessons For the Small Investor, published in four languages by John Wiley & Sons.

“The Las Vegas Chronicles by Andrew McLean is a truly remarkable read. After doing extensive research for my Las Vegas police and Mob books, I figured I knew most everything worth knowing about Sin City. At least that’s what I thought until I read this book.

“In The Las Vegas Chronicles Mr. McLean accurately tells his readers the history of the city, who the key players were—both good and bad, the celebrities, the gaming, trivia, it’s all there.

“I highly recommend this book to all readers. And if you’re a history buff, a Las Vegas fan, or a bit of both, The Las Vegas Chronicles is a must read."

Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005.

Barry Carter is a poker journalist from Sheffield, United Kingdom. He is the editor of uk.pokernews.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker, with mental game coach Jared Tendler. 

From a cop’s life on the streets of Brooklyn to hobnobbing with celebrities in the resorts of Las Vegas, Michaels delivers intriguing insights and nonstop laughs. He’s seen it all, from tracking the Son of Sam serial killer in New York to record shopping sprees with Michael Jackson in Las Vegas. Along the way, Michaels has met many of the world’s most famous and interesting people, encounters that
inevitably yielded a fascinating story.

Sheldon Smith

Sheldon and his wife, Christine (known collectively as “Team Smith”), have been collecting for more than 25 years! First, they just had random items that “walked away” from the casinos with them – because they just liked them or forgot they had them! But, in the last ten years or so, they have collected casino memorabilia in earnest! “Team Smith’s” primary collection is $1 Nevada chips. However, some say their house looks like a mini-museum! Before leaving Chicago for Las Vegas, they helped organize the Chicago-land Chippers!

Until his retirement and relocation, Sheldon ran a not-for-profit educational institution (TestWatch Research Institute Ltd.) and he has been known to say that “Chips are much easier to work with than students and their parents!” Sheldon and his wife became members a little over ten years ago and have been very active ever since! In addition to serving as Vice-President, Sheldon is also both the Publicity Director and Education Director for the CC&GTCC.

As Publicity Director, Sheldon significantly expanded the number of articles, placements and announcements regarding the Club and the Annual Convention in national magazines and newspapers, all of which he hopes has helped the Club gain more national attention. Recently, Sheldon was instrumental in arranging for TV’s “American Pickers” to visit club member Doug Deems in Kingman, AZ!

As the Education Director, Sheldon arranges for interesting topics and knowledgeable presenters for the Educational Seminars at the Club’s Annual Convention. These seminars provide additional reasons why collectors of casino memorabilia -- and those who love the history of gambling across the U.S. and around the world -- come to the CC&GTCC Convention.

Sheldon has also brought PAYPAL to the Club. This provides an easier method of collecting dues and processing purchases from and for the club. He was also able to bring the CC&GTCC to eBay! Through eBay, the CC&GTCC now has access to the world’s largest online marketplace – and it to us! Under eBay rules, our Club is “not-for-profit,” which allows members to donate items for sale and now receive a tax donation letter.

Sheldon and Christine have 5.5 grandchildren and more are expected within the year! Their blended family has 2 sons, 1 daughter, 1 son-in-law, 1 daughter-in-law, 1 ex-daughter-in-law, 2 brothers, 2 sisters-in-law, 2 nieces, 2 nephews and assorted cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and pets – all of whom (except the pets!) are expected to be on the look-out for casino memorabilia, chips from wherever they all travel, and anything that is even remotely related to gaming, gambling, or games of chance! One of Sheldon’s Chicago friends affectionately dubs himself, “Sheldon’s chip-mule” because of all the chips he brings back from his many cruises!

Coming off the acclaim of his first book, Schmidt teamed up with Christopher Hoppe to write his second book, “Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth,” which claims to correct the 50 worst pieces of poker advice you’ve ever heard. The book is available for $49.99 either as a hard copy or a PDF file that can be loaded onto most popular e-reading devices.

The concept of the book is pretty provocative and clearly the title was meant to stir the pot and create a bit of controversy. For a book being sold strictly online, there’s some leeway when it comes to self-promotional methods, so I can’t come down too hard on the shameless attempt to grab headlines through the title alone.

