Gambling Books

I picked up this book on a whim at my favorite book store's bargain table for only a few dollars....and it was a first edition. I read the book very quickly. It was entertaining in all aspects. He does a good job in describing what is going through his mind during the tournament but it is not a how-to play poker book (fortunately). However, you can pick up some good tips.

He also describes his life prior to making his name known in the world of poker and I found this to be the most interesting. He always had some type of bets going with his neighborhood friends, he had some hard knocks in sport betting and spells it all out clearly. It's a fun book that is truly rags to riches.

What would you do immediately after winning millions? Ha Ha, he did exactly what I would've done.

So many people think this guy just got lucky. Don't get me wrong, luck plays a major role in winning a poker tournament. All the luck in the world won't help however if you don't have your head in the game and know what your doing. Chris tells a very captivating tale about how he grew up a gambler, turned to online poker as an outlet after he got married, and then earned a shot at 2.5 million dollars and took down the biggest poker tournament in the world. I picked up the book and honestly read it from cover to cover before putting it down. FYI this is not a biography. It's simply the story of his huge win, with enough previous life story included so you understand what brought him there. Hell I'd like to buy him a beer for not holding back. It was a great story told without the spin the ESPN analysts put on it. Well done Chris!

This book can be hilarious at times. By the way, this is not a poker book. It's not supposed to be a poker book. This is an autobiography. You will not learn any strategy. Think of it as entertainment. I must say that the ending can be a bit sad. As previous reviewers say, " a rocky story". Another said, "a cautionary tale." But a great book!

Forget any kind of tactical information or instruction as far as playing any kind of poker, that's not at all what this book is.

There's a lot of folks big on calling Moneymaker a "fluke", and that may be about right. The 2003 World Series was his first live tournament & so on. I'll go along with that, and so would he. Not the point.

There a hidden value to this book! It's a detailed perspective of this guy's mindset as he plays. An amateur's thought process is different from a top pro's, right? Nice to get a different perspective now and then - especially since THIS is much more likely to be the type of opponent many of us play against.

While I've read a number of books by some top pros like Doyle, Annie Duke, Harrington and gotten their perspectives on the game, I won't be playing any of them any time soon. I'll be playing guys like Moneymaker.

That's pretty much why I gave it four stars. It's just information. The way he evaluated some of his reads during the tournament, some of the mistakes he made (and there's quite a few), these were all things that I found interesting and helpful. What kind of risks will he take, or NOT take?

Will my opponents have similar traits? Sometimes.

In one case he flops trip sevens, with 7-7 in the hole. There's a rainbow flop like J 7 4, it's late in the tournament, and instead of trying to figure out how to get all his money in to the pot, he's actually worried about the guy holding JJ!

I won't tell you what happens, but for those of you newer to the game, you DEFINATELY try to get all your chips in the pot with your opponent, ESPECIALLY in this situation! If the guy has JJ, well, it just wasn't your day and you'll just have to pay him off. Yet, Moneymaker actually seems confused here.

**About the reviewer "DS" (down a few reviews). I remember this same guy gave Caro's Book of Tells -proabably one of the 6 or 7 most essential poker books in the history of all poker- a one- star rating in another review. By his comments, he didn't even READ this book.

Besides, how far can you trust a book review written by a guy who seems to have trouble spelling and constructing proper sentences? **

+++++

"The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt by those with an academic bent."

This is an actual quotation (by a famous poker player) found in this fascinating, well-written, and often humorous book by Chris Moneymaker. Yes! That's his real name. (Daniel Paisner, an author, also helped with the writing.) This book definitely proves the above quote and effectively conveys how Moneymaker "turned $40 into $2.5 million at the [2003] world series of poker."

This is not a strategy book. However, the reader will pick up a few tips as Moneymaker recounts the days that led up to him winning the 2003 world series of poker. Day one (there are five days altogether) of his incredible journey to become a poker champion is interweaved with biographical details of his life.

Moneymaker was not, as the book's subtitle states, an "amateur poker player" or, in fact, was not an amateur gambler. He was, however, an amateur poker tournament player.

Starting with day two, there are "chip leaders" lists for each day. The tournament that Moneymaker was involved in (which he ultimately won) had a total prize pool of $7,802,700.

