Gambler's Book Club | Gambling Podcast

Donkey Poker teaches you how to crush the low-stakes live no-limit Hold’Em games you will find in Las Vegas. These "Donkey Games" play much differently than high-stakes live games or even low-stakes online games, so the optimal strategies are often much different. Donkey Games are filled with players who make the same mistakes repeatedly and who are very exploitable. Donkey Poker teaches a small-ball brand of exploitative and low-variance poker. It teaches you what to do and why you should do it. Donkey Poker is a soup-to-nuts description of how to crush low-stakes Vegas no-limit Hold’em. Volume 2: Post flop teaches you everything you ever wanted to know about post flop strategy, from the flop to the river. It also covers other important topics, such as variance, bankroll management, GTO strategy, moving up in stakes and exploiting live reads. Many statistics are discussed, including those from online and live NLH. Statistics from Vegas $1/$2 and $2/$5 games are published for the first time. The hand reading process in Volume 3 is optimized for low-stakes live no-limit Hold’Em. It teaches you how to incorporate actual live-action stats into your hand reading skills to maximize your profit. Many examples take you through the hand reading process step-by-step using Flopzill

Intrigued by a counter-intuitive strategy to winning Ultimate Texas Hold’Em(UTH), Kevin Moore has spent 8 years and played more than 55,000 hands to bring you this guide to UTH—a strategy book like no other. After briefing you on basic play and strategy, Kevin uses his favorite business tools and a no-nonsense approach to guide you step-by-step through strategic play, from the initial buy-in to the final bet. Using his know-how as a seasoned player, Kevin shares all the details you’ll need to fully exploit the secret to winning. He also confides his table-side observations to help you avoid the 15 most common mistakes players make. With his keen wit and conversational style, Kevin will have you playing UTH cheaper, better, and longer in no time. Since 2006, Kevin Moore has played more than 55,000 hands of Ultimate Texas Hold’Em during his quarterly recreational trips to Las Vegas. Intrigued and impressed with his business-like approach to the game and his personal story, Las Vegas pit bosses encouraged Kevin to write this book to reveal what he has learned. Kevin is a retired CPA and businessman who lives in Midland, Texas. He and his wife Teri have been married for 41 years and are blessed with a daughter, a son, and seven grandchildren. Before his retirement in 2012, Kevin’s formal business career spanned 38 years. Serving as a CPA, CFO, CEO, and chairman, his careers always involved numbers, plans, and strategies. It is from that background that he approached learning and excelling at the game of Ultimate Texas Hold’em.

Mike Sexton is a legend in the poker world. In a life spanning over four decades as a poker professional, Mike has excelled both on the felt and on the business side of poker. He is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, helped create PartyPoker in 2001 and was a key player in an event that changed the poker world forever – the launch of the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2002. He has been a commentator on the WPT, along with Vince Van Patten, since its inception. In addition, Mike was recognized as poker's Top Ambassador at the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Awards gala in 2006. That same year, he won WSOP Tournament of Champions, winning $1 million in prize money – half of which he donated to charity. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009. In this book Mike recounts his personal experiences and gives his take on some of poker's legendary characters over the past 40 years. If you enjoy poker, are fascinated by the development of the game and enjoy compelling poker, golf and gambling adventures, then you'll love Life's A Gamble.

Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America’s most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business. Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America’s most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business. In Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History, Arne K. Lang provides a sweeping overview of legal and illegal sports and race betting in the United States, from the first thoroughbred meet at Saratoga in 1863 through the modern day. The cultural war between bookmakers and their adversaries is a recurring theme, as bookmakers were often forced into the shadows during times of social reform, only to bloom anew when the time was ripe. While much of bookmaking’s history takes place in New York, other locales such as Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City—not to mention Cyberspace—are also discussed in this volume. A comprehensive exploration of the evolution of bookmaking—including the legal developments and technological advancements that have taken place over the years—Sports Betting and Bookmaking is a fascinating read. This informative and engaging book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about America’s long history with gambling on horse racing and team sports. In Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History, Arne K. Lang provides a sweeping overview of legal and illegal sports and Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America’s most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business.

