3 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Poker (The Complete Idiot's Guide).

1. First, let me say that I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The fact that it is inexpensive is an immediate bonus but also, Mr. Glazer, has strong writing skills and the pages are very accessible. If you're not in the mood for concentrating you could even scan it, because, as is true with all of the "Idiot's Guide" series, "Poker" has little subgroupings that allow for quick digestion. In this edition, they're little boxes called "the inside straight, table talk" and "perilous play." Each page is full of advice and tips. It's a belly busting value play if you ask me.
   
   As far as particulars are concerned, Glazer exposes us to all of the intricacies of the poker omniculture. There isn't a game, style, or concept that he doesn't devote words to. What I personally found most useful were his discussions about the internet and tournaments. He really does a great job explaining to the reader what exactly goes on in a tournament. It's very hard to know if you're just watching ESPN or the Travel Channel as to what exactly is transpiring behind the scenes. Previously the methodology behind tournament payouts was a mystery to me. His section on player personalities was memorable as well.



2. This book is more of an overview of poker that I could see being very helpful for novices. It provides in introduction to various games, such as Hold 'Em and Omaha, and presents other general concepts such as bankroll management, playing in casinos vs. playing online, and poker etiquitte. Everything is easy to understand and useful for certain audiences, I just don't know how useful it would be for someone who has been playing the game for a while. It is also light on strategy.



3. I just started playing Poker a week ago and wanted a really simple explantion of the game. This book did the trick. It opened up my eyes to different types of games, styles of play and where to play.
   
   If you are looking for a simple general overview into the world of Poker, this is it.
   
   p.s.
   Once you have chosen the type of Poker you want to play, Glazer gives excellent great reads in his Appendix.

5 comments about World Poker Tour(TM): Shuffle Up and Deal.

1. This book is a fair primer on poker on it most basic level, but chances are if you're buying the book, it's because you've been watching WPT and are already familiar with the game to some extent.
   
   If you're really a beginner, this book is a fast read and will get you started, but please don't end your education here. There is very little in this book on theory, and important topics, if addressed at all, are not covered in depth. There are a few good stories, and there's plenty of advertising reminding us to watch WPT on TV and, of course, to play poker online at the site that Mr. Sexton endorses (and in which I believe he has some ownership). He reminds us over and over how GREAT it is to win! NO DUH!
   
   If you really want to learn about poker and take your game to the next level(s), get your hands on anything by Sklansky. Read them all. Cover to cover. Twice. Then again. It will take a long time to absorb it all, but it will be worth it. When you do, you'll then have to decide what style of play is best for you. For example, I found it discouraging that Mr. Sexton advocates the "fit or fold" strategy on the flop, only to read Sklansky tell us that "fit or fold" is "terrible advice."
   
   Buy this book if you must (it's a light read that you can knock out in an afternoon), but know going into it that you're not even scratching the surface of what poker is all about.



2. If you don't know the rules and are interested in poker, this book is for you. Even if you are experienced, it is a fun read. Just don't expect to learn anything new.
   
   The extra dvd is very well put together and great for someone just starting out.
   
   If you really want to learn poker though, pick one of the many other books considered "must-reads"



3. This is a good book, mainly for people above the raw beginner level, but still below the intermediate level. A lot of good observations about the differences between tournament poker and ring games. Probably a little "over the head" of raw beginners.



4. If you are a poker player, then this is a good book to read. It has everything you need to become successful. If the book doesn't do it for you, then there is a DVD that could really help your game.



5. How did they take something rarely televised and make it have more viewers than most basketball games? This book talks about the business plan, the financing, getting casinos to grant them exclusive rights to TV poker, how they mention the casino at least twice in each show, how they use the 16 cameras and graphics to make you feel like you are a player at the table. I loved learning that sometime they redo the commentary 3 times to make the show more exciting. There are bios of some of the early WPT veterans. There are inside stories about playing home games with stars in Hollywood. Did you know that Mike Sexton was able to be a pro poker player playing in cash games six nights a week in North Carolina? I always thought that poker pros had to be near a casino. I feel that these stories are worth the price of the book. This book is a good intro book for beginners, but more experienced players will not learn any poker strategies. However, you should consider reading this book for the stories and for the insights into starting an international sporting organization from scratch.