Nevertheless, as a player who plays small-stakes games and looking to make the jump into mid-stakes games by the end of this year, I find myself agreeing with the concept of the book more and more: the advice we all heard when we first jumped into poker is woefully outdated. The books aims to take that advice and give it a real world spin.

The books starts with an unapologetic look at the advice of years gone by from poker commentators on television and instructors on websites. The tone of the book is much more analytical than anything else, which was a good move since a book with a bratty and spiteful tone would have lost a lot of readers. The introduction sets the tone well and demonstrates the reality that poker is an organic game that is constantly evolving.

The book consists of 50 chapters, each of which has a common misconception in the game of poker. Each chapter states the misconception and then deconstructs the truth and falsehood behind it while demonstrating its reality in today’s micro- and small-stakes games. Each chapter is about four pages long and most have hand history examples if the concept calls for one.

I’m sure there will be plenty of debate regarding the advice, but the idea is that the mind will be thinking about interesting poker spots. There’s a real world look at the games in the context of each misconception and there’s definitely bound to be some nuggets of golden advice for all readers in the 50 chapters in the book.

The book isn’t necessarily linear, meaning the chapters don’t have to be read in order to make sense. If you find some of the misconceptions particularly juicy from the table of contents, skipping to them is appropriate and doesn’t take away from the experience of reading the book.

The second part of the book is a section entitled “25 Hands with Dusty Schmidt,” where the authors take a look at hands from the mid- and high-stakes cash games and break down the play. There are a lot of interesting spots that Schmidt played and there’s a strong emphasis on playing back at an opponent type and range. Again, there’s bound to be discussion about the lines Schmidt took and the summaries given.

After about 80 pages encompassing those hand histories, the final part of the book is the “Study” section, which contains a 27-page, 60-question quiz. The answers to the quiz are given on the last page so you can check.

PokerNewsDaily Book Review

Donna Foley Mabry 

When Donna was five years old, her father gave her a red and white Singer sewing machine for Christmas. It was powered by turning a little wheel on the side, and it was just what the little girl wanted. Somehow, Mabry says, she already knew how to make simple dresses for her dolls.

Over the years, her machines included an old foot-treadle powered White, then her first electric, another Singer, with a cast-iron body that was so heavy she couldn’t lift it by herself. She made clothes for herself and her daughter, Melanie. When her children were small, she didn’t work outside of the home, but earned her own money dressmaking for wealthy ladies.

When the family moved to Florida, Melanie was fifteen and immediately became involved with the Venice Little Theatre. Soon, the whole family was spending their free time there. Husband Lonnie acted and helped with props, son David acted and did lights. One Christmas, David was a witches helper in, “The Wizard of Oz,” and grew so much over the summer that the next year, he was the Scarecrow. 

The costume designer, Joan Dillon, taught Donna the finer points of costume construction. Over the years, Donna sewed, acted, and performed various other duties at the theatre, and her daughter went on to study acting and dance at USF and became a professional actor. That led both of them to Las Vegas.

Melanie came first, doing a show at the MGM Grand for a year, then deciding to settle down. She went into marketing, starting in events and tournaments at the Sahara, then working her way up to Entertainment Director at Harrah’s on the Las Vegas strip. 

While she was working there, Melanie persuaded her boss to hire her mother to make costumes. Melanie introduced Donna to her friends and workmates, colorful people to say the least. She set up a work area for her Mom in the back of the dressing room. Soon, Donna was making notes on things she heard while she was sewing. 

Donna hadn’t written since college, but thought about the interesting people and great stories and decided to stitch them together into her first novel, “The Last Two Aces in Las Vegas.”

Everyone in it is based on at least one real person. Some of the characters are two or three people put together. 

“My leading man, Alberto, is actually three people, he has one person’s childhood, a different one’s early adulthood, and another’s older years. Many of the stories told in the book are true, and a few of them didn’t take place until after the book was finished. I’m very interested in what makes people do the things they do, so given their personalities, it wasn’t too difficult to see how they would react in certain situations. It‘s fun when a Vegas old-timer reads it and tries to guess who the character is in real life. Sometimes, the guess surprises me, and sometimes they‘re right on the money. It‘s not always who you might think.”

