2 comments about Beyond Counting : Exploiting Casino Games from Blackjack to Video Poker.

1. For professional gamblers, this book is the best you'll ever get.
   
   Grosjean presents a wide variety of material. This text assumes the reader is a successful gambler, and has mastered all beginner and intermediate material. If you are a blackjack card-counter and have made 50k from BJ, you have the background to fully appreciate this book.
   
   This presents material from two different angles, each of which is original. He first analyzes traditional games (not just Blackjack) and shows you ways to beat them, with a mathematical focus on exploiting weak dealers (there is an exceptional analyzis of 3-card poker). Second, he presents a new way of thinking for "textbook gamblers" (those who profit from books, but don't develop original ideas for themselves.) This focus opened my eyes to new ways to profit, notably in Blackjack. One other thing that is surprising for a book of this price - the methods explained are legal.
   
   Some auction sites will list this book from $500-$2000. If 1. you don't know people "in the know", 2. you have at least 50k in capital, and 3. you play a lot of +EV BJ, this book is worth the auction price.
   
   Before you buy a used copy, be aware that Grosjean is releasing a new edition of "Beyond Counting" in 2006 or early 2007. Grosjean's website notes that there might be two versions - the normal one, and one for accredited professionals. Given what I read in the original edition, it would not surprise me if he removed a lot of exceptional material for the republication.



2. This is an amazingly lucid and very useful book. It provides valuable advice to get an edge in many casino games - all legal advice, of course. Essential, but, sadly, hard to get.
   
   Regarding the sequel: It is already about a year late, and the publishers stopped posting publishing date updates on their website in February 2007.

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.

3 comments about Getting Lucky: The Education of a Mad Poker Player.

1. After his first book, the author decides that he loves the game of poker and travelling the world to play it. He lacks only one thing: a good poker game. Mere mortals among us might read books, try software or discuss our play with friends to improve. Not Mr. Sparks. He enlists WSOP champ and author Tom McEvoy to coach him.
   
   This method works like gangbusters. Sparks still struggles in battle at the tables, but now, he often wins. He learns from a research psychologist all about tells, in poker and otherwise. He meets all sorts of poker players, both famous and infamous. The famous include Josh Arieh, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowen, Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer -- you get the idea. The infamous player is an anonymous poker cheat who says that cheating goes on constantly in the poker room at every level.
   
   He takes a poker cruise with everyone from Bill Gates to Mike Sexton aboard.
   
   He tells us the story of Lyle Berman, great cash game player, pot limit Omaha expert and the man who started the World Poker Tour, The WPT is a big part of the energy behind the poker craze. Watch a poker game on TV, snooze time; watch a poker game on TV and see everyone's cards, instant hit. Berman put the first watchable poker on the tube.
   
   He goes to the WSOP, this time as a player.
   
   An informative, wide-ranging,and winning poker memoir.
   
   Heck, I'm gonna raise my rating up another star because of all the great material in this book. I've read a lot of these poker memoirs lately, and this is one of my favorites.



2. What a read!
   
   Poker's Perfect Storm!
   
   Finally, a brilliant writer that understands this game of games!
   
   Not only will reading this book improve your level of play, but you will be captivated by Richard's wit and storytelling prowess.
   
   Richard Sparks lets us into his heart and head as he competes and struggles to improve. And that is a very special gift to all who read it.
   
   This book taught me, like no other, that the emotions and thoughts that cascade through me at the table are part of what binds us together as poker players. Our shared experience.
   
   I loved this book.



3. There are plenty of poker "how-to" books on the market ("Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You" by Sheree Bykofsky and Lou Krieger is a good one). Unlike other poker authors, Richard Sparks takes as his subjects the who and what and why and where and when of poker. But, in "Getting Lucky" - the sequel to "Diary of a Mad Poker Player" - there is also an element of "how." This is because, after his first book, Richard realized that he needed help with his game. So he got 1983 World Champion of Poker Tom McEvoy to coach him for a year.
   