5 comments about How To Win The Championship: Hold'em Strategies for The Final Table.

1. I have almost 30 books on Hold'em. Other than Harrington's books which are excellent, almost none put you really, and I mean REALLY inside the mind of the author/player (Erick Lindgren's book does a good job of this though). I've had the good fortune to have met TJ a couple of times, and ask him some questions. But in How To Win The Championship he brings you into his thought process, to the point where he even says that some more mathematical players may not agree, but he does it so-and-so way and here's why. The information is non-stop, with essentially no fluff. But be warned, if you are just a beginning player who hasn't played in a tournament before, he doesn't go into basics and it doesn't tell you what to do at the beginning or middle stages of a tournament. This is really for a bit more experienced player. His book essentially starts off at the point where you are 1 table before getting into the money and goes on from there to heads up. Being a tournament player myself (I don't play cash games much at all), this book is perfect. I better understand why I've hit walls in the past and how I need to adjust my play to win or at least get into the top 3. I get in the money a reasonable number of times in live tournaments but have real trouble breaking into that upper pay echelon. He gives great advice on how not to flame out when you just make it into the money but not into the bigger money. Really key points that I haven't seen in other books. I realize that at some point we all need to stop buying all these books (yeah, learning never stops but 30 books? I must be a junkie!), but I really can say if you want to improve your tournament play, TJ's book is a must. His writing style is like he's talking to you about exactly what he does and why (also what he doesn't do and why you shouldn't either).
   
   Chapters include:
   * When you're one table away from the money
   * When you've made it to the first money table
   * When you've made it to the second money table
   * When you've made it to the final table
   * Six-handed at the final table
   * Playing three-handed and heads up at the final table
   * Several chapters on tournament strategies and some other thoughts.
   
   As you can see, this book's content is pretty specific and I haven't seen this in other books. In fact, in many of those chapters, he further breaks them down into if you are a short, medium or big stack, because the size of your chip stack greatly influences the types of situations that you should get involved in. It's like you've got a coach you can talk to as you continue to advance in the tournament...especially useful for those who haven't been into the money or final table before or keep seeming to make mistakes and missing the big money.
   
   Overall, highly recommended and it absolutely will pay for itself, whether you play in live or online tournaments.



2. Like most of Cloutier's books, this reads like a transcript of conversations with him. It is not that well organized, and more specific examples would be helpful. BUT, you learn about the thought process of one of the best. It is hard to imagine too many serious players, who would not benefit from reading this book and thinking about the ideas. I probably won't re-read this book as often as Harrington or Gordon's, but it will be on the active part of my poker bookshelf.



3. Don't believe the positive reviews, this book is awful. It's rambling, imprecise, and purely anecdotal, the worst example of the unhelpful "play the player" style of the lesser poker books. Over and over again TJ's grand sum total of advice in all kinds of different situations is to "learn your opponents" so you can "make moves" and "then you can really play poker". And that is it, the entire enumeration of the "strategy". Nothing about how to go about actually -learning- your opponents, nothing about -moves- to make, nothing about his way of -really playing poker-.
   
   The scenarios he sets up are the same thing you have heard a hundred times elsewhere. Anyone who has read other books (or played tournaments) will already have a firm grasp on basic beginner logic like, "if you're seriously short stacked, you've got to gamble". Just compare that to the in-depth examination of M and Q done by Harrington in his series.
   
   Anyone who hasn't read other books (and doesn't have much experience) will not find advice in this book that will improve their game.
   
   There is ONE actual concrete move described in this book, and that's the fact that when there's a preflop raise, TJ likes to reraise to steal the blinds + the original raise, which allows him to keep even for a few orbits. The rest of this book is at the level of advising you to "get your money in with the best hand".
   