There are appendices at the end of the book each of which is called a "crib sheet." People not familiar with poker will find them invaluable especially the ones entitled "A short course in Texas Hold'em (this was the type of poker game that the tournament Moneymaker was involved in played) and "A glossary of poker terms."

Finally, my only minor complaint is the glossary (that's indicated above) does not contain a couple of basic poker terms.

In conclusion, this book recounts how an amateur poker player named Chris Moneymaker turned $40 into $2.5 million at the world series of poker. I will leave you with another quotation by a famous poker player that is in this book:

"Poker is a lot like sex. Everyone thinks they're the best, but most people don't know what they're doing."

(first published 2005; 9 chapters; afterword; main narrative 225 pages; 5 appendices)

+++++

After spending much money on other roulette systems, and countless hours trying to figure out how to win this game, I go to the bookstore and pay $15 for this masterpiece. $15...that is all it takes for me to beat the game of roulette. Isn't that ironic? I have achieved about a 14% player advantage over the house at the game of american roulette.
This is by far the best book I have ever read on the subject. It is also the only system that I've ever tried that actually works in the long run. I read through this book 3 times and applied my own betting scheme to the main system discussed in this book. The author says it yields a player advantage of 7.94% (on the back cover). He was not joking. I am averaging $85 per hour with this system. And that's just with $5 chips. If $25 chips are used, it will blow your mind!
The hardest part was coming up with my own betting scheme. The author gives some examples in the book and then he lets you decide which one is best for you. The other hard part is patience. He states that most gamblers (including the people who left one-star reviews for this book) will not have enough patience to beat roulette or any other game for that matter. This is because casinos are designed to make you get greedy, and blow your savings account like there's no tomorrow. But, if you are in that tiny percentage of patient people in this world, you might have a chance using this system. You also have to really enjoy the game of roulette.
I recommend this book to the serious player and also to the part-time roulette enthusiast. You can even use the system for fun if you are not a serious player. Using a progression, you have the potential to dominate the tables. With no progression at all, the worst you can do is break even in the long run. That's a whole lot better than blowing your load.

I bought this book because it was the first book I have seen that DID NOT promote a SYSTEM to beat the tables. I have used the techniques in the book and was using them even before I bought it. The techniques work - not all the time because NOTHING ever does - but they do work. Read this book and learn about what really happens at a roulette table and what you should be looking for. I think this book has a ton of knowledge to offer. If you are looking for a "system", please, give it up. Find books and teachers that offer knowledge and techniques to win - systems never do. Remember - everybody has a system but noboby is rich - interesting - hmmm.

This book had some legitimate advice for roulette. I would recommend it.

I would also recommend

beawinner dot bravehost dot com

Excellent advice for roulette

NOTICE THAT THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE BOOK ON ROULETTE ON AMAZON.COM AS OF THIS EDITING OF MY REVIEW, (30TH August, 2008). There are thosands of books on roulette, and many, many of these are on Amazon.com. Why is this book Number 1? It's easy to read...and it gives methods that WORK!
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.........ROULETTE...$$$$$.....ROULETTE.....$$$$$.....ROULETTE.........
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Yes....or rather, no. This book will NOT teach you the ultimate system to win at roulette. Perhaps no book or other method will. Howewver, THIS BOOK DID GIVE ME SOME METHODS I HAD NVER HEARD OF BEFORE, (ONE IN PARTICULAR, THE 'SESAME STREET/GROUND COFFEE' METHOD), WHICH HAVE NADE NE MORE MONEY, ON A CONSISTENT BASIS, THAN ANY OTHER ROULETTE METHODS I HAVE FOUND ELSEWHERE. ONE DOES HAVE TO MASTER THE SOMETIMES DIFFICULT IDEA OF 'STOPPING WHILST ONE IS AHEAD'....ALWAYS GOOD ADVICE, ESPECIALLY IN GAMBLING. So, this book WON'T make you a multi-millionaire(ess)....but you can use the ideas presented TO WIN A BIT MORE THAN MOST PLAYERS DO....AND NOT JUST ONE TIME, BUT WITH ABOUT 80% CONSISTANCY.....I F...YOU STOP WHILST YOU ARE AHEAD! (In my own experience, at lest, anyway). i also found Mr. Ellison's book aninteresting read....with some very good advice, and also some
delightful humour! (Humour...see the advice he gives if outer-space aliens suddenly invade the casino you are playing at...whether it be an on-land casino, or one that is on-line!
(Chuckle : )