   The result is an interesting new angle on poker teaching. "How-to" books are always written by the teacher. This one is written by the student. So you get to go through Richard's learning process with him, in real events, with real hands in real situations. You get to witness his mistakes, and hear what his coach has to say about them. The fact that Richard's results improved out of all recognition speaks for McEvoy's excellence as a teacher - for example, in July 2006, Richard finished 20th out of 2,891 entrants in the $1,000 No Limit Hold Em at the World Series of Poker.
   
   Mainly, though, "Getting Lucky" is the story of one player's year in the heart of the current poker boom. There are poker greats and poker degenerates. There is a week of poker bliss on the Party Poker Cruise. There are unusual angles on the game: a lesson in reading body language from an Oxford Professor; interviews with poker luminaries like Lyle Berman, owner of the World Poker Tour. And there is the will-he, won't-he thrill of an ordinary player winning his seat in our World Championship, and playing in the Big One for the first time.
   
   Richard Sparks is a professional comedy writer who clearly loves poker. "Getting Lucky" was obviously a labor of love.

5 comments about Winning Casino Craps (Other).

1. One of the best overall reference books on craps, as worthwhile for the more advanced player as it is for the beginner. No serious craps library should be without it.



2. If you have no idea how to play craps then i will say as all other books it explains the basic bets etc. The problem this book had, along with many other craps books i have bought is that 70% of the book is basic craps primer, 10% are about stories of big rolls, 10% is about comps and casino management and about 5 pages are about actual strategy to use while playing the game.
   
   Drumroll please, the big strategy that will make you tons of money can be summarized in 3 sentences.
   
   bet the pass line with double odds. After each Pass win without a loss, press the bet up. At the end it has you betting something like $500 on the pass and 1000 on the odds bet. here is the problem:
   
   In order to get to that level the shooter, get this, has to make something liek 11 points. I have seen some shooters make 5 or 6 points but 11 is very very rare.
   
   This book in a sentence:
   
   After each pass with double odds win press your pass and odds bet. if you lose on 3 shooters go home.



3. I became acquainted with Silberstang's writing way back in the 1980s and his basic ideas do hold up. You will not really learn an advantage method in this book, but a betting system that does cut the house edge to its minimum. Silberstang's writing is crisp and clear, his experiences show that he is a player, and his knowledge of the game for random players is top notch.
   
   This is a good book to start your craps playing career.
   
   Frank Scoblete: Author of Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!



4. It has really helped me understand the game. I was playing it all wrong. Haven't tried the "Come" stragedy, but will try it soon.



5. Okay, I had played craps before but I was not an expert by any means. I understood certain basics but wanted to learn more, and even a system or strategy. I picked this book and it provided everything I needed. The background is well described and most importantly points out the bets that a standard user should stay away from (i.e., the bets in which the odds are not in the players favor). The strategy presented (for playing with the dice) is very comprehensive but easily described. Personally, I wanted something simple that I could remember in any state of mind. :) Regardless, this system single-handedly paid for my trip to Vegas for a buddy's wedding. I never played high-roller tables, nor did I make extreme bets (in my case). The system allowed me to maximize my profits and minimize my losses while the table was "hot". If you are interested in learning craps and using an easy system, this is the book for you.

5 comments about The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold'em, 2nd Edition (The Pocket Idiot's Guide).

1. The Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold 'Em, while thoughtfully written and chock full of very useful information is certainly NOT for the novice player. While I've been a fan of the "Idiot" series and their chief competitor, this particular pocket guide is, unfortunately, written well over the Idiot's head. Although it covers a weath of topics, it is unfortunately brief on far too many of them and tried to cover too much territory in too short a span. As a result the passages are often overly complicated, tangential and confusing. If this was the first book I had read on Texas Hold 'Em, I'd be more confused than before I started it!
   
