No comments about The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

5 comments about The Man with the $100,000 Breasts: And Other Gambling Stories.

1. A great collection of gambling related stories, with strange but likeable characters. Each story is different, but fun to read. Even if you have no knowledge of some of the activities or games covered, the stories are enjoyable.



2. This is one of the many "gambling milieu" books that have hit the scene over the course of the past few years; although, unlike many of the others, Konik's effort features strong writing and a furious pace. Upon finishing it, I took a look at the page numbers because I couldn't believe it was over. It wasn't that it was too short, the real problem was that it was too good. In small chip size pieces, Konik addresses the infamous world of gambling. His coverage is far better than that of the average commentator as he includes horse racing, greyhounds, blackjack, sports betting, and golf hustling within his narrative. To say this one is fascinating is an understatement. A better description is that it will even, dare I say, appeal to the general public--and, indeed, it has. The title essay concerns crazy proposition man Brian Zembic, and it may well be the best of the compilation. After all, how many people become quasi-transvestites for 100 grand? Well, that's the terrain you're in once you open these pages, and you'll be grateful that Konik did such a magnificent job of immersing himself in it.



3. I had heard about this guy a long time ago and finally found this book. After reading the first chapter, I was a bit dissapointed that the story of the man with the $100,000 breasts was over, but to my suprise, the stories just got better. Each chapter tells a different gambling story, which I must say, were all great stories.
   
   I think a lot of people won't read this book because of the title, but it is a shame because the book is that good. I showed it to some coworkers and they thought I was nuts for reading a book about what the title depicts. I tried to explain to one of them how good it was but many turned there nose up without trying it. The one who did try it out read the first 3 chapters and said-- I want it when your done!!!
   
   Very entertaining and unlike the previous review, I think anybody would enjoy this book. You don't have to be a hard core gambler.
   
   One last note- I am not a book reader. I have read very few books, but i have to tell you, I could not put this one down and finished it within a week, reading a couple of chapters before bed each night. I only wish there were more stories!!!



4. Overall I liked this book quite a bit. Very interesting stories, all bite sized and well written. The last half dozen stories are about poker--I'm not a player so these didn't hold much interest.



5. I have probably given this book out as presents to at least a half dozen people since it's release. Although I don't want to jump on the person who gave the book 3*, they were completely missing the point.
   
   This book was ranked #2 on the Wall Street Journal's list of the 5 best books on gambling.
   
   This book opens up with the ultimate risk taker, Brian Zembic. A man who will take a bet on everything, and lives up to it. To be perfectly honest, as mentioned, it only takes up about 10-15% of the book, but I don't want it to take up more. As one of the other 5* reviewers said, the worst part of the book is that it stops.
   
   We read bios on Trump, Walsh, Jordan, and Woods, but here we read "mini-bios" on a differnet style of person. Andrew Beyer, Roxy Roxborough, Archie Karas, Johnny Moss. You read about how odds are made, how blackjack is played, and how comps get you paid. Poker, Horse Racing, Backgammon, Sports Betting, Blackjack... on and on... But don't think its just about this, they are stories that put you inside, and you don't want to leave.
   
   Obviously the book leans towards people who enjoy the art of gambling, but also to those curious about why they don't gamble. My favorite story in the book is the very last one, "The Hand That's Dealt". Konik knows how to paint a picture with words. The story takes place at a poker table, but it's the furthest thing from a poker story.
   
   Overall, without a doubt, Excellent.

No comments about Fill-In Paint-doku.

1 comments about Stanley Newman's Movie Mania Crosswords: The '90s (Other).

1. I bought this for my husband who is a bit of a movie buff. The clues were a little more complex than necessary and not many of them related to any movie at all.

5 comments about Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling.

1. I first met Martha Frankel in the summer of '66. She came along with a "cousin" who, eventually, I would marry. It was on Jones Beach (L.I.). Her cousin was beautiful, Martha was funny and brutally honest (still is) but sorely lacked beach etiquette. I forgave her.
   When reading Hats & Eyeglasses I revisited a place that brought back fond memories.
   Martha's family was my family...for a while. I know of what she writes. She remembers details and nuances with precision. She also retains that self deprecating humor (after having become quite accomplished in her life). Her gambling came naturally from her family, like another family might foster atheletes or scholars. It was not a problem until it became a problem.
   I highly recommend this book be read by anyone wanting a look into a highly personal account, revealed to all...with clarity, perception and, most of all, brutally honest humor.
   
