Gambling Books

I read most of John Patricks books and they all are well written, he leans very hard on money management and discipline. If you enjoy leaving the casino with your money and some of theres this book is an excellent investment. I've used many straight forward betting systems of Johns and have had good returns. He really leans on Place betting, taking several hits and taking them down. I've down very well with that system. You will too.

I have read this book several times. I have tested all of the systems in the book at great length and all have had the same results. All of the sytems and methods outlined in the book are, in the long run, losers. The best thing that can be accomplished (and not by all the systems) is that you learn how to manage your money and to leave the table if you should have a short term win. The newer books on craps have been revised to include more disclosures, but all in all this one has no more value than any other I have read. If any of the methods outlined in the book actually made money Las Vegas would be a ghost town.

This guy is a machine in writing books, and giving new logic and money discipline. I have about everything he's written, and always pick up new things in each. He throws in alot of stories as well about what it's like in his professional world of gambling. It must be something to have his skills and mindset when you walk into the room. Never hesitate in buying a Patrick book.

If you understand the basics of the game but are still looking for a way to win on a consistent basis - John Patrick is your man. John's theories are simple and straight forward. You have to have near-perfect knowledge of the game in order to win consistently. You need sufficient bankroll to have a shot. You should approach the game with a theory or plan for HOW you are going to play. Set win objectives and loss limits. And have the discipline to walk with a small win. Will you do what it takes to win? Probably not. And according to John, that makes you a dork. Hey - get over it. After all, he's probably right.

On a personal basis, I've known John for about ten years now. He's a class guy and one of the few in this business who actually does the things he writes about. This book is a "must have" for serious crapsters.

As always, Patrick does a great job with his money discipline in this one. He reminds me of alot of high level money managers in Wall Street. The upside always takes care of itself, when you take care of the downside. Great book.

The book is a guide...
U cant go wrong!Great for the green and the experianced player!
Get it.

Having read and studied most of the more popular books available on the subject, I bought this book with a view to getting a different perspective, rather than any hope for new insights.

Upon reading it I was more than pleasantly surprised by the content. It has to be one of the best books I've read on the subject.

Like most of the reviewers, I wouldn't recommend it as a first book for someone wanting to learn hold `em. Some of the views expressed in the book are unconventional and not appropriate for beginners. However, barring the complete novice, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book as one of the top 5 most useful books I've read (and I've read quite a few). Not because of it's groundbreaking suggestions, but rather this book is genuinely aimed at getting the reader to think about why he should make a particular decision. It helps the reader to think like an experienced hold `em player, rather than providing a set of rules for play in specific circumstances.

For instance, in his chapter on seat selection, when he recommends that you sit maniacs to your left (contrary to most authors who recommend the opposite), it comes after a discussion of the varying perspectives or `theories' of poker. According to Carson, most authors focus on the fact that `poker is a game of incomplete information'. In his view, however, the `poker is a game of strategy and deception' theory is more appropriate when making this particular decision. "You get very little extra information from having a maniac on your right, but having him on your left expands your tactical playing options tremendously".

There is no false pretence that this is the only book you will ever need on hold `em. In fact the author provides frank reviews of the more popular hold `em books with honest opinions on their value.

Whether you agree or not is irrelevant; rather it is the thought process that matters. This is a book that will definitely help develop your thought on the game of hold `em poker.

This is one of the best Texas Hold'em books out there. Gary has an interesting way of looking at the game that is thought provoking. His insights can make you a better player, but I suggest trying to digest the material here slowly. It is easy to misunderstand or misapply the concepts here. Like any other good poker book, this is a book that you should study, rather than just read.

There is very little discussion of the specifics of pot-limit, no-limit, spread-limit, and tournament poker in this book. The book does discuss these topics, but those chapters are thin and seem to be added as an afterthought. Nonetheless, much of the material is applicable to any form of Texas Hold'em, once you understand it well. It does seem that Gary is primarily a limit Hold'em player, or that he was when he wrote this book.

Also, Gary Carson is an active participant of the Usenet group rec.gambling.poker. Gary has clarified some of the concepts in his book on this public forum.

