Card Games Books

If, like me, you are a fan of the "Card Play Technique" book by the same author, you will want to work your way through this book to practise what you learnt. If you haven't read that book yet, you are seriously missing out. No one can become a serious bridge player without reading "Card Play Technique" (see my review on the book).
This is written in Victor Mollo's unique style. The hands are not the exotic hands you see in books written to entertain (like "Bridge in the Menagerie", another favorite). Instead the hands are the kind you see everyday at the bridge table. Going through these books has helped me immensely; not only in improving my technique, but also in recognizing which technique to apply to the hand being played. Being able to do this at the table is really what separates the great bidge players from the rest of us!

This is a very unique item. A 9"x13" book, the pages of which reproduce Victorian-era board games. The pages are very thick cardboard stock, like the cover of a "Little Golden Book". There is one board game on each 2-page spread. The pages lie flat, so it's just like a real board game! Six games in all: The Prince's Quest, A Day at the Zoo With Daddy, Cycling, The Wonders of the Deep, A Trip to Mars, and The Tailless Donkey. All the games are handily bound in a single book that fits on your shelf! Some of these are pre-1900!! The production values are excellent, and the games have a beautiful, hand drawn look. Game Pieces and dice are included! There are also instructions on how to play and a short passage giving a bit of history on each game. This has value as a fun item, as nostalgia, as sociological history, and as art!

"...Grandville...creates atmospheres of elegance and tranquility but also, in some cards, a sense of oddity and the bizarre that can be quite entrancing. He is an acute and witty social commentator. Few books are available nowadays on Grandville, and original prints of his work are scarce and expensive. One hope we have for this oracle is that it will bring this wonderful artist to a wider public." - From the companion book

From porcelain to wall coverings, engravings to clothing, flowers adorned the world of Victoriana. Not only was growing and arranging beautiful flowers a hallmark of the sophisticated woman, but also the ability to decode the meaning of flowers. With the popularity of Florigraphy, a complex of system of assigning meaning to various flowers, sending and giving bouquets were a form of communicating messages.

A sprig of mint among a bouquet would mean "I find you refreshing", while dark pink roses signified gratitude. By combining various flowers--even arranging them bent to the left or right--givers and receivers participated in a secret language...the Language of Flowers.

In 1847, former social satirist turned book illustrator, artist JJ Grandville published Les Fleurs Animees in Paris. An English edition appeared in New York City later that year entitled The Flowers Personified. Of all his work, Grandville considered his floral engravings his favorite work, and they form the basis for the Victorian Flower Oracle.

Comprised of quiet hues and delicate illustrations upon a creamy background, The Victorian Flower Oracle covers a surprisingly wide range of human emotion and predicaments: from sorrow to sympathy, vanity to hope, shyness to revenge. Also personified are states like faith, wishful thinking, prosperity, competition, purity of motives, and prickly situations. For example, the Water Lily card depicts Faith/Piety as a nun enshrouded with lush green leaves as her habit, while Hawthorn, representing "A Necesasry Evil", shows two young women as hawthorn trees shrinking back in horror as a pair of pruning shears assails them. Because of this range, this 40-card deck can make an accessible--yet pointed--oracle.

Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov of baba studio in Prague designed the Victorian Flower Oracle--the same creative team that birthed The Victorian Romantic Tarot, The Baroque Bohemian Cat's Tarot, and The Tarot of Prague. Sheila Hamilton wrote the poetic, exquisitely fascinating 132-page companion book, which provides extensive information on each flower--including Latin names, historical and literary references, and Victorian usage.

Ms. Hamilton also supplies keywords and phrases for each card, as well as thorough interpretive possibilities, sample readings and spreads. In fact, there are three original spreads created expressly for The Victorian Flower Oracle: the 3-card Nosegay Spread, the 5-card Posy Spread, and the 7-card Bouquet spread.

Now, if all this sounds a bit too girly and fluffy to you, let me assure you that this tomboy--who has no experience (or interest) in gardening--found the companion book to be utterly engaging. Not for one moment was I bored discovering why Ophelia strewn pansies in the water before drowning herself (the pansy was a symbol of "vain love") or that crystallized violets were the epitome of Victorian cake and dessert decorations.

Another interesting tidbit I learned: my favorite band is the prog-rock Canadian trio Rush. They have a song called The Temple of Syrinx, and although I didn't know what Syrinx meant, I never took the time to look it up. Thanks to Ms. Hamilton, I found out that the botanical name for lilac is Syringa, which derives from the Greek word "syrinx"--meaning "pipe" or "flute". Apparently, Syrinx was a nymph who transformed herself into a reed to hide from Pan. Pan then turned this reed into the first flute, delighting all with the music.