With four books now published in the series, the story lines seem almost endless. “These are sort of backwards mysteries, like the old TV show, Colombo. You know right away who the killer is, the mystery comes in finding out what will happen to trip them up,” Donna says.

Professional sports in America: it’s all about fair play and the goal of winning championships. At least that’s the spin. But could it be a massive showbiz operation filled with greedy owners, crooked referees, and coddled players, all with the unstated goal of grabbing as much money as possible?

Author Brian Tuohy provides a full-sourced saga of the corruption that has infected the storied histories of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR.

With reality obscured by a complacent and often complicit sports media, The Fix Is In shines a light on a hidden history of clandestine arrangements between television networks and sports leagues, all against a background of drinking, drugging, and crime.

Finally, here’s a book that unflinchingly examines the sordid underbelly of the American sports industry.

Brian Tuohy maintains the website thefixisin.net and is a frequent contributor to the CBS Sports website bleacherreport.com, where he chronicles sports scandals and conspiracies as the stories break. Brian has been interviewed by The New York Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, andThe Power Hour radio program.

About the Author

Brian Tuohy's has been interviewed by ESPN, The New York Times, and Fox Sports, and has contributed many articles to The Bleacher Report.

You Want WHAT???' is a story collection that takes you inside Las Vegas and shows you what guests from all over the world are really looking for in this 24 hour city. This book will have you laughing hysterically as you get inside awkward situations or hear embarrassing questions that guests have asked concierges... ...and the next second, you'll be tearing up at a particularly emotional moment a concierge experienced. What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. Dozens of the finest Las Vegas concierges were interviewed to create this book, and gave their strongest memories about being a concierge...from hilarious requests to touching moments. Note from Author: "As a Las Vegas concierge, reading these stories makes me smile, laugh, and sometimes cry. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of collecting them, and I hope you love reading them. This is the perfect gift for friends and family who love Vegas, or for someone considering vacationing there. Order today and take a journey through the concierge's life in Vegas!"

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/16988120/book-chronicles-bizarre-requests-made-to-las-vegas-concierges

This is an interesting and important book. It blends serious literary intentions with what have been typically called genre concerns to make a collection that really speaks to contemporary fears in our culture.

As a youngster, Robert “Cotton” LeBlanc was introduced to the sport of billiards at a local bowling alley that owned one pool table in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 12 years old. A quick learner, he became skilled at the game and mastered it under the guidance of top billiards professionals in the state. After finishing school, he began traveling the billiards circuit across the country. During that time he learned new strategies and techniques from accomplished players like Buddy “The Rifleman” Hall, Wade “Boom-Boom” Crane, and Ronnie Allen. He soon earned the recognition and respect of the top pool players in the country by winning local, regional and statewide competitions. Some of Robert’s professional recognition includes:

AWARDS 

1st Place Awards

Billiard Congress of America, National 8-Ball Championship Open Men’s Mixed Team. 

Undefeated against 4,000 teams 

One Pocket Tournament, South Bay Billiards, South Bay, CA 

National Team Champions, McDermott US Team Open Championship, Las Vegas 

US Scotch Doubles Hueber Cup VIII (partnered with top-ranked Women’s Professional Play, Robin Bell), Laughlin, Nevada 

Miller Lite Regionals, 8-Ball Division, Chicago 

Miller Lite Regionals, 9-Ball Division, Chicago 

Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool Regionals, 8-Ball, Chicago 

Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool Regionals, 9-Ball, Chicago 

2st Place Awards

Western Division, McDermott US Team Open, Las Vegas 

Andy Mercer Memorial 9-Ball Classic, Las Vegas 

International Award

World One-Pocket Tournament, 5th Place, Reno, Nevada 

FILM AND TV

Lucky Strike Cigarette TV commercial, technical advisor and trick shots for Michael Stone (Actress Sharon Stone’s brother) 

Trick shot exhibition segment for MTV with host Carrie Wuher 

Body double and trick shots in movie, “Hot Shots” for Carey Elwes 

Technical Consultant for the movie, “Pool Hall Junkies” script; movie loosely based on Robert’s life 

TV sitcom, “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” trick shots 

PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL 

Technical consulting for TV commercials and feature films. Working on sets with directors and actors. 

