Gambling Books

there are lotsa other books on profiling players.... this one really makes you take a look at yourself as well

I heard about Inside the Poker Mind from a few players who post at a forum I frequent, and I finally got around to purchasing it. Frankly, I have difficulty believing anybody gave this one less than 5 stars because it is a rare and excellent work. I will admit that it is not a book for beginners or even those who have yet to read Ed Miller's Small Stakes Hold `Em, but it offers extensive benefits for the intermediate player on up. Inside... is basically a collection of essays concerning topics seldom discussed, or not addressed in detail, within the typical "how to" manual. Feeney, despite having a PhD and being an accomplished high stakes player, is not broadcasting to readers from Phil Ivey-ian heights. Feeney ground out poker at the lowest levels before becoming the player he is today. His experiences in the small limits ring true for those of us dwelling in them today. My favorite essay in here, "How am I doing? Who Cares?", warns readers not to be results oriented in regards to sessions. Variance is sometimes mind-boggling, but what we must do is concentrate on playing correctly despite our aces being snapped or getting cold-decked. Really, the entire Part IV section on poker and emotion is sensational. His definition of tilt is much more subtle than the ones generally offered, and, I believe, it is much more accurate. Overall, with brilliant analysis and clear style, Inside... is far better than most of its competitors. It's for the thinking man which is what everyone should aspire to be if they want to make any money out of the game.

This is one of my favorite poker books. It is not for beginners; it is filled with interesting and advanced topics in limit Hold'em. This is a good book for any reader who is looking to read more advanced material. The section titled "Do You Pass the Ace-Queen Test?" was controversial when the book first came out, but Feeney's thoughts has proven to be correct. The Short-Handed essays are illuminating as well. Definitely a great addition to any hold'em library.

I find the title of this book to be slightly misleading: "Inside the Poker Mind" is a collection of essays on what NOT to do as a poker player (e.g. do not get smug and play weak cards, do not go on tilt, do not overestimate your odds, do not play beyond your means, do not take bad beats personally, etc.). From the title one might expect the text to relate in some way to getting "into the mind" of one's opponent (i.e. the text may have some strategic advice); this is simply not the case. There are a handful of strategic plays involved in this book, and some consideration of reading hands. However, these are addressed from the perspective of how not to make a mistake in either overusing certain strategies, or being too rigid in the face of changing conditions in the hand.

Essentially, this book assumes you already know everything there is to know about being a good poker player, and merely need some cautionary advice on avoiding common mistakes. While not valueless, I do not believe this focus serves the prospective readers of the book; the author frequently references "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" and "The Theory of Poker" to flesh out ideas he mentions in passing, and probably the reader would do better to explore those books IN PLACE of this one (although I have a very low opinion of "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players"). The warnings this book contains are well-advised, however, and on the whole I'd probably give this book 2 1/2 stars if I could.

HITS: Cautions against overplaying marginal hands; good essays exploring the tilt phenomenon; the author's "by the numbers" pure analytical mindset becomes infectious, and could influence your play for the better

MISSES: The author is so vehemently anti-no limit and pot limit hold 'em that he refuses to address these games at all (absolutely do not attempt to use the author's strategic limit plays in a no limit or pot limit game); tournaments are denigrated as a drain on the poker economy (demonstrably false, in my opinion); no basic strategy advice; references other texts (particularly "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" - a terrible book in my opinion - and "The Theory of Poker", which is truly great) excessively to fill in basic ideas that more properly could be explained in the text.

I'm a fairly serious poker player. As such, I have a lot of the books everyone talks about; Super System I, most of Sklansky and Malmuth, even Phil Helmuth. (I'm not a fan of Phil, but he makes some good points, especially on Omaha) I debated getting Inside the Poker Mind for a while. Wish I had gotten it a long while ago! It's not the "greatest" poker book I've read...hey, I only gave it 4 stars. It is, however, very useful in that it does illustrate some real issues with thinking at the table. While I found that I knew much of what he had to say, I still enjoyed the book and feel it improved my game somewhat. However, as other reviewers have noted, NOTHING takes the place of LOTS of hands played. As an aside from the review, my personal recommendation is as follows:

1) Get the books and study. Re-read as your game improves.
2) Play on-line cheaply and move up in limit as your game improves.
3) Buy the Wilson software...it's not impressive looking, but it lets you play millions of hands without going into your wallet.
4) Get into or start a home game and play as often as possible. Playing with friends isn't as scary as with strangers at a casino.
5) When you've done the first 4 things, visit a local casino or cardroom and try an inexpensive game.

