"It might turn a casual gambler into a serious gambler," he said from his New York office.

Frome, at a time when serious gamblers viewed the game as little more than a slot machine, saw the potential the game offered if played with perfect strategy.

In Texas, though, the most serious gamblers remain at corporate headquarters, not the tracks.

He couldn't stand the pace that these serious gamblers demanded.

Back then, the racetrack was tense with serious gamblers and petty criminals fighting one another.

'He's a very serious gambler, Miss Lynd,' he said.

"Today is not a day for serious gamblers," Mr. Luciani said of the opening crowd.

Better still, she had once been a serious gambler in a treacherous market.

Roger was a serious gambler, and in 1813 lost 10,000 at the Derby race at Newmarket.

They say the serious gambler doesn't get the buzz from what he might win, but from what he has to lose.