No comments about Gus the Great Dane Hansen (Superstars of Poker).

5 comments about Last Call.

1. When I read "Declare" I thought 'Alan Furst meets Charles Williams;' certain of the themes of "Last Call" remind me particularly of "The Greater Trumps." It's difficult to imagine Mr Powers being unacquainted with the 'spiritual thrillers' of friend-of-Tolkien-and-Lewis Williams; those who enjoy Powers are likely to be in for a treat should they give the neglected Williams a try. (The 'other,' pulpier Charles Williams, the American caper writer, is also great fun.)



2. This book is definitely not for everybody. The story places a battle of mythic proportions (literally) on the tawdry streets of Las Vegas. I got a big kick our of the way Powers combined the banal with the mystic (e.g., in one scene, two characters find a location in Vegas by shaking silver dollars in an empty vanilla wafers box, and seeing if they turn up heads). The dialog has the tough-guy quality of a roman noir, but they are discussing tarot cards and moon goddesses. If you like that kind of thing, then you will probably enjoy this book.



3. The Last Call is the most recent Tim Powers book that I read, and the oldest one chronologically (it was written in 1992, The Anubis Gates in 1997 and Three Days to Never in 2006). Power's trademark blend of fantasy, the occult, magic, conspiracy and suspense are very much in evidence here, in this tale of Scotty Crane. Abandoned as a young child and raised by Ozzie a professional poker player and master of so much more, Scott, now a 46 year old ex-professional Poker player and recent widower, finds himself caught up in a web of magic, murder and mayhem surrounding a very special game of Poker, played with a Tarot deck, that he took part in 20 years earlier against Ozzie's desperate pleading. Now Scott finds himself literally playing for his life against his true biological father who tried to co-opt him as a 5 year old and then won the rights to his body in the poker game 20 years ago in which neither was aware of the other's identity.
   
   There are many references, both clear and obscure, to T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland", Arthurian legend, The Fisher King and more, but it is not necessary to be familiar with any of these works to fully appreciate or enjoy the novel. Nor is it necessary to be a poker player, although poker players and/or gamblers will get a kick out of the well-written poker scenes even though they are little more than background scenery for the main story.
   
   The characters are well-developed, believable, and except for the baddies, likeable. The writing is excellent and the Las Vegas scenes and descriptions are great. If you like at least one of poker, Powers or magical fantasy, you will like this book. If you like more than one, you will like this book a lot.



4. What a change of pace! Tim Powers reenvisions the great western epic with tbis book. It's interesting to me that one thing that never seems to come up in the reviews for this book is the overt link to truly great western cinema. Powers has a knack for drawing characters as intrisically flawed but strangely charming, much like the central characters of Leone's masterpieces or Clint Eastwood's "new" classic, Unforgiven. Much like the William Munny character of the latter, our hero Scott Crane is a retired "card"slinger with a weakness for booze that really sets him apart from the Mary Sues of the genre.
   Aside from that, most of these reviews are spot on. Powers finds a way to tie together poker, Eliot's The Wasteland, the tarot, Jung, and mathematics. The only thing I would reccomend to any reader starting this out is if possible become acquainted with the basic symbolism of Tarot cards and the ranks of poker hands. Being a tarot enthusiast and amateur poker player myself, I know it certainly helped enrich and enliven the story for me, and helped me from getting lost in some of the intense poker scenes.



5. I loved Anubis Gates and several other Tim Powers novels. This book seemed to be a perfect combination for me: Powers + mystique of cards + seedy underbelly of Las Vegas... but unfortunately it failed to impress.
   
   I bought this book when it first came out. The first time I read it I felt it dragged on and didn't deliver to my expectations. Because I wanted to dive into the other 2 books of the loosely connected trilogy (Expiration date & Earthquake weather), I thought I'd give it another chance. I'm sorry to say, that it still left me wanting more. Not much really happens, especially compared to the brilliant plots of other Powers novels.
   
   Some reviewers commented about needing a sense of humor to read this. The truth is you just need to have the patience to endure really corny humor (lots of puns!). Disappointed to say the least.

1 comments about Uncle Chester's Texas Hold'Em Secrets.