   I would recommend this short work for anyone who is a fairly experienced amature player with a few hundred online hands under their belt and another book or two prior to this one. In that event, Randy Burgess' thoughts and strategies - although as with any single author's opinion are to be taken with a grain of salt and not gospal - are useful and insightful.



2. Before I read this I just tried to wait for good cards and hope for the best. The strategies in this book have finally made me a winning player -- and helped me understand exactly what it takes to make money in this game and move up from the low limits I currently play. As long as you aren't at my table, I recommend it!



3. After watching hold'em on TV and holding my own in games with friends, I decided to give playing online a try. I found the games alot harder and was frustrated that I not only couldn't win, but I was actually losing. I picked up this book, thinking I wouldn't learn much and found out that I knew almost nothing about how to win -- and some of what I did know was wrong.
   
   From starting hands to odds, counting pots to understanding other players this book got me to break even within a week of finishing it. Since then (in about 4 months), I've won over $750 playing .50 - $1 and have just moved up to playing $1-2 online.
   
   Strongly recommended.



4. scrivo in italiano cosi' mi capite ITALIANI.
   Onestamente posso dire che e' un OTTIMO libro,tutte le tattiche del gioco PRE FLOP,FLOP,TURN,RIVER e molto altro.
   Molto facile da capire(linguaggio semplice).
   CONSIGLIATO per i principianti e NON



5. This book showed me how to play serious hold'em -- I've still got a long way to go, but at least now I know what I don't know. Like most Idiot's guides, it's great at giving you the nuts and bolts basics on the topic. I'm sure more experienced players have the odds nailed and know what "outs" are, but I didn't before I read this book. It's also useful for learning where to play, whether on the Internet and even for types of players to look out for. I've already reread it twice, and I'm sure I'll refer back lots more times.

1 comments about Beginners Guide to Limit Hold'em.

1. I'd like to think I left the "beginner" stage some time ago, consequently I haven't paid much attention to this book since I purchased it several months ago. However in researching the topic of dominated hands I remembered that Jacob's book had a good discussion of the topic - indeed it was reading this section in a bookstore that convinced me to buy the book though I had no intention of immediate use. Thus it was that I retrieved it from the shelf and sat down to read that section. One thing led to another and now, several hours later, I find that this book has some of the clearest explanations of important topics that I've found anywhere.
   
   If you are a new player the first half of the book introduces you to the fundamentals. If you are an experienced player you'll think you already know this stuff, and probably you do. Even then you'll find some of it, especially the chapter titled "How Hands Develop" to be worth a careful read.
   
   The second half of the book presents nothing new, nothing you can't find in Sklansky, Miller, et. al. Then why am I writing a positive review - simply because Jacobs writes so clearly and succinctly that this is a great place for a beginner to ... well, to begin. More experienced players may find themselves wondering why nobody else ever said it so well.
   
   In short readable sections Jacobs thoroughly explains concepts such as outs, hand odds, pot odds, implied odds, position, domination, aggression, playing various types of hands from various positions, etc. Many beginners clearly have trouble believing the importance of position as an excursion into poker sites on the Internet will attest. In less than two pages Jacobs' description of "The Game of 100" should convince anyone of the importance of position.
   
   If you are a beginner I'd recommend this book over just about anything else on my bookshelf (over 100 poker titles). After you've read it you'll be ready for the hardcore - and hard to read due to writing style - books by Sklansky et. al. More importantly, you'll be ready for the limit tables.

No comments about Catching Poker Cheats: Illustrated Methods of How Hustlers Take Your Money.

4 comments about Hold'em Odds Book.

1. This book does an exceptionally good job of explaining how to understand probabilities and odds in the context of Texas Hold 'Em Poker. Whether you're poor at Algebra or have a Ph.D. in Mathematics, this book will have something of interest for you.

   The book opens with an introduction of probabilities, odds, and combinations that is extremely well-written and easy to understand. And then it gets *right* into application - the book effectively teaches the correct way of thinking about Poker probabilities by working through case after case of actual applications from the game. By teaching through example, the book remains educational, interesting, and incredibly valuable.