I am not that good at following other people's instructions,
unless they are very good, natural-born teachers. So, sadly,
Mr. Ellison's 4-point method was lost on me, though I tried
hard to understande it. However, he does mention three "quad"
bets to use together, They are illustrated...so even I could follow this! I did win a bit when I played these three together....so Mr. Elison DOES have something there!

There is a method in this book which I will call "The Sesame
Street Method", so as not to give it away. (The name of this method contains the name of one of the 'Sesame Street' Muppets!) And you'll recognize it, once you see it in the book. It could also be called "The GROUND Coffee-Drinker's Method"....(the emphasis on the word "GRIND" is another clue
as to its real name. (Buy the book! You'll recognize this method's real name almost instantly! THIS METHOD...AND/OR MY OWN VARIATIONS OF IT....HAVE MADE ME MORE MONEY, CONSISANTLY, IN ROULETTE THAN ANY OTHER METHOD, OVER TIME! READ ABOUT IT AND TRY IT!!!!!!! : ) Mr. Ellison did NOT invent this particular method....but it is the first time I have seen it
described -- obviously it is not as well known as the Martingale or the D'Lambert methods, (also covered in this book, as are all the other basics)....but it works MUCH better
than either of these well-known methods, and I am grateful to
Mr. Ellison for putting it in his book. With surprising modesty, (all the more so, because he has his own "quad" method to discuss in this book), Mr. Ellison calls this "Sesame-Street
Coffee" method, (by another name, of course) 'the only method that will really work." (!) This is NOT a method that Mr. Ellison has invented....but he does discuss it, though very few other books do, and I'm very, very happy that Mr. Ellison has made mention of it. Because I've now tried it -- and yes, it does work....eventually...MOST of the time. JOHN GOLLEHON, another favourite gambling author of mine, said it best, (to paraphrase): to really gamble well, do it JUST ONCE. Then take your profits, (no matter how small), and DON'T GAMBLE EVER AGAIN! Great advice, but, of course, no one follows it,
(myself included). For Human Greed is a great ally of all casino owners!

In sum, this book offers explainations of several other systems, besides the author's own original one. The aforesaid,
"Sesame-Street, Coffee-Lover's" method is, by any name, a pretty good system, all things considered. Mr. Ellison's own "quad" system certainly bears looking into as well. All in all, a very well-written, informative and witty book. Reading it, one can tell Mr. Elison takes the game of roulette seriously...but does not spend all of his time gambling. He plays, but is not overly greedy. A good example to players of roulette, and all other, casino games!

This book and Ellison's magic "system" is not based on any scientific explanation. Author himself doesn't know how his own system works but he saw it working !! If you buy this book, you start losing money on it even before you start playing the roulette !

This is a pretty good book.

Aside from the Evelyn Ng chapter, this is really more of an intermediate to advanced book. For people just starting to play no limit tournaments, though, her chapter is very good, and does present a system that will neutralize some of the trickier players at your table...

For people who have played some, there is some great stuff in here, though.... Paul Wasicka has a real nice chapter on 6-handed no limit hold-em on the internet, lots of good insights there... David Williams has a nice chapter on mixing up your play...

Daniel Negreanu has a long chapter about his "small ball" theory of poker... While I don't agree with all of it, it offers some great insights into the mind of the small-ball player, and he does have one of the best breakdowns of play on the turn and river that I have read...

A real good investment in your poker library.

They use Daniels name to sell the book as hey only writes one chapter but it's very good. They give a lot of examples and the illustrations are very good. I suggest it anyone at any level!

Daniel's books are good reading and easy to understand. His style in book writing is as good as his style in playing poker.....winning results!

