5 comments about Stepping Up: The Recreational Player's Guide to Beating Casino and Internet Poker.

1. While there are excellent beginner books on playing tactics, this is the first I've seen that focuses on the other aspects of poker. Concepts like tailoring your play to specific types of opponents and types of games, reading hands, odds and outs, tells and tilt and even addiction to poker are generally dealt with in more advanced books and at a level that assumes you already know something about them. This book introduces these concepts, which are critical to winning and includes some excellent hand-reading examples. It also recommends the best basic strategy books, Web sites and other resources. I don't think a very advanced player would get much from this book, but for anyone who's played mostly in home games or who has played for fun in casinos a few times, it's a winner.



2. i hadn't heard of this guy before so was a little skeptical. he's not exaclty a famous author. but it has made a 100 percent difference in how i apporach my favorite game, hold'em.

   differences between this and other poker books: first, the writing is ten times as good so everything is extremely clear, second, you learn not just what to do but why. the chapters on reading hands and players are sensational and i say this eveno though i own 4 or 5 hold'em books alone. also the odds chapters are very clear. the only reason i don't give it five stars is you
   do need other poker books besides this one, for hold'em maybe the lee jones or kreiger books. like roy west says in the intro this is a thinking man's poker book to improve your overall game.

   i would say try it out and see what you think but if you are like me, a low-limit player trying to get good and move up, it's well worth it. it's better than pokertracker for helping, and that's saying a lot!




3. This book takes a different approach then your typical beginner to intermediate level guide that teaches you how to play (memorizing starting hand requirements, basic and intermediate strategies like raising for a free card, raising for value, isolating loose raisers, blind stealing, etc.). What this book does do is focus on the factors that you need to master, especially for online play where you are isolated from other players physically. The psychological aspects... the game within-the-game, etc. are factors that are magnified for online play. You are your own worst enemy (and since the same applies to your opponents), understanding theae nuances are key to a successful transition from live to online play. Good read and recommended.



4. I bought this book because it had four ratings of 5 stars. This is the first review I have ever written, and I'm doing so to warn others that this book is TERRIBLE. It is poorly organized and has very little meaningful information of any type. The author repeatedly trashes almost all other poker books, calling them "garbage". I've read ten poker books now, and only one of them is truly BAD. Guess which one.



5. I noticed that this offering got savaged by a reviewer below. Let me address that criticism right away, Stepping Up is a worthy read but it is in no way a complete poker book. By itself, it cannot teach you the game. It's an accoutrement for intermediate rounders. Of course, the author admits this truth in the very beginning. He also recommends reading Small Stakes Hold Em and Theory of Poker before buying his contribution to the poker world. The thing I found most valuable about it is that Burgess is a regular guy who played the small limits before rising to the high stakes levels. He did this via effort and study, and he really does provide some inside-"been there, done that"-type of advice. You also learn quite a bit about the lower limits in a brick and mortar setting as so many of us play online exclusively. His references to stud were educational as well. I definitely got something out of Stepping Up, and I think that you will too if you view it with the right perspective. If you haven't studied the big important manuals already, pick them up first.

5 comments about Hudes Tarot Deck.

1. Really wonderful deck. It`s just perfect...the art is well done, soft,beautiful and meaningful colors. It feels good to the eyes of the mind. I`ve learned that the best Tarot decks are those that keeps simple, because the unconscious approaches symbols and images more directly in this way. This deck has a perfect balance, not too busy with the art, but lot of symbols and beautiful artistic design.
   Also,there are many connections between the cards, this is the most important when I`m making a spread. When I`m reading I try to find connections in symbols, textures, colors,movement, backgrounds, figures positioning...etc...This deck is as good as the Ryder Waite, but more earthy and heart warming. I own about a dozen good decks, but this one is outstanding...
   .



2. I am currently re-immersing myself in the Tarot after some years away from it, and have purchased three new decks, of which this is one. I've not worked with it extensively yet it's true, but I have got the feel of it being probably a great intuitive deck, even though it isn't layered in symbolism, it has what it needs to take you deeper. It isn't my perfect deck, but I may never find that, still I will say I can tell I will probably work with this one personally and professionally quite a lot. Her use of color is masterful, though the images are of uneven quality in terms of the art, those that are great are "suitable for framing".



3. "The beauty of medieval art and symbolic nature of mythology serve as the inspiration for the creation of this tarot deck...Themes of alchemy and astrology suggest the magical nature of medieval thought, the same ideas that initiated the art of tarot reading." - From the Little White Book
   
   When I saw the Death card from the Hudes Tarot online, I knew this was a must-have deck. It is truly one of the most beautiful Death cards that I've ever seen, incorporating an unfurled butterfly juxtaposed against the pelvic area of the skeleton--an area symbolizing conception, gestation and birth. Creative, transformative regeneration--a concept not always integrated in Death card imagery.
   