   Grimes
   West Palm Beach



2. Once you start, you will not put it down and then find yourself recommending to everyone you know!



3. I don't think I've loved a book character this much since I read "Eloise". If they made a movie of this book, Bette Midler would have to play Martha. This is a woman that anyone would fall in love with. She's open and smart and funny and warm and loving. And nutty. For a poker player (like me), reading it was wonderful (and even instructive!) and exactly described my own experience in loving the game. But it's really about Martha, and getting to know her is a fabulous treat.



4. An absolute delight.
   If you're looking for a great book for you or a friend, this is it.
   This book is so lovable I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't love it, quote it, and beg everyone they know to read it so they could compare notes.
   "Hats and Eyeglasses" is my new FAVORITE phrase and favorite book to recommend.



5. I did laugh and I did cry. No cliche.
   
   A very personal book in which Frankel creates vivid images with clean, crisp phrases and sentences. There is not a word out of place. This story is well-told. It could not have been easy to write and share.
   I will be passing this book around to friends.

5 comments about Chess Openings: Traps And Zaps (Fireside Chess Library).

1. I just joined GameKnot, a chess site. I got this book because I was losing game after game. This book really helped my games and so did playing with certain ones. Thank you, LINDA



2. I like Bruce Pandolfini's writing "voice," and I like this book, though I don't necessarily trust it entirely. True to Pandolfini form, Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps is laid out in a neatly organized, beginner-friendly fashion. Initial moves leading to the "trapped" or "zapped" position are presented in standard columnar algebraic, next to a graphic of the board showing the position after the last move in the columns. The final moves ("the point") are then explained in a few short paragraphs, always leading to either checkmate or loss of significant material, with an explanation of what the losing side did wrong. Each example usually ends with a pithy, moderately relevant quote from either chess, literature, or world history. This format is clean and simple, and is devoid of the expert books' lengthy lines of calculation, variation and recalculation that are meaningless to a U1000. However, at least a little more explanation would be in order. Both my 3rd grade son (ELO 622) and I (provisional 1140) frequently found ourselves questioning the move choices of the losing sides in this book, without suitable answer from Pandolfini. We understand that the point of the book is that, in each "game," one side makes a blunder, either by being too greedy or by ignoring an upcoming trap. However, the post-blunder follow-up play occasionally includes what appear to be subsequent blunders, buried unexplained in the move sequence, which ignore logical saving moves for the "losing" side. When we set these positions up on a board and tried other saves, we often found them better than the losing sequence that Pandolfini offered. It seems to me that if Bruce is going to offer unforced responses that lead to loss of material or loss of the game, he should at least explain why other, apparently better moves would also ultimately not work. This problem does not occur on every page. Most of the examples seem sound and some of them are downright cool. Also, at my son's and my level, just about any book that gets us thinking about tactics probably does more good than harm. Still, I can't recommend it wholeheartedly as long as I believe there are unexplained holes in some of the logic. And as another reviewer wrote, why get a so-so book when there are better ones out there -- unless, of course, you pick it up very cheap!



3. As others have noted, "Chess Openings" is not the most helpful book for the budding chess player. However, it is a lot more fun to read than most other chess books. In "Chess Openings", Bruce Pandolfini (Josh Waitzkin's famous teacher) dissects positions arising from many common openings, showing the reader how to perform tactical operations in those positions, including "unpin", "king hunt", and many others.
   
   However, the positions that arise are not very realistic. I don't really have games where I would need to put the "lessons" learned from this book to use.
   
   (OK, I mostly play against the computer, but so what? Good chess players will try to avoid the mistakes made by the losing side in this book. Maybe that's what you can learn from this book.)
   
   Still, I have found that over the course of several years, I always like to come back to this book. It's fun and entertaining, but not extremely helpful. Still, if you're fortunate enough to run into one of the positions in this book, you'll know how to make your opponent squirm!
   
