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James Alan Special user Toronto, Ontario 680 Posts |
http://magicana.com/HGW-book.php?vSec=plc
Magicana has just re-released a hardbound edition of Gerritt M. Evan's book How Gamblers Win, originally published in 1865. The book is believed to be the inspiration for Erdnase. This new edition has been fully retypeset with a design by Michael Albright (The Vernon Touch and the new REVELATION) and features an introduction by Magicana chairman David Ben and a foreword by Steve Forte. It's available now direct from the publisher for $50 (including taxes plus FREE shipping to anywhere in North America). This is a limited print run, less than 600 copies will be made available for sale. |
artwo Veteran user South England 332 Posts |
And shipping to Europe is? The site doesn't list it.
What sort of thing does the book have? Is it similar to Sharps and Flats? |
luvisi Special user 601 Posts |
Do you know if this is a reprint of the 1865 edition or the 1868 edition?
Either way, this is a real treasure. The 1865 edition is more personal, with the author telling the stories in first person and openly advocating cheating and giving advice directly to the reader. The 1868 edition heavily moralizes against cheating and has all the stories in the third person and prefaces advice by saying things like "Gamblers say..." The 1868 edition has a little extra material, but it's not all that good. It mentions but does not teach the inseparable aces (uses different cards) and Three Card Monte. The amazing thing about this book to me is that it contains so much material that I haven't seen anywhere else before Erdnase. It also contains many ideas and arguments that will seem familiar to Erdnase readers. If there's any interest, I can post a review of the 1868 edition that I posted to a private forum a while back. Andru
Andru Luvisi
http://www.practicenotincluded.com/ |
Eoin OHare New user Ireland 88 Posts |
Andru, I'd be interested in your review.
Eoin
Designer & Maker of The Stripper Jig Card Trimmer & Pinpoint Pegger
https://theperfectshuffle.com/ |
PapaG Special user 851 Posts |
Seconded.
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James Alan Special user Toronto, Ontario 680 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-08-25 10:40, artwo wrote: Their contact information is info@magicana.com if you want to find out. |
JasonEngland V.I.P. Las Vegas, NV 1728 Posts |
Andru,
It is a reprint of the 1868 second edition. I have an original 1868 Dick and Fitzgerald second edition and I've been able to examine an 1865 first edition. Although there certainly are differences, I didn't feel that one version was significantly superior to the other, at least in terms of raw information. I have the Magicana reprint and it's exceptionally nice. It's good to have this information in a durable, hardback form that will last a long time. I expect these to become very popular with collectors over the coming years. Jason
Eternal damnation awaits anyone who questions God's unconditional love. --Bill Hicks
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
It's rare you get two publishers releasing identical re-prints, and both at the same time.
That's what's happened here, as this same title is included as part of Geno Munari's limited edition "Expert at the Card Table" DVD set by Alan Ackerman. Unfortunately, the Magicana web site doesn't give a detailed description of the books appearance, binding, cloth cover etc. I presume this book is far nicer in all of those areas than the Munari release (which is nice to have, but hardly a high quality re-print). Anybody have a link to an actual pic, or details of the new Magicana book? Is it "book art" like Eric Mead's "Tangled Web", or the new Caveney release of "Revelation"? |
JasonEngland V.I.P. Las Vegas, NV 1728 Posts |
Silverking,
It's beautiful. It's hardbacked, with a foil-stamped cover and spine under a great, faux-distressed dustcover. Really nice all around. I have Geno's version too. It's serviceable, but barely. Only thing it's got going for it is the 1865 text, which as I mentioned earlier, isn't vastly superior anyway. Jason
Eternal damnation awaits anyone who questions God's unconditional love. --Bill Hicks
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luvisi Special user 601 Posts |
I agree that the two editions have pretty much the same content. In fact, the 1868 edition has a little bit more. The differences are in tone and perspective, and they are pervasive. In the 1865 edition the author openly and directly admits to having used many of the techniques described. He gives advice directly to the reader. In the 1868 edition, the rough edges are all smoothed a little bit, made a little less offensive, switched into a third person perspective. For example, "The best arrangement for holding out, and one which the writer has never had detected, in playing it a long time, is with an instrument called the 'bug.'" and later, "Available in almost every game, and defying detection, we would as soon think of traveling without our fingers as without our 'bug.'" versus "There is an instrument for 'holding out,' called 'the bug,' which is used by advantage players with remarkable success, and it is said has never been detected by any victimized party." and "We once heard a 'sport' remark that he would as leave travel without his fingers, as without that simple but efficient combination of an awl and a watch spring."