   Susan Hudes created her namesake Tarot by combining luminous watercolors with antique maps, constellation charts and marbled paper, which adds a decidedly three-dimensional feel to this seamlessly collaged deck.
   
   From the sky-clad lemniscate above the Magician's head to the smooth, cool marbled face of the Moon, Ms. Hudes' compositions are inviting and intriguing. I love some of the unusual perspectives, such as the bird's eye view of the boat in the 6 of Swords where we get to peek down at a man about to row while six swords lay scattered in the water.
   
   In the Cups suit, the Court Cards show figures holding golden goblets filled with not water, but aquatic representations from maps. And the rich, raspberry-colored discs in the Pentacles suit are simple, but striking.
   
   The cards from the Hudes Tarot measure approximately 4 ¾ x 2 ¾ inches, and while the design on the backs is attractive, it is not reversible. The suits of this deck are Cups, Swords, Wands and Pentacles while the Courts follow the Page, Knight, Queen and King ordering.
   
   The Little White Book for this deck is unusually brief, offering only a few upright meanings for the cards, which were gleaned from Wisdom in the Cards by A.L. Samul--a commentary on the Hudes Tarot.
   
   If you prefer well-crafted collage decks, especially ones that employ cheery hues and flowing watercolors, the Hudes Tarot will more than meet your expectations. It is a very readable deck, so it's an excellent choice for those new to Tarot. Experienced readers who favor Rider-Waite-Smith imagery will likely make fast friends with this deck, as well. Absent of nudity or darker imagery, this deck is also well suited to readings for children or those spooked by traditional renderings.
   
   (To see 12 card images from the Hudes Tarot, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)
   
   Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)



4. I am relatively new to the tarot so i can't tell you about the accuracy of readings and such,but i can tell you these cards are fantastic looking this is up there in the top 5 of medieval style of decks ,along with Nigel Jackson's Medieval Enchantment Deck(Out of print),The Golden Tarot By Kat Black, the Gilded Tarot and the Old English Tarot along with this one is your top five medieval decks.Hudes deck though may not be for some do to its melancholy nature along with the subtle colors and lack of uber happy people but thats what makes it medieval.So if you like very happy fluff decks this one may not be for you also disregard one other reviewer who called it a "too cute deck" its not that kind of deck at all as i described it earlier.The cards themselfs are well coated so they will be around for a long haul but are a little slick,a small little problem i had with is the size they are a little small i always feel that 3x5 is a perfect size, but all and all these cards are great for any level tarot card reader and a must have in a collection.



5. I bought this deck mainly because of reviews that spoke of the beautiful and compelling artwork, but, unfortunately, I do not find it so. The images taken separately look like they were done by a talented high school student. Many of the figures are awkwardly drawn and this distracts from the overall effect of the cards. If you are looking for a deck rich in symbolism, you won't find that here either.

No comments about Big Book of Solitaire.

2 comments about Leading Questions in Bridge.

1. I still think Mike Lawrences Opening Leads is the authoritative book on the subject. But this covers some areas it doesnt.
   
   For example, you are on lead against this auction
   1H - p - 1NT - p
   
   You have 4 spades so you think that declarer doesn't have 4, else they would respond 1 Spade and not 1 heart. The author asks - what if they are using Flannery, where 2D shows a 4=5 hand with 11-15 points. Responded knows opener doesnt have 4 spades and 11-15 so there is no reason for them to bid 1 Spade, and they can instead bid 1NT. Opener can later Reverse to show 4 spades, but that didnt happen.
   
   The point of the hand was that opponents agreements can give you information and you can't always use the same set of leads / assumptions.
   
   Chapters like - when to lead trump are especially valuable. The author says early on she was taught to be wary about leading trumps. So she sets out to give clear situations when its a good idea to do so.
   
   Not only is the material clear and well presented, it provides a set of inferences for pard and declarer. If you study this book, and LHO makes an unusual lead, ask "why might they do that? Teh auction does not indicate a trump lead". Hmmm, I wonder if its because LHO knows the suits are not splitting well, or the honors are poorly placed, and wants to cut down on dummy ruffs.
   
   I'm not sure I agree with the author on all her examples of when to lead unsupported aces. But its still an excellent book. For all levels.