This book gives you a different view on how to play no limit poker. Have been trying these different strategy's and they are working very well! I have made the final table six times in a row. What the book is saying so far has worked excellent!!
Mike

I am going to say essentially what everyone else on here has been saying... If you buy this book, know that you can use the chapters not written by Negreanu as toilet paper or kindling for your fireplace. What you are buying this book for is Negreanu's explanation of "small ball" NL tournament poker. I noticed from reading the other reviews that everyone else is similarly interested in small ball, and have found this strategy to be quite effective. I also noticed that one guy on here seems to think Daniel is advocating a "weak, passive" approach to playing poker. This is far, far from the truth. Either he didn't read the book well enough, or is just not intelligent enough to get what Daniel was trying to communicate. Here are some basic ideas behind the small-ball philosophy:

1) Keep the pots small, pre-flop. You don't want to put a lot of your chips at risk before you even see the flop. Your aces may get busted by deuces post-flop, and you'll be pot committed after a few big bets. Not good. Instead, you wait to see the flop, then evaluate the situation based on what your opponent is doing. By keeping the pots small, you will pick up more pots that people don't really care about after the flop and not risk getting drawn out on by some crazy donk.

2) Play lots of hands that have big post-flop potential. That means opening up your starting hand selection by a large amount. This has been a big adjustment for me, but by doing so I have learned a lot about how to play poker in general. I have won a lot of big pots in tournaments and deep-stacked cash games by calling raises with mediocre hands that turn into monsters post-flop. Daniel expounds on which hands to call with under which set of circumstances.

3) Don't let your opponents get a good read on you. By playing your big hands the same as you do your weak hands, it makes it very hard for your opponents to know what you are playing with. It forces players into a guessing game, and if you are fairly decent at reading other people's hands, you can make some really good plays.

4) Playing the texture of the board. A good amount of Daniel's small ball approach deals with making decisions based on the texture of the board. This is something that is key to any poker player's success, I think. You don't always have to have the best hand to end up with the chips.

Those are some main aspects to playing small ball that Negreanu pays a great deal of attention to. What I've noticed for myself and other players is that the people who consistently do well in poker tournaments rely on more than luck and aggression. They rely on skill and discipline. I think this book will help you in both areas, if you aren't a small ball player already.

When I read this book, I laughed and learned - what more could you ask for?

When students struggle with other stats books, I recommend this one and they have all been grateful!

This is an excellent resource to have. The tips are clear and easy to understand and the author's writing style makes it enjoyable to read. I am currently taking taking courses taught by Bruce Frey. He is an excellent teacher and his book is just as good. I am a PhD student and I love the book!

It's not very easy to use the words "entertaining" and "statistics" in the same sentence, but you can if you're talking about this book. Bruce Frey's collection of tips and tools makes the subject interesting, fun-- even funny-- and most importantly, approachable.

It's important to understand that this book is not intended to be a statistics textbook, review, or reference manual. Rather, it is a collection of bite-sized hacks that relate statistical principles to the "real" world. Every hack is illustrated with some example, including many relating to gambling, games, and bar bets. Which properties should you buy in Monopoly? The answer is here, along with an explanation. How many people have to be in a room with you before you can be pretty sure that at least one of them shares your birthday? That's here, too, along with the explanation. Is there a way to predict the winner of a baseball game by listening to about twenty minutes of the middle of it? Yep.

If you're looking for an authoritative, comprehensive, serious statistics text, keep shopping. If you're looking for a light but nonetheless very useful explanation/review of how and why statistics work in a real-world context, buy this book.

I'm glad I bought it, and I'd do it again. I got more than enough entertainment and utility out of it to justify the expense.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a while, certainly the funniest non-fiction book I've read in a long while.

And in 20 minutes of reading it over lunch, it explained more to me about basic statistics terminology than I got in the whole semester of statistics I took at Berkeley a couple of decades ago.

I disagree with the reviewer who said the first 100 pages would make your eyes glaze over. For years I've been wondering what people really mean by stuff like "standard deviation" and at last, here is an explanation in plain English. Anyhow, as the author says in the book, you do NOT need to start with the first 100 pages. Just dip in wherever you like -- these are independent hacks.

To be quite honest, I haven't even gotten to the main hacks yet, but I already feel like I got my money's worth. For the math-geek and absurdist humor alone. But just wait till I get through the Texas Hold-Em chapter by next poker night ...