Technical consulting for pool room start-ups. Clients and career positions with the Hollywood Athletic Club (CA), Events Sports Bar (CA), Rack ‘Em Up (CA), National Sports Grill (American Restaurant Group, CA) 

House Pro, National Sports Grill (6 locations) 

House Pro, Hollywood Athletic Club 

House Pro, Jersey’s Sports Grill 

House Pro, Kelly McCue’s 

As the House Pro, responsibilities included running tournaments, technical consulting, private and group lessons, billiard sales, billiard maintenance, increasing sales.

League Director, National Sports Grill (6 locations) 

League Director, Jersey’s Sports Grill 

League Director, Kelly McCue’s 

League Director, Plush Pocket 

League Director, Yankee Doodles 

As the League Director, responsibilities included organizing leagues, weekly stat reports, organizing banquets, organizing All Star Tournaments and Team Championships, training assistant directors, providing league manuals.

SPECIAL SKILLS AND INSTRUCTION

Billiards instruction for private and group lessons 

Billiard league organization and supervision of more than 50 competitive leagues with more than 500 teams of 2,000 players 

Trick shot exhibition; Challenge matches 

Equipment evaluation/selection for billiards rooms, pros and students 

Private party consultant at large and small venues 

Casual poker fans may not be familiar with the online poker pro known as “Fox”, but Chris Wallace has been making a name for himself in the world of online poker for quite some time. Wallace isn’t simply an online poker player grinding away at the tables –although he does grind with the best of them—the name “Fox” is even better known for his theoretical work, insightful articles, and his terrific results as a poker coach.

Now the poker world will become even more familiar with Chris “Fox” Wallace. For his latest endeavor he has teamed up with Adam Stemple to author the new No Limit Holdem strategy book, No Limits: The Fundamentals of No-Limit Holdem.

At 227 pages, No Limits is broken up into 16 chapters with 3 Appendices and a Glossary, giving you plenty of material to digest. Each chapter also contains multiple sample hands, so you can see each concept in action. Although shorter than other poker primers, there is very little fluff in this book, and you’ll likely need to read the book multiple times, and will pick-up something new on each reading.

Before you even get to the quality of the advice, one thing you will notice immediately is the quality of the book itself. Little expense was spared in the printing process, including full-color depictions of playing cards in the sample hands, something I wish every poker book contained.

About the Author

George S. Howard, Ph. D. is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. He has served as Chairman, Department of Psychology and Director, Laboratory for Social Research at Notre Dame, as well as the Joseph Morahan Director of College Seminar. He served as President, Division of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology and President, Division of Humanistic Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He also was the 1998 winner of Notre Dame's Faculty Award. Author of 14 books and over 190 scientific articles and chapters, his specialties include philosophical psychology, research methodology, narrative psychology and environmental psychology. Elihu D. Feustel, J.D. is a professional gambler. He was an insurance lawyer for 10 years until he began sports-betting full time. He was an odds maker and consultant for Pinnacle Sports in 2004-2006. His primary focus is on winning at sports betting. He still has a minor involvement in law mediating internet gambling disputes. 

All manners of gambling are becoming increasingly popular in our society. Whether a person places a bet on sports or gambles on a stock, he is making a decision on risk. Most people need much more information than they have to make good decisions on either. A majority of the book focuses on sports betting. Four in-depth winning models are demonstrated for MLB, NFL, NCAA Football and WNBA. In addition to methods for handicapping these sports, there are explanations of a variety of approaches to exploit sports market inefficiencies and incorrect assumptions of bookmakers. The approaches to stock betting challenges commonly accepted knowledge. How important is diversification? Are investors in individual stocks just gambling? Is maximizing your portfolio growth worth taking on added volatility? Is sports betting a better investment than stocks for some people? The approaches offered to risk taking, especially sports betting are ground breaking, with more fresh ideas than ever seen in a single coherent publication. 

The authors present a lucid and comprehensive guide for developing a plan to succeed at sports gambling in an increasingly complex marketplace. Whether you're interested in becoming a winner at sports betting or simply fascinated by the role of risk in our society, 'Conquering Risk' is must reading. --Jeff Haney, Sports Columnist 

“ My book provides a simple, direct approach identifying five secrets to successful gambling and how they are applied to specific craps strategies.  I concentrate solely on the bets a player should make, teach hou to play for keeps, and explain why my method of play is best.”

