"What It Takes To Win," an instructional booklet on gambling.
The good life's in the cards for blackjack enthusiast.
"You're going to like the way you win," is the way Charlie Giarratama, 79, introduces gambling to his faithful group of followers.
Although the Leisure Knoll resident doesn't consider himself a big-time gambler, Charlie G, as he is called by his friends and associates, admits he enjoys the game.
Born in New York City, where he attended parochial elementary school and Lafayette High School, Giarratama went on to study mechanical engineering at City College of New York, but was drafted into the Army before graduating.
He spent two years as a surveyor with a field artillery unit.
Upon his release from the Army, he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he specialized in industrial designing.
"I specialized in designing furniture for TV and other home entertainment," he said. "And on a trip to Las Vegas representing my company at a convention, I became enamored with gambling."
Giarratama learned as much as he could about gambling, concentrating on the game of blackjack.
"I became a card counter and joined a group of professional blackjack players part time, while still working as a designer," he said.
"When Atlantic City added casinos as an attraction, that is when I took blackjack seriously and joined a team of professional blackjack players. I retired from designing in 1995 and my income came strictly from gambling.
"I developed my own method of playing blackjack, and it proved to be very successful," he said.
Giarratama decided to share his success with other players and wrote a manual on blackjack, called "What It Takes To Win."
He has also completed a book on craps, roulette, baccarat and black jack.
Giarratama is an extreme optimist who believes anything is possible and is still actively motivated by challenges the blackjack tables provide.
He can be found on any one of three days a week, playing in Atlantic City.
"I cannot claim to have won thousands and thousands of dollars at any one time, but I can and will lay claim to the simple fact that I do win."
"In all my years, I was only asked to leave a casino once after playing with a few of my friends," Giarratama recalled. "I was escorted to the door by the pit boss and told to stay away from the place."
Giarratama said he is proud of the fact that he has taught his wife the secret of winning at blackjack and she often accompanies him on his trips to Atlantic City.
