Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Gambling

Encyclopedia of Gambling
Located in Reference: REF: HV6710.S54 1990
Illustrations, charts (B & W), Glossary, Bibliography, Index

Covering the history, lore and rules of gambling from its beginnings in pre-history to the slots of Las Vegas, this book gives out much useful information on one of mankind’s favorite ways to spend time (and money). Beginning with the introduction, which claims that loaded dice have been found in ancient graves in places as far apart as Egypt and South America, the book offers an in-depth look at both legitimate gambling and ways of cheating at the games it describes.

Contained in the book are the rules for many card games including such modern games as Blackjack, Pinochle and Poker as well as older games like Faro and Pochen (the forerunner of Poker). Dog and horse racing are covered along with games requiring devices that can be modified to change the odds such as craps (dice) and roulette (wheel) and games where one must choose a number or a winner to get a payoff (Keno, the Lottery and Sporting events). Among the interesting bits of information are pictures showing a sleeve hold out machine (a device for cheating in cards) and one illustrating how to run a shell game.

The gambling traditions of many countries are explained so that one learns that one has a good chance of finding illegal Fan Tan games in Hong Kong, but will find the casinos of neighboring Macao unfriendly and possibly dangerous and that Germans spend more money than most other Europeans on gambling activities, while Denmark has very few opportunities to lose ones money. Also included are short biographical descriptions of famous gamblers where interesting trivia is found such as the poker hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was gunned down in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876 contained pairs of aces and eights, a hand now known as the “dead man’s hand”.

The glossary is helpful for learning the meaning of various gambling terms and when to use them. Included are terms such as “Little Joe from Kokomo” (rolling a 4 in craps), “check and raise” (a somewhat unscrupulous method of faking in poker) and “kibitzer” (a person who watches but does not participate in a game) The bibliography contains further references for more detailed reading on all of the topics covered in the book except racing.