5 comments about One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey ',The Kid', Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player.

1. 
   As a disclaimer. My novel, Texas Poker Wisdom, is now out. The first editorial review is by Nolan Dalla. This cautionary tale would make an excellent gift for your younger relatives. It is an entertaining, mesmerizing read but it also has a clear anti-drug message. The book is definately not just for poker players. It tells how one of the most talented card players of all time yielded to his self-destructive demons. This biography gives an accurate depiction of the poker tournament world and Las Vegas. In the poker forums, like TwoPlusTwo, it is the most popular book in years.
   
   I have met and played poker with the two authors. Both are good poker players as well as excellent writers. Nolan Dalla is the Media Director of the World Series of Poker,a prolific poker writer for many publications, and known for his wit and integrity. His co-author, Peter Alson, has impressive writing credentials in both books and magazines.
   
   This book and Jim McManus' book inspired me to become a full-time poker writer. I'll take a Gambler's Oath that you will love this book.
   
   Johnny Hughes, author the novel Texas Poker Wisdom.Texas Poker Wisdom



2. As I said: it's ok. It's pretty short for biography and there where goes away that fifth star. Also, it's simple - nobrainer - leisure reading. But we can't judge for that non professional writers [minus star]. Overall - pretty good and fast reading. If it would be possible, I would give 3,5 stars.



3. One of if not the best poker related book I have ever read (I have read more than I care to mention lol). If you are a Stuey fan you won't find a more accurate entertaining account of his tragic yet triumphant life.



4. This book was a lot of fun to read and very interesting. Once I started reading it I could not put it down. If you have been reading a lot of poker books you will enjoy this book. This book is an easy read compared to the poker strategies books. It is full of people in the poker world that were involved with Stu in one way or another. People like Mike Saxton and Doyle Brunson that tried to stop Stu Unger from his destructive path. This is a very interesting and sad story. Buy this book and read it. I think you like it.



5. It wouldn't end well. I knew that when I purchased this book. How could a man succeed so well in poker -- a game that requires heart, stamina, incredible focus, uncanny ability to read people, discipline and intense mathematical analysis -- and fail so badly at life? Nolan Dalla captures Unger so well that I felt as if I was another of Unger's friends, watching his life unravel. Dalla skillfully peels away Unger's layers, until beneath all the bravado, genius, and generosity we see not a man, but a little boy; probably a traumatized boy desperately trying to outrun his demons. When he could no longer outrun them by chasing escalating gambling highs, he escapes into drug addiction. Knowing how the book would end, I couldn't help but root for Unger. But Dalla does not stop with Unger, we experience the frustrations, disappointments and horror of Unger's friends and family, whom Dalla thoroughly interviewed. Like any child, Unger is singularly insensitive to the needs of those around him. As exhaustive and painful as this book was proving to be, I couldn't put it down. That's a great credit to Dalla.

No comments about New Masters of Woodturning: Expanding the Boundaries of Wood Art.

5 comments about Omaha Poker.

1. If you are going to play Pot-Limit Omaha Poker (PLO), then this is probably the best book to learn with. it covers starting hands, how to play in different situations and so forth.



2. The book was written in fairly easy to read format. The book did a very good job of explaing PLO and I would recomened this to anyone who is looking for a good book on PLO.
   
   There was not much technical writing in the book so it was nice to read.



3. If you have experience in holdem and know the rules of omaha, you'll find this book is really an introduction. After discounting the "about the anuthor", "history of omaha" and the other space-filler pages, only about 90 page remains... I wish I'd spend the reading time on-line with g..gle and then throw the price on a poker site where I can practice. I'd have learned more with this way.



4. Bob Ciaffone's classic is a must-read for any player serious about learning to play Omaha proficiently. If the book seems a little light at first glance, just remember that it was originally written over two decades ago, and its place in poker literature is secure. I think the strength of the content will also surprise you a bit at times, as even seemingly mundane topics such as "Community Card Poker" and "Betting and Blind Structure" have surprising value.
   