Best-selling Las Vegas author and public speaker Jack Sheehan, who has written 18 non-fiction books including Buried Lies, Skin City, Class of '47, Quiet Kingmaker, Forgotten Man, Embedded Balls, Above Las Vegas, and The Players: The Men Who Lowell Thomas Award 1991

For Outstanding Land Travel Article In The United States titled, "The Loneliest Road in America" which appeared in Endless Vacation Magazines

Made Las Vegas, is available to write full-length, high-end biographies.

Nevada Screenwriters Award 1988 

For "Buddies", optioned to Warner Brothers Motion Pictures and ABC television. 

Western States Outstanding Journalist Award 1987 

For magazine feature writing. 

Also...

Inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award Vegas Golfer M

Frank DiTondoFinancial services his profession, thoroughbred racing his passion! Frank DiTondo got hooked early in life when his father took him to Suffolk Downs in the summer of 1942 to see Whirlaway, the Triple Crown winner in 1941, run and win the Massachusetts Handicap. He became an avid student of the game, with an unquenchable thirst to learn, enabling him to grow from a novice teenager learning to read the Daily Racing Form to an informed and acknowledged successful handicapper.

McEvoy won the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. He was the first winner to earn his buy-in through a satellite tournament. His heads-up matchup with Rod Peate was the longest heads-up battle in WSOP history before being surpassed during the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event in 2006 by Chip Reese and Andy Bloch.

Since his two bracelet wins in 1983, McEvoy has gone on to win two more WSOP bracelets. He won the Razz tournament in 1986, defeating Alma McClelland, and a Limit Omaha tournament in 1992, defeating 1986 world champion Berry Johnston. But his luck in the WSOP Main Event since his championship win has not been so good. McEvoy's only other main event cash since 1983 was in the 2006 WSOP, when he finished in 371st place, earning $34,636.

In March 2006, Tom McEvoy won the third ever Professional Poker Tour event beating a field of pros-only at the Bay 101 casino. He defeated a final table that included fellow WSOP bracelet winners, Toto Leonidas and Hoyt Corkins.

McEvoy first cashed in the WSOP in 1982, finishing in 6th place in the $1,000 Razz event. The following year, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event, defeating Irish professional poker player Donnacha O'Dea heads-up to win the tournament.

McEvoy won the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. He was the first winner to earn his buy-in through a satellite tournament. His heads-up matchup with Rod Peate was the longest heads-up battle in WSOP history before being surpassed during the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event in 2006 by Chip Reese and Andy Bloch.

Since his two bracelet wins in 1983, McEvoy has gone on to win two more WSOP bracelets. He won the Razz tournament in 1986, defeating Alma McClelland, and a Limit Omaha tournament in 1992, defeating 1986 world champion Berry Johnston. But his luck in the WSOP Main Event since his championship win has not been so good. McEvoy's only other main event cash since 1983 was in the 2006 WSOP, when he finished in 371st place, earning $34,636.

In March 2006, Tom McEvoy won the third ever Professional Poker Tour event beating a field of pros-only at the Bay 101 casino. He defeated a final table that included fellow WSOP bracelet winners, Toto Leonidas and Hoyt Corkins.

This book has been out of print for more than 15 years but it's so legendary that people have been willing to pay $50 or more for a copy of it . Now, it is available in reprint form. Banker, a veteran of more than 40 years in sports betting, was co-authored by Fred Klein. They broke the topics into eight major sections and focused on betting football, basketball, baseball and boxing. Banker discusses what it was like to be betting in the pre-computer days and how information was gathered, evaluated and bet on. He explains why a professional gambler cannot afford to be a fan. His insights on why it's important to know how to watch a game or event on television is crucial, as are his views on handicapping services, his reasoning for when to be early or late and his insight into fixed games. Certainly the art of handicapping and where to get a big bet down has changed in the past two decades, but reading Banker's book is both a how-to bet and a history lesson, a lot of it covering how to survive; how to manage your money and understanding how tough it is to sustain a winning percentage and make a living over the long run. A whole generation has missed this wonderful book. It's now available for the first time in years. You'll like it, because it imparts knowledge and it makes good sense, to learn from a very classy guy. 182 pages, plastic spiralbound, January 2004 (Reprint) 

Jay Kornegay can't even imagine the odds.