If you're still losing money after that, I suggest you switch to checkers or tiddlywinks.

The author could not decide what his subject was: a) the corrupting effects of contemporary gambling in Louisiana; b) how gambling licenses were won there; or c) Edwards' corrupt activities. Although I enjoyed many of its anecdotes, the book is structurally flawed and does not hang together. It also suffers from annoyingly redundant quotes.

Bridges undoubtedly could have written excellent 50-100 pp. pieces on each of the three subjects above, or he could have shortened them into very readable magazine pieces. But he has failed to turn these related topics into a cohesive whole.

If you were asked to make up a Grisham type tale about politics and corruption I do not think it would rival the true story this book takes you through.

This book is excellent because it is supported by hard evidence of Louisian-style corruption.. For example, the author reports that former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Eddie Jordan, had a videotape of Gov. Edwards delivering a $20,000 bribe to former U.S. Representative Cleo Fields (D LA). Over the objection of his staff, Jordan declined to prosecute Fields or Edwards because , in his opinion, the evidence was insufficient. The Clinton Justice Department did not overrule Jordan's decision. How much more evidence did Jordan need? The real reason that Jordan decl;ined prosecution is that Fields and U.S. Representative William Jefferson (D LA) were both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Jefferson and Jordan worked together in the same law office. Jordan could not prosecute his enemy, Edwards. without prosecuting his friend, Fields. The bitter irony of Edwards' criminal activity is that the U.S. Court of Appeals will probably reverse his conviction on legitimate grounds. Both the prosecutors and the trial judge overreached by dismissing during jury deliberations the only juror who was voting for acquittal and by ministrepreting the RICO statute. In any event, the question remains: why did "60 Minutes", "20/20", and "Prime Time" fail to cover the Fields bribery case? Dan , Tom and Sam, "What's the answer?"

"Vote for the crook. It's important." This was a bumper sticker seen around Louisiana at the time of the Edwards-Duke Election. It implores the electorate to vote for the three-time governor whose definition of an honest politician was one who stayed bought in order to beat the former Ku Klux Klan wizard.
Like this bumper sticker, the book is funny--the thievery was so inept and outrageous, yet sad because this stuff was really going on.
The author knows his stuff, and the subject area, Edwin Edwards and the rise of gambling in Louisiana is a great story. This book reads like a thriller.

I got this book for my husband, as he's the non-fiction reader in our family. I was out of something to read, so I picked it up and could NOT put it down.

Bridges does a great job of putting a lot of convoluted information into readable form. Edwin Edwards and his Crazy Cajun Cronies didn't really do anything new...they just continued a long tradition of crooked Louisiana Politics!

I enjoyed almost all of this book...the only parts that made my eyes glaze over were the details regarding the financing. My mind just can't wrap around deals where the broker stands to make 27 MILLION dollars....and then one million a year after that!

If you ever wanted a peek into the world of slick politicians, oily gangsters and brash billionaires, this is your book. BAD BET ON THE BAYOU should be required reading for anyone who votes!

Enjoy!

Other than Andrew Beyer's handicapping books and Joe Takach's videos on appearance, there are almost no works on the subject of winning at the races that really made an impression on me - until I read Exotic Betting. Author Crist makes a cogent and powerful argument on the long-ignored art of correctly ranking and betting your contenders. Crist simply is better than anyone else at turning his opinions into profits - and after reading this book, I improved dramatically in my rating and betting skills. Just the section on his A,B,C ranking of contenders was a revelation for me. If you ever want to seriously play multihorse and multirace wagers, read this book or just stick to the lottery.

Steve explains the math behind exotic betting and perfect rationale for using multi-race bets. A must read for the fan who wants to get more from the track.