The only thing I don't like about this book is the title. This is a great book for limit holdem cash games. It is applicable in online or live play and would be helpful if the game were tight or loose, passive or aggressive. In fact, one of the great strengths of the book is how it helps one evaluate the table and play according to who is actually there and not according to how some group of players were playing at a $40/80 table in Las Vegas in 1978.

The emphasis on table selection and on flexibility in play makes this a valuable tool for increasing ones profits or even for the beginner. Rather than giving formulas (formulae?) Carson gives guidelines for thinking about situations. The tables of starting hands that he provides should be taken with a grain of salt, as he says himself.

But enough of Mr. Nice Guy, why did I call it incomplete?

1: He only touches on big-bet Holdem, No-Limit and Pot-Limit. The advice he gives on it big-bet is very good. In fact some of it is extremely valuable. However, it is only a splash in the very lage pond. This is understandable because the NL boom had not arrived at the time the book was released. NL tourneys were common but cash games all over the country were still overwhelmingly limit.

While understandable, it is a shame becuase NL has become more important as the months go by and because Mr. Carson has been a succesful NL cash player and knows what he is talking aobut.

2: His tournament advice is also brief, not inspired and not worth mentioning. If all you want to do is play tourneys, the book is worth the low price but that's about it.

So why do I give it five *s?

Because my hourly rate in the LHE games at Foxwoods, which was already good, doubled in the few months after I read this book and absorbed its ideas.

I found this book while reading Matt Matros' "The Making of a Poker Player". Matros has this book as one of the seven he recommends unequivocally. Had it not been for Matros, I would not have known of Gary Carson's book.

This treasure of a book seems to be hidden from the general poker public. I play online exclusively, and I've asked various tablemates about the book. Almost no one seems to know about it. This is an absolute hidden gem, so superior to anything else out there.

The book is not for the complete beginner. In fact Carson himself recommends starting with Lee Jones' "Winning Low Limit Hold 'Em" or Ed Miller's "Getting Started in Hold 'Em". But, after having read and maybe reread one of those two, I'd suggest diving right into "The Complete Book of Hold 'Em" and staying with it for about a year or so. I don't see the need for any other book of poker instruction during that time, except perhaps Carson's own "Casino Poker" in which he introduces most of the different games of poker. (If you just have to read something else, I really like John Feeney's "Inside the Poker Mind" and Roy Cooke's "Real Poker II".)

Well, what about Sklansky, Malmouth, Ciaffone, Hellmuth, Krieger et al? Nope, you don't need any of them. For at least a year, Carson's book is plenty. In fact I would recommend strongly against them, since they could confuse the rock solid foundation you are building with Carson.

What makes this book so good? That is not easy to answer. Carson involves himself with the reality of playing poker; it's a situational approach. He does not fit the game into one single theory. He takes multipe perspectives. He admits it's not an easy, cookbook style (that's what Jones and Miller are for), but it is the only completely honest one. This is a new way of thinking that is levels above what the other poker authors are writing. Other reviewers who have liked the book say how it has changed their thinking, their approach to play; it does if the student puts in the time for study that is required. He will not be spoonfed. He will have to think. But what a difference it will make at the tables!

The book is revolutionary. Why it is not better known, why I had to find it by such a roundabout route, is beyond me. But when you find out it exists, Matusow (my hero) would call you a donkey not to buy it. One other plus which I don't think is trivial in poker literature; Carson knows how to write.

I had never read perri o'shaughnessy until i picked up 'writ of execution' at a library sale. I was a third or so the way thru when i looked at the back cover to see if there was a bio, as i began to suspect this might be a female writer. to my surprise, 2 females. sisters! I was drawn in to this book by the charactors, and layers of mystery surrounding each one. From the slot machines to the court room, including personal difficulties unrelated to the mystery. wonderful balancing act. Definitely a charactor driven book, i can't wait to read another. I love finding gems like this thru serendipity.

... though not always for the better.

A young woman wins a multi-million progressive jackpot on a slot machine.

Desperate to hide her identity she takes off with the stranger who was playing next to her (a down on his luck computer programmer who is is minutes away from putting a bullet in his brain) and heads off to lawyer Nina Reilly.

In a first attempt to hide her identity, a quick marriage between the two (for the pice of one million dollars) is arranged, to allow the woman to give a false identity to the press who are covering the event and to hide her from whoever may be on her tail.