   The final insult in the book is to recite the action of ESPN-televised knockout hands from the 2005 WSOP $5000 NL event. Great. But there's barely any _analysis_ of the hands, what was done right and wrong, what Cloutier might do differently or emphasize. Just a flat recitation of what was shown on TV. (I can't say there was _no_ analysis. Cloutier does at one point add the insight that "sometimes you just have to make the decision to go for it.") Again, compare to Harrington's deep analysis of D'Agostino vs Ivey.
   
   Just an awful book from an otherwise great player, a cheap attempt to cash in on the televised NL tournament poker craze, can't hold a candle to Cloutier's earlier (highly regarded) works with Tom McEvoy or the absolutely brilliant new standard for NL tourneys defined by Harrington or the very crisp and insightful ring game advice from Phil Gordon.



4. I love watching T. J. Cloutier play, so I jumped on this book with anticipation. Basically, it's a long discourse in which he takes every opportunity to tell you to play good hands and do your best to get paid off for them, and never stop studying your opponents.
   
   Although the author uses tournament theory throughout, he never particularly explains it, or ties it in to his exposition, except in the discussion of when to go all in in the big blind.
   
   He breaks down the exposition by number of players left and stack sizes, but his advice for playing the big and medium stacks is almost indistinguishable. He does give some good advice on which players to attack and which to stay away from, but it's slightly spoiled by the
   superstitious injunction, repeated two or three times, to stay out of the way of players "on a rush." If you always do that, you'll miss your chances to stop someone's "rush," now, won't you?
   
   There's a chapter where he goes over the critical hands from the 2005 WSOP $5000 No-Limit Hold'em event. This is the high point of the book, but if you compare the commentary here with the kind of analysis Harrington gets into in Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook (Harrington on Hold'em), it's pretty airy.
   
   What one does get out of this book is a sense of how much patience one has to apply, and (at least vaguely) what standards to use on one's hands. For some players, this will be a needed tonic.
   
   In many places throughout, the author admits he's just pointing to something he can't teach directly; he can give you an idea just how well-developed a top player's intuition and sense of timing are, but give only a couple of hints on how to get to that point: paraphrasing, they would be "study your opponents" and "remember your mistakes."
   
   The advice in this book is tailored for big tournaments with relatively deep stacks. In the tournaments most of us play, we'll bubble out if we try to follow T.J.'s advice without adjustment, which is exactly the problem the book sets out to solve.
   
   I do wish all my opponents would read this book, though, especially the ones who keep overplaying KJ and drawing out on me.



5. Don't agree with the others who didn't like this book. It's my favorite out of 12 or so that I've bought on poker. Ok, so it doesn't get into specifics so much, but the strategy is very sound and the best for me.
   
   This and Harrington's books are my favorites, but this one gets me farther in tournaments without having to analyze numbers to death. I truly believe this is the philosophy that got TJ all the wins he has and he's one of the best ever.
   
   You can review a million hands and how they were played, what the pot odds were etc, and still not get to the final table as surely as this book will get you there.

4 comments about Ken Uston on Blackjack.

1. Ken Uston once again demonstrates why he was the world's foremost authority on the game of blackjack. His playing experiences were both varied and extreme. In this book, he tells stories (some told before) of his playing experiences, and details his ultimately fruitless attempts to get the Nevada Gaming Commission to stop the casino practice of barring card counters. Of note: in this book he disavows his previously touted Uston APC count, stating that it's just too difficult to use effectively, and that simpler systems are probably more effective in the long run. That piece of information alone makes the book worth having, and in this book he suggests which other systems should be used instead.



2. A GREAT BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THOSE EARLY DAYS. IT HAS A FEW GOOD TIPS ON COVER THRU STORIES HOWEVER THIS A REALLY DATED FOR ANY PRACTICAL USE IN CASIOS TODAY.