Showgirl Memoir is an open window into Mikel's personal and professional life as a showgirl/dancer. a small town girl whose dream brought her two Olympian performances - '84 in Los Angeles and '88 in Seoul, Korea, and Jubilee Showgirl in Las Vegas. As additional dressing (and undressing) to her life's story, she shares many successes and a few road bumps along the way, exposing emotional scars as straight forward as her dancing topless. Gamblers Book Club wishes to thank Oscar Goodman former Mayor of Las Vegas for coming down to the store and meeting Mikel she was very happy.(The Mayor was famous for always appearing in public with two Showgirls.)    

Philip Reed is coasting toward retirement, looking for one last adventure, when he meets Bill Palis, a professional blackjack player and former member of the legendary MIT team that took the casinos for millions. At a blackjack table in a strip casino, Phil sees Bill win $1,600 in 20 minutes of play—and he’s intrigued. Initially, he plans to write the book as a spectator, but Bill encourages him to overcome his fears, learn to count cards, and get a piece of the action for himself. The two men form a friendship and begin traveling and playing blackjack together, often with Father Andy, who kicks in money so they can play out of a $30,000 bankroll. Phil, who has adult ADD, and flunked math in high school, adopts the challenge of card counting as a way to banish the old ghosts of his poor self-image and build new synapses in his aging brain. With Bill as his tough mentor, Phil struggles to learn the game and secretly track the cards. As Phil's play improves, Bill teaches him to disguise his wins and avoid scrutiny from casino security and the Orwellian “eye-in-the-sky” security cameras. Philip Reed punctuates WILD CARDS with short, funny, informational sections on various gambling-related subjects. These sections step outside the main story and add depth by investigating different card counting systems, the danger of gambling addiction, interviews with memory experts, and secrets of dealers, pit bosses, and casino surveillance specialists. Throughout, he takes a humorous look at casino characters, even as he begins to sink into the gambling world himself.

What is the difference between an expert and a master? Are obstacles barriers or markers that show you the way? Poker Knows will challenge you to take a deep look inward at the self, while at the same time build a foundation for winning at poker and life. A methodology for surviving the game is first laid out and then you are transported through time in the advanced section on winning the game. Guest appearances are made by some of science’s greatest minds like Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr, complemented by the imagination of Alice’s friends from Wonderland. Some values stretch past the sum of the parts. You know a great meal or work of art when you experience it, but what is it that makes it so? How do you measure it? Maybe it does not matter how you measure it as much as knowing how your opponents measure it. The gold that grows bankrolls is located in a very profound place and Poker Knows draws the reader a map that leads right to it. It is not what you know that will propel your evolution, but how good you get at discovery and your imagination is the key. Everyone can have the experience of being in the winner’s circle in poker or life. Your turn is coming up soon! It starts with the next decision, or maybe it’s the next question. The only thing in the way might be you. Are you ready to go pro?  

                      Las Vegas! I’ve vacationed there over 30 times, and I still get excited when I just say the name. That’s why I wrote this book, to help you experience all that Vegas has to offer on your vacation. Find out why I believe Vegas is the entertainment capital of North America, as I share my knowledge of the best shows and tours, and the dining and attractions that it offers. So if you’re planning your first trip to Vegas, or haven’t been there recently, check out Las Vegas Your Way, the Downtown Edition. This is the third edition of Las Vegas Your Way and it is the best! After taking the best parts of the previous editions, more information was added about the new attractions and changes that have occurred in Vegas. Then since Downtown Las Vegas has become so popular, a new chapter on Downtown was also added to this edition. A gambling guide is also provided. For the beginner, the rules of the game of Blackjack, craps, and other table games are provided. Then to add to that knowledge, a second chapter containing information on comps, betting, and even table etiquette is provided. While this book can’t teach you how to beat the house every time, it does provide techniques that I’ve fine-tuned to gamble responsibly. This book will create a pathway for your own unique Las Vegas experience, whether your goal is non-stop adventure or relaxation. It is a travel guide you can reference on your vacation journey. Make sure you check out my Top 10 FREE attractions, and where you’ll find discounted show tickets. Perhaps you want to know the transportation options available in Vegas, or avoid the busiest times in Vegas, or what Downtown Hotel I prefer? These questions and many more are answered in Las Vegas Your Way, the Downtown Edition.