75 four-page sections on topics in statistics and probability, some textbook and some "popular science" and some nicely different. Brisk user-friendly style. Provides a useful view of a big picture of statistics for someone who's taken a dull statistics course in college. But this potentially great book is spoiled by too many misleading statements (almost everything we measure in the natural world [follows] the normal curve (#25); the more instances you can get [in a multiple regression analysis] the more accurate your eventual predictions will be (#55)). Wikipedia entries on the topics will probably be better written and more accurate.

This is one of the best nonfiction historical books I have ever read. Jeff Benedict is able to convey to the reader the most important details regarding the birth of Foxwoods in a manner which holds the reader's attention as if you were reading a murder mystery. The role of the federal government in creating this multibillion dollar industry is clearly spelled out and incredibly well documented. Kudos to Jeff Benedict for his outstanding research and thorough investigation of the Pequots.

Yeah ..this is unfortunate that book sells so well with such a writing!! And the topic.. and so-called investigation>>> Please.. the author would not even filed his interviews! This is no investigation to me... this is populism.. that is all!!!!

I am not American , and not native american, so I guess I am neutral!
Do NOT Give this author any more money.. rather read real academic research about native casinos: such AS "INDIAN gAMING : WHO WINS" edited by Mullis and Kamper or the Eadington book about Indian Gaming and the Law!!

I hope that as readers of this book people might venture into doing research on of their own before taking the word of a man that was trying to get "funded" by a White Casino Owner in an area close enough to be affected by Fox Wood, and was trying to run for Governor?

I read this book on the suggestion of a friend. It definately is a pager turner and I couldn't put it down until I finished.

As an enrolled member of a 'casino' tribe I see why such a book would be written about a tribe rising to power through gaming. Afterall, Indians are not entitled to this type of wealth. We're supposed to reside on our little enclaves of land and be alcoholics and live close to nature and I ask why can't Indians have wealth? We didn't make the laws and neither did the Pequots. The Pequots just used the laws to their advantage and made it big. Why shouldn't the Pequots be entitled to justices of the land?

However, I can see the otherside of the fence as well. At what costs did this wealth and power come to a tribe that is suspicious of being a true Indian tribe? I'm not naive. It was all done for good purposes in the beginning, but once instant wealth came their way, all sense of what makes a tribe a tribe was lost to the bigger financial picture. The first thing that is cut when an audit happens is to cut the museum budget. The one thing that can disproove the skepticism of them being a real tribe is cut so that members can keep their pockets lined. No sense of community is in the hearts of this tribe because they'd be looking out for the welfare of the future generations.

But when reading this book, if you choose to, is to attempt to put all biases aside and see what this book (and the others written on the same topic) show...that this book does an incredible job of describing the legal and political forces in opposition to each other that led to the creation, and then to the interpretation and application of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. No other book has done a better job of illustrating the distinction between federal Indian law on the books and federal Indian law in practice than this one. It's a fascinating blueprint for how Indian tribes can leverage law, policy, and politics--if they are shrewd--to achieve an almost unimagineable degree of contemporary political and material power. The brilliance of the Pequots is that they figured out how to use white law and institutions to their particular advantage, and this book describes just how they did it. It is fascinating!! But also to Indian tribes reading this book, let this be a lesson in what NOT to do when instant wealth comes one's way.

Evidently the Pequots didn't speak with this guy. I can see why. The book is really tendentious. I'd suggest instead "Hitting The Jackpot" by a former Washington Post reporter. I heard about it in the local newspaper and it's very good. Much more informed and balanced and powerful. Whichever book you like, get educated on this!

Brad Free's Handicapping 101 was the first book I read when I started to become involved in horse racing. This is a perfect guide for beginners and is probably the best book to get started with. Advanced players also could gain from scrubbing up on the basics, but for the most part, the advanced player will already be familiar with a majority of the ideas/topics in this book.

As an entry-level/novice handicapper wanting to learn everything I can, a friend of mine suggested Handicapping 101 as the opening read. He couldn't have been more on target.

