What Is the Most Successful Title Huntington Press Has Ever Published?

What is the most successful title Huntington has ever published?

This is a little more complicated of a question than it at first seems, given the variety of metrics by which a publishing company can measure "most successful": most units sold, most gross revenue, most net profit, most media attention, most enduring, and the like.

But in general, we can say that our book that has sold the most copies over the years is Jean Scott's The Frugal Gambler. Published 22 years ago, it's sold well into the six figures, which is pretty amazing for a gambling book, and actually hit #2 on Amazon's best-selling title ranking (behind one of the Harry Potter books). Also, the amount of domestic publicity it generated has been unparalleled in the history of our book program.

In terms of international publicity, Beneath the Neon by Matt O'Brien, our book about life (and death) in the Las Vegas storm-drainage system, takes the prize by far. Well over 10 years later, Matt is still contacted regularly by media from around the globe wanting to be taken on tours into the tunnel system.

Our poker book Kill Everyone is probably the most profitable, given the number of copies sold at a nice high price, while Knock-Out Blackjack is our most enduring gambling book, as sales continue to be strong even after all these years.

Whale Hunt in the Desert, The Battle for Las Vegas, and The Killing of Tupac Shakur are also at the top of the list for endurance and units sold.

Finally, it might come as a surprise, but Huntington Press' most successful product of all isn't a book. It's Bob Dancer and and Liam W. Daily's video poker strategy cards. For these, we're happy to attach a number: We've sold more than 250,000 of the cards, which eclipses even The Frugal Gambler for units sold.

What is the most successful title Huntington has ever published?

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Comments

Adam Cohen Mar-05-2020

They changed me

When I was young and learning about Vegas it was Jean’s Frugal Gambler that showed me how to make the vacation more affordable allowing me to take longer and more frequent trips. Her columns and answers were always spot on and fun to read. It was KO that took my blackjack game to the next level. Not that I can play at a high level, but I can play and stay at a table for longer periods of time having fun with friends who I have also introduced to the game. The writing style of both was easy to read and kept you engaged. I owe them and the Huntington Press for helping me on my journey.

KennyA Mar-05-2020

Helpful Books

I totally agree with the need to read Jean's Books if you are new to visiting Vegas or just want to enjoy it more.  Not mentioned was Max Rubin's "Comp City" which I found was a fun and informative read.  Althought it was more in tune with the "old Vegas".

Mark Dershowitz Mar-05-2020

Q of Day suggestion

Even with a fleet of lawyers writing the ticket disclaimers, how do Vegas headliners, promoters, venues, etc continue to get away with giving no compensation to people who have spent hundreds or thousands of dollars getting to Las Vegas only to find out that the show of their dreams has been cancelled on zero or little notice? In the past 2 years we have traveled to LV only to find that our Celine Dion (last year) and Cher (last week) shows were cancelled. Refunding the ticket costs doesn't do anything about our travel costs. Shouldn't they at least provide some kind of discount / incentive to come back and re-book?

Vickar Mar-05-2020

GWAE

I haven't seen any blogs from James Grosjean in almost 3 years.  Did I miss something?

Anthony Curtis Mar-05-2020

Grosjean Blogs

There haven't been any, but they're soon to resume. Just got confirmation of that.

Roy Furukawa Mar-05-2020

Comp City II?

I agree with @KennyA, Comp City was a good read and informative, but Las Vegas comp systems have changed over the years and seem very different today than what's described in Max Rubin's book. Are there new ways to get better ratings/comps and will there be an updated version of that?

Anthony Curtis Mar-05-2020

Comp City

No new edition planned. In fact, it's available only in ebook format now. But things haven't changed that much. A lot of what's in Comp City still applies, if only on a macro basis.

Kevin Lewis Mar-05-2020

Jean's book

Virtually none of the strategies outlined in "The Frugal Gambler" are usable in today's closed-sphincter casino environment. Fullpay video poker is a thing of the past, decent video poker is rare, players' clubs are a joke, and comps and mailers are a dead issue. The book is a great explanation of how things used to be, but it has no practical value now. Nor does the sequel. I wonder how many bright-eyed and bushy-tailed people descend on Vegas, her book(s) in hand, only to find that the best VP returns 97%, slot clubs pay one twentieth of one percent, and you if you run $100K through the machines, you MIGHT get a buffet coupon in the mail (which you won't be able to use on the weekend).

Robert Dietz Mar-05-2020

Thanks to Jean Scott

I thought of her when flying into LV my last trip.

www.theskepticalgamblerblogspot.com/2020/03/thank-you-to-jean-scott.html

Hoppy Mar-05-2020

The Art of Gambling

Success, if measured by the test of time, applies to "The Art of Gambling".

Michael Mar-05-2020

Kevin...

You really should change your name to Johnny Blackcloud.  It's truly apropos.

IdahoPat Mar-06-2020

Blackjack Autumn

Forgive me for potentially mentioning a book HP didn't publish, but if you did, how does that book rate in terms of sales and endurance after all these years?

Question of the Day - 05 March 2020

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