I found this book to be highly informative, but not because I agree with all of the author's conclusions. The main conclusion I disagree with is the author's repeated assertions throughout that exotics are not about trying to figure out who the two, three or four most likely finishers are and betting them in the order of most likely finish. Christ somehow thinks that there is more to it than that. But there isn't.

If you find the winning horses in the order of finish, you will cash. Because that's precisely what the Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, Daily Double, Superfecta, Pick 6, etc are all about: finding the requisite number of top finishes and the order of finish. He might have meant to say that figuring out the order of finish is a complex process which it indeed is, but the way he choose to express this in the text was really mind boggling. To argue that there is something else to it is - well - nutty.

Despite this one flaw, Christ does get you thinking the right way in alot of areas. He does cover takeout and how that effects your betting decisions, the Win-Place-Show (WPS) pools vs. exotics pools and how they work, why box bets are losing bets, when not to bet and other information that is vital info for the newbie pony player. If you are a newbie to the game of playing the ponies, then this is a must-read. Veterans should also take a look so they have the benefit of a perspective possibly different than their own.

I thought this was a pretty solid book on the proper ways to construct exotic betting tickets. I found Crist's discussions of exacta and trifecta plays to be particularly interesting. Specifically, Crist tells the player to get away from the boxes (and other "chance plays") and go for big payouts by trusting your handicapping skills. Anyone can throw five longshots into a $1 exacta box and get lucky once and a while. Crist's philososphy, and that of many professional players, is to play less combinations at a greater price. Key your top horse over your second choice for $10. Then the top horse over a longshot play for $5. Crist encourages the player to structure bets in a manner that will reward them the most when their handicapping is spot on.....not just when they get lucky by throwing every longshot on the borad underneath and exoctic play. Why play four horses equally in a leg of the Pick 4 when you like two of them much more than the other two?

This book, along with Steve Davidowitz's classic, is an excellent read for the intermediate player who wants to learn to take his bet structuring to the next level. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer....I would love to be able to sit down with Steve Crist and talk betting strategies all day. The only caution that I would give is that this book is not at all about how to pick winners. In fact, this book is not going to be valuable at all to a player who does not possess solid handicapping skills. If you have trouble picking winners to begin with then its probably not a good idea to try and get creative with exotic betting.

Steven Crist has been a horse-racing columnist, CEO of the Daily Racing Form and is the author of three other books on horse racing. His latest book, EXOTIC BETTING, attempts to fulfill a need, he explains, to glean more profits from racing through "exotic betting" at a time when shorter horse fields and more information available to savier handicappers has made it harder to make money with "straight bets": win, place and show. In EXOTIC BETTING, Mr. Crist patiently and lucidly lays out the mathematics behind daily doubles, exactas, trifectas, pick threes, etc., the so-called exotic plays. At one time, these bets were exotic when win, place and show predominated. But now, exotic betting is a feature at every racetrack. EXOTIC BETTING focuses on intrarace exotic bets like the exacta and trifecta and interrace exotic bets like the daily double and the pick three. Mr. Christ offers betting strategies for each of the exotic bet types. While I have seen most of these ideas in different places elsewhere, Mr. Christ brings them all together in one reference and explains them in very readable prose. Using the principals presented in the first part of EXOTIC BETTING, he finishes by taking the reader through his actual betting at the 2005 Breeder's Cup. A few more examples of the strategies discussed could have been interesting if not necessary but, all-in-all, this is an excellent book and I highly recommended EXOTIC BETTING for the casual or more serious horse player who wants to be a better exotics player.

As a wire artist and beginning silversmith I found this book a great addition to my collection. The photos were great and the ideas throughout were most helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves making jewelry. It would be most beneficial to the experienced jewelry maker.The ideas and patterns are not for the beginner but, it would challenge you to learn more as they are very beautiful and unique.

As a beginning or even as an intermediate metal-smith, this book is useful for demonstrating cold connections. The projects are easy to follow and they are easy to modify so you can put your own, individual touches to finished pieces. The gallery was inspirational and shows just how much you can do without having to resort to using a soldering torch and lots of messy chemicals.