In reality, the title almost doesn't do the text justice, for it's far more than the "101"-level information you'd expect. While the four main areas of handicapping may be the starting points, they are explained in fine detail without sounding as if you are listening to a lecture or reading a thesis. Free mixes in just enough from his personal handicapping experiences (both successful and not) to add flavor to the text and to bring the information presented to life.

This book alone will not make you into a professional horseplayer, and you shouldn't read it with that intent. But if you are like me and trying to learn, with an eye toward taking handicapping very seriously down the road - this is a must-read. What this book will do is:

A) Enlighten you as to what you have been doing wrong when you were at the track "for fun." (read: not leaving with any money and calling the money you lost the "cost of entertainment)

B) Give you enough information in an enjoyable text that will be much more knowledge than many others bring to the track on race day (as in, all those folks who in category A.)

Absolutely worth it.

Handicapping 101. Is the best book for understanding what to look for in handicapping.

I used to be a recreational player. I would go Santa Anita once a year and spend anywhere from 20.00 to 100.00 dollars. I never won, except for an occasional place bet. I never understood the game to be honest with you, but it was purely enjoyable entertainment. I saw Brad Free's book advertised in the program, and ended up buying the book. I bought the book with the intentions of learning the bare basics of handicapping and to know how to read the charts in the paper.

Well I got a lot more than that! As I was reading the book I wanted to try some of the things I learned and would go to the track often. Brad Free covers every aspect of handicapping. This is a book that is in your library and that you refer to often.

The chapter "The Wagering Menu" was very enjoyable. I used his method on the Superfecta at Hollywood Park, and won 796.30. It was a great feeling. However I thought his Pick-4 techniques were confusing.

I would have liked it better if there was an index. I hate thumbing through the book to find something in particular. Also a glossary would have been helpful, because sometimes I didn't have a clue what he was talking about with all the jargon, slang, and lingo that are used by horseplayers.

This is a must-have book on horseracing handicapping. Don't be fooled by its title into thinking this book is only for beginnners - in fact it should become a handicapping classic. Over the last eight years, I have read many horseracing handicapping books - some good, some bad, but this is my clear favorite. Well-written, easy to understand, and it explains very well the four main handicapping factors - condition/form, class, overall speed, and pace. And, it provides guidelines on how these four factors are applied at the various class levels. The first time I applied the author's guidelines to a maiden claiming race I hit a 28-1 winner. From my experience, I am firmly convinced that successful horseracing handicapping long-term can not be achieved by a computer program or a mathematical method/system. But, you can achieve a positive ROI long-term by applying the handicapping guidelines set forth in this book and making value bets, not just betting on the likely winner in every race. Buy this book - it will pay for itself many times over - it sure has for me.

This is one of the worst Hold'em books that I have purchased and read in the last few years. I would NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE. A total waste of money. Save your money and reading time and invest in another poker book.

This book has really opened my mind about the secrets to true poker play. I now understand how players like Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen or Doyle Brunson can play hands like ten two and still be living legends of poker. This book explained it all! Their opponents are tight and just don't know how to play against an opponent who knows how to play more than aces. I've been making a killing playing online with what most of the rocks call 'trash hands'. If T2 is good enough for the Texas Dolly, it's good enough for me. The rocks have been paying me off left and right, and I'm earning more than I ever have!

This book is a must have if you play online - limit or no limit. This book will revolutionize poker. Sorry Sklansky, your time is up. We've seen the pro's play, and now we know how and why they can play like they do!

This 'book' consists of just 90 pages of very sparse text and many rather pointless tables. It barely qualifies as a book and is very cheaply printed and bound.

In fact, the brevity is the best thing about The 20-40-50 Way. The writing style is so poor that you'll be glad you've got so little to plough through. Here's a couple of examples of the style and standard of grammar:
"Also, their play is very stereotype, hardly ever bluffs; they are very good to bluff on."
"That is absolutely a great waste of money."
"Raising in the blind is two-fold."
"Raising on third to sixth seat should be a no no except once again as a diversion, or have a large pair."
"This system is not devise to make a living with..."
"Going to Las Vegas many times is where I was introduced to Hold'um Poker (sic)."