The plan does unravel, due to a lawsuit, and there is also another claimant who would kill to get her millions. He has his reasons for thinking the jackpot should be his.

Overall I found this an enjoyable book, though there are some weaknesses that the other reviews have pointed out. I waivered between a 4 and a 3 star rating. Ultimately, what made the difference for me is that the book went into some interesting details on the gaming industry, how these large jackpots actually work, and what the gaming companies can or cannot do. This bit of research made the difference in my rating.

A good crime/legal/detective novel with enough twists and turns to keep me interested.

A story full of twists and turns. Its a very interesting plot, winning the big pot, was it a strike of luck or a bad joke from the devil? What deep dark secret can keep the winner from collecting what is lawfuly hers? These and more mysteries lead our picturesque team of the sensitive but persistent lawyer, the reliable with an almost frightening sense of protecting detective and his naive indian partner to play a who done it game with very powerful and dark charachters, that sometimes wear their angel disguises to perform their evil duties.

This was my first Perri O'Shaughnessy book. I got it free at the Bouchercon in Austin last October. I MIGHT read one of the earlier titles but it won't be first on my list. Perhaps it is the result of co-authors, but I found the writing to be difficult to navigate. Many times it was hard to determine who was talking. Too many thoughts to oneself interspersed with dialogue. Too many coincidences to make the story believable.

I admit I am not fond of the female in jeopardy genre. And this one had TWO women making foolish assumptions and stupid moves. I had little sympathy for either of them.

Nina Reilly is the single mom to a young boy. He is conveniently absent or accounted for often during the book, although Nina sporadically wrings her hands in concern for him. Her detective, Paul, seems to want to be with her regardless of her personal difficulties but he is often oblivious to those difficulties, too.

This book was just too PC for me. A little of everything was thrown in for good measure, along with a lot of editorializing on the favorite soap boxes of the authors.

Still, I finished it and did find it somewhat entertaining. The sisters need a good proofreader.

This is a mediocre legal thriller, and my first introduction to this author. While moderately entertaining, I probably will not seek anymore novels by this author, as the writing tends to be pedestrian and formulaic. I also found the character of the attorney, Nina Reilly, to be uninteresting and an embarrassment to women in the legal profession. Perhaps, this was in part due to the fact that I listened to the unabridged audio book, where the reader infused Ms. Reilly's character with a breathy, little girl voice, that made her sound just this side of stupid.

Still, the book had its interesting moments. The plot revolves around a young woman, purportedly of Washoe Indian descent, who calls herself Jessie Potter and has just won a seven million dollar plus jackpot at a Nevada casino. She wishes to maintain a low profile, as she has a deep, dark secret, so she retains Ms. Reilly as her attorney, seeking to collect the jackpot, while maintaining her privacy. Unbeknownst to Ms. Reilly and her client, someone else feels entitled to that jackpot and will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get it.

In constructing the plot, the author, through one of the secondary characters, gives an interesting account of how these jackpots are designed to work, as well as a bird's-eye view of the gaming industry. Moreover, the courtroom scenes are of some interest. Still, this is not enough to make this a top notch legal thriller, as the writing never rises beyond hack status. The plot was too pat and contrived, at times, and the characters remain two dimensional throughout. I found myself neither caring for nor very much liking any of the characters. This over rated book remains simply a quick, throwaway read.

This was a very entertaining book. The stories in here will keep you interested from the beginning all the way to the end. It is written in colorful language and allows you to kind of get inside Slim's head. It is a short 264 pages filled with wild stories of how Slim would gamble on almost anything and win. You may not agree with everything written in these pages but you will definitely get a few laughs along the way.

Slim talks about human psychology and what role that plays in gambling. One of his sayings is "never make a bet unless the bet is already one." And through these pages he reveals his secrets to doing just that. I think there are a number of useful things that anyone could pick up and find useful in their own lives from some psychology to a number of bets that anyone could make others that could almost be guaranteed winners. One of the last things Slim says is, "making peace with yourself is the first thing a winner must do."

If you have any interest in the mind of a gambler and like outrageous stories involving risk then I think you will enjoy this book.