You know you like a book when every time you read a description of it - you by it - again!

The projects in this book are really fun and varied. It concentrates on cold connections which I am more consistent at than soldering. This will get your design mind going!

I was looking for new and helpful information to add to my growing fascination with metalworking. This book is not for beginners. The projects are too precise for artists new to using a saw. Trying to saw a simple straight line takes lots of practice. I have some experience with the saw, but one project in this book scared the crap out of me. It's a geometric nightmare. The instructions in here are incomplete and vague. Some are a bit foolish or dangerous. For instance, there are many ways to make jump rings. This book instructs you to put your fingers directly in the path of the saw blade. There is a chemical etching project. It doesn't remind you to use gloves. The person in the pictures isn't wearing gloves. Also, there are safer ways apply a resist that doesn't include a razor sharp knife. The narrative sounds evasive to me. Example regarding the pendant on the cover, "Design eight decorative elements." I bought this book thinking that the author would show me how to make those little flowers. I liked the pinback idea, but again the instructions are vague. This book doesn't cover enough basics and it isn't safe.

I took a jewelry class taught by Joanna when I was in college and I absolutely fell in love with the art/craft. I was happy to find this book since it serves as a nice refresher for some of the techniques I'd forgotten. This book is simple enough for the beginner and has enough ideas to inspire a pro. The nice thing about this work is that many of the techniques used are cold techniques so there's no need to worry about having a torch or solder handy (although a flex-shaft and jewelry saw are frequently used). Buy it! Not only will you get a great book but you'll be supporting a wonderful person.

I was looking for a book on video poker that covered most of the recent games and optimal strategy for those games. The book does just that, and more....

This is a very well written book for beginners. Other authors on this subject introduce their books as suitable for a beginner in the first few chapters but the following chapters are difficult for the novice to read and understand. Linda Boyd, perhaps because she is an educator, writes clearly and fully introduces new vocabulary before using new terms in her explanations.

Excellent, understandable and I'd rec. to any one looking for a 'how to' on video poker

An excellent treatment on Video Poker. Gives, as all these guides do, a quick overview of what is involved in playing Video Poker. Then she delves into the deeper aspects of choice of game which is based on the printed paytable and its implied "expected return" and volatility level. You see some games while having very attractive payoffs for those very rare hands, require a substantially higher bankroll to play with a reasonable expectation of achieving the theoretical long-term payoff while others with lower payoffs (but more frequent) require less bankroll. Lots of tables are included containing all the really essential stuff sought after by the serious Video Poker player. Now if you are NOT a serious player, this book can still be a valuable investment because there are removable strategy cards at the end of the book covering all the most common machines. Those alone were worth the price of admission.

This book doesn't provide much in strategy that you can't find on the net or elsewhere. I was looking for some well formated strategy charts for non-full pay games, and this book was not good for that need.

One positive section was the discussion of VLTs in many racinos and bars in several states (e.g. bars in Louisiana). VLTs are not VP machines based on random number generators.

The strategy cards are terrible and I think my copy was missing a page (there was a tear showing a previous perforation). If you play VP in large casinos on the strip, you won't be playing full pay games.

This book has taught me alot about horse racing, and had definitely aided in my enjoyment of the sport and helped me win some money! There are some chapters that are a little boring with unnecessary info.

I gave this as a gift to my mother before several trips to the races, and after completing it, I was pleased to find she was doing basic handicapping correctly. This book doesn't get deep into hard-core handicapping, but for most people who enjoy the races as an occasional fun day out, it puts all those numbers in the program or the racing form into perspective... making for a more enjoyable experience! Well done.

With the Kentucky Derby about one week away, it will be like NCAA March Madness where even the casual of sports fans is going to have an opinion on the outcome.

But maybe you will want to take that opinion one step further and place a bet at the local race track or OTB that's simulcasting the race. This book will help you learn the nomenclature associated with wagering on the races and the nuances to betting.

Author Richard Eng guides the reader through the basic bets like win, place and show, but really earns high marks by delving into the exotic bets - like exactas, trifectas and superfectas - where betting the same money as you would on the traditional trio may yield much higher payouts.