2. The opening bid is one of the most important plays in bridge - and here to narrow the focus on this play is Leading Questions in Bridge, from a top player who addresses specifics such as whether to be an active or passive player, and how to lead trumps. Chapters are directed to intermediate players and discuss issues such as shortages, tricks, and more: perfect for any collection catering to serious bridge players.

1 comments about Playing Cards.

1. Ira Pearlstein writes an engaging introduction in which he recounts buying at a country estate auction in August 1995 two albums of playing cards for $17.50. The cards were displayed on the pages of the albums backside up so that the colorful designs--many of which would be described as "art deco"--might delight the collector's eye. He realized that the cards were probably from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. This book is the result of that fortunate find.
   
   Here the cards are reproduced life size in brilliant color so that four cards fit attractively on a page. The book itself measures an artful twelve by four and seven-eights by three-quarters inches. The first cards displayed have symmetrical patterned backs mostly in reds and blues. Then come some backs that are also patterned but not symmetrical. Here the colors begin to become more garish and ornate with purples, yellows and other colors appearing. Then come many cards with daring asymmetry, little works of art reflecting in some cases ideas from Fauvism and Cubism. There are some cards with commercial logos on the back, one for "ABC Oil Burners," another for "Bert Green, Conservative Clothes." Then come the stylized dogs, often in black and white pairs. Also displayed are cards with cats, bears, deer, birds, etc., on their backs, some geometrically designed.
   
   Designs showing people in their houses, at play, courting in fine costumes, dancing, holding hands, in silhouette by moonlight, pretty girls in pensive moods, etc.; nature scenes, still art, sailboats, gondolas, and clipper ships; "Unorthodox color treatments, oddly matched patterns and figures and perplexing subject matter" adorn more of the cards. Cartoon figures and clowns--all of these designs and more appeared on the backs of pasteboard cards created to augment the experience of the social player at bridge or poker or the lonely hearts at solitaire.
   
   I was disappointed not to see some representative fronts of the cards with the pips and the symmetrical kings, queens and jacks. Although the designs on the front would perforce be more standard, nonetheless there would undoubtedly be subtleties of design that card fanciers would appreciate. However the next to last section of the book shows some of the jokers, which I found most interesting. I had a moment or two of nostalgia while recognizing some of the designs from long ago.
   
   Buzz Poole provides a little history of card manufacture and design in a short essay and some textual comment to grace the display of the cards.

No comments about Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Superstars of Poker, Texas Hold'em).

2 comments about Standard American 21.

1. This book is the only comprehensive source of modern standard bidding for social and rubber bridge players. Everyone should have it. The chapter on slam bidding alone is worth more than the price of the book.



2. I found this book to be extremely well written and easy to understand. It has helped improve my bidding tremendously. I would recommend it to anyone who is a bridge enthusiast.

No comments about Murder In The Menagerie.

2 comments about Moments of Truth at the Bridge Table.

1. New book at a used price was delivered in a speedy 3 days from
   purchase. Super service!



2. I don't regret reading it, just didn't get much out of it. There are literally thousands of Bridge books, and some are a lot better than this.
   Read some of the others rather than this.

5 comments about Caro's Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker.

1. Caro's secrets are still secrets to me. Actually there are very good points and ideas in this book, but the book is poorly written. It might take several reads per topic to figure each one out. Mike should keep his day job and let someone else do his writing for him.
   Caro's other book, 'Poker Tells', has the same problem - good ideas but difficult to read.



2. This is not one of those how-to books for beginning players. It is, however, a good grouping of tips and other things you might have already known - just put in a different light. It includes all the information from Caro's seminar videos, plus all the stuff they cut out to make them 90 minutes long. If you liked the videos, you love the book.



3. Mike Caro--or "MJC" as he was known in the early days in the clubs in Gardena, California where he was the king of the rounders--has always been an enigmatic figure in the poker world. Never a world-class player like Doyle Brunson or Bobby Baldwin--to name two from the older generation--and never a great theoretician like David Sklansky, Caro nonetheless became one of the game's great celebrities mainly due to his fine talent for self-promotion.
   
   I was once told by a middle level professional that Mike was "a terrible player." This guy ought to know since he propped the games at the California clubs and had played against MJC many times. However the truth is Mike was and is a very good player. His problem was one that often afflicts great minds in many different fields, that of boredom. One often had the sense when playing against the self-styled "Mad Genius of Poker" that the game was too slow for him and that the challenges weren't really challenging enough, and he had to do something to liven up the game or--and this was almost always his ultimate goal--to "take over the table," psychologically speaking.
   