Born with police blood in my veins, I remained with it. First as a Army Military Policeman, then Air Force Security Policeman and ended up as a special agent of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducting criminal and counter-intelligence cases. Retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant (E-8) I still needed to work to provide. I was hired by the Las Vegas District Attorneys office to work special investigations as part of a team of eleven. Conducted surveillance of organized crime figures then participated with local police and the "Feds" in the first long term undercover police sting in the US. Tired of looking long haired and evil, I sought employment with the Nevada State Gaming Control Board as an Enforcement Agent and became their expert and cheating and cheating detection and testified at state and local trials until retirement. Not being terribly excited at watching soaps or the grass grow I did some contract work for the casinos as the "Eye in the Sky" and for the US Army conducting covert surveillance on commercial trucks carrying sensitive equipment and ammunition. On 9-11 the job stopped for obvious reasons. I began writing about some of my experiences and made them into historical fiction novels.

The Bernie Sindler Story tells of untold stories of murder, mayhem, and the Mafia in Las Vegas. Sindler - a protege of Meyer Lansky, who he considered his surrogate father - was associated with notorious Mob and Outfit members as a partner or employee in their Las Vegas operations, and as a close friend and associate. In his book, Sindler shares a behind-the-scenes look at famous and infamous denizens of Las Vegas, including Lansky, Siegel, Johnny Rosselli, Lucky Luciano, Moe Dalitz, Virginia Hill and Frank Sinatra. Sindler, the last living link to the old Mob bosses in Vegas and the gangsters made famous in the media, is one of the few men, and now the only survivor, who knows the real stories behind notorious and bloody events in the storied history of Las Vegas - the widely publicized multiple murder case at Rancho Circle (his future wife was the only survivor), why Sinatra's front teeth got knocked out at the Sands, and the likely killer of Bugsy Siegel, one of the most mysterious enigmas in the brutal history of the Mafia. Those unknown tales of murder, mayhem and the Mafia - and more - are now revealed in this riveting and colorful autobiography by the last living link to the days when the Mob ran Las Vegas. As Bernie likes to say, "Everyone in life is dealt a hand. I played the hand I was dealt."

David Medansky, JD, author and attorney, is uniquely qualified to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on the greatest game in the casino. His twenty years of playing craps, finance, and legal background allow him to deliver an insightful and engaging story. “Greatest Craps Guru” is a lively fiction thriller that could pass for non-fiction; a how to book and enchanting story about making money at the craps table. Mark Jackson played in the NFL as a receiver for nine years. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 1986 NFL Draft as a wide receiver from Purdue University. He played in Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV with the Broncos. It was Jackson who caught the touchdown pass from John Elway that sent the game into over-time on "The Drive" in the Broncos' January 11, 1987 AFC Championship Game victory over the Cleveland Browns.