The book is not how to handicap races, which is the art or reading a racing form or researching with other material to select runners for your various bets. It purely focuses on understanding what bets are possibly available for the races at your local tracks or on the simulcasts.

And with confidence, you'll be able to march up to the teller and state - for the record - "In race five I'd like an exacta box with with 2 and the 6," just like a pro. And through the help of Eng you will certainly understand it just as well or better than that "expert" who's next in line.

I got this book after going to the racetrack one day and poring over the racing form in confusion. I didn't even bet because I didn't know what I was looking at. I thought this book, being of the "Dummies" variety, would be a good introduction to betting. Wrong!

I found this book very difficult to understand, and one almost certainly must have prior knowledge of betting to understand some of the concepts in this book. The author gives a lot of examples, but they are in such fine print that I couldn't read them! I would need a magnifying glass to see what he was talking about in many, many examples. He progresses very quickly from beginner definitions to advanced betting concepts, and it wasn't organized in a logical, straightforward fashion. This book is not geared toward the casual bettor like me, but more towards someone who already has some knowledge of betting and is looking to set up a money-making system.

After getting about 3/4 of the way through this book, I threw my hands up in despair and gave up. I guess I won't be betting on the horses anytime soon, because I still don't have a clue after reading this.

This is a great book for the absolute begginner, first time track experince. For the enthusiastic hobbyist like myself the book only gets two stars.

I thought the pull out cheat sheet in the front of the book was irresponsible, suggesting a sixteen dollar play for the pick 6. I believe two dollars is okay, because it's like buying a lottery ticket, however a minuim of a 128.00 is needed. Anything else is just throwing away money. The suggested amount for the superfecta and pick 4 were off base too.

The book was very hard to read, as it seemed like every chapter the author was just saying the same thing over and over again. Although the book explains to the reader the different types of handicapping methods, it does not teach you how to handicap. Remember the book title is "Betting on Horse Racing" not "Handicapping on Horse Racing".

Now for what I liked about the book. Great glossary and index, something that all horse racing books that I've read lacked. I enjoyed chapter 17, which covered handicapping tournaments. This is something I've never tackled and find interesting after reading. Chapters 19 and 20 covered Harness racing and Quarter horses. I prefer throughbreds because I understand it and find it more enjoyable, but if I ever decide to bet on these types of races I will refer to these chapters. Chapter 25, the ten best race tracks to visit, was also interesting. I'm fortunate to have two of these in my back yard, and in the future I would like to visit the authors other eight picks.

I bought this book after I selected another book and needed to spend more to avoid the three dollars shipping and handling. So factoring that in 10.59 was not a bad price. The amazon advertised 13.59 is'nt bad either, however I would not purchase the book for the suggested 19.99 cover price (not worth it).

In all, good book to have for begginers. Also a good book to have for experinced horesplayers who have non horse playing friends that want to tag along. Much easier to let them borrow the book over night then to have them harrassing you at the track like a little kid with thier questions.

The other do it yourself series KISS and Complete Idiots Guide do not have books on this subject, instead there covered in chapters of other books. KISS Guide to Gambling, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gambling Like a Pro, respectfully.

This book definitely sheds a light on poker as it was in the early 80s. The backgrounds given on the players of the time are extremely informative and enlightening.

One thing I found interesting was the author talking about Doyle Brunson writing his book, the classic, Super System and how it began to change the poker scene. Similarly with Sklansky. How the once hard learned craft was becoming easily accessible in book form, making players harder to win against. Now 25 years plus later, the vast amounts of literature out there is just mind boggling. It has made the competition that much stiffer, yet I sometimes wonder if it has also put that much more meat in the meat market for the true pros of the game.

In closing, I loved the book. A truly amazing read. You get a good feel for how poker was and get a glimpse of how the landscape was beginning to change. I highly recommend this book.

This is the first modern poker yarn by a legendary poker player and yes, literary critic. It seems half the UK poker players get their bonafides by how closely connected they are to Mr. Alvarez and his weekly game.