   And so Mike would make the most astonishing plays--good and bad--spectacular calls and lay-downs, such as calling with a skinny pair of jacks at the showdown or showing a seemingly winning hand and tossing it away without calling. His most famous play at draw poker was to raise the opener before the draw, stand pat, and then when the betting came around to him expose his worthless hand WITHOUT betting. I heard one of the regulars in the old twenty-straight draw game remark, "Why doesn't he just mail me a check?"
   
   But she did not understand Mike's logic. Another player, a very good one, did understood very well what Caro was about, as revealed in his pointed comment: "I'll tell you one thing about Mike Caro. He always deserves a call."
   
   With his talent for showmanship and his desire to do more than just play cards, it wasn't surprising that as the hold'em and seven-card stud games became legal in California in the eighties, Mike would become the preeminent entrepreneur of poker through his seminars and his assumption of the "Mad Genius" persona. He gave lectures, made poker videoes, wrote books and magazine articles, and found inclusion as the draw poker authority in Doyle Brunson's original SuperSystem book from the seventies. This book amounts to a collection of essays based on some of the seminar classes from what he eventually styled as his "University of Poker."
   
   All in all, Mike has done well for himself at the game. The question is, has he done well for his students? My answer is a qualified yes. In this book (not to be taken as an introductory text, by the way) he offers excellent advice for the small and middle stakes player. His qualities as a motivational speaker come through very well. His booster-like enthusiasm and his self-help, psychological approach will benefit many. Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, this is an easy book to read with some worthwhile advice. Some examples:
   
   "Calling as the big blind. It's much more profitable to play if your call closes the action." (p. 135) What Caro means is that either there was no raise or the raiser was to your immediate left so that no raise or reraise is possible. This is an important concept. If you call a raise from the button after a couple of other players have limped in from early seats you are not only in danger of a reraise after your call, but if it is reraised, the reraiser in an early seat probably has a big hand.
   
   "When everyone checks on the flop, then again on 4th Street, you can steal a lot of pots from the last position." (p. 98) Actually if everybody checks twice, you might have the best hand with little to nothing. A more sophisticated observation on this situation is that if anybody in the last position bets, you can steal more than a few pots by raising that bettor!
   
   On the same page there is this (written in large white letters in a black box as on a chalkboard--as though Mike IS giving a lecture, perhaps with baton in hand): "When you bet from the last position on the flop, you can often see your whole hand for free!" This is Mike's way of expressing the "how to get a free card" concept. Usually this is explained in a situation where it has been bet on the flop and you are last with a drawing hand. You raise so that everyone will check to you on 4th Street. Then, if you make your hand, you bet, and if you miss, you just check and give yourself a free card.
   
   Mike is right though, in passive games (which he always loved) many players will check to you on 4th Street after you have bet the flop, and you can just check behind them and see the river card for free.
   
   One more: "Many skilled players suffer from FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). They'd rather impress weak opponents with unexpected plays than beat them with the obvious winning strategy. Avoid FPS." Here Mike could be self-analyzing. But he's right of course.
   
   This is mostly about hold'em, but there is some tournament strategy in the book, and Caro has a chapter on seven-card stud and another on seven-card hi-lo. His chapter on the subject of money management (which I like to call "self-management," since it is all about staying in the game and not going broke) is excellent.
   
   All in all this book is definitely worthwhile, but will be somewhat mysterious in places to the absolute beginner, and too fundamental for the experienced professional.



4. This is one of my early poker books and rereading it once or twice a year reminds me why I like it so much. It is a quick and easy read full of reminders and "fundamental" poker ideas that are part of every game. Unlike some of the other reviews, I think this is quite good and a useful compliment to any poker library. It is well priced too unlike the flood of Sklansky-wanna-be-overpriced "clone" books which have flooded the market lately. (don't confuse my comment-the Sklansky books are very good but he set the pricing bar pretty high and many hacks feel they can get the same money for lesser quality work)This book is geared primarily for the beginning to intermediate player but is useful as a refresher for anyone who wants to get better. It is a very general book and does lightly address many topics but that is what the title tells you- it is a book about fundamentals(read "basics") of poker not an advanced course. So if you love poker and are starting a poker book library, add this one you won't be disappointed.



5. This book I think doesn't get as much press or attention as many other books out there, but I think that is because to the non poker player, Mike Caro is not a household name like Brunson may be.
   
   Don't let that discourage you. This book is full of pieces of information that I feel will make any players game better after having seen them.
   
   Don't pick this book up as one of your first books, but I think if you are a fairly experienced player, and have a good grounding in poker (specifically Texas Hold 'em), this book will improve your game.
   
   I think this is possibly the most influential book I have ever read, but you be the judge. If you're uncertain, pick it up at a book store and read a few pages at random and see what you think.