Today Howard will be talking to Lem Banker, author and sports betting expert. After the talk Howard will discuss some items that may be of intrest listeners.  LEM BANKER'S BOOK OF SPORTS BETTING
by Banker, Lem & Fred Klein
This book has been out of print for more than 15 years but it's so legendary that people have been willing to pay $50 or more for a copy of it . Now, it is available in reprint form. Banker, a veteran of more than 40 years in sports betting, was co-authored by Fred Klein. The broke the topic into eight major sections and focused on betting football, basketball, baseball and boxing. Banker discusses what it was like to be betting in the pre-computer days and how information was gathered, evaluated and bet on. He explains why a professional gambler cannot afford to be a fan. His insights on why it's important to know how to watch a game or event on television is crucial, as are his views on handicapping services, his reasoning for when to be early or late and his insight into fixed games. Certainly the art of handicapping and where to get a big bet down has changed in the past two decades, but reading Banker's book is both a how-to bet and a history lesson, a lot of it covering how to survive; how to manage your money and understanding how tough it is to sustain a winning percentage and make a living over the long run. A whole generation has missed this wonderful book. It's now available for the first time in years. You'll like it, because it imparts knowledge and it makes good sense, to learn from a very classy guy. 182 pages, plastic spiral bound, January 2004

On today’s Pod cast Howard will be talking about some new books that have just arrived at “The Gamblers Book Shop”. Howard will also be talking about other items that may be of interest. There are no guests for this show but there is a new trivia question for all.

Howard talks to Paul Magreil, author, world champion backgammon player, and world class poker player. Known as X-22 on the backgammon circuit, Magriel has arguably won more major backgammon tournaments than any other player in the world. He is widely considered the world's premier backgammon teacher, an original and clear-thinking theorist and one of its best players. The sobriquet X-22 originates from Magriel's simulation of a real backgammon tournament (compare simultaneous exhibition in chess) with many boards, designated X-1, X-2, X-3, etc. The player "X-22" won. Magriel first came into prominence on the backgammon circuit when he won the World Backgammon Championship in 1978. From 1977 to 1980, he wrote weekly backgammon columns for the The New York Times. Magriel had several notable finishes in poker tournaments from the mid-1990s in Europe, playing in London, Paris and Vienna in Omaha, hold'em and seven-card stud events. He won the €2,000 no limit hold'em event at the Aviation Club de France in September 2002, defeating a field including Pascal "Triple P" Perrault, Patrick Bruel and Simon "Aces" Trumper on the way to the €48,600 first prize. In March 2003 he made his first World Poker Tour (WPT) final table, finishing 4th in the $5,000 no limit hold'em World Poker Challenge event in Reno, Nevada. Magriel has since finished in the money three times at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and has made the final table of events on the Professional Poker Tour and Ultimate Poker Challenge.