3. This book does NOT contain tips on playing blackjack. Instead it is filled with stories and anecdotes of how the infamous Ken Uston used Team Play to beat the casinos out of millions of dollars. Millions. At times laugh-out-loud, occasionally boring when the courts become involved, but is quite accessible even for those with little familiarity with 21.

   If you want to read about other casino shenanigans, like how some physics students put computers in their shoes and beat the roulette wheel (and still to this day receive royalty checks), grab a copy of the Eudemonic Pie. For the book that started it all: Beat the Dealer.

   If you're looking to become a card counter after reading this, check out the de facto standard for any serious counter: Million Dollar Blackjack, also by Uston. Do not waste time with the others, particularly Jerry Patterson's shuffle tracking scheme.




4. Most anything written by Ken Uston is good. Filled with stories of blackjack and card counting in the late 70's and early 80's.

5 comments about Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker.

1. This was recommended by the American MENSA Guide to Casino Gambling book, and rightfully so. Pretty much all angles are covered in this book, and the price is right.

   It's quite thorough for anyone who wants to play Pai-Gow poker at casino-level stakes. However, due to its thoroughness, it can be confusing to the novice (or the very tired). I recommend skimming the details chapter, then concentrating on "An Approximate Strategy". This arms you with a great strategy to set your hand the best way possible.

   The math presented is good as well ... Isn't it interesting to guesstimate that you'll win 50% of the time if you have a pair of jacks and A-8?

   For knowledge synthesis, one great part of the book is approximately 20 pages of practice hands. The optimal results are shown, and the number of the sub-chapter to review if you didn't agree with the answer.

   Buy it and read for yourself ... Good luck!




2. Wong has charted unexplored territory here in his study of Pai Gow. This is probably the only book in print that exhaustively explains the correct optimal strategy for player and banker in every hand scenario. I can't fault the content, yet there is some additional information I wish Wong had provided to make this book more practical.

   1) While the optimal strategy is indeed powerful, it was devised (as Wong explains) to be the best possible response to the best possible pai gow strategies. In other words, the best response to the Wong strategy is to play the Wong Strategy. This is what makes it optimal. However, real casinos do not play the Wong strategy, they play a much simpler strategy known as the house way. (and even this strategy differs from casino to casino) What would be most useful to a reader would be an optimal player strategy to counter the house way. The banker strategy would also need to be refined - once for heads up play against the dealer, and again for play against a full table.

   2) To this end, the book would have needed to provide current "house way" policies in Nevada and elsewhere, and updated stats on house edge and bankers edge with the new strategies.

   3) I hoped that Wong could have condensed his optimal strategy even further than he does in chapter 4, providing a simple page of rules for the casual player, and then explaining what the house edge is if the player employs the simple condensed strategy.

   But these reservations aside, you can't find a better book on pai gow poker. His prose is very readable and straightforward, and you'll surely be impressed by all the research in the book.




3. This book is complete crap. Unless you have a photographic memory, just do a search on the internet and you will get the same info in an easy to understand manner for free. But just so you know....
   
   1-NO explaination on how to play Pai Gow poker. WTF???? Any book on anything starts with 1 chapter on the rules. The first page he is talking about bankers and this and that. On the XBox there are no bankers (bicyle casino). If he would have explained the rules I would have know that.
   
   2-All charts. I mean, all charts. You want an explaination? Look at the charts. hmm, ok. It's like 120 pages with 100 pages of charts. WTF? What do they mean? I have yet to figure out these charts because no explaination is given on how to interpret them. How about that?
   
   3-He says he doesn't use the charts so he has another chapter on a simplified system, but almost as confusing. Hey pal, look at Knockout blackjack. There is simplified stagety, basic stategy, KO rookie and and then a KO preferreed and finally at the end are the matrixes. On the basic stategy, there is one page with what you need to remember. Even the preferred system only uses the top 18 matrixes. You don't need all of that extra stuff at the beginning of the book especially when the author days he doesn't eve use the,. If Wong had followed this lead, he would have had all the charts at the back of the book. Instead it's too confusing. In fact, there is no basic stargety page. It's a whole chapter. There are places on the internet with basic guides.
   