   The major flaw in this book is that it doesn't really help you out a lot in the opening. It doesn't instruct you on which pieces to develop, where to castle, etc. in each opening. Each player has played moves, Mr. Pandolfini shows how the victor can kick his opponent's rear end, and tells us about the mistakes that the loser made. Still, this book doesn't have a lot of depth. The book isn't general enough, it only concerns itself with specific given positions, not with the whole opening itself. It's just a lesson in tactics.
   
   If your opponent doesn't play like the loser in the book, what are you going to learn?
   
   All in all, I'd have to say that this is a good book (not great; the 3/5 is personal, I'd probably give it a 2/5 otherwise), but not a must. If you want a fun chess book, this is a good find. If you actually want to learn about openings, and how to play them well... I'm not sure that this is what you want.



4. This was written more for a fast buck than as a teaching tool. Don't waste your time or money. Enough said.



5. This book covers king pawn openings only. For each of the variations the progression of ideas and clever attack and defense positions is explored in a practical way. One can enjoy the short games that emphasize tactical strategies, again and again. It is a perfect travel companion. I refer to it many times and have read it at least twice. This book contains practical attacking considerations and exploits mistakes one's opponents make. There is an explanation for each of the critical moves and an analysis as to have countered the particular offensive maneuver.

3 comments about Jumbo Sudoku.

1. This is a great sudoku book im a sudoku addict. I own three and this is my favorite. My only complaint is that puzzles are random in difficulty(not in order)



2. I ordered 2 copies of this, based on how much I love Mepham's "Total Sudoku" -- but I wish I hadn't. It has 2 puzzles per page instead of one large puzzle per page as shown on the cover. Mepham's "Total Sudoku" has one puzzle per page -- which is wonderful. There is no reason to want an awkward 8 X 10 page except to get a really big grid. If I'm going to have half-page-size puzzles, give me a half-page-size book that is easier to hold. And this does not have any 16 by 16 puzzles, which are my favorites. And the answer grids are TINY.



3. Michael Mepham provides this workbook full of Sudoku puzzles. They range from easy to, in his words, fiendish. Each puzzle has a solution printed in the back. While there are two puzzles per page, they are nevertheless bigger than those in newspapers, and certainly bigger than those in most if not all electronic Sudoku kits. There are some unconventional Sudoku puzzles, including those which form an X-shape of five nested Sudoku sub-puzzles.
   
   Some tips are given in the beginning of the book for the solving of Sudoku puzzles. These include the use of clues provided by numbers that are remote from each other on the puzzle. For very difficult situations, Mepham recommends that the puzzle-solver narrow a spot to two possibilities, then take a guess at one of the two numbers and see if it creates a self-consistent solution.

5 comments about Civilization IV Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. If you have ever played a civ game before, this guide is basic. It does lay out the tech's though and puts you on the fast track. It is a real quick read, with half of the book dedicated to the civilopedia.



2. After reading all the pans of this book, I thought I would put in a dissenting point of view. I am completely new to the Civilization series and need all the help I can get. I think generally the book is doing a good job getting me up to speed. I do agree, though, that the drawbacks of the book are significant and make the book frustrating to use.
   
   First, what works about the book:
   * covers basic strategies
   * reproduces tech tree and unit descriptions
   * gives strategy and tactical advice for each unit and resource
   * includes tips from the game testers
   * doesn't assume reader is familiar with previous games in the series
   * is good for people (like me) who don't want to read the Civilopedia online any more than they have to
   
   What doesn't work about the book:
   * text is too small! Much of the joy of reading the book is squandered by having to squint -- and I don't wear glasses.
   * no index. Publishers that release books with no indexes might be trying to save money, but they really reduce the book's usability
   * screenshots are so small (some are 1.5" x 1.25" -- what were they thinking?) and are in black and white, so they are mostly too frustrating to bother trying to understand. Whoever tried to save money by printing in 9 point text made the same decision with the screenshots.
   * screenshots have no caption beneath them. What is the screenshot attempting to demonstrate? Text only sometimes can be counted on to refer to the screenshot. The combination of smallness, lack of color and no captions makes the screenshots mostly useless to this reader. Pretty quickly I learned that they add no value to the book.
   
