Prominent horse racing handicapper Rubin dies

In 1990, Jack Rubin, using a knowledge of thoroughbreds he had gained through decades of involvement with horse racing as both a journalist and handicapper, put a $100 bet on 100-to-1 Kentucky Derby longshot Mister Frisky.

That "future book" bet -- a wager where the odds remain unchanged regardless at what the horse goes off at -- stood to make Rubin $10,000. Little did anyone know that the horse would go on a tear and win 16 races. By Derby post time, undefeated Mister Frisky had become one of the favorites.

"A guy offered Jack $3,500 for that ticket before the race," said Larry Grossman, a longtime friend, gaming analyst and local radio sports talk show host.

"But this was not so much about money. It was about having the foresight to pick a certain horse and the guts to put a sizable wager on it. Jack felt he had the best of that bet going in."

Mister Frisky finished 8th. But, as with any disappointment he faced in life, Rubin took it in stride and went on. The same could be said for when Rubin was told six years ago that he had cancer. He kept writing gambling columns, he kept betting the horses and he kept getting the best out of life.

Rubin, a longtime columnist for Card Player magazine who also was a writer and editor for several other sports gaming publications during a journalism career that spanned nearly 40 years, died Sunday at Safe Harbor Hospice. He was 62.

Services for the local resident of 13 years will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary at Jones and Oakey boulevards. Private graveside services will be Friday at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

"When it came to betting horses, Jack was as good as anyone," said Gaming Today newspaper writer Jack Welsh, a longtime friend.

"And he had such great courage. Jack fought cancer for so long and never complained about his pain. After his first surgery, he was back at the editor's desk in just three weeks."

Steve Radulovich, managing editor of Card Player, said Rubin was a perfectionist during the eight years he wrote for the bi-weekly poker publication.

"Jack was very knowledgeable when it came to horse racing and sports betting and was very concerned about being just so proper in what he wrote," Radulovich said.

Rubin also wrote in recent years for Las Vegas Sporting News and Jim Feist Sports Service.

Grossman, who has posted on his website (www.audiovegas.com) an interview Rubin gave seven years ago regarding the Mister Frisky wager, said Rubin loved going on the radio to "share his wit and wisdom" about horse racing and sports betting.

In recent years, he hosted his own horse racing show on the Sports Radio Network.

Rubin also was a near-world class pool player. From 1993-97, he was a member of a five-man team that won the Southern Nevada 9-Ball Tavern Association championships. Three times he earned most valuable player honors.

Rubin also edited On Cue magazine, an industry trade paper.

Born Aug. 5, 1935, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Rubin graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School there and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Hunter College in New York. He married his high school sweetheart, Marlene (nee Fintz) Rubin.

"In high school, my husband developed a passion for writing, and he was always fascinated by horse racing and sports betting," Marlene said. "He just decided to combine those two interests."

Rubin's father died of cancer when he was 59. His mother, Sally Rubin, is 90 and resides in New York.

In 1959, Rubin joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Knox, Ky., a short distance from Louisville and Churchill Down's race track. In 1960, he attended the Kentucky Derby for what would be his first and only time.

During his two years in the service, Rubin wrote freelance articles. In 1961, he returned to New York where he worked for several handicapping services and wrote for racing publications.

In 1972, Rubin went to work for a New York company that publishes three tabloids -- College & Pro Football, Sportsform and Sports Eye. For 13 years, he wrote a daily column for Sports Eye and became its chief editor.

Rubin wrote the book "Harness Racing's Winning Secrets," which was published in 1985, the year he moved to Las Vegas and became editor of Sports Form, which now is called Gaming Today. Rubin worked there until 1990.

In recent years, he gave horse betting seminars at major California race tracks, including Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar. Locally, Rubin spent much of his time at the Rio hotel-casino race and sports book.

Rubin was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1992, but by 1995 it had gone into remission. However, three years ago, the cancer returned and eventually spread to his lungs and liver.

Welsh, who covered the Kentucky Derby from 1960-73 for the Philadelphia Journal, Indianapolis Times and other publications, said Rubin always got excited around Kentucky Derby time.

"Last year, he picked Silver Charm to win, and was very proud that it was the right choice," Welsh said. "Despite the fact that he was getting very weak in recent weeks, Jack was looking forward to this year's race."

However, last Thursday, two days before the Run for the Roses, Rubin slipped into a coma from which he never recovered.

Rubin's last column in Card Player will appear May 29, Radulovich said.

In addition to his wife and mother, Rubin is survived by two sons, Jeff Rubin and his wife Cordella, and Paul Rubin, both of Las Vegas; a sister, Elaine Zebofsky and her husband Artie of Livingston, N.J.; and a grandson, Benjamin Rubin of Las Vegas.

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