   Frankly, everything the man writes is golden. And coming from hold'em, this was the book that really changed the way I thought about Omaha and got me on the right track. For those familiar with my work, I should note that it was Bob's original section on the straight draws that I built upon.
   
   For players new to Omaha, Bob Ciaffone's Omaha Poker is as good a place as any to start.
   
   -- Jeff Hwang



5. This is a dated product. You might be able to pick out a few pieces of interesting (and still applicable) insight. But the bulk of this is either old news, or about Omaha limit, which no one plays. Good omaha books are hard to find!

5 comments about Understanding the Chess Openings.

1. There are many different openings books which focus on different aspects of opening play. This book is like a survey of the territory and covers the most likely openings to come up and the many variations of each. What I most like about it is that it is logically organized, well-written and easy to follow. It includes commentary, but the commentary is not comprehensive. This good or bad depending upon what you are looking for in a book on openings. In short, the text gets to the point with respect to the major tactical advantages and disadvantages of particular openings. However, it doesn't cover any of them in great depth.
   
   I like this book because it doesn't repeat a lot of the ground covered in other books. It is a small volume at less than 225 pages of many different openings and the MOST important points about each. This makes it a great reference book to get one started with a particular opening. However, you need something with more depth to go along with it.
   
   I am sometimes "turned off" by chess books which are 1,000 pages with very little text or diagrams. This is a bias that I have and learning anything sometimes seems overwhelming. This book strikes a nice balance between text, diagrams and presenting a series of moves. It makes the content more digestible and because of how its organized, easy to learn.
   
   As far as I am concerned, this is a MUST own book for a serious chess player and particulary for someone transitioning from the beginner to advanced beginner or early stages of intermediate play. It uses modern notation and it is extremely well thought out with respect to layout. Both the author and the editor did an excellent job!
   
   This book WILL help you to improve your opening play. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any player and if you are turned off by poorly organized or cumbersome large volumes, you will like it even more.



2. This book is very well organized. I am very pleased with it. By playing several of the openings in the book I have found myself (finally) able to defeat the computer at chess at levels where I couldn't do so before. I have also learned which openings are to be avoided as well, that way I don't have to spend time memorizing all of them. But it is still important to understand why some openings aren't good.



3. Well-covered by other reviewers, I feel compelled to add my vote for this rare, well-written chess book. I've played chess for years but just recently started getting serious about getting a decent rating. While Reuben Fine's book is often referenced as great for understanding openings, I found it to be impenetrable. Meanwhile Sam Collin's book has become my first go-to book for getting a basic understanding of what an opening is all about. His writing is crystal clear, and he gets you straight to what the opening is trying to accomplish. Other books, like Modern Chess Openings or Standard Chess Openings, can then be used to examine alternative variations, but speaking for myself, I really need to start from Collins to get the strategy behind the opening first. I find this book to be an essential reference for a beginning or intermediate player.



4. This book should have been entitled "Learning the Major Chess Openings". It organizes the main opening lines and many sub-lines well, and it's a good reference if you want to learn the difference between say, a Scheveningen Sicilian and a Najdorf Sicilian, but it does little to help you "understand" these openings.
   
   As is typical with most worthwhile chess books, the text contains a lot of strings (and stub-strings [and sub-sub strings] of moves, and it can get confusing. My objection is not to that, but rather to the fact that the explanations as to why one move is correct and another is incorrect are often so perfunctory as to be completely unhelpful. Over and over again, I found myself asking "why?" Clearly, this book wasn't helping me "understand."
   
   As an alternative I'd suggest John Nunn's "Understanding Chess Move by Move." His book takes the approach of examining specific games to explore various themes in chess, not just the opening, but it will give you much better insight into the "why" of the opening moves than Collins's book. My one quibble with Nunn's book is that the Table of Contents does not specify the opening for each game (I've taken to handwriting them in myself).
   
   So, alas, I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for the definitive replacement for Reuben Fine's classic, "Ideas Behind the Chess Opening," still arguably the best book on opening theory but now a little out of date.