   Final assessment: I paid a grand total of $13 for the book and definitely am getting my money's worth. The thing is that, given the option, I would have gladly paid $20 for the above drawbacks to be rectified.



3. I expect a guide like this to pick up where the instruction manual leaves off. But this book spends 3/4 of its pages just reproducing what is already included with the book's online and printed help. The rest provides some very abstract ideas on strategy. It does not tell you what units or buildings to build or when to build them. Civ 4 is a great game, but you won't get much here. Stick to the game's manual and visit some of the fan sites for helpful hints.



4. The first part being Age of Empires III in my opinion which has done for the real-time-strategy (RTS) what Civilization 4 has now done to turn-based-strategy (TBS).
   What the developers have done is the most sensible thing - they were not afraid to innovate and they were not afraid to throw out the stuff that was rubbish. Essentially this is not a direct but a innovative advance of the series. I feel sorry for those people who think that the newer games in a series should keep the sacred ideas and just keep making them bigger and bigger, because that way the game does not improve, it merely grows (and you get Civ3). Instead good ideas are put in and bad ones taken out and the game works and is a joy to play. At the end of the day the game AS IT IS, should be good, whether it panders to imaginations of die-hards of what it should be like... well that's them not the developers.
   
   Basically, if you like anything vaguely related to strategy Civilization will fail to disappoint. Enjoy.



5. to sum up other reviews....
   * Full of strategic hints that I've found very helpful to game play. It's well written, and has information that I believe should have been included in the game manual.
   * Lists units, cultures, improvements, etc.
   * covers basic strategies
   * reproduces tech tree and unit descriptions
   * gives strategy and tactical advice for each unit and resource
   * includes tips from the game testers
   * doesn't assume reader is familiar with previous games in the series
   * is good for people who don't want to read the Civilopedia online any more than they have to

1 comments about Introduction to Defender's Play.

1. This book addresses a sorely neglected aspect of beginning bridge books. It lays out defensive principles in a logical, easy to follow manner, geared toward the beginning player. The description of holding honor cards to cover cards in dummy is well explained, and is a subject that even some more advanced players don't fully understand.

5 comments about Shadowrun, Fourth Edition.

1. I absolutely love what they've done to Shadowrun in 4th Edition. I haven't read a Shadowrun book since 2nd Edition and I welcome all of the improvments. The book is very well organized too. I find it very easy to use.
   
   I'm still learning the new rules. Tonight I sat down and figured out how to calculate odds to clear any confusion. Please forgive my lack of expertise in writing mathematical equasions, but hopefully you can follow this.
   
   First, calculate the number of possible ways that 6 sided dice can land when rolled. Do this by multiplying 6 to the power of the number of dice rolled. If four dice are being rolled, it's 6 x 6 x 6 x 6, which equals 1296.
   
   Now, figure out the possible chances that a five or six could not be rolled on a single die. This is 4/6, or simply 4. Now, you will multiply 4 to the power of the number of dice you will be rolling. So, if you're rolling four dice, it's 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 which equals 256.
   
   Now, to figure out how many chances of rolling a 5 or 6 one time there are, subtract 256 from 1296. This gives you 1040.
   
   When you divide 1040/1296 you get 80%.
   
   Enjoy.



2. Shadowrun has been around for ages. And that's a good thing. Far too many games have gone into the D20 slump. Far too many good games, over the years, have been lost to the sands of time. Yet to see that some names, like RuneQuest and Earthdawn, are still around brings a cheer to this old gamer's heart. And it is even better to see that games like Shadowrun, instead of falling into a spiral, can actually grow better and better. Shadowrun is kicking and alive in all its intricate glory. Still has the wonderful fantasy appearance, still has the grand cyberpunk grime. A lot of games have problems if they try to throw too many concepts and genres together. Shadowrun has never had that problem. The character creation is easy to learn, easy to work with. The dice system is reasonable and also easy to grasp. I think though that what really draws people to this game, as people have been drawn to it since it first opened its eyes with FASA, was the setting. The setting works. It is just that simple. You can dive into the setting and find new things to develop, new points to discover, and new avenues to explore. The campaign world is one of the best. If you are tired, and I really am myself tired of D20, then you really need to take a second look at this game. Buy it. It is worth it. You as the GM will love it, your players will love it.



