‘Indecent’ author gambles on a ‘Deadly Deception’

Bob Shemeligian

Thursday, Dec. 4, 1997 | 9:50 a.m.

Is it merely a strange coincidence that Las Vegas has more churches and casinos per capita than any other city?

Jack Engelhard, author of the bestseller "Indecent Proposal," doesn't think so.

"Gambling has become a gigantic force," said Engelhard, 57, in a telephone interview from his home in Cherry Hill, N.J. "There's a definite parallel between gambling and spiritualism. I've seen people put their hands over slot machines as if they're in prayer."

In his newest book, "Deadly Deception" (Gollehon Books, $24), Engelhard explores the relationship between gambling and mysticism through the eyes of protagonist Julian Rothschild, a skilled and exceptionally lucky craps shooter who gives away much of his winnings in the style of Robin Hood.

But to the casino bosses, Rothschild is nothing more than a cheater who must be stopped. And, as so often happens in real life, the casino bosses wait until Rothschild starts running badly before they make their move.

And in this work of fiction, the gambler isn't just banned or blacklisted. He is forced into a strange game in which his life is balanced against that of a young girl.

The thread of spirituality woven through "Deadly Deception" affects all the characters, even the pit bosses who are taught to understand that eventually the casino percentages overtake every gambler.

"The bosses know human nature very well," said Engelhard, a former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist. "They understand the psychology of the human mind, and they also understand that the percentages and the limits are in their favor."

There's something else the casino bosses know very well -- the concept of luck. But just because they know about luck doesn't mean they understand everything about it.

"The bosses will tell tell you that they don't believe in that stuff, but every now and then, they come across a Julian Rothschild who beats them badly, and you can see the bosses sweat. It's as if something they don't understand is threatening them."

Much of the action in "Deadly Deception" centers in Atlantic City, the gaming city closest to Engelhard's home town. But Las Vegas is also featured prominently.

"There are very dramatic moments in Las Vegas," Engelhard said. "That's where Rothschild has his great revelation. If the book eventually is made into a film, I would expect the shooting to take place in both cities."

The Las Vegas action centers on Fremont Street, which the author describes as "the real Vegas, the vestige of Vegas of frontier days past ... " It is in a fictitious downtown casino named Lucky's that Rothschild loses his touch, and then gets beaten up by a group of disgruntled gamblers who bet along with him on the pass line. Rothschild is then treated for his injuries at the Harmon Medical Center, an actual facility where the author's wife was treated during a recent research trip.

Later, Rothschild returns to Lucky's, and it is there he experiences one of the greatest sessions at the craps tables.

"A slight case of nausea was the sign," Engelhard writes. "Never mind. 'No prisoners!' he declared when he palmed the dice and felt their delicious weight in his hands."

In his research for "Deadly Deception," Engelhard interviewed many professional gamblers who spend years learning the art of throwing dice so that they come on certain numbers more often than they should.

Engelhard started watching dice shooters more than 10 years ago when he began researching "Indecent Proposal," a book about a high roller who befriends a destitute young couple, and offers the young woman $1 million if she will sleep with him.

The book did well, and was eventually translated into 20 languages.

Later, when Engelhard's million dollar moral dilemma was played out in Hollywood as a Robert Redford/Demi Moore movie, it caught on like a warm V-8 engine with one turn of the key. The 1993 film grossed $300 million worldwide, and although it put the author in a new class as a bankable writer for Hollywood, it did little to change his lifestyle.

"I was a celebrity at the local bakery, but in the casinos I was still a nobody," Engelhard said. "I would look for my book in the gift shops, but it was never there. All I saw were books on how to gamble."

The author's continued anonymity allowed him to continue his research into the habits of those who gamble. Engelhard spent years watching people play and he also interviewed "mechanics" on their techniques.

"They practice throwing the dice over and over for years," Engelhard said. "They learn the different shots -- the slider, spinner and helicopter. It's amazing."

Still, it's the passion -- the spirituality -- that many gamblers display that impresses Engelhard the most.

" 'Mystical' is the word for Rothschild," Engelhard said. "The question he addresses is whether we're living in an orderly world where everything makes sense, or whether we live in (playwright Samuel) Beckett's world, where nothing makes sense. In other words, the question is: does God play dice with the universe?"