Funny, because as the Las Vegas Hilton sports book's executive director, Kornegay spends every day dealing with numbers. But he thought it would be nearly impossible for anyone to win the Supercontest, the Hilton's annual football handicapping contest, two years in a row.

"It's such a long shot," Kornegay said. "It would be like UNLV winning the BCS National Championship."

Steve Fezzik defied the odds. Fezzik, who has bet on sports professionally for the last nine years in Las Vegas, finished with the best record in the Supercontest and won the grand prize.

Fezzik went 52-29-3 in the contest, in which each bettor picks five NFL games each week of the regular season, and won $196,800. It was the first time in the history of the 20-year contest that a handicapper won back-to-back titles.

"If you ask me what sport is my specialty, I'd say football, but it's really football contests," said Fezzik, who posts his weekly picks and is a moderator at lvasports.com. "To make a comparison, I would say straight bets in football are like cash games in poker. A player like Phil Hellmuth is a much better tournament player than cash games. I would say I'm a lot like Phil Hellmuth in football."

This week’s show starts with Howard’s lively and uber fascinating interview with Gene Kilroy, one-time business manager/confidante/get-the-job-done man for the great Muhammad Ali. Perhaps a quote about Ali from Kilroy best describes this guest best: "I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world just to call him my friend. If I was to die today and go to heaven it would be a step down. My heaven was being with Ali.''  (From an interview conducted by Tim Dahlberg, AP, January 17, 2007). Kilroy’s career covered the sports, gambling and entertainment arena, from the front office of the Philadelphia Eagles to the back lots of MGM movies to the top floor offices of some of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. His reminiscences, thoughts, and opinions here make for a memorable broadcast.

In the second part of the show Howard talks to Las Vegas’ sports talk radio show professional John Kelly. A graduate of Northwestern University, Kelly has been a fascinated observer and participant in the life of the “most exciting city in the world.” The former commentator of the Stardust Line, the longest-running, single-sponsored sports show in the country, Kelly now hosts Leroy’s Sports Hour, available in Nevada on Fox and ESPN Radio outlets and on the Internet at www. AmericaWagering.com. Kelly provides mucho insight into the fast-paced gambling scene, with particular focus on sports wagering.

Alan Jay Zaremba

Every spring, the first four days of the NCAA mens basketball tournament attracts a horde of basketball bettors to Las Vegas. From the tip-off of the tournaments first game on Thursday morning to the final whistle on Sunday, throngs of bettors overwhelmingly male sit in smoky casinos obsessively watching as many as forty-eight college basketball games. This book immerses readers in that action. In The Madness of March: Bonding and Betting with the Boys in Las Vegas, Alan Jay Zaremba travels to The Strip and gives us a front-row view of the betting culture that surrounds the frenzied first weekend of the tournament. Alternating between humorous accounts of gamblers’ exploits and cultural theories on sports in society, Zaremba provides an engaging analysis of the sporting ritual that such gambling has become. With forays into the history of the tournament, the background of sports betting, and a little betting of his own, Zaremba raises the question of whether this subculture of March Madness is a blessing or a curse and what, finally, it all means.

Greg Gift, originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a former poker player who found joy and profit in sports handicapping, primarily in football betting, particularly the pros, specializes in betting and the teaching of how to bet the underdog. His book, Winning NFL Totals Strategy was extremely popular in the 1980s.

Jack has penned an autobiography titled Gentleman Jack Newton—Confessions of a Crossroad Gambler (180 pages, paper bound, $14.95). It’s a great book about the “good old days" of gambling. The man who’s seen it and done it all in more than 60 years at the tables joins his publisher in telling some amazing stories that didn't make it into the book.