Each card depicts a flower personified--often quite amusingly--along with the name of the flower and a keyword or phrase. Here are but a few cards from The Victorian Flower Oracle:

* Flax - Skills, Crafts
* Violet - Shelter, Retreat
* Daisy - Family Matters
* Rose - An Influential Person
* Cornflower and Poppy - An Admirer
* Hemlock - Treachery, Deception
* Lilac - A Message
* Dahlia - Choices
* Opium Poppy - Dreams, Illusions
* Pomegranate Flower - Joy

The cards measure approximately 5 x 3 inches and the reversible backings feature muted graphite-colored background with attractive golden scrollwork (yes, it shines!) in the fore.

I've used The Victorian Flower Oracle several times and found it to be surprisingly insightful. Surprising, because I honestly didn't expect much from it. I wasn't attracted to the artwork at first glance, but Grandville's wit and whimsy--brought to life by Ms Hamilton's prose and the art design of baba studio--was transformed into an unusual, unique, and clever oracle.

If flowers and all things Victorian enthrall you, The Victorian Flower Oracle will be sure to please. But should you not be into "girly" things (but still appreciate the sight, smell, and colorful history of flowers), you may be pleasantly surprised that an innocuous sounding deck can deliver such sharp counsel and penetrating observations about the human condition.

(To see 10 images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

The authors give the reader a comprehensive understanding of how Video Poker machines are programmed and how they function. They also give three strategies for optimum play which are excellent guidelines for conservative players to those willing to take higher risks. Their advice on play is good common sense.

the best book that a beginner poker player could pick up, easy to follow, superb writing style,excellent guide to understanding and/or improving your game at any level. Can't wait to see Tanner's next one, Buy It!

Wineries in the state of Washington -- who knew? I received these informative little cards as a stocking stuffer, but they'd make a nice gift to anyone in the process of learning more about wine (as I am) or anyone in Washington state (or nearby Vancouver) in need of weekend getaways for winetasting. Remember flash cards when we were kids trying to memorize for a test? These are kind of the same, and pretty comprehensive, covering different wine-producing regions, wine-making processes, and grapes (know what a "Madeleine Angevine" is?). So, at your Thursday night poker games, you can study up for the weekend winetasting. And stop picking wines because they have pretty labels.

I think the same people do a book as well.

overall, i thought this was a good book to read about the proper strategies for the weatherlight deck cards. I'm an avid magic card player and i own portal subset besides weatherlight subset. This book was useful in instruction on building contructed or limited deck formats and gave excellent information on certain cards for certain environments. Plus the artwork was great!

Many bridge books only illustrate technique by means of one example hand, and another, and another: "Here's a hand. Here's how to do bid (or play) this hand. On to the next hand." The refreshing thing about Mr. Klinger's books is that he starts with a principle, explains it in depth, and then gives an example or two. This way, one learns not to play just the hand in the example (which one will never encounter in real life, anyway), but all hands of a certain type.

If you read nothing else, you will find the first chapter on the "Rule of 21 & 1/2" worth the entire price of the book. This improves greatly on the old Rule of 20 for deciding whether to open with a 1-bid, to preempt, or to pass. Example: the Rule of 20 will tell you to open this hand: QJxx Kx QJxx QJx -- 12 HCP and 8 cards in the 2 longest suits, right? Wrong.

Experts probably use an algorithm like this, whether from this book explicitly or just through their experience and judgment. You can see this by observing some of their openings on Bridge Base Online's Vugraph sessions. Intermediate players can now make their opening decisions more like experts, using the simple formula Mr. Klinger gives.

This method of deciding when and how to open has helped me reach slams, games, and solid part scores that others did not reach. Opening also inhibits the opponents' bidding.

There's good advice throughout the rest of the book, too. This is the second book I've read by this author and both have helped me greatly.

This is the same book as How to Play and Win at Gin Rummy by Chet Wander. See my review of it. This is the hardcopy version. This is one book that you want to read. If you have a choice the writing in this book is larger than the paperback.

This book is tiny, portable, and chock full of valuable information about blackjack. The author begins with a brief introduction followed by rules of the game and quality tips that will help you improve your chances of winning. He talks very briefly about card-counting but focuses primarily on strategy and etiquette. I read through it once and my game improved. I read through it again, carefully applying the strategies, and my game improved dramatically. It helps you understand the odds of winning and trains you to know when to hit, when to stand, and when to double. This book is handy for beginners and veterans alike. Everyone who wants to learn to play or improve their game should have a copy of this book.