This book is not to be missed. The previous reviewer holds against that it was written before the current poker boom (or is it poker bubble). It chronicles such minor figures as Stuey Ungar and the WSOP. What poker player cares about that?

The latest poker memoir writers all pay tribute to this influential book. See what all the fuss is about.

Far better than some of the current narratives written by really weak players. I want to name them, but I won't.

This book is a must have for the serious poker library. While many of the poker players that Alvarez writes about in the book have now become household names, they were virtual unknowns (outside of their peers) when he wrote this book. This book really was groundbreaking in many ways.

Reading this book will enable you to appreciate the mentality of the hi-limit players before poker became mainstream and commercialized. If you want to appreciate a little more about the history of the World Series of Poker, this is a good place to start. The event was not always the "circus" that it has become today.

Alvarez has a nice writing style that is entertaining and easy to read. This is a quick read that you can get through in a few hours. I recommend it.

"The Biggest Game in Town" is a book exploring the lead up to, the characters behind, and the culmination of, the 1981 World Series Of Poker. My main criticism of the book has little to do with the text itself. With poker becoming more mainstream, it was inevitable that the stakes would become higher, the stories would become crazier and this title and others like it would be left behind. As an example, the main prize in this book is several hundred thousand dollars. Compare this to the million dollar prize pools that are now being generated on an almost weekly basis and the reader can be forgiven for being dismissive about a first prize of "only" $375,000. The book recounts tales of businessmen being "stuck" for $50,000 but again compare that to the recent colossal struggle between Andy Beal and the Vegas professionals, where Beal initially gained the upper hand but eventually lost $10 million. Perhaps the one reason I would recommend the book is for its fleeting glance into the life of Stu Ungar, perhaps one of the greatest players to ever grace the felt. However, other than that I would say that there are many other poker titles I would recommend reading first, for example Nolan Dalla's "One of a Kind", a book that I suspect will stand the test of time.

This book is a time capsule of a very different Las Vegas. The Vegas of the late 70's and early 80's was centered around the downtown area, with none of the all-encompassing resorts on the Strip. This is the heyday of Binion's Horseshoe, when Benny Binion was holding court at the most over-the-top gambling paradise. Unlike other casinos, the Horseshoe had to limits on the bets it would accepts and played host to the most outrageous gamblers and bets of the time.

All the greats of poker legend appear here--Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek Dandalos in their 1949 many-weeks-long marathon multi-million dollar game, Doyle Brunson, wacky cowboy gambler Amarillo Slim Preston, and formidable strategist Jack Strauss, among others.

This is a must-read for any poker player. For a modern look inside the World Series of Poker, try James McManus's Positively Fifth Street.

This was a very Enjoyable Book. It provided important and useful concepts about the game of Poker. I learned new concepts, which identified some leaks in my game. Leaks in your game can come from anywhere!!! Leaks can originate from lack of aggression, overcalling raises, misreading opponents and any other number of ways. So this book helps. Many people look at poker the wrong way. They think to win they need to do all of this super fancy plays and mindblowing stunts. Well folks...there are not that many options in poker...you fold, call or raise. So its really hard to do thinks that will just fool your opponents all the time. To win at poker it is mostly limiting your mistakes and getting all that you can from winning hands and minimizing losses on losing hands...that's it
Ive been playing for about 5 years now and love the game. Ive read many poker books and found this one to be very good. So I would suggest you buy this book and maybe a couple others and get to playing. There's really no excuse anymore - since anyone can access the internet.

[...]

Then Amazon is offering you the best bargain you can get. I just finished reading both of Scoblete's books, BOLD CARD PLAY and THE ARMADA STRATEGIES and they were incredible. They give the best strategies for these often casino-friendly games. Scoblete shows you how to reduce the house edge and to take advantage of the casino comping system. This is a great tandem of books for gamblers interested in reading about the "other" casino games.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I happen to love to play Let it Ride and 3 Card Poker and this book was very helpful. It is well written and enjoyable to read. Scoblete is a good writer.

If you like to play any of these table games, Frank Scoblete's Bold card Play shows you the correct stategies to use to reduce the house edge. The book is very well written and also a lot of fun to read as Scoblete knows how to explain ideas and use personal stories to highlight what he's writing about. This was definitely a very good book.

