H. W. Royal

A 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)....