When it was Great: A Dealer's Autobiographic Story (Memoirs From Las Vegas)Want to go back to the Las Vegas of yesterday?Meet John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Redd Foxx, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Prima and other celebrities.In 1968, Jim Sinay packed up his green Caddy convertible and drove from Canton, Ohio to Las Vegas. His “Uncle” Ed Pucci, who was Frank Sinatra’s bodyguard and a close family friend, set him up with an entry level dealer’s job in Vegas. Over the next three decades, Jimmy experienced all Las Vegas had to offer. He dealt craps to famous gangsters in a private game, he interacted with John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Redd Foxx, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Prima and other celebrities. Jimmy was a confirmed bachelor who lived the high life with the ladies, although at times his carousing nearly cost him his life. He saw hundreds of thousands of dollars bet on one roll of the dice, he caught gambling cheaters and had run ins with some very nasty types.Folktales from a bygone eraJimmy’s stories are folktales from a bygone era, the 1960s, 70s and 80s when Vegas was still a relatively small town. Back in the day, the “joints” were ruled by men whose names all ended in vowels and there was a good time to be had 24/7. When It Was Great will make you laugh and touch your heart, but most of all it will take you back to the Las Vegas of yesterday, when the Rat Pack played at the Sands, Elvis headlined at the Hilton and working stiffs like Jimmy partied like there was no tomorrow.Wid Bastian is a novelist and screenwriter. His screenplay work includes the upcoming feature film Themi scheduled for release in 2016. His published novels include Henry and Tom, The Nano Experiment, Solomon's Porch and the soon to be released When It Was Great. As a ghostwriter, Wid has penned numerous works that have been published both in America and abroad. When he's not working in Los Angeles, Wid enjoys being home in Logan, Utah with his wife Elaine, her two kids, four cats, a dog and other assorted critters.Jim Sinay was born and now lives in Canton, Ohio. A veteran, Jim served with the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged in 1964. From 1968 to 2000, Jimmy was a craps dealer and a casino supervisor in Las Vegas. He worked at The Mint, The Sahara, The Tropicana and at other properties. While age has slowed him down a bit, Jim still loves to work out, drink a glass of wine and play a round of golf. His only living relative is his brother Bob who still lives in Vegas, but Jimmy has friends all across the country that he met during his thirty years of dealing craps in Vegas.

Bill Friedman wrote the award-winning, Depression era, true-crime All Against The Law. He wrote the groundbreaking research work Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition, published by the University of Nevada Reno. He is also author of the seminal book for succeeding in the casino business, Casino Management. He taught the pioneer course in casino management for UNLV’s College of Hotel Administration during the decade of the 1970s. Friedman was president of the Castaways Hotel and Casino and the Silver Slipper Casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip for thirteen years. He transformed them from perennial losers into super successes, consistently in the top of Nevada’s highest profit-per-square-foot performers. Friedman is president of the Friedman Management Group, which specializes in solving casino marketing, design, and operations problems. He has consulted for forty years to casinos in the U.S. and in England, Monaco, Russia, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and several Caribbean Islands. www.BillFriedmanAuthor.com30 Illegal Years To The Strip is the inside story of Prohibition’s most powerful leaders, who later ran elegant, illegal casinos across America, before moving on to build the glamorous Las Vegas Strip gambling resorts.The seven leaders of the three dominating Prohibition gangs imported the world’s finest liquors on a massive scale. Although in an illegal and dangerous business, these seven espoused traditional business values and rejected the key tools of organized crime - monopoly, violence, and vendetta. This made them the most unlikely gangsters to rise to underworld leadership. But they earned every criminal’s respect, and fate made them the most powerful gangland leaders in American history.In the mid 1900s, these seven leaders stood up to, and restrained, America’s worst villains. The seven prevented many gangland wars and killings. Unbelievably, the most murderous and most psychopathic gang leaders not only admired them but supported them in gangland conflicts.These were the first gangs to work closely together in mutual interest. Joining these three dominating liquor-importers was the violent Chicago Capone gang, as they partnered in both illegal and legal businesses during and after Prohibition. They were also close allies in the complexities, treachery, and violence of underworld politics. Exposed for the first time are the roles actually played by gang leaders Ben Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Al Capone, John Torrio, Frank Nitti, and Moe Dalitz.Some of these seven leaders became powerful over world political kingmakers. Allied with them in New York City politics was Arnold Rothstein, the ultimate gambler. His murder is one of several major gangland killings finally solved here.The biggest-drawing entertainer in these gang leaders’ illegal-casino and Strip-resort showrooms was comedian Joe E. Lewis. He single-highhandedly saved the Copacabana from bankruptcy and turned it into America’s most famous and glamorous nightclub.The careers and relationships of the gang leaders, who together would go on to build the Las Vegas Strip, are presented for the first time in this thoroughly documented, in-depth, authentic history of how organized crime developed. It contains 546 source notes, and many addendum’s that expose the serious fallacies and outright fictions of previous books about early organized crime.This book is based on 48 years of research that began, when Friedman was drafted during the Vietnam War. A conscientious objector, he was ordered to spend his alternative service in Las Vegas hanging out with gangsters to study the history and operation of organized crime.