If you play these new games as I do then you should get this book. I was playing the dumbest strategies until I found out what to do. It has helped me a lot. This book is great.

Reading this book makes a lot of sense. Good advice on bankroll management, and most importantly tells you what you need to do to help you avoid tilt. Tilt is probably the main cause of a downswing, avoiding tilt is important. After reading this book I feel cool and calm about playing poker knowing that it will all even out in the long run. I also like how it stresses that poker is just a game and that there are other things in life.

So you may as well buy it. I'm an online pro poker player and have been for about 2 years now and I can say with 100% certainty that this book has increased my profits. I've read it about 3.5 times. If you have already mastered your tilt you may not need this, but it has lots of good information about different types of tilt you may not be familiar with. It also gives convincing points about BR management. Give it to your always busto friends.

But most likely you need it. When people ask me which book helped my poker game most out of my collection this is currently the one I point to.

I mostly play online. Saw myself, my relationship to the game and other players differently as I read the book over a 3 week period. My results have improved. Check out the Table of Contents. Book is put together well. I'm considering purchasing their Statistics and probability book but I've got a stack of Harrington books waiting to be read.

Learning the game is not the only thing you need to know to be a successful poker player. This book goes through the philosphical and psychologic aspects of the game. This gives you the information to get your emotions and attitudes in the corrct place to always go for that positive expectation.
Solid information and a good read. Pick it up if you are getting serious about the game.

Perfect book. It explains why not to be angry about bad beats.
Helps you to control and to recognize your (various types of) tilts.
It saves me money. I tilted too much and now i have a better
control over it. Keeps hammering on that a winning pokerplayer
must look for the long term. And thats what its all about.
Helped me to focus on targets. NOT to set targets about how much you must
win in a certain time. This is what i usually did.
Now i set targets for example: I will read 1 pokerbook every 2 month, i will post 10 hands a week in a forum. All of this to improve my game...
Guess what??? It works!
Its a must read for every poker player

While a little repeptitive at times the author underscores the things you pick up on if you pay attention while gaming. Solid advice if you can remember to follow it.

This was a quick read and a lot of fun as well. Filled with information that ran from common sense to the intricacies of computer slots. Lots of jokes, and sensible tips for enjoying you slot time without loosing your shirt.

I jet got this book today (July 3, 2006) and read it through in one day as well. Regardless of the size of the book, it was filled with good and useful information in regards to how slots works, the dispelling of common myths, and how to modify you style of play to prolong your enjoyment in the casino.

A fascinating feature of the book is a list of known casinos in the U.S. and their average payback based on location and denomination of the machine. This was information I have never seen before and helped me determine which of the casinos near me have the better paying slots.

It was also nice to see that they weren't trying to "sell a system." The book explains that the slot machines are nothing more than computer-based random number generators and that there is nothing you can do that will alter their play or cause them to pay out better. It does suggest how to alter your method of play to prolong your playing time, if not improve your chances of winning.

While Book Mama complained that the methods described in the book didn't work in an Indian casino, the book does explain that some Indian casinos have lower payout rates than most other casinos.

My only problem with the book is that, while it did discuss tax rules in regards to your winnings, I wished it had given more detailed information than what it did. Still, it's a pretty good book.

I bought and read this book, then took a trip to my nearby Indian Casino, only to find that the slots the book recommends as the best paying, don't even exist there. The author recommends 2-coin, three reel, nonprogressive slots with the lowest top jackpot (1000 to 5000.) I searched the casino from top to bottom and did not find a single machine that fell in to this category.

I also tried some of the other "strategies" mentioned and ended up going home, having spent my alloted bankroll, faster than any other trip. Bad luck? Possibly. Bad advice? More probable.

Better advice? Stick with the slots that make you happy and forget trying to go home with more money than you came with.

Seriously, if you play slots, read this book. Of course luck adds to everything, but I read this book and followed what it said and I won and came out ahead (won $800 on the slots, and after playing other games, went home $500 ahead). This book gives the slot player so much more of an advantage.