   4-Al in all, this whole book could have been 10 pages long. Do yourself a good thing and save the money. I give it 1 star cause it made good kindling for the fireplace.



4. Do not buy this book. Useless info. If youlove Pai Gow as I do just do some internet surfing you will get more info.



5. Wong wanted to call his book "Professional Pai Gow" but Mike Caro beat him to it, so we get "Optimal Strategy." As it is, this is more accurately titled; for most Nevada players will never sit down to a game where they can get an edge (see below).
   
   Wong has done a fair amount of computer analysis on how to play each type of hand, and his presentation of it all is positively exhausting, if not exhaustive. There is chart after chart after chart of proper play guidelines, with short explanations. As a pretty regular player of the game, I was left shell shocked with all of the exceptions to the exceptions to normal play...to hands which you will only be looking at maybe a couple of times a night if you're lucky, and the difference in how you'd play them might amount to .05% difference in financial expectation. It was a bit much. His condensed, easier to memorize guidelines are a big help...why not organize the book around them, and leave all the charts nobody can use for an appendix? The point, as even Wong points out, is not perfection in play, since even that compared to lackadaisical ordinary handsetting yields at most a .3% difference at the end, but rather to get the most play quality from a medium investment of effort.
   
   Two sections I found to be of most use, and the first was on the proper odds you will face...typically from 2.4 to 2.9% against, which is worse than blackjack, video poker (played well) or craps. Bank big and play small is Wong's advice, good so far as it goes, but this will be more applicable to California tables than Vegas games which tend to restrict either frequency of players banking or variation in bet size or both. As banker you need to bank for between 6 and 14 times your normal player bet to break even; pretty tough to find that kind of game, and your bankroll swings will be legendary. On page 17 Wong outright states that, "seldom or never will you find a Nevada Pai Gow poker game in which you can break even if you bank only 1 hand in 7".
   
   The second section which is useful is the 20 pages or so dedicated to practice hands, with references to chapters where he explains optimal play of these hands. Many players mess up play of two-pair; this section will help cure you of it far better than attempting to memorize Wong's charts.
   
   If you don't have a problem poring over charts of numbers this book does contain a lot of information in a highly condensed format. If you are looking for a more wordy and easily explained way to play, this is not the book for you. Most actual hands you will see virtually play themselves; this book will cover the rest. But for a .3% difference, it seems like too much work.

5 comments about Tales from the Tiltboys.

1. I just finished this lovely book. This is a book about friendship and shared life experiences, woven around poker and roshambo and the circle game. Once you understand the concept of "tilt" as a form of currency in the game of life (to be earned, spent, loved, leveraged and traded) you will ADORE every word of this funny, imaginative, entirely entertaining book. Kudos to Kim Scheinberg the editor. She did an admirable job.
   
   I smiled from the first page to the last. I laughed out loud - a lot. I identified with the camaraderie of people making and cherishing lifelong friendships. Anyone who has ever had a shared life experience with even one close friend will enjoy this book. It made me jealous - I wished I had been a Tiltboy. But, more than mere jealousy, I increased the value I put on my own friendships with every page I turned. I hated to reach the end.
   
   Enjoy!



2. This book is a ripoff of the Anthony Burgess "A Clockwork Orange" novel with "tilt" being substituted for "ultra-violence". Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed every page with a smile on my face. But, I don't believe any of the stories about Perry.



3. Great book about a regular Wednesday poker game and the characters involved with it. This book takes you through the trials and tribulations of the tilt boys from back rooms to fame and fortune, it's and entertaining read.



4. I am sure this book would be very funny if you were a tiltboy or friend of the tiltboys. The tiltboys sound like a fun and smart bunch of people to hang around with. But I thought the book was a huge waste of time and money. The material in this book may be fit for a scrapbook or a home video but as a published work? No.



