Gambler's Book Club / GBC Press is a

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

dedicated to

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

. Now located at 5473 S Eastern Ave in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...

, it was originally located in the Huntridge area of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The company has operated for over 40 years. Along with original books on various forms of gambling, the company engaged in the reprinting of "classic" works related to gambling that had long passed out of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, furthering Founder John & Edna Luckman's vision of Gambler's Book Club as a place of learning for gamblers.

History

The shop began as Gambler's Book Club in 1964, with Luckman envisioning "not just a bookstore, but a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

of gambling and a forum for gamblers to gather and visit, argue, gossip, lie, and - most of all - learn from each other". After 45 years the shop moved from South 11th to 1550 Tropicana which instantly expanded their retail space and improved their location with better parking and access just miles from the Strip. Among the works kept in print by the bookshop: *"''Stud Poker Blue Book''", originally published in 1934 *"''Racing Maxims of Pittsburgh Phil''", based on the only interview of the famous horseplayer, George E. Smith *The 1928 "''Handbook on Percentages''", republished in 1976 by GBC with the "''...firm belief...that the library of any gamblephile'' ic' is incomplete without this classic work.''" *The 1906 "''Stealing Machine''" by Eugene Villiod, the French detective Among other notable works published: the first book on the now popular

poker variant The card game of poker has many variations, most of which were created in the United States in the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The standard order of play applies to most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game requires details ...

Texas hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face ...

, ''Hold'em Poker'' by

David Sklansky David Sklansky (born December 22, 1947) is an American professional poker player and author. An early writer on poker strategy, he is known for his mathematical approach to the game. His key work ''The Theory of Poker'' presents fundamental pr ...

. Although the role of publishing in the company sharply declined with the passing of John Luckman in 1987, printing and other services are still offered to authors leading to a roster of book titles available exclusively through the store. The company registered Gambler's Book Shop as an alternate name in 1988 to clarify that this was a

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

which did not require a membership card, and to underscore its retail business. The company produced two quarterly magazines, ''Casino and Sports'' and ''Systems and Methods''. Luckman hired Howard B. Schwartz in 1979 as editor of these publications. Howard Schwartz, who was born in Brooklyn and earned degrees from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

, has an education and newspaper background, he became the owner of the store after the death of Edna Luckman (co-founder, and wife of John Luckman). The bookstore, now led by Schwartz, continues to be honored by designations and awards. The store has been selling online for 11 years,whois.ws cache
/ref> and frequently updates its web siteweb.archive.org
/ref> with new products. The store also has a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

Notes

Magazine Articles

In addition to appearances in and references by

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s Gambler's Book Shop has been the subject of numerous

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

articles. In one high-profile instance in th
August 1967 issue
of

Playboy Magazine ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

, Maurice Zolotow wrote a ⅔-page piece titled ''High Rollers'', for which he interviewed and referenced (then marketing director) Howard Schwartz regarding the lifestyle of serious gamblers. Schwartz lightly joked about the number "commas" in the bankroll, or gambling budget, of a

high roller A high roller, also referred to as a whale or cheetah, is a gambler who consistently wagers large amounts of money. High rollers often receive lavish " comps" from casinos to lure them onto the gambling floors, such as free private jet transfers ...

. Other notable articles: * ''

GQ Magazine ''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles on ...

'', August 1992 * ''

Entrepreneur Magazine ''Entrepreneur'' is an American magazine and website that carries news stories about entrepreneurship, small business management, and business. The magazine was first published in 1977. It is published by ''Entrepreneur Media Inc''., headquartere ...

'', February 1984 * '' Nevada Magazine'', November/December 1996 * ''

Sport magazine ''Sport'' was an American sports magazine. Launched in September 1946 by New York-based publisher Macfadden Publications, ''Sport'' pioneered the generous use of color photography – it carried eight full-color plates in its first edition. '' ...

'', March 1987 * ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' May 11, 1990 * '' Book Magazine'', July/August 2001 * ''

Nation's Business ''The Nation's Business'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian free-time political television series which began on CBC Television in 1956. The show, which was established with the consultation of the Canadian political parties, initially was 10 ...

'', November 1991

References

External links

www.gamblersbook.com Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambler's Book Shop Gbc Press Independent bookstores of the United States Retail companies established in 1964 Companies based in Paradise, Nevada