1. The poker advice in this is sound, but there are no big secrets as the title suggests. The author endorses classic, tight-agressive strategy. However, the thing that sets this book apart is the humor. The chapters: "Every Man for Himself" "Poker Etiquette" and "Messing with your Opponents" are particularly funny. I've never had so much fun with an instructional manual. The glossary in the back of the book is excellent, perhaps the most comprehensive I've ever seen on the topic. The only criticism I have is the section on poker odds is simplistic and may not be satisfying to the more mathematical player. Overall, a fun and informative read.

No comments about Doyle Brunson's Super System 2.

No comments about Poker According to Maverick.

3 comments about Crazy Pineapple 8b Poker.

1. Mr. Greenblatt does a pretty good job explaining how to play Crazy Pineapple 8b. I wish he had more low hands for the examples but he got the message across to me. The sample hands are good to follow along with. He cuts to the chase and he offered a couple of things that I didn't know that will help me in my homegame. I probably will get a copy to give to a friend for the simple reason - and Greenblatt nails this in his book - the game is one of the most emotional games in poker. My friend wants to play the game and finds it too complicated. The book will take him over the learning curve and he has zero self discipline like a lot of players. Despite reading about correct plays and decisions, he, like a lot of others, is the type who wants lots of action and will go nuts in betting. All the better for me. Get the book.....



2. I bought this book because I was curious about crazy pineapple and this is the only book about it available. This is simply the worst poker book ever written and possibly the worst book of any kind ever written. It's printed in type about three times normal size to make it fill 130 pages. Even at that it consists of nothing but the vaguest advice and a bunch of example hands consisting of seemingly random play with no explanation. Each of these is padded out with useless lists of each player's chip count (usually everyone has $100 in a $2/4 limit game) and which two cards the players who folded would have kept after the flop had they stayed in (without telling you what their third card was). This way each hand takes up about three pages when it could have been given in a short paragraph. If the book were of normal size and normal typeface, and not padded with a few extraneous chapters unrelated to the game, there would have been room for about fifty times more example hands. Not that it matters, since fifty times nothing is still nothing. I've played crazy pineapple exactly once and I can honestly state I learned absolutely nothing from this book. [...]



3. I bought this book because I had purchased Greenblatt's other book, Practical Low and No Limit Texas Hold'em Ring Games. This book is a big print edition - nothing wrong with that, I just wish it would have stated it somewhere, I still would have bought the book. The book keeps the same pattern as the previous book, the example games are in the form of ring games for Crazy Pineapple 8b. It is not a beginner book because some people won't "get it" - at home games you play ring games generally when you have poker night. His examples are decent because he shows what people's bankrolls are in a sample session of Crazy Pineapple. He shows what cards people have after the discard of the third card. Though it might have been nice to see what they discarded, in terms of game play and one's decision to play the hand or not, it doesn't matter. In real life games you generally don't see discarded hands anyways. Overall the book met my expectations for two reasons because there are not any other books on Crazy Pineapple out there and similar to almost all other poker books in print, you only get one or two things from each book if you have been playing for awhile. There are some other brief chapters on variations as well as Omaha 8b. They had some interesting things in there. If you have the money to spend, I'd recommend getting it.

1 comments about The Ultimate Blackjack Book: Basic Strategies, Money Management, and More.

1. Blackjack is a game that is easy to understand and nearly impossible to master. It is also a game that is largely influenced by how people play. The odds will vary depending on compliance with basic strategy. For a new player, the basic strategy chart will be useful, as may the description of gameplay. But the suggested betting strategies and card counting techniques are nothing but snake-oil! I'd recommend Andy Glazier's works over this book to experienced as well as inexperiened players.

No comments about Cowboys, Gamblers & Hustlers: The True Adventures of a Rodeo Champion & Poker Legend.

No comments about Staying Ahead of the Rake: Fourteen Days in the Life of a Hardcore Poker Player.

1 comments about Poker Wit & Wisdom: Quotes and Writings on America's Favorite Card Game.

1. An excellent compendium, but too short (page and font sizes attempt to conceal that), and too much material by Livingston himself, who continues to recycle his own writings to an extreme extent. I wish A.D. would write an entirely new book, without just changing the titles of and adding a few pages to his old ones. What was once titled "Poker Strategy and Winning Play" was the best dealers-choice book of all time, so I know he can think and write with the best... so how about it?