3. the 4th edition of shadow run is great. It simplifies and streams lines alot of what 3rd tried to do. For vet's of 3rd edition They'll see alot of the old stuff they knew and loved but it's gone above and beyond what their used to be, now everything is wireless and the new AR (augmented Reality) means your hacker can be right there with you and the new system works to integrate combat and hacking/magic better to eliminate the "i'm gonna get a soda while the hacker hacks" scenario. For the New players, as i said earlier, it's been stream lined and much of the rules of old still there but better explained and esier to pick up and learn, even if you've never done any RP games before. If you're a fan of Cyber-punk meets magic and fantasy then this is a must play/have item.



4. I tried playing shadowrun during the (I believe) 2nd edition. Yuck. The rules were more jacked up than Rifts- and in my opinion- that says something. But like Rifts, the setting was such that you wanted to play, but when you got into combat everyone sort of glazes over with that "deer in headlights" expression. Actually it was more like a "sweet bloody Jesus I have no idea how this works yet and it's going to take 4 hours."
   
   4th Edition cleaned things up by borring some ideas from our friends at White Wolf. Dice are used as a "success, no success" format. Total successes are compared to a given target etc. Others have discussed this thoroughly.
   
   Combat is a lot of fun while including a lot of various elements, from genre normal smashy-shooty, to cybernetic enhancements, combat hacking, and magic. All of these come in together beautifully. Imagine a brawl in the middle of a street where the mage levitates above to reign firey blasts on the enemy, the cyber ninja moves at amazing speed with his tech-enchanced katana, a giant troll wields a chain gun mowing down minions while the team's hacker starts ramming the enemies with nearby cars and disabling enemy cybernetics and weapons!
   
   The setting and mood still remain the star of the show with an amazing story of corrupt (read: normal) giant multi-national corporations, organized crime right out of a pulp novel, mysterious forces of nature, spiritial realms.
   
   The game is great for any group and adaptable for role playing heavy, espionage and intrigue centered games, to the D&D minded smashy/slashy/shooty gamer.



5. Shadowrun is a roll playing game set in a cyberpunk world to which magic, elves orcs and the rest of the D&D hootenanny have been added. Instead of using swords in dank dungeons the players use machine guns in shopping malls. If you like RPG's it is a great game. This thought, the 4th edition, is unnecessary.
   
   The game itself first came out in 1989 with a great concept and mind numbingly complicated rules that were trimmed down to something very playable and easy to work with in 2nd and even 3rd editions. The fact the game has survived almost 20 years while staying virtually intact from its original theme shows that it has hit a cord with gamers, and even though the original company has gone under, this has survived as a marketable property being saved by succeeding companies.
   
   The problem is this edition. The fourth edition was not needed. Another company bought the game and instead of extending the existing game world they decided to try and gouge more money from the target audience by issuing all new, expensive, hardcover, core books under the title of 4th Edition.
   
   Beyond the blatant money grab by the latest publisher this is doubly insulting because it wasn't needed. In fact while some people do like the changes to the rules, they seem to just make some things needlessly complicated. For example under the old system in a challenge you would roll a number of dice equal to your skill level. Now it is skill plus ability combined and...It really only serves to add steps. The first Ed had these steps and they might be more realistic, if that term can be used for an event where a character uses a mini-gun to shoot at a troll coming through the window of a mall negligee store, but they serve to slow down play as characters scramble to remember what skills combine with what attribute for what act.
   
   In short I'd have far more respect for this if the publishers had just put out a supplement working on the 3rd Edition to explain the changes in the rules for computer hacking. As it is, they wanted you to lay out lots of money all over again for the basic rules which they have change enough to justify this, but have not changed for the better.
   
   Shadowrun is a great RPG. The 4th Ed is a great example of the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."