In this broadcast Howard interviews Bill Zender, a leading authority
on of casino management and game protection and a gaming operations
consultant. Zender is the author of several books, including two on
blackjack and two on pai gow, both tiles and poker. A former member of
the Nevada Gaming Control Board in the Division of Enforcement; He
also headed the Aladdin Hotel/casino in Las Vegas, worked as Asian
games manager at the now defunct Desert Inn in Las Vegas, and is a
professional card counter. He's rather passionate about how the
casinos treat players, particularly with regard to blackjack. As the
owner of Last Resort Consulting, he now travels extensively to
provide his insight and assistance to gaming venues throughout the
world.

Jeff Hwang is a semi-professional poker player and an investment analyst who regularly writes about the gaming industry for the Motley Fool, a well known website about stocks and investing. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a B.S./B.A. in both finance and management, Jeff has been an advantage player since 1999, when he took an interest in blackjack. After he graduated college, Jeff picked up poker, and he has been playing semi-professionally ever since. His regular lineup includes Pot-Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, with the occasional No-Limit Hold'em game. The material in this book is the result of playing various Omaha games nearly exclusively for over eighteen months, both live and online. Jeff lived in St. Louis and spends time in Fort Lauderdale, Washington, D.C., and on the road the rest. He is currently pursuing a MBA at UNLV in Las Vegas, NV and can be seen playing at the Wynn frequently

If you've never tried Pot-Limit Omaha, you're missing out on the most exciting, most lucrative cash game around. Omaha has long been the most popular form of poker in Europe, and now it's spreading like wildfire throughout North America. The reason is simple— Omaha offers more action and bigger pots than Texas Hold'em. Isn't it time you got in on it?

Whether you're a cash-game professional or poker hobbyist-and whether you play live or online-this book will arm you with a winning big-play strategy that's easy to master even if you've never played Omaha before. You'll discover the subtle distinctions that set Omaha above other games.

Key topics include—
• The Big Play Objectives
• The Power of the Big Draw
• Straight Draws and Starting Hand Construction
• Playing the Position Game
• Limit Omaha Hi/Lo and Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

Complete with practice situations and hand quizzes, this is the most comprehensive Omaha book available-and the only one you'll ever need.

Looy Simonoff is a well known magical inventor who makes Las Vegas his home. Looy's popular effect, "Earth Shoes,"  was performed twice daily on the Las Vegas Strip by Mack King. Looy taught a magic class at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, his works have been widely published in the books of Harry Lorayne, Allan Ackerman and Paul Harris, and he is a Professor Emeritus in the math department.
If you ever ask him how he is doing, he will give you his signature "Terrible,Terrible"

Ron Humble

Frank Nitti has been one of the most elusive figures in American criminal history, but Ron Humble has captured him within the pages of this impressive book.. A in-depth study of a major gangland figure--from the real man to the pulp-fiction persona, it's all here in this compelling biography...a staggering piece of research.

Frank The Enforcer Nitti is arguably the most glamorized gangster in history. He was an infamous Chicago wiseguy who eventually rose to command the city's premier underworld organization--The Outfit. Though he has been widely mentioned in fictional works, this is the first book to document Nitti's real-life criminal career alongside his pop culture persona, with special chapters devoted to the many television shows, movies, and songs featuring Nitti. Author Ronald Humble chronicles The Enforcer's beginnings in New York's Navy Street Boys to his position as Al Capone's second-in-command and eventual leadership of the outfit, with bodies piling up along the way.

Prizefighting: An American History by Arne K. Lang

This work brings a fresh perspective to the study of modern prizefighting, a sport which has evolved over several centuries to become one of mankind’s most lasting and valued sporting attractions. With his primary focus outside the ropes, the author shows how organizers, publicity agents, and political allies overcame both legal and moral roadblocks to make fisticuffing a lively commercial enterprise.

      In this episode, two notable gambling authors sit in an talk about sports betting & poker: Reed Hogben MD, author of THE BETTING DOCTOR, and the newly-released e-book, THE BETTING DOCTOR: THE ESSENTIALS.

Nick Christenson, co-author WINNING STRATEGIES FOR NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM

Related: Craps 101 by Michael Skaff PhD

Joe Walsh, who wrote the legendary gambling movie California Split. He also is the author of a new book, Gambler on the Loose.