Advanced Advantage Play is the most complete book ever made available to the general public on advantage play against casino table games. It examines beating and protecting nearly all of the table games and side bets that are currently available on casino floors internationally, including blackjack, baccarat and pai gow poker. Based on material first published in Dr. Eliot Jacobson’s well-known blog APHeat.net, this book also covers advantage play against marketing and promotions. Easy-to-read and backed up by computer and statistical analysis, Advanced Advantage Play is a book that everyone who wants to beat or protect casino table games should own. About the AuthorEliot Jacobson, Ph.D., was professor of mathematics and computer science for over 25 years. In 2005, he launched his second career as an independent consultant for the casino industry. After writing two books, The Blackjack Zone (2005) and Contemporary Casino Table Game Design (2010), Dr. Jacobson decided to turn his blog, APHeat.net, into this book. With dozens of publications and media appearances, Dr. Jacobson is widely recognized as one of the world’s top experts on casino table games, casino mathematics and advantage play.Eliot Jacobson received his Ph. D. in Mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1983. Eliot was Professor of Mathematics at Ohio University from 1983 to 1998, where he was undergraduate chair from 1990 to 1994. He was Visiting Associate Professor and Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1998 to 2009. Eliot has over twenty research publications in mathematics in major international journals. In 2009, Eliot retired from academia. Eliot started his gaming career as a child, learning chess and bridge from his father at age five. He opened a casino in his garage as a teenager and quickly won all the allowance money in the neighborhood. As a young adult, Eliot continued playing games. He achieved the expert ranking at chess, ran the GO club at Ohio University, and competed in national bridge tournaments. At a mathematics convention in Las Vegas in 1996, Eliot discovered his talent for card counting. Eliot's brief excursion into advantage play soon blossomed into his second career as an independent consultant and casino table game analyst. Eliot founded Jacobson Gaming, LLC in 2006. His company has quickly grown to be one of the world's leading independent companies specializing in casino table game design, development, analysis, auditing and mathematical certification. Eliot also heads Certified Fair Gambling, a company that offers quality assurance and fairness auditing for Internet casinos. With dozens of publications and media appearances, Eliot is widely recognized as one of the world's top experts on casino table games and casino table game mathematics. He is also the author of Contemporary Casino Table Game Design. Eliot can be contacted through his company, Jacobson Gaming.

About the AuthorDavid Medansky is a world class authority on casino craps and trusted author of "Craps: A Winning Strategy," "Walk Away Craps," and "Wholly Craps." This is his first novel. Medansky currently lives with his wife, Debbie, in Phoenix, Arizona.Medansky, a practicing divorce attorney gave up his legal career to become an author because being an attorney was making him sick and almost killed him.Flamingo’s Baby is an adventure filled with dazzling suspense and intrigue will keep the reader guessing at every turn.

Paul W. Papa is an American storyteller who has lived in Las Vegas for more than 20 years (making him practically a native). During that time he developed a love for writing true stories about uncommon events--the tales of America. In his books you will find fascinating stories that are uniquely American, presented in a way that makes them both engaging and informative. Paul's stories are not the typical endless series of facts, figures, and chronologies that tend to make history...well, boring. Instead, he uses words to paint a picture of the past you may never have known existed.  Discovering Vintage Las Vegas takes you back in time to all of the timeless classic spots this city has to offer. The book spotlights the charming stories that tell you what each place is like now and how it got that way from classic restaurants to shops to other establishments like the casinos that still thrive today and evoke the unique character of the city. They’re all still around—but they won’t be around forever. Start reading, and start your discovering now! From the Author  I think I had more fun writing this book than any I've written so far. I hope it will inspire you to visit the vintage spots I've included within these pages. Use this book as both a history lesson and a tour guide to see Las Vegas in a way you may have never before experienced.  

