Gamblers get a new way to make book on their bets.

In the gambling business, everybody plays the angles, has a gimmick or possesses inside dope on a sure winner.

There are countless experts who will use any means available to sell any sucker, er, gamester a road map to fortune.

A new company in Glendale -- a town more known for its conservatism than its gaming industry -- is taking a different approach to the business of making a living in gambling.

James Allen -- a former warehouse manager, distribution manager, aviation-industry vice president and pretty good poker player -- has started a company that the Internal Revenue Service may just love to hate.

Called Gamb Marketing Inc., the company publishes what amounts to accounting ledgers that can help gamblers keep track of their winnings and losses, and thereby aid them in their ongoing fight with the tax collector.

The advantage, you see, is that if someone keeps an ongoing log of winnings and losses, a gambler can avoid paying taxes -- kind of. The key phrase here is "systematic, consistent and ongoing."

"The important thing is that you have to keep records," says Robert Giannangeli, an IRS spokesman in Los Angeles. "We can't endorse any products, but anything that helps you keep records is probably better than nothing."

Right now, Gamb has specialized journals for legalized card games, horse racing, casino games, sports betting and bingo games. Because the IRS has yet to devise a method of collecting taxes on illegal gambling activities, there is yet no journal for keeping track of your office pool wagering or bets with the local bookmaker.

"We have talked to the IRS and many accountants and lawyers and have concluded that this will work," says Allen, who like everybody else in the gambling business with something to sell thinks his product is a sure bet.

The journals allow gamblers to maintain daily summaries of their wagering activities and, according to Allen, such summaries are necessary for anyone who wants to take a tax deduction on gambling-related losses.

Under current IRS regulations, gambling winnings are subject to a 28 percent federal tax (rules on declaring gambling winnings and losses at the state and local levels vary by jurisdiction). But those federal taxes can be offset by losses, if the gambler maintains a record of his gaming activities.

For instance, if a gambler wins $10,000 on a horse race, that person is immediately subject to the 28 percent federal tax. However, if the gambler can show losses of $10,000 in the same year, the person does not have to pay the taxes.

As another example, if a gambler won a $12,000 jackpot but can show losses of $8,000, that person would be subject to the tax on $4,000.

"The IRS has told us that they will accept a bound volume that shows a consistent pattern of record keeping," says Allen, a nationally ranked poker player who in 1992 won an $88,000 pot at the annual Diamond Jim Brady tournament at the Bell Card Casino in Bell Gardens.

"You don't have to have the receipts, but it will help," he adds, noting that the journals include a pouch to store receipts.

Among gamblers and wagering experts, the response to the journals, which retail for $24.95 each, is mixed.

A 30ish woman gambler from the South Bay, who did not wish to be named, comments: "I don't know. I guess it's something you could use, but to me it seems like it would take the fun out of gambling. It would be like going out to dinner and sitting there keeping a record of it."

The woman says she visits casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev., a half dozen times a year and local horse racing tracks about once a month.

"I'm a $2 bettor, and it sounds like this is for big-time gamblers," she says.

Brad Free, a handicapper and reporter for the Daily Racing Form, a national newspaper about horse racing, said he is familiar with the journals.

"It's a good idea, but I think it's a little juvenile these days when you can do it on a computer. If you don't have a computer, I guess they (the journals) would be a pretty good thing to have, even if you could do the same thing in a regular notebook," says Free.

Allen, a Southern California native and graduate of California State University at Northridge, argues that the journals should be standard operating equipment for all gamblers.

"Gambling is becoming more accepted and available and, because of that, the IRS is taking a harder look at gambling income," he says.

The downside of his product, he concedes, is the possibility that the IRS, at any time, can change its reporting rules in such a way as to make the journals obsolete or useless. He says he is constantly monitoring news about the IRS to see if the agency has changed its regulations on gambling income.

From the time he graduated from college with a degree in business administration until he started Gamb late last year, Allen worked for a furniture company and two aviation-related businesses in the Los Angeles area.

But ever since he was a teenager, Allen has been a gambler. His primary interest has been card games.

"After winning poker tournaments, I realized that there was no organizational tool for gamblers that protects you when you win and, conversely, monitors your activity when you lose. I came up with this product and the company to organize a gambler's cash flow, maximize their winnings and reduce their overall gambling taxation," he says.

Allen boasts that the journals are produced in an attractive and professional format that make them easier to use and display at home.

Right now the journals are only available through the mail from Gamb, which advertises on Thoroughbred World, a cable television show about horse racing.

Allen, whose three-person company operates out of an office on Brand Boulevard, is trying to get the journals into book stores.

"We're not in the stores yet because they want to see some sort of track record before they commit to putting you on the shelf," he says.