5. These guys are my heros! If you spend a night reading, it will feel like you're out on the town. I enjoy reading for recreational pleasure and for factual education. Most of the time reading is work. I blew threw this book in about 5 days! I've also made it required reading for all of my poker friends.
   In reality, they are just a bunch of sick-smart guys (and gal) who love to play poker, gamble (yes, there IS a difference between the two!), and screw with each other. This book is a compilation of some of their shennanigans over the years. I'm sure some of their best material is in here. However, to really be a tiltboy, I'm sure this has to be an attitude, a way of life. I read somewhere that you should think of the guys in Animal House with an average IQ of 120. I'd say that this is a correct assessment. And I hope that someday that I will aspire well enough to have the honor of being called a Tiltboy.
   Great reading!

5 comments about Aces and Kings: Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies From Poker's Greatest Players.

1. One of the consequences of the big poker craze is that books are coming out a million on the subject. Aces and Kings is a perfect example of the fad, but it bares none of the hallmarks of quick production. The prose reads very much like what one would expect to find in a mainstream magazine; which is not surprising as several of these chapters appeared first in places like Cigar Aficionado. The book, on the whole, is quality and chocked full of details. It's main focus concerns those who try to make an easy living in the hardest way possible, i.e. the professional players. With ESPN and The Travel Channel, they have ever-increasingly become the focus of the public's attention. Aces and Kings attempts to inform readers about the poker life by analyzing its biggest names and figures. Many of these cardsharps have become celebrities overnight. Their mini-biographies are extremely interesting and are told over the course of 15 chapters. Three of them, "Web Kids," "The Women of Poker," and "The New Superstars" concern, groupings of players rather than individuals. In this, I think that they made one major error because Daniel Negreanu deserves a chapter of his own. That guy's personality is big enough to fill a warehouse.
   
   Nearly all of the pros have lives that make for good reading, but, in my opinion, the most fascinating entry was the one concerning Chris Ferguson. In case you might not recognize his name, he was The World Series of Poker 2000 champion and is one of the most recognizable players in the game due to his Black Bart cowboy hat and huge Oakley shades. We discover that his appearance, just like every aspect of his persona, was carefully calculated in the hopes of discouraging his opponents from perceiving just how mathematically oriented he actually is. Ferguson has a PhD in mathematics/artificial intelligence from UCLA, and has spent years forging his probability based approach to the game. His huge black binders are brimming with statistics and determine how he will play hands and scenarios. The results, as we know, have been fantastic. What impressed me most about him was that he went on a severe cold streak in 2002, but did not get discouraged as he "recognized a statistical deviation" when he saw one. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and, even if you are not a huge poker fan, the plots within are about as interesting as something written by Nicholas Pileggi.



2. This is a great poker book. But be warned, it is not a book on poker strategies. It is, however, a wonderful book with each chapter detailing a bio on a different poker player(s). The read does provide a glimpse into the style of the different players. But it does not go into great depths on specific strategies and so on. This suits me just fine considering that there is now a mountain of poker books covering strategies.
   
   So if you're interested in getting a broad feel for how some of the elite poker players slugged their way to the top, this is an excellent book. If you enjoy literature and poker, this will make an excellent read when you need to pass the time (e.g., airplane ride, can't sleep at night, etc.) ...



3. It was an entertaining read but it just did not deliver on its titles promise of providing any "million-dollar strategies". It also has a very dis-jointed feel to it-start, stop, start again. Well, after reading it through, that minor annoyance makes sense. This is a collection of articles written by the two authors put into book form so the flow is uneven and a little distracting. I enjoyed reading about the great gamblers and poker players, but it just left me a little disappointed having bought it with different expectations.



4. If you're a poker player looking for another purely instructional manual --- save your money here. If on the other hand you'd like entertaining stories of today's & yesterday's most successful pros and what made them that way then you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It gives profiles on some of poker's all-time best players past and present while managing to deliver the "nuts" using specific examples from their successes at the table. The main message of this book is that there are as many ways and strategies to win at poker --- particularly Texas Hold 'Em as there are players, REALLY! The best lesson it gave me was to figure out which of these many players' "style" of play best fit my own and go to school learning. Additionally, at the end it gives brief summaries of pokers most popular games along with a poker dictionary of terms. I really think the beginner as well as the expert can take something valuable away from these pages.... The profiles of the players are every bit as informative as they are entertaining and insightful. So pick up this book and get a "read" on some of the games greats to improve your game!