5. As someone who took up chess late, I faced the challenge of trying to find out a bit on different openings and what would be best suited to me. There are huge resources in any specialised opening but this overall guide to the types of openings has a clear help. Instead of trying to guess 2-3 moves of a reply, you get a clear explanation of white or blacks plan to move into the middle game. I've met Sam Collins at tournaments and duely said "Thank you !" on behalf of the adult learner.
   Without doubt in my mind, this book has helped provide a straight forward, uncomplicated structured approach to finding your way out of the beginners to a competent club player...and even beyond.
   
   There is always work to be done in improving but this is an excellent book to put you smack in the centre of making the best informed choice of what opening or reply you can take on.
   
   Excellent work Sam, Get to the Cork congres soon so we can get you autgraphing books !

5 comments about Jumbo Sudoku Challenge.

1. What makes this sudoku collection really special is its fascinating variety! Omitting the Easy and Medium sudoku, the collection begins with regular "Hard" puzzles (88 of them, not too hard), and then moves to Fiendish, seventy-seven of them. (Tom Sheldon's Master Class has more difficult "fiendish" puzzles, but the ones here are fun, too.)
   
   Then I discovered variations that I'd never tried, each of which provided hours of new fun! Samurai Sudoku was my first variation--five connected sudoku with a center puzzle sharing its corners with four additional, interdependent puzzles. (See cover photo for example.) It is necessary to use patterns in the additional puzzles to fill in the center puzzle and, most importantly, its shared corners, so that the other puzzles can all be completed. Fortunately, author Michael Mepham rates these from Easy to Fiendish, as I found these puzzles initially to be quite challenging.
   
   The Jigsaw Samurai Sudoku have become my favorites. Similar to regular samurai sudoku, the center puzzle has square corners, requiring 9 numbers, but except for these corner squares in the center puzzle, there are no other squares. Where the squares would be are irregular shapes, some of them in crosses (using one column and one row), some looking like stair steps through the puzzle, and some looking like the NYC skyline. The challenge is to give each irregular shape each of the numbers from 1-9, while, at the same time, putting 1-9 into each vertical column and each horizontal row. These range from "easy" to "fiendish."
   
   Twelve by twelve and sixteen by sixteen square puzzles, which require numbers from 1-9, in addition to letters--A-C for the 12x12, and A-G for the 16x16 are all ranked "hard." The last variation, "Killer" sudoku, shows irregularly shaped "cages" within the regularly-shaped squares, each cage containing the mathematical totals for 2, 3, 4, or 5 numbers within the boxes they enclose. Only a few numbers are shown in the boxes(usually two or three, on average) and one "fiendish" killer puzzle, offers no given numbers at all, only the totals in the cages. Varying from "easy" to "fiendish," these require simple math.
   
   My minor problem with the book is its binding--a spiral binding would help right-handers do the puzzles on the left side, especially at the beginning of the book. (I ended up Xeroxing some of these left side puzzles because it was hard to write along the tight binding.) The pages are 8" x 10 1/2", however, and offer large boxes and plenty of room to write. The paper quality is very high, allowing for numerous erasures. A great collection offering weeks of fun and many new puzzle experiences! n Mary Whipple



2. Can't improve much on what above 2 reviewers say. Appealing presentation, good variety of sudoku types, nice big puzzles allow penciling in of possible answers in squares. Similar to Jumbo Sudoku Fusion but eschews the "gentle" category and starts out at intermediate, going to advanced. A hardcore puzzle addict, I keep the Jumbo Sudoku Challenge in the car and Jumbo Sudoku Fusion at home (or vice versa) and am assured of having a fun puzzle at hand all the time. On trips I used to have to take several books with different puzzle types but now this is the only book I need. Highly recommend both this and Jumbo Sudoku Fusion and am hoping Jumbo Sudoku Explosion is built along the same lines.



3. This is the King Kong of Sudoku books.
   I might buy another copy just so I can work them again.



4. I've enjoyed other variations of Sudoku, but this is definitely the hardest. If you're looking for something other than the usual 1 - 9, you'll definitely find them here - but don't expect them to be easy! As the title warns you, this is a challenge. If you want a more gentle introduction I'd suggest Will Shortz's Favorite Sudoku Variations: 100 Kakuro, Killer Sudoku, and More Brain-Twisting Puzzles and 100 Samurai Sudoku Puzzles to get your feet wet and then try to stay afloat in this book!