Alan Schoonmaker PhD, whose books on the use of psychology at the poker table always reach bestseller status at our store. His latest work is Your Best Poker Friend.

Lou Krieger, a local poker expert and author of several valuable books on poker including Hold'em Excellence, More Hold'em Excellence, and Poker For Dummies. Krieger's writings can be found at loukrieger.blogspot.com.

Rolf Slotboom visited our booth at the WSOP as well. It was interesting to learn more about this popular Dutch poker pro & author.

John Blowers has created an true-to-life universe for the subject of his novel, Life on Tilt. Listen to learn about the concept behind his book.

Author of the classic baccarat text, Baccarat Made Simple, David Vernon talks with Howard about the game and his book.

 Tony Salinas, a native of Texas, moved to Las Vegas to enjoy his work--handicapping sports and picking winners. He won the $85,000 Castaways Challenge, the original football handicapping contest, and followed that with numerous other wins, including the $135,000 Hilton Superbook Handicapping Championship

"KING CON The Story Of Soapy Smith" is the first full biography in more than forty years, in it Haigh chronicles the rise to power of a man without a conscience. Starting as a street corner shell game artist, Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith rose to power as a gang leader in Denver, then chose raw, lawless Skagway as his headquarters to fleece the thousands heading for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Less than a year later he was dead, killed in a vigilante shootout on the Skagway wharf.  I am busy working on my Dissertation, based on the material I stumbled into while researching Soapy Smith:  "Political Power, Patronage, and Protection Rackets: Municipal Politics and Corruption in Denver 1889-1904". www.janehaigh.com

During the 1997 and 1998 season, Grossman hosted a nationally televised show that featured many of the nations' top handicappers.

Larry Grossman is the author of two books, "You Can Bet On it" Volume 1 - Casino Games and Volume 2 - Sports Betting. He is a regular columnist for many gaming publications. Larry has hosted and produced handicapping seminars in Las Vegas.

As the year comes to a close, Howard talks about a half dozen of the most popular gaming books at Gambler’s Book Shop, including one title Mafia that reads like a thick rap sheet on top mobsters of the past. Also, he interviews a long-time Gambler’s Book Shop customer from Chicago, Big Sid, a horseplayer, who talks about what the tracks are doing right and wrong, the demographics of the wagering public, and about the writer who influenced him the most.

The gambler’s high is like a rush; he feels invulnerable.  That high lasts, though, only until the next big loss. Such is the story of Steve Budin, who created the first online sports betting company. Under the tutelage of his father, a legendary, old-school Miami bookmaker, and with the help of a cocaine-addicted polygamist, Budin revolutionized the shadowy business of spreads by taking them global. But he also stuck to some tried and true methods, like plying clients with trips to Vegas, hookers, and hardcore drugs. In the end, Budin raked in hundreds of millions of dollars and stood on the verge of a deal worth billions more. He took bookmaking into an automated, virtual worldwide casino that anyone could access, anywhere and at any time.  For anyone fascinated by the "wild West" that is internet gambling, here is a rare peek into that exciting, dangerous world.

DAVID G. SCHWARTZ, (no relation to your host, Howard Schwartz) is the head of the Gaming Studies Department at UNLV. He is the author of
"Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip", a book-length, essay on the history and evolution of the Las Vegas experience from its earliest days to the the advent of the mega resort. His second book, "Cutting the Wire", examines the political, social, and cultural ideas that moved Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to suggest the Wire Act (a law banning interstate transmission of gambling information), Congress to approve it, and President Kennedy to sign it into law, as well as the consequences of the law. He covers it all -- how this law first developed, how it helped fight a war against organized crime, and how it is being used today to restrict Americans from internet gambling. His latest work is titled "Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling ", which explains how the need to gamble shaped human history from the Ice Age to the Information Age when people spend nearly one trillion dollars worldwide on gambling a year.

BRAD LEWIS is the author of the Hollywood Celebrity Gangster: Mickey Cohen. All the whispered anecdotes, the news items and the underside of the crime rackets where Mickey operated are in his book, open to scrutiny. From Bugsy Siegel to Lucky Luciano and Albert Anastasia to Meyer Lansky and Carlos Marcello, Mickey knew them well and worked closely with them for many years.