Jeff Haney gets an early read on what looks to be a busy sports betting season

By Jeff Haney (contact)

Friday, July 21, 2006 | 7:49 a.m.

Gambler's Book Shop

Location: 630 S. 11th St.

Phone number: 382-7555

Online: gamblersbook.com.

Best sellers

Some of the Gambler's Book Shop's leading titles:

Gamblers in Nevada wagered $2.25 billion in the state's sports books last year, a record-high figure driven primarily by betting on pro and college football.

Howard Schwartz, proprietor of the Gambler's Book Shop, thinks that total could be surpassed this year - if the preseason buzz in his store is any indication.

"I can see the energy in the customers' eyes," Schwartz said. "They'll come in and instead of picking up one book or magazine, they'll pick up five or six."

Schwartz has become familiar with the annual pattern. Sometime after baseball's all-star break, the crush of annual football publications begins - preview magazines, gambling guides, tout sheets.

"Maybe they're bored with baseball, which can seem like one big march toward mediocrity, or they're turned off by how long the pro basketball season drags on," Schwartz said. "They're ready to focus on that once-a-week kind of action that football provides.

"It's like they're preparing a big banana split, step by step, as opposed to eating the same old hot dog every day."

Many of the football publications Schwartz handles are sold nationwide, but the 42-year-old Gambler's Book Shop stands out as a colorful, one-stop marketplace for the city's betting figures.

Schwartz's regulars include authors, oddsmakers, professional gamblers and owners of sports handicapping services along with plain old sports bettors.

For many, the shop is their first stop at the start of the football betting season, which seems to arrive earlier each year, Schwartz said. Already, a number of sports books around town have posted betting numbers on season wins for NFL and college teams as well as on select individual games .

NFL preseason games begin in just over two weeks. Any day we'll be bombarded with information on how to sign up for the myriad football handicapping contests at local casinos.

"It's like a big machine cranking up, with all different kinds and sizes of gears," Schwartz said. "You can almost feel it."

Although sports gambling is enmeshed in this city's culture, that's not the case everywhere. Schwartz said he sees an increase this time of year in the number of mail-order packages he sends out to post office boxes or businesses .

"Let's say you live in some small town in Iowa and you're at the supermarket with your wife and you want to pick up a gambling magazine," Schwartz said. "Well, some of these guys, they don't want their wife to know they bet on football. Or say that guy has it in his cart and the church deacon walks by."

Whether you're a closet gambler in the Midwest or a Las Vegas sharp, it's a good bet you do plan to pick up Phil Steele's annual college football guide, which Schwartz calls his "all-time bestseller."

More mainstream football annuals, such as Street & Smith's, also contain solid information, although they do not address point spreads or other gambling topics.

"Steele's and Lawrence's are two of the best because they cater to gamblers," Schwartz said. "A lot of magazines put their head in the sand when it comes to gambling. They're probably afraid the NCAA will cut ties with them as far as giving them information."

Whereas football betting weeklies will have more current information by opening week - "who's academically ineligible, who's been arrested," Schwartz cracked - the annuals are invaluable for plotting early-season betting strategies.

"That's the most vulnerable time for bookmakers," Schwartz said. "The linemaker is going to make some mistakes early in the season."