Fast read on a fast pace of a fast life. Amusing and entertaining, and probably educational if you pay attention. The lessons aren't presented as such, but if you follow the pattern of his betting, you learn not to get sucked into a bad deal. Not going to win a Pulitzer, but a great light read if you like biographies, poker, Texas or characters. He makes Huck Finn look like an altar boy.

This book is really funny but it isn't going to teach you anything really about gambling and poker. He does give a few pointers, but it is basically the story of his life and what a story it was. It is a very easy book to read and enjoyable for anyone who likes gambling.

In a way it's fitting that the most entertaining poker book ever written contains total detail about the most dramatic game of poker ever played, by the greatest card man of the twentieth century. I'm talking about the truly legendary, Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston. His amazing book, Amarillo Slim In A World Full of Fat People, is for poker what the BBC's Top Gear is to motoring: funny, wicked, informative and entertaining. If Jeremy Clarkeson is reading this, that wipes out any future poker debts I might accrue!

In the early nineties, Slim was invited help launch the Casino de Caribe in Cartagena, Columbia by casino boss Lynn Simon. Amarillo was flattered to be asked at this late stage in his career only to discover that he would be playing some of the deepest untaxed pockets in the world:namely, the major drug lords of the Columbian cartels. Playing poker for the very highest stakes is nerve racking at the best of times: now just imagine that you're about to have a showdown with Pablo Escobar, probably the most feared cold-blooded killer on Earth. Turns out Pablo just wanted to be friends and show Slim his mansion, his zoo and that he was in charge of Columbia. Once this had been established, Escobar's helicopter dropped Amarillo back at the Caribe. The tall Texan then proceeded to financially disable some of the deadliest Cartel bosses, under protection from a Swiss style physical safety agreement, which they honoured under pain of death from Escobar. Apparently Pablo himself didn't fair well at poker against the card playing cowboy, leaving the Columbian poker challenge to come from his under bosses, who lost the equivalent of 'a week's supply' to the six foot four American.

By the third day the physical safety agreement broke down when one of the Cali Cartel bosses decided to shoot a disloyal girlfriend with a pump action shotgun about a yard from where Amarillo was standing. This should have been Slim's signal to catch the next jet home to Texas but he readily confesses to a liking for danger and besides, a quote from the man himself betrays another reason to stay: "I'd never seen men with more money and less brains than these drug lords." The cowboy stayed and rounded up a mountain of cash before high-tailing it back to cattle country.

In the lives of most card players, the above true story would stand out as the most remarkable of adventures, but trust me, to a man who had won a million dollars by the age of 19, played poker with two Presidents and driven a golf ball over a mile, it was just one of many.

Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People is a autobiography of Slim focusing (unsurprisingly) on his gambling exploits.

The upside of this book is that it's very entertaining & well written. For a lot of people, that may be more than enought it make it worth their time. The gambling yarns contained within are some of the most incredible I've seen in print, and I'm a fan of the genre.

Unfortunately, there are serious issues of Slim's honesty and integrity surrounding this book.

The first, and more minor, issue is that the book is largely assembled from Slim's previous "Play Poker To Win" and Holden's "Big Deal," often taken nearly word for word from those sources. Not only is this a bit of a raw deal for readers who already have those books, but I'm a little curious why Holden is credited and quoted for some of the sections he wrote, but others masquerade as Slim's voice. I hope nothing dirty is going on here plagiarism-wise, but I'm suspicious.

The second, more serious, issue, is that this is a self-flattering autobiography by a man of very questionable morals. There's no doubt, reading this book, that Slim thinks quite highly of himself. But his actions don't exactly support his opinion. He's a self admitted gambling cheat and liar. In fact, the allegations of cheating go far beyond what he admits to in the book - the depth of his association with Johnny Moss' dirty card rooms and and various mechanics on the Texas circuit was not discussed. Worse yet, there's good reason to believe that Slim is a pedophile. He was arrested on three charges of indecency with his 12-year old granddaughter in 2003, apparently confessed to police, and then plead guilty to reduced charges. His wife divorced him over the incident. Sources in the poker community say that Slim maintains his innocence and claims it was a scheme by a faction of his family to get a hold of his money, but that doesn't explain the confession.

Final Verdict: I WANT to like this book, but a good book glorifying a bad man looses a lot of its luster. In light of that I can't bring myself to like Slim, or his book, nearly as much as he likes himself.

