Author Jim Gentile likes to gamble. It’s in his genes, thanks to his father. As a teenager, an $88 Quinella at Arlington Park hooked him. Since then, he has had many a lucky day. He parlayed his passion for “playing the horses” into a thirty-year career working at seven Chicago-area tracks. This book provides a peek behind the gate of the horseracing industry. It’s a humorous account of Jim’s experiences in the trenches as a teller, ticket room clerk, cashier, manager, and senior auditor, with plenty of opportunity to hone his skills as a bettor: “ On Wednesdays — payday — there were three lines at the in-town tracks: one line to get your check, another line to cash your check, and the third line was to pay back your gambling losses. If you only went to line one, you were way ahead of the game.”

An odd cast of characters is woven throughout these memorable stories. You’ll meet, among others:Gravelly-voiced Aunt Flo who blew her husband’s entire savings at the racetrack while he was on a WWII Navy ship. “Uncle Dick thought he was returning home to a comfortable nest egg, only to find out that Aunt Flo did not understand the nest egg concept — she had gambled away every cent. To his credit, as the story was told to me, Uncle Dick went on a four-day bender and Aunt Flo lived to tell the tale.”

Two overly eager co-workers whose wily wagers cost them their jobs: “By the last race Howie was in the box for over $76,000! With only one race left, his only hope was to hit the Trifecta. Hey, what’s another $24,000 when you are already stuck 76 large.” “Louie’s eyes were glued to the television, as the lead horse was ahead by 3 lengths on the backstretch. He quickly punched in $200 to win, the maximum bet the machine would allow, punched the number of the horse on the lead, and started hitting the repeat button. This feature allowed clerks to issue multiple tickets rapidly and Louie was working that machine like a construction worker holding a jackhammer.”

Tommy and his plan to rule roulette: “When the ball bounced around it landed on red, but only momentarily before it leaped into a black slot like a poisonous frog.” Tommy had fallen prey to a common condition called “Gambler’s Fallacy”. Simply stated, this is the “incorrect belief that the likelihood of a random event can be affected or predicted from other independent events.” The “law of averages” is one phrase that gamblers should strike from their vocabulary.”

Avid gamblers as well as non-gamblers will be highly entertained by a myriad of sagas, which also include sports betting, dog racing, and poker. By the end of the book, like the author, readers will end up asking themselves, “Is today going to be my lucky day?” You betcha!

Elliot Frome is a casino gaming analyst and the son of the late Video Poker Hall of Famer Lenny Frome. Lenny was a pioneer in the world of video poker and released a total of 9 books that revealed basic, intermediate and advanced video poker strategy to the general public for the first time ever. He died of a heart attack in 1998 but his son would continue in his father's footsteps with major contributions of his own to the video poker world.Education and Career

Like his father, Elliot possesses a natural talent for mathematics and computing that has proven extremely helpful in his gaming career. This became evident when Frome junior was still in high school. He was able to design a Blackjack analysis program nearly 25 years ago using nothing but his high school computer.

He put his gambling ambitions aside, however, to pursue a career in computer science. Elliot graduated from the State University of New York, where he majored in Computer Science and Business Administration. He spent 15 years as an analyst, systems designer and business analyst before finally deciding to get back to his roots and pursue casino gaming once again.Back to Video Poker

This time he put everything he had into the dream and designed a video poker analysis program to aid in his strategy research. Even though there were already several video poker programs available at the time, Elliot wanted control over his own program so he could tweak it as he wanted and update it for the newest video poker variants. He would go on to use this program for years to help develop optimum strategies for the newest video poker games.

Elliot now writes a weekly column for the "Gaming Today" publication and for the website "Casino City Times." His book titles include "Expert Strategy for Caribbean Stud", "Expert Strategy for Three Card Poker", "Expert Strategy for Four Card Poker" and "Expert Strategy for Five Deck Frenzy."

Elliot's personal website is www.gambatria.com . Although Elliot is well known for his video poker writings, his emphasis is actually on analyzing all the newest casino games. The titles of his books show how far Elliot has expanded into the gambling world.

Video poker is the one casino game in which players can gain an edge but his books on other casino games still come in handy for gambling enthusiasts. Whether or not a game is beatable in the long run, Elliot still provides expert strategy advice to help players make the best possible plays every time.

If you'd like to get your hands on some of Elliot's most prolific writing, you should check out the book "Winning Strategies for Video Poker." It was originally written by his father at gamblersbookclub.com.

Just keep in mind that the book was written by a major math mind, so some of it will be pretty advanced. You'll probably want to read up on our basic video poker strategies before tackling the advanced material presented in "Winning Strategies for Video Poker."

Anthony Curtis is a blackjack player, gambling expert, and author. He is also the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor, a popular newsletter first published in 1983, about getting good deals in Las Vegas. Curtis became interested in gambling at the age of 16 when he received a book about blackjack as a gift. He made his first trip to Vegas shortly after turning 21 in 1979. In his capacity as a world-renowned expert on Las Vegas and gambling, he's frequently quoted in national media and has appeared on Travel Channel, Discovery, NBC, A&E, and BBC and has appeared on televised blackjack events like the World Series of Blackjack and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

Anthony Curtis is the author of Bargain City—Booking, Betting, and Beating the New Las Vegas(OUT OF PRINT and co-author of The Art of Gambling. Curtis has served as a consultant and gambling authority for Disney Studios; ABC’s "20/20", and NBC’s "Crime Story." Articles about or by Curtis have appeared in USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Casino Player, Chicago Sun-Times, L.A. Times, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Discover Magazine, the London Times, and other high-profile publications. Curtis has also been featured on "48 HOURS" and "DATELINE NBC." As a professional gambler, Curtis’ top tournament wins include $76,000 World Matchplay Blackjack Championship, $125,000 Atlantic City Craps Championship, $50,000 Las Vegas Keno Championship, and $60,000 Las Vegas Blackjack Championship. He is the publisher of Huntington Press and lives in Las Vegas.