The Gamblers Bookshop

Next to the Super Bowl, perhaps no other major sporting event brings out the handicappers and fun-wagerers than March Madness, that NCAA basketball tournament that starts with 65 teams and works its way down to a semi finals referred to as the Final Four, and eventually crowns a national college champion.

It’s that time of the year when handicappers have abandoned all hope of finding solid usable information about the early rounds, the rounds where they generally make the money. As with years past, the information they are looking for comes in the form of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, which is expected to arrive at Gambler’s Book Shop on March 16, just days before the first elimination round.

The book comes out so close to that first contest because it has to be assembled when the brackets are announced. Then it has to be printed and shipped. For this reason, the book is available from Gambler’s Book Shop by pick-up only. There’s just not enough time to get it from there to here to there again.

Also, if you want the book, you will have to preorder by calling the store (382-7555) by March 11.

Play from the comfort of the keno lounge.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen any truly innovative casino option. We were excited to learn about things like Megabucks, which ties slot machines together from casino to casino and city to city so a player in any affiliated casino contributes to the jackpot while playing.

The next big addition was the TITO, the ticket in/ticket out option for slot machines so the casino no longer had to fill the hoppers or handle coins. Slip your twenty (or whatever your limit) into the slot and you’re off and playing. (Playing, that is, if the bill acceptor doesn’t spit your bill out, which seems to happen the older the device is.)

Now, however, comes the big daddy of innovation, the e-deck made by Cantor Gaming. This is a little handheld device similar in size and look of today’s popular android phones that lets a player wager on a game without being present. Sitting at the pool? Play video poker from your cabana. Involved in a lucrative poker game? Make your sports wager without leaving your seat.

The electronic device is currently available at the Lagasse’s Stadium, Venetian, Palazzo, M Resort and Hard Rock, all in Las Vegas.

That’s not a joke. New gaming books, whether poker or sports, casino operations or blackjack, Las Vegas history or craps, are just at a standstill, it seems. We’re working on our newsletter for March and just realized that there’s a decided lack of new titles.

Where are the experts who want to spread their knowledge? There’s plenty of territory to cover, for sure, although the minutea of poker makes one wonder.

For example, how does the blackjack card counter handle the automatic shuffler, the continuous shuffler?

For example, is there any evidence that the random number generator of the video poker machines has been altered to make the big payoffs fewer and further between?

For example, these newer multi-level jackpot slots must have some kind of strategy. Where is it?

And baseball, wow. Since Baseball Insight retired and is no longer publishing the Pitcher and Team report and the Baseball Annual, handicappers are scrambling for information for the upcoming season.

It’s no joke. Gamblers and handicappers need new ideas, theories, systems and statistics. Anyone with expertise in these areas should be thinking about cashing in on the current need.

Recently read an article that stated the blackjack continuous shuffling machine “frees casinos from their fear of losing millions to players who use expert play.”

Basically, the machine inserts used cards back into the shoe where they are shuffled into existing cards. Unlike hand shuffling and discarding, the cards do not sit in back in the order they’re scooped up. They get stuck randomly in the shoe and continue to change their place of residence.

These are not the same as automatic shufflers which just shuffle after the shoe runs out.

While one theory about these machines stated the house edge would increase, that might not be true.

To see how the continuous shuffler really affects the player, check out the Wizard of Odds (Michael Shackleford) site.

Henderson, NV has a baseball team for kids under the age of ten, a bunch of little imps reminiscent, someone said, of the kids from the Bad News Bears movie.

Apparently these kids, known as the Henderson Hitmen 9 and Under Travel Baseball Club (whew) need some dough to keep their team alive, and they’ve hit upon the idea of a poker tournament.

Of course they’re all too young to play poker but … the TI (still known as the Treasure Island to locals) in Las Vegas is going to host a poker tournament to benefit this group, and we’re encouraging anyone within driving distance to participate.

Feb. 17, 2010, Willy Allison will visit Gambler’s Book Shop for a scheduled podcast. Allison’s group will host the World Game Protection Conference, a 3-day international seminar and exhibition dedicated to casino surveillance and game protection.  The broadcast will be ready for download via iTunes or your favorite media software on Feb. 18 or 19th. If you’re not subscribed to the podcast, check the link to listen.

Francesco from Spain writes:
Hi, I am interested in “POWER BACCARAT 1″ by Byron F. Hebert. Thank you, best regards and happy new year!

Francesco, thanks for writing you question to us!
Byron Hebert’s book was originally just titled Power Baccarat, and covered baccarat topics in greater detail than any book before it. When he updated the book to it’s 2nd Edition, he called it Power Baccarat 2.

