Lenny Frome

Lenny Frome was an early and vocal advocate of video poker. Perhaps no one man has more to do with the popularity of the game today. So much so, that the late Mr. Frome was often called the "Godfather of Video Poker".

Through his books and web articles, Frome urged readers to give up slot machines and play video poker instead. His reason for doing so is that poker machines (when played with appropriate strategy) can offer a positive expectation for expert players, an advantage that no other casino game offers.

Education of a Gambling Expert

Frome didn't start out as a gambling expert. Like many other betting gurus , he had a firm grounding in mathematics. He began his professional career as a rocket scientist, but soon turned his calculating genius to figuring odds and probabilities on casino games.

Frome mastered most casino games, but video poker became a passion of his. Once he figured out that the game could be beaten, he made it a goal of his to tell the gaming public about (what at the time was) an obscure and misunderstood game.

Video Poker

In its early days, most people overlooked video poker. Even seasoned gamblers viewed it as an extension of the slot machines. Since slots was considered a mindless game for amateurs, a whole generation of gamers discounted video poker as irrelevant. Frome was in the forefront of gambling thinkers who saw the potential of the game. Through perfect video poker strategy, the game offered some of the best odds in the house, even sometimes in favor of the player.

His most important contribution to video poker is the 1994 publication, Winning Strategies for Video Poker. This book laid out the blueprint for winning at video poker. Frome gave strategies for beating over five dozen of the most popular types of video poker machines.

All later video poker writers owe a debt to this book, and it remains one of the essential books when learning to play video poker. These days, professional players head towards the video poker machines, while the vids take up a huge percentage of the floorspace in an average casino. It is hard to imagine this being the case, had Lenny Frome never chosen to write about video poker.

There are other video poker books by Frome. He wrote Expert Video Poker for Las Vegas (1989) and Expert Video Poker for Atlantic City (1992). Each of these are considered important contributions, though more limited in their scope.

Frome and Other Casino Game Strategy Books

Of course, Frome did not focus solely on video poker. His mathematical mind figured out many other casino games. He wrote books detailing how best to play games like Let It Ride, Spanish 21, Five Deck Frenzy and Caribbear Stud Poker. In all, Frome wrote 9 books on casino gaming.

Had his life not been cut short in 1998, he undoubtedly would have written a dozen more works.

The unfinished work of Lenny Frome has been taken up by his son. Eliot Frome continues to operate the family gaming website, Compu-Flyers. This is considered one of the leading online publications in the gambling industry.

Lenny Frome is a member of the Video Poker Hall of Fame.

Lenny Frome

Education of a Gambling Expert

Video Poker

Frome and Other Casino Game Strategy Books

Other Video Poker People