As to the content, this could have been summed up in half a page. The author's great insight is that, in a loose game, the multi-way pots may provide sufficient pot-odds to justify playing some marginal hands (such as small suited connectors). That really is about it. We do get some priceless bits of advice such as:
"...add your wins and total the amount of wins. Now divide that by the number of hours you played and you will have hands won per hour."
I would never have thought of that!
The authors central claim is that by playing 20 flops per hour you will win 4 large pots per hour and make a good profit. He doesn't provide a shred of tangible evidence (like stats from real play) to support this but makes it the basis for a series of fanciful calculations of likely income.

It may well be that the author is a competent and experienced poker player. Unfortunately, like so many of them, he has no idea of how to express his system of play in writing. This effort is really far below publishable quality and I'm surprised it's made it into print.

If you want a coherent explanation of anything to do with Poker, read Skalansky.

This book is total nonsense. Yes, folding a lot of hands at the beginning is boring. The reason all the top players and good books advise you do so is because it's correct, if your goal is winning money. This is especially important for relatively new players to understand.

This book is not just useless to help you improve - it is misleading and likely even harmful for most players. Stick with the concensus best books on the topic: "Hold'em Poker" by David Sklansky, "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones, and the new "Small Stakes Hold'em Poker" by Miller, Sklansky, and Malmuth.

Or just buy this book, play your garbage hands with confidence, and watch your bankroll shrink.

I'd like to urge every poker player in America to read this book. Commit it memory. Practice its principles relentlessly.

Then come sit at my table and demonstrate your new-found skills. We'll have a lot of fun. Well, I will, anyway.

In "Blackjack Autumn," well-known horse race handicapper, Barry Meadows, recounts his adventures on a tour of Nevada casinos playing Blackjack. This book is a very enjoyable "read," and the author reveals himself as an excellent writer with a great sense of humour. I'd recommend it to anyone... especially someone heading for a casino, but by no means limited to "gambler types."
K. Steele

Blackjack Autumn covered some interesting stories of the ups and downs of blackjack, I play alot of blackjack and know the highs and lows. Barry kind of over kills the cliches though. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy blackjack stories but may not appeal to the casual reader.

This guy is pretty funny. As other's have mentioned, he really overdoes the metaphors, and it gets tiresome. "As (blank) as" is written probably a hundred times in this book. Or, in the writer's parlance, "the author uses this same joke form about as often as guppies ovulate." Or, "the author pulls out this joke form faster than than Pee Wee Herman would go down boxing Mike Tyson." When he's not using those lines though, he can be LOL funny. And of course, for any blackjack player, stories like his are pretty much irresistable. If you have ever fantasized about making money as a card counter, buy it.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. However, the author's attempts at making witty jokes throughout the novel really grow old. There's a couple on every page, and they're not good. Even the stories he had to write weren't exactly gripping.

I much prefer the dated "Ken Uston on Blackjack" if you want to read about high-stakes, professional Blackjack play.

I loved this book. It isn't the one to read if you want to learn to count cards at blackjack, but really gives a wonderful description of what casinos are like. Barry Meadows isn't Paul Theroux, but he is a lot funnier and sounds like a much nicer guy. Anyone who loves visiting Nevada will love this one. If you haven't visited Nevada, you will want to after you read this book.

This book is the bible for deep stack cash game play. Highly recommended to anyone who plays cash games.

How many worthless poker books can 2+2 sell to the mob? This book covers no new ground. Everything written is super simple, common sense, beyond obvious, elementary. The hand examples are ridiculous. It's like they are teaching kindergarteners. What is written in this book is BEYOND OBVIOUS.
Waste of money.

you need to play the game these books are boring unless they are telling great stories about hands they have been in. Instead the writers try to act like their some great scientific theories the writers can pass on to you and its bull.
you can buy this book from me for half price!!! there now you won some money already.
buddy

This is a must read for any non- or only marginally winning player. While it is true that much of what he discusses is available elsewhere (with several hundred "how to play hold-em" books available, how could it be otherwise?), Harrington's style and use of detailed hand descriptions, explaining the thought process required to read your opponents hand, makes it one of the most useful guides out there.