5. I liked this book. Not quite a 5 star offering but pretty close.
   
   Fun stories about crazy gamblers!
   
   Get a copy.

5 comments about Progression Blackjack: Exposing the Card Counting Myth.

1. PROGRESSION SYSTEMS DONT WORK! thats what many card counters say and players also. THEYRE WRONG! ONLY ONE SYSTEM OF + PROGRESSION PLAYING WORKS AND THAT WAS DEVISED BY A NAVAL NUCLEUR ENGINEER NAMED DON DAHL! ive talked to don and his wife robin several times and found 2 geniuses! ok! HERES WHY IT WORKS! 1. its the only system that repeats the same bet twice! 2, the only system that still gives you a profit when you lose the raised bet.I know, you think its way too slow! Sorry but its not! Don has some clever "tricks" with splits, doubles, and blackjacks that can get you from 5buck bets to 100 bucks before you can see or believe it! and remember. all you need is 1 good streak and the pit bosses are standing behind you! I know the odds of winning 4 in a row are 11-1 against you but think of the number of times you start from square 1 with a 5 buck bet! Its just like the cop on the shoulder! hes sees the same Mercedes day after day after day and then IT HAPPENS! on the 600th day the Mercedes has a tail light out and BOOM! A drunk driving arrest! SAME WAY WITH STREAKS! they happen! you can almost bank on 1 or 2 good streaks a session! Amd then get the he-l OUT OF THERE! F-A-S-T! dont let them get it back! Remember"""" If you fool with them long enough THEY WILL GET YOU! Good luck too you all and hello Don and Robin! Dr.Robert Balaban D.C,



2. Garbage! A book like this shouldn't even be legal.



3. If I could give this a zero rating I would. The author is selling snake oil and passing out very bad information. The use of progressive betting is not based on statistics or mathematics - PERIOD. If you are using basic strategy to play blackjack and have studied the correct plays based on statistics/mathematics why use a `betting strategy' based on streaks? The statistics and math reveal that you will not win as much money in the long run using a progressive betting scheme then pure flat betting. The only time to vary from basic strategy (in certain instances) or flat betting is if you are counting cards. Card counting will provide insight into what cards are left in the shoe and indicate when the odds are more favorable for an increased bet. Without card counting the expected outcome for every hand is always the same and is in the favor of the house.
   
   You may have some good outings with progressive betting in the short run (just like the person betting streaks at the roulette wheel) - but in the end statistics will catch up to you - guaranteed.



4. I've tried a zillion systems for Blackjack, and this is the best. It keeps you in the game until a long streak comes along, and then you make a killing. Playing the $10 progression, I have made as much as $700 in one session. I usually start with $200, and I rarely lose it all. Admittedly, I will oftentimes win a little or lose a little, as the streaks do not always come. But it's hard to explain the feeling of making $100 bets, when you started at just $10!
   
   Reading the negative reviews from card counters is amusing. First, they assume that everyone wants to play the game for a living, rather than just for fun. The fact is, most of us are recreational players, and we're not trying to pay the rent from our Blackjack winnings. Second, it's apparent that none of these reviewers has actually tried the system! They criticize based on "theory" and "statistics." Wouldn't it be more fair to actually play the system before trashing it?
   
   My only criticism is that Dahl's basic strategy is a little more aggressive than most authors recommend. I play the more "standard" basic strategy.
   
   Is this a system you could quit your job and play professionally? Probably not. But that's not the point. The point is to give the average player a legitimate shot at winning, while minimizing risk. This system does just that. And you can get some nice comps in the meantime.