Book On Bookies: An Inside Look At A Successful Sports Gambling OperationI really resented the time I spend reading this book, I could have caught up on some sleep, watched paint dry - useful stuff. This was without doubt the worst book on gambling and bookmaking I have ever read, I learned nothing, it was very out of date and if anyone laid a bet with this guy they were an idiot with the books he made up. If you are looking for an insight into how to be a bookie or how to beat them stay clear of this.

The first thing to make clear about this book is that it is meant to cover sports betting from the bookie's side, not the players, and is therefore very definitely NOT about how to make money betting sports. I have no idea what book the reviewers talking about how this made them better gamblers are talking about, unless they mean to say that they quit playing after reading it (a very reasonable course of action).

The second thing is that there are a few technical details on the lines that are inaccurate or out of date. Further, the idea of manually grading 150-200 customers, many of them playing multiple games and non-straight bets, is a joke in the year 2006. Doing this yourself is nuts, giving it to a clerk (who the author assumes will rob him blind given the chance) doesn't seem like an ideal option either.

Finally, the author in trying to come off clever or hip or wise or whatever his attitude is supposed to convey comes off instead as a 24-carat butt hole, with his utter and complete contempt for gamblers (his customers). Despite all admonitions to keep it professional and courteous in treatment of those making him money, his disgust and condescension drips off page after page, eventually becoming quite annoying.

If you are a gambler, the only point in reading this book is as a form of intervention. If you are a bookie, you learn little or nothing. If you are neither, it is an unusual glimpse into the mind of ONE bookie, anyhow. Not many books cover this subject from this angle.

"The Book on Bookies" is a manual on how to run a sports book in America. It must be noted that such an enterprise is illegal and carries various risk. The book constantly mentions large tax free income which adds tax evasion to your list of criminal activities.

My biggest gripe with the book is its deviation from factual and useful content. The "basics" chapter is riddled with glaring deficiencies - here are a few that I noted

(a) Book: there are no winning gamblers - truth: there are few winning gamblers, but the few winners can really hurt the bottom line
(b) Book: you cannot specify pitchers in baseball - truth: the standard way to book baseball is to offer listed pitchers
(c) Book: Dime line baseball is booked at -110 a side - truth: dime line baseball is booked at -105 a side
(d) Book: Soccer is booked without totals - truth: soccer is booked with totals, 2.5 being the most common number
(e) Book: Nascar is an easy money spinner - truth: Nascar is a sport where the lines are weak and the "wiseguys" can eat you alive
(f) Book: The "field" bet never wins in golf - truth: "No name" golfers are beginning to proliferate the winner's list at PGA and European golf tournaments

Aside from the factual inaccuracies, the book simply doesn't mention many of the important developments that have taken place in the bookmaking world. Important terms such as "beard", "middle" and "steam" are only mentioned in the glossary. Each term quite possibly deserves a chapter of its own. Finally, there is no mention of the ubiquitous "Don Best" screen, which governs the betting line from Vegas to the Caribbean. The way the author describes grading the wagers manually is almost comical.

The lack of professional writing skill is evident and the only thing that kept me reading to the end was the author's quirky sense of humour. My favourite line in the book is when he casually mentions "If you are going to be hiring someone to work with you in this business, you must...accept that at some time, he will probably steal from you". Although the author has a number of character flaws, this nonchalant attitude is something we could all use at times.

In summary I really cannot recommend this book to gamblers and especially not to anyone thinking of becoming a bookmaker!

People buy this book thinking that they will get great advice about how to become a bookie.

What kind of advice you get? None, unless you consider advice not to take the phone calls at your home, or how to fill a piece of paper with the information. It seems that this guy have not heard of spredsheets.

Anyway, the worst of all, is that he tells you basically that you should not worry because people only take favorites and you will make tons of money because underdogs are not taken into account by the bettor.

I agree that in certain sports like football there is a bias towards favorites, but if you take the data the underdog cover about 52% (or the favorite 48% ATS). This guy talks like 90% of the people bets on the favorite. But even if that it is the case, if the remaining 10% are wiseguys with a huge bankroll your days as a bookie will be counted.