Baseball Betting for ProfitA textbook devoted to betting and winning on major league baseball. Former head of the Mirage sports book and Las Vegas super contest winner Russ Culver: "I am very impressed. Great detail in great information. I think you've produced the best textbook on handicapping baseball ever written." Las Vegas radio host John Kelly: "Strasser completes the perfect double-play by simplifying hard to understand concepts for the beginning baseball bettor while never insulting the intelligence of the smart, sophisticated gambler." Las Vegas wise guy Alf Musketa: "Anyone who reads this book will benefit and improve their baseball handicapping. I'm 100% sure of that! Whatever you are charging for this book, it's not enough!"

Cheating at Blackjack & Other Casino Games and Cheating at Blackjack Squared: The Dark Side of GamblingThese books are for both players and casino management. They shows how various moves take place such as Getting Cards Out of Play and Returning Cards Into Play; Mucking; Adding to the Bet; Disguises; Cheating Tells and High Tech Cheating. Contains examples, anecdotes and diagrams to explain the sequence of an action. You may find the 'High Tech Cheater' chapter disturbing because of its implications.Dustin Marks, worked in Las Vegas as a dealer over the 1970s and 1980s. During that time he managed to cheat his own bosses out of millions of dollars using a number of cheating techniques. He was mostly known for false shuffling, a method that makes it look like the dealer is shuffling the cards, but isn't actually doing so. That way the dealer (and his accomplices) know exactly where the aces and 10-point cards are. Dustin also had a method for looking at the top card and determining if it was a high value card. If it was he'd deal it to his accomplice.Back in the 1980's, I "took off" several Las Vegas casinos, and other casinos throughout the state of Nevada, at their blackjack tables. After retiring from cheating, I wrote two books:Cheating at Blackjack and Cheating at Blackjack Squared. I also created the DVD: Cheating at Blackjack: The Real Work(www.dustinmarks.com). I was never caught.

Bob Dancer is the world’s number-one video poker expert. His real-life video poker successes are legendary, but he s also a world-class teacher. Now, after years of creating the industry standards in video poker reports, strategy cards, and software, Dancer has written the quintessential beginner s guide on the game. Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner is a how-to-win blueprint for players seeking the fast track to the upper levels of this beatable game. First, you ll master the techniques for finding and identifying the highest-returning games. Then you ll learn how to generate, understand, and implement the computer-perfect strategies that yield the ultimate goal: monetary profit! In addition, Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner imparts Dancer s professional insight relative to the game s many nuances and related considerations including in-depth coverage of slot clubs, casino promotions, progressives, team play, scouting, and tournaments. Plus, this is the first book to explain in detail how Dancer s powerful Video Poker for Winners! Software can be employed to solve previously unanswered questions about bankroll needs, promotions analysis, and profit potential. Bob Dancer is the best. Now you can know what he knows about the most exploitable gambling game of them all.

Michael Murray's Betting Baseball-- 2015 is the newest book on baseball betting, first published in 1994. It discusses the money line, the run line, betting Totals, measuring offense, measuring consistency in starters, evaluating injuries, the impact of ballpark differences, creating the line. A good portion of Murray's book looks at the role umpires may play in the final score (strike zones seem to vary within leagues and among home plate umps).Author Michael Murray contends that a skilled sabermetrician can indeed outpoint the odds maker on a consistent basis."I think the odds makers are aware of sabermetrics but they don't take it into account when they make the lines," Murray said in an e-mail interview. "Everyone can find a pitcher's WHIP in the newspaper, but ... a pitcher's slugging percentage allowed tells me a lot more than WHIP."Until stats like that become commonplace it is safe to say that I'm staying ahead of the odds maker. He certainly has the stats that I do, but he can't use them like I can."