5. The table of content seem right, with history of blacjack and its turn around, myth of counting, and offering new technics. The author do not show or proof anyway that counting is not working at date. His technics is just a simple positive progression betting...which has to be clear in everyone head that no betting method works!! Blackjack is a dynamic game (mean change depending of player action) but with limited possiblities... therefore any sequence of bet is consider static and will not follow the rythm of the game. (except for "Double-up" because of its continous recovering action) The book is very short of ideas and content. I am deceive of this authors being so sure his method works.

4 comments about The Illustrated Guide to No-Limit Texas Hold'em.

1. I was not a fan of this book. It contains a lot of errors - like how to look like you are going to bet by holding your chips when describing an Internet tournament scenario! Of the 150 scenarios, one includes making a Royal Flush and another involves flopping quads. Sure, they happen, but I've been playing online for more than six years, and I've made one Royal. Are there people playing on the Internet as dumb as the opponents described in this book? Sure. But the overall message I took away from this book is, "Don't gamble unless you have the absolute nuts." Good luck on that. Find a better use for your money.



2. Following the success of the limit version of this book the author has moved into the arena of the very popular no limit Hold'em game. Unlike most of the books out there this one breaks everything down into illustrated scenarios which include the important factors of position, pot size, action, and other useful information upon which decisions should be based. The reader can visualize the exact scenario and then read the correct course of action. By providing over 150 scenarios some of which are multiple parts of the same hand the reader is guided through a number of thought processes that are essential for any winning poker player.
   
   A beginner is exposed to ideas they may never have considered such as the importance of position, how to figure pot odds, the consideration of prior action in the hand, theoretical hand strength, maximizing profit from a winning hand, and much more.
   
   Some of the concepts will be old news to an advanced player, but to new and intermediate players it drives home some very important advice covering real life and internet games. By using illustrations with every hand the concepts are easy to grasp and remember. It is a book that can be read a little at a time and is very easily absorbed.



3. I'm between Beginner and Intermediate, and this book works great for me. Illustrations help reders to understand situations very clearly. With this book I feel as if I were at a card table with a great mentor.



4. There are lots of books out there that are just too much work for the beginner. Sklansky is brilliant but I can't wade through his books or most of the 2+2 library just yet. That's a criticism of me not them.
   
   Lots of other books attempt to describe hands in prose or through some kind of diagram. These books by Purdy provide a very clear way of illustrating and narrating a poker scenario so that it has the feel of being at the table. The situations can be read one at a time. Each stuation and analysis taking perhaps five minutes or so to read through.
   
   Since 95% of the book consists of the 150 situations, don't buy this book unless you are willing to actively engage in thinking them through as presented. This is not a book to just sit back and read on autopilot. You have to "play" the hands. You might think of it as 5 hours of play at the casino poker room.
   
   The books by Purdy have helped me the most in starting out. And who knows, after reading them, I may just be ready for some Sklansky.

2 comments about Gettin' Lucky (Simon Romantic Comedies).

1. The story here is not that shocking or remarkable. Cass's boyfriend, Jesse, cheats on her with her best friend, therefore ruining her entire life. However, predictably, she finds new friends, a new hobby (poker, of course--she lives in Las Vegas!), and maybe even a new guy.
   
   What makes GETTIN' LUCKY special is the awesome Las Vegas-poker twist on what is a fairly typical teen romance! That kept my attention througout the book, although there were occasional dull bits in this novel.
   
   Micol Ostow, however, is a good writer, who manages to make her characters realistic and interesting.
   
   GETTIN' LUCKY is definitely worth reading!
   
   Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce



2. The plotline was very predictable--some of that, of course, comes with the genre, but this one was more predictable than most. I knew what was going to happen from the second the male lead was introduced a few chapters in. This is not too atypical, but usually the fun comes in from watching how the characters end up together. I just didn't care about either of them, or their friends or their problems. I have absolutely no problem with soft silly rom coms but there are a lot of better ones out there. Try Major Crush by Jennifer Echols, The Boyfriend League by Rachael Hawthorne, or Tropical Kiss by Jan Coffey instead.