5. This book is misleading and I am extremely unhappy with it. I searched Amazon for Samurai Sudoku and this book came up. The cover displays a Samurai Sudoku so I naturally assumed that the book was a Samurai Sudoku book. But it aint! Out of 275 puzzles, only 50 are Samurai Sudoku - a total waste of money if you are looking for Samurai Sudoku.

5 comments about Beginning OpenGL Game Programming (Game Development Series).

1. Overall this book was an excellent resource for getting on your feet with OpenGL.
   
   It covers pretty much every basic topic conceivable along with touching on the some advanced uses of basic concepts. One thing that I found particularly annoying, however, was that the book claims to go into "much greater detail" concerning models later in the book, but after that line I found nary a reference to them. The author just uses the MD2 file format in the concluding "End Game" sample on the CD without ever having mentioned it in the book. Writing any useful graphics application requires using a model format, and it irks me very much that the book didn't cover it.
   
   One other problem with the book is its age - it covers version 1.5 of OpenGL, while 2.0 has been out for a while now. But like I have already stated, it's a great book to jump into GL with.



2. On comparing this text to other OpenGL textbooks, I would like to point out that the explanations of graphical techniques in this text are very well done. The CD bundled with the book have excellent code examples of things like using height maps and input from DirectX. There are bonus chapters that cover advanced topics like curves and surfaces that obviously weren't in the actual book, and thus kept the final press cost down.
   
   If you are starting out with OpenGL, then this book is the best I have seen to get you up and running.



3. If you are interested in cross-platform OpenGL programming then DO NOT buy this book, it is M$ Windows Dependant. The title should have been "Beginning OpenGL Windows Game Programming".



4. If you need to get 3D graphics into your application OpenGL is a wonderful alternative. If you want to get up to speed with OpenGL this book is one of the best alternatives.
   It's good to know a little about 3D math, and have a familiarity with terms like unit vector, transformation, and dot product, but it's definitely not necessary.
   
   I'd recommend this to anyone.



5. This book is a good introductory book, but it should have probably been called "Beginning OpenGL". The Gaming part is mentioned only briefly, and for any detail you'll have to go to what's on the CD. The CD literally makes this a decent book to buy; without the CD the OpenGL Red Book is probably money better spent. The other fault of this book is that the images are sub-par; it looks like the authors themselves did the images instead of a professional graphics house.

5 comments about The Red Hand of Doom (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure).

1. I, as a DM, thought this adventure was amazing. Epic, well-done and well-put together, with a really interesting storyline and a good variety of monsters and battles. The climax and conclusion were amazing---they have such good mechanics for doing a battle for an entire town, and the concluding dungeon crawl was appropriately awesome for the high-level characters that have come out of this module by that time.
   
   However, my players had a few issues that they brought up with me. First, they thought the free-form nature was too much. Let me explain... they felt that there definitely was a "right way to go," but that they were left on their own to find it, so they had to rely on NPC hooks and (in one player's words) "being led around by the nose by the DM." I strongly suggest giving the players a patron who directs their actions, making them more of a special task force than a bunch of adventurers who happen to wander into the middle of an invasion and just so happen to run off in the direction necessary to stop the invasion four or five times in a row.
   
   And on that last note, you really have to integrate this adventure into your campaign, otherwise the players will not care about the vale that they're saving at all. One of them suggested just leaving and letting the goblins take over the vale; now, this isn't practical because then there would be a nation of bloodthirsty hobgoblins with demonic support ready to march on the _world_, but that is not clear at all from the first 2/3 of the adventure. Especially since the players really didn't care if this town fell or not, it was a bit of a problem.
   
   A final problem is that goblins and all their associated monstrous foes just aren't very exciting enemies. You kill goblins at first level, so a goblin army---while certainly a problem---doesn't _feel_ like it should be a big deal for even 5th-level characters. Now replace them with aberrations with mind flayer leaders, or some kind of psionic threat, or perhaps an army of awakened constructs, or... then it might be cool. But the PCs really didn't get much out of taking on an army composed mainly of CR 1/3 baddies, and that seems quite understandable.
   