Either way it is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. As for my review, I realized after looking it up that it's not so much a review as a comparison with Erdnase. I don't have time to write a proper review right now, but I'll say this: This is one of the very best pre-Erdnase books on cheating, right up there with, and in some ways superior to, Sharps and Flats, The Sharper Detected and Exposed, A Manifest Detection of Diceplay, and A Notable Discovery of Cozenage. Here is what I was thinking of. The page numbers and quotes are from the 1868 edition. Quote: Some things that I've found...
Andru Luvisi
http://www.practicenotincluded.com/ |
papermechanic Regular user 121 Posts |
If one has already read erdnase and sharps and flats etc. will this feel roughly like a regurgitation of material or does it still make for an interesting read? I mean this purely in respect to the prose rather than the sleights explained.
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
It's an interesting read in that in addition to general comments on hustling, it breaks down into chapters the cheating methods used in each different popular card game of the day.
It's very well written, and the prose definitely approaches the level of Erdnase in places, but it's different enough to present the material in a way that is not only interesting to read, but it helps understand the "state of the art" in 1865. For the reader already proficient in the subject matter, the book does contain some information of potential interest. |
artwo Veteran user South England 332 Posts |
I bought it. Magicana put up different paypal links for international orders and so I had to pounce on it.
Its sure to be an interesting read, even if I know the techniques described. |
JasonEngland V.I.P. Las Vegas, NV 1728 Posts |
Artwo,
You've already purchased, so this isn't really directed at you, but your use of the phrase "techniques described" is what caught my eye. So, I just thought I'd mention for anyone else that is thinking about this book, that there are NO techniques described in How Gamblers Win. At least, not in the way that Erdnase described technique by telling you to put this finger here, that finger there and to use pressure from X and Y, etc. etc. Erdnase was the first author to do that sort of descriptive writing of gambling sleights ever. In HGW, seeing as it was written 35+ years before The Expert at the Card Table, the most you'll get is non-technical, very basic descriptions of moves and concepts. Literary sketches really, not the kind of thing you can really learn from. But then, that's not the purpose of HGW, nor is it the book's real charm. HGW is a great look into the past and a perfect example of the type of book Erdnase would have drawn upon during his own research prior to writing EATCT. There's virtually no doubt in most serious researchers' minds that Erdnase must have read HGW, as well as some of the works of J. H. Green, John Phillip Quinn's Fools of Fortune and possibly A Grand Expose of the Science of Gambling by "An Adept." We'll never know for sure, but it's great fun being able to read and speculate. Jason
Eternal damnation awaits anyone who questions God's unconditional love. --Bill Hicks
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artwo Veteran user South England 332 Posts |
Jason,
I realise that. I guess I'm just so used to saying things like that when talking about books around here. My bad. If it was a book of technical descriptions we would all have pocket How Gamblers Win books, not pocket Erdnases, I'm sure. |
AMcD Inner circle stacking for food! 3078 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-08-27 15:10, JasonEngland wrote: Yep, exactly. What's known for sure is that there were a lot of gambling books preceding Erdnase's one. Not of his kind, because very little sleight descriptions (except in some Magic books). So, chances are great he read some of them. I really have fun reading these old pieces of the Gambling literature. The religious spirit, the so-called reformed gamblers, morality, it's mere pleasure. I'm currently reading "Betting and Gambling" (1894) and "The reformed Gambler" (1854). It worth 12.000 boring TV shows. |
Danny Borneo Special user 722 Posts |
I'm just curious if anyone had ordered the Munari/Ackerman Expert at The Card Table DVD? I had placed the pre-order for the disc with the additional material. I do realize that Geno suffered a huge personal loss and don't want to trivialize that. But, I do know that they had sent out the additional material to everyone instead of having them wait for everything. They mentioned sending out the dvds shortly but didn't give a definite date.
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
My Magicana edition came in the mail today, and Jason was dead on with his description of the book.
It's "book art" at its finest, a true collectible that gives the bonus of being a fantastic read, full of important information on how card-sharping looked in 1865. You'll be pleased to own this one. The "Houdini" edition is quite a bit of a mess in comparison actually, useful only as a reference to the text of the original edition. |
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