By the way, unless you lived outside the US, his advice not only could make lose money but you could end up in jail!

Do not waste your money on this.

This book makes for fascinating reading, and as far as I know is the only book of its kind, thoroughly explaining how a sports book is set up and run. It's written in an interesting, story-telling style that will hold your attention. You don't have to be a sports junkie to read this book; if you've ever bet on a game or wondered how bookies get rich, check it out.

Both Phil Gordon's little "green & blue" books I've purchased and given as gifts. Myself and family members have benefited and improved as players after reading these. They are practical and easy to understand and implement. I highly recommend these as must read or additions to any level poker player from beginner to advanced players.

When learning something like poker I like my information straight foreword, not with a lot of embellishment. While studying each hand I had to remind myself what I was trying to learn that particular hand without being distracted by the anecdotes.

I'm sure many students will find this makes the learning more interesting but my goal when studying poker is to improve my game with the least amount of effort.

About a quarter of the way into this book I asked myself how would I be better served? Should I continue with Little Blue or would I get more out of re-reading books I had already studied like Harrington Vol I or Little Green.

About 5 problems into Harrington Vol I...there was my answer. Goodbye Little Blue.

Bottom line...maybe this is a great book but if your learning style is similar to mine...take a pass.

I bought this book after having read Phil Gordons Green Book on poker. Do not waste your money. While the Green Book has valuable information that WILL improve your game, the Blue Book is a bad sequel and provides very little useful information as it is only a diary of previous hands played by Phil in numerous situations. You will learn more from watching Poker After Dark and visually watching how hands are played out by professionals.

What really upset me about this book, was a hand that is described starting on page 73 and runs for 8 pages only to be told if you want to know the outcome of the hand to go to Phil Gordons website. I payed $22.00 for information in this book, not to be told to go to a website for the rest of the story.

Phil Gordon's three book set rivals Harringtons' as the best poker books on the market. This one in particular goes through several hands and strategies as well as warnings on getting trapped or lazy whilst playing.

The Black and Green books are also great, in fact the green book might even be better than this one, but they are both must haves for someone that wants to improve their game.

If you have basic poker knowledge (read the Phil Gordon's Green book) then this is a great follow-up. Even if you didn't read the Green book, you'll learn something reading this book. It's an easy read, entertaining, and has some good info. For a casual player who wants to get better but doesn't want to get too involved in poker theory, there's no beating Phil Gordon's Green and Blue book. For a serious player, it's still a good read if not a bit fluffy, like Phil Gordon himself. READ IT!

Not knowing much about Annie Duke, but being a big fan of biographies and Poker I couldn't resist picking this book up in a bargain bin. It was the hardcover and selling cheap, had to have it.

I got my money's worth. It was a nice distraction from the other book I am reading now. I like how she lays out her life story while describing her win in the Omaha 8-or better tourney she was in. The reading was smooth, the story interesting and I liked her poker insights, although fairly basic in nature, which is the way I believe she intended them since this is a biographical account of her rather then a poker study manual, they are timely reminders for the game.

I give the book barely 4 stars, simply because I was not bored reading it. Most books have areas that are snoozers or after 50 pages you ask yourself "What was that I just read?" Get this book if you want to read about the genesis of a great poker player that started out in life going where she was expected to go only find out that she was on the wrong road and then rather then doing a U-turn she drove off the road, cut through the forest or land and got on the right highway. This book was good and worth the discount price I paid. The EV was there for me. I'd recommend it from that percpective.

This is not one of the typical how-to hold'em books that have flooded the market. While there is a sizable amount of material focused on poker, it is not all hold'em either, it is really two great stories woven into one book.

The recounting of Annie's win of her WSOP bracelet in Omaha 8 is well told and interesting. There isn't too big a focus on hand-by-hand play. The tips she gives on this form of poker are great, too. This part of the book fueled my interest in expanding my poker prowess into this game.

The other story is Annie's bio. I was really intrigued to read about the roots she came from to the bracelet winning pro poker player she is today. And she includes the hard times in her life, too, which I found particularly poignant.

It is one of my favorite poker books, partly because it's not all poker, and one I'd recommend to anyone with a love of the game.

Fun and entertaining read. This book is not a "How to Win" manual. Rather as the title suggests, a story on how Annie won. Fast and Easy read.