   All the important probabilities you need to know when playing Hold 'Em are covered, and are summed up in several great tables as well.

   A must-read for any Hold 'Em player who wants to be less in the dark about how likely that flush is, or how big the pot has to be to justify calling on a gutshot straight draw.




2. Not total coverage of odds. I found "Texas Hold'em Odds" by Catalin Barboianu superior on math and better organized.



3. The title of the book, "Hold'em Odds Book", is an excellent description of the content. Petriv indicates that he tackled the task of calculating the odds for his own benefit, and the presentation is consistent with that premise. The reader is literally led through the reasoning process and the calculation process for a wide range of Hold'em situations.
   
   Petriv's book can properly be viewed as a tutorial in how to calculate the odds in Texas Hold'em. He guides the reader carefully through the processes involved in calculating odds for particular situations or hands with primary emphasis being on how to do the calculations without getting trapped in the minefields of sloppy thinking.
   
   In doing the myriad calculations described in the book, Petriv gives most of the specific odds that a player should be familiar with. The reader primarily interested in having the numbers available will likely find whatever he/she needs in one of the tables presented in the book.
   
   More importantly, the reader willing to follow along with Petriv's discussion will learn how to do the calculations for himself/herself. Thus Petriv has managed to a very significant degree to give the reader a fish AND to teach the reader to fish.
   
   The math required is mostly at about the sixth grade level, and Petriv includes a refresher chapter that should get most readers up to speed.



4. This was my very first poker book which I got at the Gambler's Book Shop in Las Vegas on their recommendation. It helps lay a solid mathematical foundation to anyone's poker game, and I've looked up odds information in it many times over. My copy is the 1996 non-spiralbound first edition.

5 comments about Make a Million from Online Poker: The Surefire Way to Profit from the Internet's Coolest Game.

1. This little book is just a title and empty space.
   
   It's a complete and utter waste of time and money. Don't bother wasting either.
   
   There is nothing of substance in this book that any decent online poker player shouldn't already know.



2. This book is more like a quick money making scam by someone cashing in on the surge of poker book sales. He offers absolutely nothing of benefit at all. There is page after page of filler. I honestly felt like a sucker after reading this book. The author is a business man and he is the only person that benefits from his book.
   Buy harrington on hold'em - by far the best of all the books that I've read.



3. This book might be the most useless book I have ever read on poker. It offers nothing in terms of strategy or content that isn't available in just about any standard poker book on the market. The "enlightening" real world examples of internet pros also offered nothing, such as successful strategies they might use, etc.
   
   Save your time and money and invest in a book like Killer Poker Online instead. This book was so bad I actually threw it out after reading it, which is something I never do.



4. No new knowledge to be found here. Several places in the book there are errors, e.g. did you know that QTo vs QTo is 67% percent to win? Pages and pages of example hands with percentage to win calculations that I wouldn't trust anyway. Move along, nothing to see here. Went through whole book in 30 minutes, could have done that at borders for free.



5. This book does not live up to the lofty claims it makes. It is very basic and the information in it is also in most other poker books on the market.If you are looking for some avanced theory you wont find it here.

2 comments about PROBABILITY GUIDE TO GAMBLING: The Mathematics of Dice, Slots, Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Poker, Lottery and Sport Bets.

1. Lots of annoying liitle typos in the math chapters. I can live with those, the math is correct. HOWEVER, the chapter on roulette is completely incorrect. The author assumes a 40 to 1 payoff on a single number wager but the actual payoff is 35 to 1. This is an eggregious error. Virtually every computation and scheme in that chapter is bogus and totally misleading. The author goes so far as to providing winning schemes. The rest of the book is now suspect. I don't have the patience to verify the other chapters so BEWARE!



2. Well done work and very well organized. There is no gambling strategy without math. This books explains the math applied for the most common gaming situations for the most practiced casino games. Formulas and numerical probabilities and not so-called winning strategies. Just the facts!