   All this can be fixed with some work on the DMs part, and I do suggest doing that since the whole adventure is a really well-done framework. I am considering using this in an Eberron campaign I'm running now (a new group), with the following changes:
   * The goblin threat is replaced by the Lord of Blades, who has achieved the ability to create a warforged army that is seeking to destroy all of human civilization and replace it with a warforged-supremacist state.
   * The PCs are special agents of House Cannith, which understandably feels responsible.
   * Dragons (who are the rare, high-level baddies of the horde to supplement the goblins) get replaced by abberations being summoned from Xoriat, or perhaps demons/high-level undead/a psionic threat like the quori.
   * The war becomes part of an even larger context in which the Mark of Death is returning, with the Blood of Vol having forged an uneasy alliance of convenience with the Lord of Blades to use the warforged's kills as undead-creation material.
   * Many of the characters' favorite locations are destroyed or seriously threatened---I'm thinking of starting the campaign out with a large, well-coordinated warforged terrorist attack on Sharn that leads to the imposition of martial law and concentration camps for warforged.
   
   So with changes like these (adapt for Forgotten Realms or your own campaign setting) I think you can use the RHoD's very good core framework and plot sequence, while fixing the problems that my players had.



2. I haven't yet had a chance to run the adventure, though I look forward to doing so. I love the usage of Victory Points, and the rules are clear enough as put forward in the adventure to not require Heroes of Battle. I found the plot comprehensive and believable, the presentationw as excellent. All in all, I very much like the adventure, and I can't wait to run some PCs through it.



3. From the begining of this adventure the heroes are running to save the realms from an invading horde the likes that haven't been seen since the fall of the gods.It is one of the best and most harrowing adventures I've been through in a long time.



4. The Red Hand of Doom is one of the better campaigns wizards has released. It is very long and drawn out and the new "Big Battle" system displayed in the heroes of battle book is used. The new encounter layout is kinda there but not really. Statistics for each encounter is in the back of the book but there is no info on Tactics with them or map layouts. The Artwork for the book is fantastic. The overall Quest is based around the son of a dragon and his army attacking some frontier lands in order to...well no real spoilers here so buy the book and run the campaign. It can be placed in any of the 3 campaign worlds wizards offers and there is info inside telling you how to do it. It can also be slipped into any campaign with ease. The outlying areas are fleshed out and the maps as well as statistic blocks can be downloaded from wizards web site. Do yourself a favor if your a dm looking for a good campaign and buy a copy of "The Red Hand of Doom," especially now that it can be had for really cheap used. There's no excuse not to own this instant classic.



5. While this can be considered a campaign (it took my crew a year to complete it, but we started off at 1st level and worked up to the main plot) this adventure is simply the best I have ever run. I loved the open concept, epic battles and interesting characters and villains. My players did not feel railroaded at any time but neither did they feel it was a cakewalk. My only suggestions are firstly, that DM's let their players know they will not have a lot of downtime to create items so avoid those feats until after the campaign. Secondly, DM's need to prepare and understand the tactics and intelligence of the main characters. Many of the villains escaped and came back as secondary foes later on in my game. If your party kills a dragon the first time they see it...they were super lucky or you as a DM screwed up.
   Finally, there are countless plot hooks that you can use at a later date. Many of the opponents were defeated but not killed in my game and alliances between the good PC's and evil villains were an interesting roleplaying aspect.
   In the end, we relied heavily on miniatures to help visualize battles and I scanned and enlarged the many maps provided into full sized (to scale) battle maps that the players were in awe of. This is truly an A+ adventure and I would run it again, anytime. Enjoy this book!!!

5 comments about God of War (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. This is highly addictive action adventure game that will make you lose track of time. This game is an instant classic with unbeatable graghics. It also has a good storyline and suprise twists all this way until the end of the game. I highly recommend it to the mature gamer.
   
   Walt Hickman
   Snellville Georgia.



