Founded by John Luckman (his real name, honest) in 1964 the store, at 630 South 11th Street in Las Vegas, and once called the Gambler's Book Club, is a Vegas institution. At any given time you might find famous authors, famous actors, or famous gamblers browsing the shelves. "Everything is here. There is not another bookstore like this anywhere on earth,” says Len Miller of Gambling Times Magazine.

In 1955, Luckman moved to Vegas, working first as a blackjack dealer and later as a pit boss. As a hobby he collected gambling books. In 1957, in the process of fixing a friend's printing press, he decided to publish an out-of-print book, "Racing Maxims and Methods” by "Pittsburgh Phil.” He put together a catalog and distributed it while still working as a pit boss at the Tropicana Hotel.

He was an avid collector of gambling materials. After he collected about 300 titles he donated them to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), forming the nucleus of what is now the largest collection of gaming materials in the world.

Luckman himself wrote a number of little "fact” books on blackjack, craps, roulette, keno, baccarat, and slots. These sold for as little as a buck and a million of them were distributed worldwide. Luckman used the pen name of Walter I. Nolan, whose initials spell out . . . WIN.

You'll find many of the store's publications in casino/hotel gift shops with the exception of one where an executive was aghast to find that Walter I. Nolan recommended gambling "in moderation.” He ordered that the books be barred from the gift shop.

The average buyer is someone who finds that reading about his or her favorite game adds to the enjoyment of playing it. Poker books are especially hot now, of course.

Others readers include groups as diverse as FBI agents and prison inmates. The FBI is interested in the store's inventory on methods of cheating. The prisoners' favorite books deal with poker, with cheating a close second. Hmm, both groups are interested in cheating: assumedly, one is interested in how to prevent it, the other on how to do it.

John Luckman an

d his wife, Edna, have passed on. Today the store is under the management of Howard Schwartz, a long-time employee. Schwartz is a former sportswriter who today bears the title of "librarian of the gambling field.” If anyone wants an obscure gambling fact, they visit the store, trudge to the back with Howard, and gaze into his filing cabinets which hold a treasure trove of factual material ready to be assembled into a definitive history of gambling.

The store has three divisions: publishing, retail trade, and catalog sales. Printed materials are still very much in demand as are DVD's on various aspects of gambling, especially poker. Schwartz keeps up on as many of the new materials as he can and publishes his reviews in gaming publications.

One recent review was of the book, Dirty Poker, by Richard Marcus. Marcus acknowledges having cheated casinos around the world at many games for the past two decades. "What Marcus tells us,” Schwartz reports, "should scare hell out of the poker room industry and those who regulate and guard its integrity. It's no secret that poker games have been rigged; teams have ripped off innocents in private games for generations.”

Schwartz says he is not much of a gambler. He uses the term, "scared bettor.” He restricts his play to a little sports betting, not more than $500 per year.

So for anyone who is interested in gaming/gambling (gaming is the industry; gambling is the behavior) materials, the place to go is the Gambler's Book Store (www.gamblersbook.com).

(c) 2006 Murphy James

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