So even though it sounds like there are two books, there really is only one! Power Baccarat 2 contains all of #1’s material and More.

If you’re a collector of books, we might be able to track down a used copy of the old edition.
Remember: you can contact us anytime through the help section of our website.

–Mike

Everybody wants him and Howard’s got him. Fezzik, the man who won the big football handicapping contest TWO YEARS IN A ROW at the Hilton (Las Vegas) is set to do a podcast. The date is Feb. 3; the time is 2 p.m. Come on by and meet the man!

We just received final word from the publisher of Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere that this classic book is, again, out of print. In their words, “there are no plans to reprint at this time.“

Rest in Peace:

A.D. Hopkins, long-time Vegas journalist, has written a stellar review of the Doyle Brunson Biography.

Here’s a quick quote: Brunson is a man of paradoxes. He’s known simultaneously for “alligator blood” — the willingness to wrest an opponent’s last dollar from him at the poker table — and for being a soft touch who might loan $10,000 to the same guy.

Well done, A.D.

Lately we’ve had a number of people in the store looking for books to help their significant others improve their casino play. Mostly they’re searching for video poker books, which is understandable since that seems to be the number one money-maker for the casinos — at least in Las Vegas.

Before the store clerks recommend any book, they ask pertinent questions: how long has the person been playing; what’s his/her favorite version of video poker; what stakes does he/she play; how often does he/she play; does he/she keep records.

We’re not trying to be nosy. The personal information helps us determine what kind of help the person needs and we go from there.

One important question that often gets a guilty laugh (very often) is: Does he/she know where the cash-out button is?

The inability to give up when losing and take a profit when winning is the biggest problems in the entire gambling universe. We want to win; we want to win back what we lost; we want to get another royal flush; we don’t want to go home already, we just got here. Understandably, these kind of responses to the profit/loss question almost always come from locals.

Far be it for us to preach but we’re going to do it anyhow, with caveat.

Few people have the stamina, the bankroll, the training, the guts, and need to make a living playing video poker. It’s a tough road to follow. It’s almost a nine-to-five job — and one you have to pay for.

Here are a few things you might want to consider before you put your next bill in the machine.

1. Look at each session as a separate entity. Look to make a profit and cash out when you do.
2. Don’t stay until you don’t have any more money in your purse or pocket. And stay away from the ATM.
3. Don’t get hypnotized by a machine. If you’re losing, get up and walk around, look for another option, lower your stakes. If you’re winning, well, cash out.
4. Fourth, don’t play when you’re tired. Akin to being hypnotized, a tired player makes mistakes and every mistake is costly.
5. Play slowly. We know most books recommend playing fast and furious but can your brain keep up with your fingers?
6. Commit basic strategy to memory. There are plenty of books and software programs to help you learn the perfect way to play video poker.
7. If you find yourself dejected, angry, sad, frustrated or depressed after losing yet again, and no amount of instruction helps, look for a support group.

Even though we at Gamblers Book Shop make a living selling books about gambling, we understand that what started as recreation can easily turn into addiction. If you have even the slightest thought that gambling has become a proble, take the 20-question quiz and go from there.

Everyone who knows about poker champions has heard of the Poker Hall of Fame, originally founded by the Binion family in conjunction with the World Series of Poker as honorarium to the famous (and sometimes infamous) poker players of old and new. (Also established as a tourist attraction.) The criteria for entry was simple:

• A gambler must have played poker against acknowledged top competition,
• Played for high stakes,
• Played consistently well, gained the respect of peers,
• And stood the test of time.
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results

(We thought there were only four criteria so either a fifth one was added and nobody told us OR our memories are getting as old as the Hall of Fame itself.)

We are proposing our own Hall of Fame, one that doesn’t require high-stakes action, the ability to play well or gain respect from anyone or even stand the test of time. We do think the inductees, who have some affiliation with the gambling world, should have contributed indelible positive and lasting results–to the greater good not of gambling but the world.

That said, our first nominee is Matthew Hilger.

Matthew is the owner of Dimat Publishing. He has a positive reputation for treating his stable of authors with respect, for publishing top-of-the-line work, for playing a mean game of poker and, most importantly, for contributing something positive not to gambling but to the world.

Matthew is a member of the Board of Directors of Colombianitos, a unique charity founded in Atlanta, Georgia which seeks to improve the lives of underprivileged children in Colombia. Some of the income from his publishing company goes to this charity, which operates on a mere $1 a year budget. (Dimat’s portion of that? $75,000).

Reason enough to be in the Gamblers Book Shop Hall of Fame, don’t you think?