2. This book is EVERY detail you'll ever need to play this game. Game is so intricate, you'd miss so much without it.



3. I ordered this new direct from amazon because of the great ratings on the included DVD, however, after an extremely long wait, the DVD wasn't included with the guide, so I ordered a replacement copy, same problem! I ended up buying a used one because amazon couldn't supply it. At least they offered me a refund and return postage. Overall a great guide if you can find one with the DVD.



4. where have you been that you dont own this one and finsihed it twice yet lol a game both genders can love go get it now so you can get and finish GOWII lol



5. After finding more extensive walkthroughs online I regretted spending the money on this book. Could have bought a game. It is a very well done, glossy book. There are maps and explainations of weapons etc. The game is fantastic and this is a great collectable companion. However. It's not necessary in playing the game. As I mentioned before. You can get walkthrough and other information on the web.

5 comments about GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns (4th Edition).

1. 
   The "Gurps 4th Edition" just fixed all "Gurps 3rd Edition" weakness. The two books are so great. The color and hardcover look and feel are some big diference between the books and the the old versions.
   
   The bad comercial thing: are two books, and you need to have both if you want to be a Game Master.
   
   The "Characters Guide" have lots of resources to make a rich character and the "Campaigns Guide" have a good Game Master stuff.
   
   If you want to have some good RPG System, well, you need to buy "Gurps 4th Edition", but you need some time and practice, cause the game system is so rich, then the rules number is high.



2. An awesome upgrade to GURPS 3rd Edition. Full colored and illustrated book, some new rules added and some old rules banished, creating a better balanced and understandable system.
   Five stars again to SJG.



3. GURPS is one of the most, truly, generic systems around... and that's no suprise since it's the first. In this fourth edition, SJ games brings to bear their 20+ years of experience with this system and delivers an excellent addition to the GURPS line. The system is fully able to be employed in any genre from fantasy, science-fiction or horror and it flexible enough for even the most creative of gamers. If it has any weaknesses they would be:
   1. too many options: some gamers might be overwhelmed by the number of options available. Keep in mind that the game can be as simple or as complex as you like.
   2. all of the "flavor" is on you: GURPS (since it is generic...duh) is not set up to convey flavor through the design of its character sheets, the naming of abilities or the graphics in the books. Flavor is ALL up to the game-mast
   
   ... on the otherhand, perhaps those are strengths.



4. I've been contemplating the purchase of this book for a couple of years now, and finally broke down to make the purchase. The physical object itself is a thing of beauty. It has the lovely full color design and quality printing and binding that past purchasers have come to expect from GURPS products.
   
   This isn't a product for somebody who wants to buy it and run a game the next weekend. GURPS itself is less a game than a toolkit for making your own game. Once you have the rules, you need to either create your own setting and character archetypes (what GURPS calls templates), or you need to purchase one of the many game world books published for use with the game. Fortunately the book provides a lot of good guidance and examples. The published material that describes game worlds is also excellent. The high quality of this supporting material is what helped me decide to purchase GURPS Basic Set: Characters, Fourth Edition and GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns (4th Edition).
   
   Given that caveat, I recommend this product for any gamer who wants to expand their gaming into new directions. There's nothing revolutionary here, but this toolkit gives you what you need to produce any other kind of game that you want to play. You might want to play ghost hunters right now, but in six months you can switch to a space opera, and six months after that to cape-wearing super heroes. And for any of those options, you can purchase additional supporting material, or just wing it on your own. The number of games you get by purchasing this one set of books makes it an excellent bargain for the serious role player.



5. Been a long time GURPS fan and I think the 4th edition is absolutely great.

3 comments about Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 3 (Mensa).

1. I finally found a sudoku puzzle that can't be done in an hour. An awesome book.



2. I finally found some really difficult sudoku - they take time! But from the write-up I was expecting to get some explanations on how to solve using the more complicated techniques. It would also be nice if the answers included reference to which of the more difficult techniques were used to solve them.



3. Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 3 (Mensa)
   
   I like to think of myself as a sudoku whiz and this book has me humbled. It's difficult but not impossible. It's a matter of patience and logic that will win the day against these absolutely nasty puzzles.