When Annie Duke dies, what are people going to say about her? "She had a messed up family life and neglected her four children, but she played a pretty good game of poker." Big deal. She's wasting her life, and this book is proof.

And the book is flawed. She describes a hand where she has a king-high strait, but claims to have an ace-high straight. Even amateur poker players like me immediately noticed that error. It's simply unacceptable in a book like this. The equivalent would be Michael Jordan mentioning the NBA's 35-second shot clock in his biography, when in reality it's a 24-second clock. It's laughable. When a professional poker player can't get the rules straight, I have to seriously doubt her credibility. Don't waste your time with this unless you want to be bored and become confused with the rules of poker.

Have you ever tried to tell a story to a friend or acquaintance, some personal epic filled with twists and turns, comedy and drama, thrills and chills and all sorts of gut clenching climaxes only to be met with a blank expression and a vaguely rhetorical "I guess you just had to have been there?" That was my reaction to this book.

It's an interesting insight to gambling culture and one woman's take on it, but after a while the two threads of the book (chapters alternate between her autobiography and her experiences at the World Series of Poker) begin to feel schizophrenic. Her history begins to read more and more like a recitation of rote facts while her descriptions of the hands she played in Vegas become more bombastic, which makes for an awkward reading experience. One chapter is a description of how she met this guy and they hung out and he moved back west and then she married him and followed him and so on while the next is a breathless explanation of how exciting it was when the three of clubs came up!

Given that this book is essentially focussed on her experiences in poker, this dichotomy is perfectly understandable, but towards the end of the book I was worn out by the constant yo-yoing of the narrative that I was simply relieved to be done with it.

Lindgren's book is a refreshing departure from the majority of what you find in hold em literature these days. There's very little "thou shalt and shalt not" type of instruction. Instead you get to basically sit back and listen to a great, aggressive, small ball player share his thoughts on how the game should be played. We're not falling asleep in the classroom while the professor points at charts and graphs. It's almost like the book draws us into a conversation with one of the best hold em players alive.

I would rate it 5 stars, but just a little more actual strategy and specific moves in certain spots would have been nice. You do get the feeling that Lindgren is aware of how much information he is divulging, and is careful about not giving away every secret here. He is giving you a push in the right direction, but then expects you to find your way from there. The poker math section at the end is informative and well-written, but the list of WPT winners is highly unnecessary filler.

One word of caution: this style of play and the moves associated with it are completely lost on novice and/or bad players. If you play micro limit tournaments, or even in the first few levels of higher buy ins, do not attempt to play this way as you will most likely end up becoming the "donk" you were trying to outplay.

I will not recommend this book to anyone as it doesn't have much content in it. For serious players, I recommend Dan Harrington's books.

Erick takes you into different ways to play No Limit Tournament Poker. It is a great book for the advanced player as it shows different ways to take down pots. A must for the intermediate player who wants to take their game to the next level!

I have read many many books. I enjoy tournament play much more than any other form. THis book strictly focused on how to win tournaments. I have been making the money alot but just can't seem to take that 1st. I learned a lot of new techniques. This book is not for beginners. If your new to poker and are looking for basic strategy and poker odds this book won't help. You need a fairly indepth understand of poker before reading this book. Very good book would recommend for the tourny player. On a side note, would like to comment on all poker books. Most pro players tell you how you should play and the correct plays in certain situations. Yes all these concepts work great when your playing other pros and good players. Most of these concepts don't work for the good poker player playing low limit games such as anything under $100 tournies. Most of these player are new, or poor players. They dont understand pot odds and correct plays. So, while this book was good. I don't forsee it helping my play much. Since unfortunatly I can't afford to play the pro, high limit tournies.

Some people complain this book is a lot of fluff and not much substance. But I disagree. Where this book really shines is as a component in your knowledge of tournament tactics. Combine this with "kill Phil", and the three volumes by Dan Harrington, and what you have are the gears you need to win. You always hear about the need to shift gears in order to win a tournament. Well these three books are definitely first second and third.
Harrington on holdem gives a rock solid foundation, Phil's book takes that up a notch and exploits the slightest advantage of each hand. His tactics will win hands that otherwise would most likely lose at the river or be folded preflop. "Kill Phil" is the book that explains the only defense against people like phil. So by reading all three you get a great understanding of just exactly what is going on at the table on any given hand.
Also, I think anyone who keeps making the money but never wins can benefit by having read this material. It reiterates over and over the strategy and necessity to win, not just survive. Distinguishing between the two is subtle yet monumental.

