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Jack Pots: stories of the great American gameEugene EdwardsThis is a collection of wonderful poker stories, some obviously pure fiction, some based on true facts, at least some of the actors are historical figures that did indeed exist. It reveals a good amount of how card sharps plied their trade, and illustrates many of the local differences in playing draw poker. The book has been illustrated by Ike Morgan of Frank Baum and Wizard of Oz fame.
| $8 to wish list | |
Advantage Card Playing and Draw PokerF. R. RitterThe first part and majority of this book deals with marked cards. It shows numerous examples of how and where to mark various back designs popular during the early 20th century in the United States. The second part briefly describes sleight-of-hand for the card cheater such as second dealing, bottom dealing, shuffling, false cuts, and mechanical hold outs. Each technique is illustrated with a photo, which is quite remarkable for a book from that time. The third and final part deals with the mathematical odds of draw poker. Some people believe that F. R. Ritter might be S. W. Erdnase, the unknown author... | $45 to wish listPDF_facsimile | |
My Confidential Tips To Poker PlayersF. R. Ritter | $4 to wish listPDF_facsimile | |
Advantage Card PlayingF. R. RitterThis was the advertisement booklet for Ritter's book Advantage Card Playing and Draw Poker. It describes the motivation of the book and shows some excerpts including four illustrations. 1st edition 1905, 9 pages; digital edition colorized. | $4 to wish listPDF_facsimile | |
Card Cheats: How They OperateFloyd MossA play-by-play exposé of the tricks of the card sharp's trade. Moss gives general advice on how to avoid becoming a sucker or losing more money than luck alone would explain. The most interesting part is where he describes several sleights and strategies cardsharps use to cheat at the card table. Many of the sleights are illustrated with photos.
| $15 to wish list | |
The Little SecretsFrank BonvilleA great book on the tricks of the trade of professional gamblers, how they cheat and get an advantage in the game. From the introduction: It has been my fortune, or misfortune, whichever you wish to term it, to have traveled a good deal and to have observed not a little. I have engaged in more than one business; it pleased my fancy, and can say, with a pardonable pride, that I have met with some degree of success. During the past few years of my life I have studied human nature in all its phases, from its lowest forms in the gutter, in the slums, in the gilded dens of vice, in the gambling... | $9 to wish list | |
Forty Years a Gambler on the MississippiGeorge H. DevolThis is the story of a boy who ran away from home to become a cabin boy on a Mississippi riverboat at age ten. At fourteen he could stack a deck of cards. And for forty years after this point in time he bilked people from all walks of live, businessmen, thieves, soldiers, ... This is the fascinating story of the King of the Riverboat Gamblers. 1st edition, 1887, Devol & Haines, Cincinnati; reprinted, ?, Applewood Books, Bedford, Massachusetts; 300 pages.
| ★★★★★ $6 to wish list | |
The Old-Time Train GamblerGeorge Jean NathanStories of card and revolver play, told by a man who "worked" the trains with his confederates in the days when stakes ran high. If one believes this account, then a lot of the crooked gambling on trains was simply theft at gunpoint rather than sophisticated sleight-of-hand card advantage play. 1st edition 1910, PDF 7 pages. | $3.50 to wish list | |
Poker Rules in RhymeGeorge W. AllenThis is an unusual book that teaches basic poker strategies, tactics, and odds in verse form, accompanied by color illustrations. This book is mentioned in Jack Pots.
1st edition 1895; PDF 29 pages. | $6 to wish list | |
How Gamblers Win - Secrets of Advantage PlayingGerritt M. EvansThis is a pre-Erdnase description of moves and ruses to cheat at the card table by an unnamed 'retired professional'. However, Bart Whaley's research revealed that this retired professional was Gerrit M. Evans, that his real name was most likely Edward M. Grandin and that Evans/Grandin was not a professional gambler. (Bart is working on an upcoming book about Evans - The Mysterious Gambler.) This ebook was created from the 1868 edition. There is also an earlier 1865 edition. The 1868 faked edition drops the name of the author who is, of course, Evans/Grandin, pretends that the "anonymous" author is a "retired"... | $8 to wish list | |
The Original Blue Book 1949H. C. EvansFrom the back cover: This, our latest SECRET BLUE BOOK with many features added, is the most complete catalog of the kind ever produced. The SECRET BLUE BOOK is but one of THREE CATALOGS of our complete line which covers the entire Indoor and Outdoor Amusement Field, supplying adult games of every description. In the SECRET BLUE BOOK we list and describe a complete line of Dice, Cards, Trade Stimulators and Counter Games, Table Games suitable for use at public gatherings, Adult Games for the home or private play and Various SPECIAL Games. Our CLUB AND CASINO EQUIPMENT Catalog, printed... | $10 to wish listPDF_facsimile | |
Gambling and Confidence Games ExposedH. W. RoyalA famous reformed gambler reveals a multitude of gambling house and street corner scams, swindles, and cons used to fleece the unwary public in this fascinating text. Written by H. W. "Kid" Royal, this was originally put up as a pitch book for sale at his various lecture appearances, after he decided to "go straight." In fact, he had a funny way of selling them. He advertised the lecture as free, but he wouldn't let anyone leave until he had collected the price of the book. While original copies of this book do occasionally turn up, they sell for big bucks ($275 from one recent magic auction).... | ★★★★★ $10 to wish list | |
The Right Way To Do WrongHarry HoudiniThis is a fun book to read. Great stories about pickpockets, burglars, bunco men, thiefs, and others. Houdini collected interesting cases talking to detectives, and police chiefs. The book describes the methods used to scam innocent victims. Some of these schemes are still popular, which shows again, that one can learn a lot from the past. published 1906 by Harry Houdini, Boston MA; later reprinted by Gamblers Book Club, Las Vegas; 96 pages Table of Contents page
| $5 to wish list | |
The Autobiography of an Old Sport: Fifty years at the Card TableHarry P. DodgeThe record of a career famous for adventure and vicissitude, and in which the jester won more tricks than the gamester.