It is true that these books are not as easily applicable to play as his wonderful tournament books. I believe this is due to the greater complexity of the live games. Much of the action in a tournament is effectively forced by the increasing blinds and relative stack sizes. In the cash game, especially the deep stack cash games, that forcing factor is greatly reduced. The greater variety in the variables to indicate a "correct" play would challenge any writer. I think Harrington's book (especially Volume II) is the best one out there.

This book along with the first volume are the only books that I found to give in-depth coverage aimed specifically at NLHE Cash Games. The biggest thing going for the books is that they're thorough. Around 800 pages of strategy, quizzes, examples, and some light mathematical explanations. Thankfully, not a page wasted on teaching you how to play. Even the English is quite good! (Most poker books are near unreadable.) I reread this before every game to tighten up and remind me to be aggressive and I've certainly improved. I actually ENJOY reading it, too.

The only downside might be that the examples seem sometimes inconsistent, such as recommending a raise 80% of the time in one situation and 70% in another where it seems the recommendations should be reversed, though who am I to judge? Harrington's playing style is very tight and very loose players might find too few recommendations on how to act in situations with poor hands.

Neither of the above gripes is enough to knock these books down from a 5-star review. In short, you'll enjoy reading this book and play better afterward. Definitely get the first volume, too.

I purchased this book to gain some knowledge for Double Double Bonus Poker, and I was really disappointed. So what if DDB Poker only has an EV of 98.981%? I like the thrill and excitement of the game.
Paymar, like so many others could care less about DDB Poker, and the book is written as if you were in a PHD math class. What a disappointment for a DDB Poker player!

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK FOR THE BEGINNING VIDEO POKER PLAYERS AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ARE AT MORE ADVANCED LEVELS. THERE ARE LOTS OF GOOD INSIGHTS INTO SUCCESSFUL PLAY AT A LARGE VARIETY OF VIDEO POKER GAMES. HOWEVER MR GROCHOWSKI DOES NOT GET INTO SUFFICIENT DETAIL TO ANSWER SOME OF THE ADVANCED DECISIONS THAT MUST BE MADE BY ALL VIDEO POKER PLAYERS. FOR EXAMPLE AT FULL PAY DEUCES WILD WHAT IS THE BEST STRATEGY (BASED UPON EXPECTED VALUES) IF ONE IS DEALT THREE DEUCES WITH TWO 3'S?, TWO 8'S?, TWO 10'S?. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE BEST STRATEGY IS TO KEEP THE FIVE OF A KIND UNLESS IT IS FIVE 3'S THROUGH 9'S? MR GROCHOWSKI DOES A GOOD JOB OF CRUNCHING THE PROBABILITIES AND PRESENTING EXPECTED RETURNS ON DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS, BUT IT MIGHT BE EASIER TO REMEMBER IF THERE WAS A CHART THAT ONE COULD TAKE WITH TO HELP WITH THE DECISION MAKING AT THE MACHINE. HE DOES PROVIDE A WRITTEN LIST RANKING THE HANDS WHICH HAS TO SUFFICE. ALL IN ALL THIS IS A WORTHWHILE BOOK FOR THE MONEY.

Of all the video poker books I have read and reviewed in my gaming columns, John's book ranks right up there as one of the best. Whether you are a novice player or have some experience playing video poker, you will become a much better player after reading his book. John's Q&A format also makes it easy for the reader to grasp key points and his recommended strategies & explanations on how the machines work are right on the money. Trust me - you will not be disappointed. Highly recommended for players who want to learn how to play & more importantly how to improve your chances of winning. Henry Tamburin....

I have very little confidence in this book, primarily because of the glaring error in the fourth paragraph on page Xiii of the Introduction. What am I to expect from the rest of the book. If the auther cannot state the basic premise properly, I have very little confidence in the accuracy of the details in the remainder of the book. He states, "The days.....for Jacks or Better games that pay 9-for-1 on full houses and 6-for-1 on straights,...."

Most people, including me, know how to play video poker machines and what cards to hold in a play. The real problem comes when you double your play to get the most payoff, and that's where the real strategy is needed.
This book is good for someone who is just starting to play and understand poker, but is not helpful at all when you already understand the game, odds and strategies and need to maximize your payoffs when doubling your game.