The author of this book, Matt Lessinger, is in the same class as Lou Krieger (who praises the author in a blurb on the back cover) and Mike Caro, who wrote the foreword. Which is to say, he's a poker *writer* first, and a poker *player* second. So Lessinger makes a lot of ordinary poker moves sound like they're great. Example from the end of the book: Bobby Baldwin versus Crandall Addington at the 1997 WSOP main event. Baldwin pushes all-in with a 10-high on the turn and gets Addington to fold ... 8-high. Of course this happens all the time in NLHE, when someone thinks he is bravely bluffing with nothing, and his opponent makes a "great laydown" ... with an even lower nothing!

But this sort of overselling of unextraordinary moves is a specialty of the "writer first, player second" type of advice you can expect from poker journalists like Lessinger and Krieger and Caro. You can see this coming, though, since the book starts off with the "bluff of the century" by that one-hit wonder, Chris Moneymaker. Thank heavens this book was published in 2005 before we could be regaled with the "brilliant moves" of the 2006 WSOP winner, Jamie Gold.

There are some interesting ideas in the book, as we might expect. When you first sit at a table in Hold'Em, you are required to post the amount of the big blind. Lessinger suggests you do this when the button is to your immediate left, and recommends you then raise to steal the 2.5 bets in the pot if the action folds around to you. I confess I had not thought of this before, since this can only occur once per session.

Most of the book concerns Limit Hold'Em, although many of the examples can be adjusted for No Limit Hold'Em if you give some thought to appropriate bet-sizing. But there are many No Limit examples, too. There were a few non-Hold'Em examples from which perhaps a thing or two could be learned, but I generally skimmed those examples.

I would not recommend this book to any expert players, nor would I recommend it to beginners, either. It is for intermediate players who won't mind the low price of the book and feel that learning a couple of new things from any inexpensive source to be worthwhile. Some of the advice is contradictory, and the attitude overall is that bluffing is much easier than it really is, but for those for whom bluffing is not in their arsenal yet, perhaps this book will encourage them to experiment and learn.

Two better books on "making moves" in NLHE are: Harrington on Hold'Em Volume Two and the Little Blue Book by Phil Gordon.

I enjoy reading it, and it helped me a lot. Now I can do more bluffs than ever!

Just tells about a lot of bluffs using examples from actual hands. Problem is I have seen the same situations where it didnt work.

I HAVE NOT FINISHED BUT I WILL. SO FAR IT IS HELPING I CAN SEE THAT IT WILL IMPROVE MY GAME.

YOU MUST READ THESE BOOKS MORE THAN 1 TIME 2 GRASP ALL OF THE CONTENTS


KINGAR1

This book still has not been shipped to me. Thanks for the opportunity to tell folks how pitiful you are. I ordered it several months ago. I think you are supposed to ship it in another month. It is available now at many other places.

Great from basic rules to detailed strategy...will be a resource that you will circle back to over time

This is a fantastic learning tool for vocabulary, odds, percentages, setting the dice, gripping the dice, throwing the dice and betting strategies.

The insular world of "dice control" is divided into several bitterly opposed camps. Who knows what they disagree with each other about, but believe me, you don't want to get into the middle of it. This offering by the "Sharpshooter" comes from the Scoblete camp. I enjoyed the book. I found it to be a good overall introduction to dice-setting and so-called rhythmic rolling. Recommended.

This book is alright and teaches what you want to know but I recommend "Golden Touch Dice Control" over this one. They basically talk about all the same information except this book goes into more detail about math formulas which I really don't care about, I just want to learn how to throw the dice.

Also I don't recommend getting both books, pick one or the other as they contain basically identical information.

Just one is written by the best out there and this one is written by the guy that proved it all. I thought I'd prefer this book over the other one for that reason but in the end I liked Golden Touch better.

The book is just bragging about his ability and trying to convince you to take the seminar to actually learn "the secrets". Don't waste your money.