| $5 to wish list | |
Life Staked at CardsHenry MeyerA sketch of the life of Henry Meyer a converted gambler. Henry Meyer was by his own account a very successful gambler who would play predominantly in Europe. One day he played against a young man and won all his money. Subsequently, that young man took his own life. At that point, Meyer realized that the young man was his younger brother. This charring experience made him give up gambling completely. While I don't doubt that Meyer was a professional gambler who would later reform and give up gambling, the story with his brother rings a bit too fantastic. It is hard to believe that he and... | $6 to wish list | |
Sucker's ProgressHerbert AsburyAn informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield. Inside flap: Sucker's Progress is the first attempt to write a connected history of the most prevalent of venial sins, and traces the history and development of gambling in America from the card and dice games in the back rooms of colonial taverns to the days of Richard Canfield the last of the great American gamblers. The book is concerned with the picturesque and spectacular features of gambling, and only incidentally with its morals. The author commences with a survey of the origin and development of the principal... | $19.50 to wish list | |
Secrets of GamblingHugh MillerThis is a great book on the secrets of how to cheat with cards and dice at many popular games - a guide to dishonest gambling. It offers a good overview of the various methods from mechanical cheating methods to sleight of hand. 1st edition 1970, original 128 pages; PDF 82 pages. Table of Contents
| ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | |
American Gambling and GamblersHugh S. FullertonThis is an excellent series of articles on the history of gambling in America. Excerpt from the introduction: These articles are the result of long travels in many parts of the United States. They are real contributions of human and public interest.
| $7 to wish list | |
Basic Chip TricksIan KendallIan describes carefully and in detail a number of beautiful and cool flourishes with chips. You are sitting at a blackjack table and you have won a stack of chips during the last plays. The dealer ran out of cards and has to shuffle his six decks, which takes a while. This is the ideal moment to impress with a few chip flourishes. Of course, all of these moves can also be executed with coins rather than chips. You will learn:
| ★★★★★ $14 to wish listMP4 (video) | |
The Open BookJ. H. JohnsonThis is the book that tells the truth about cards, dice, punch boards, gambling wheels, races, and all other kinds of gambling. Don't be a sucker! The Open Book reveals how crooked gamblers, cheats, and con artists fleece the innocent and unwary public out of thousands of dollars daily. Even that carnival game at the local fairgrounds may not be as innocent as it looks. Get the inside scoop. Valuable secrets of marked cards, gaffed dice, ink formulas, holdouts and other cheating devices -- all clearly explained. Also included are scams and cons used by the unscrupulous to bilk the unwary.... | ★★★★★ $12 $10 to wish list | |
The Destruction of Mephisto's Greatest WebJames Henry KeateAll grafts laid bare being a complete exposure of all gambling, graft and confidence games with stories illustrating the methods employed by the different operators. This is a wonderful book on all things cheating at gambling (sleight-of-hand and machinery), various confidence games and other scams and crooked methods with several revealing illustrations.
| $8 to wish list | |
The Sharper Detected and ExposedJean Eugene Robert-HoudinThe first part consists of stories about cardsharks and other crooks from Robert-Houdin's recollections. This is very readable and an entertaining part of the work. The second part explains some of the technical details of the methods used by cardsharks. However, the methods are for the most part only described in very rudimentary form. As Robert-Houdin writes himself, this is not meant as a way to teach you how to do it, but merely to give the reader insight in how the different ruses are accomplished. Nevertheless, it provides interesting insight into the ways and means of cardsharks. This... | $7 to wish list | |
Card Sharping ExposedJean Eugene Robert-Houdin & Professor HoffmannA translation of Les Trickeries des Grecs by M. Robert-Houdin, one of the most valuable and interesting works on the subject of card sharping. Excerpt from the preface: Meanwhile, the march of science has continued, and the arts of deception, like other arts, have received many new developments. There are fashions in fraud, as in more innocent matters. I have endeavoured in the present pages not only to offer a faithful translation of Robert-Houdin's text, but by the aid of notes to bring down his work, so to speak, to present date. In so doing I have to acknowledge special obligation... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | |
Poker StoriesJohn F. B. LillardThis is a collection of poker stores covering the time frame from 1845 - 1895. As the title page clearly states Lillard merely collected and edited them, he did not author them.
| $15 to wish list |