Elements of Poker Beyond statistics, beyond whether to raise, call, or fold, Elements of Poker reveals a new world of profitability for your bankroll and your life. You know tilt costs you money, but do you know how to make it go away? You know position is important, but do you know how to cash in that knowledge? Elements of Poker will teach you all of this and much more. Published in 2007, Elements of poker has been extremely well-received by the poker community for its fresh perspective, grand scope, humor, insight, and tilt reduction teachings. Tommy Angelo is a top tier poker coach, poker writer, and philosopher. Join professional, winning poker players like Phil Galfond, Ed Miller, Simon Munz, Lee Jones, and David Benefield in reading the book that Jay Rosenkrantz calls the best poker book ever. A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales collects the best articles, blogs, and stories from Tommy Angelo's last 12 years of writing and showcases them with eighteen new introductions and afterwords. Here you'll find poker war stories from his years as a pro, poker fiction, ruminations on poker rules, and more – including a strong selection of articles on tilt, the author's signature topic. The new commentaries, found only in this volume, take you behind the curtain on Angelo's history and writing process. New readers will appreciate the humor and fresh perspective on poker, and existing fans will enjoy the exclusive commentaries as well as having a convenient collection of Angelo's most popular material. From the author: “Poker is not a game to me. It’s a religion. I have beliefs I can’t prove. I have saints I revere. Countless times I have held vigils all night and into the next day, seated patiently at the oval altar. And then there’s the reading I do from the ancient scrolls, and the sacred rituals I perform, and the holy lingo I speak, and of course there’s the bonded brotherhood. It’s a religion, no doubt. My elders taught me the ways of poker as a child, and I have been a faithful practitioner ever since. And I have been blessed. The poker gods saw to it that I survived 17 years as a professional poker player, despite severe degenerate tendencies, or perhaps because of them. And that’s just the beginning. I’ve had the good fortune to coach 70 players from around the world, mostly pros. My first book, Elements of Poker, has been shown much love. And my video series, The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment, won the Best Series Award at DeucesCracked.com. What happens next? I think I’ll have lunch.”

WINNER! 2014 International Book Awards (Biography) RUNNER-UP! 2014 Beach Book Festival (Biography/Autobiography) After a horrific blaze destroyed Willie Martello’s El Rey Club in 1962, fifty years would pass before anyone knew of how that casino and one-time brothel provided a template for future gambling resorts, upset the Las Vegas mob, and inadvertently launched the career of Francis Ford Coppola. Were it not for the chance discovery of a single photo in a LaThe King of Casinos: Willie Martello and The El Rey Club s Vegas museum, the El Rey Club would be known only as the seedy brothel where Senator Harry Reid learned to swim. Martello's outrageous exploits and accomplishments should place him among magnates like Howard Hughes or Steve Wynn, yet very few know his name. Lost for over sixty years and featuring over 140 rare or unseen photos, these vibrant stories are now brought to light! Andy Martello is a comedian, actor, variety entertainer, and freelance writer. Originally from Chicago he now makes his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. A writer since birth, his work has appeared in the pages of the North Las Vegas Voice newspaper and Strip Las Vegas magazine. Aside from his very popular (and rarely updated) blogs, his humor and opinion columns can be found at web magazines such as The Cheers, Absolute Write, Malicious Bitch, and Gapers Block. This is Andy’s first (and probably his last) book. Martello is a professional comedian, variety performer, and freelance writer. Originally from the Chicago area, he now makes his home in Las Vegas, Nevada where he appears as the announcer for The Price is Right LIVE, Fremantle Media's nationally touring version of the world's most popular TV game show. You have seen his work on NBC's Last Comic Standing and WGN TV's The Bozo Show, in films such as Last Vegas, The Company, and The Hangover 3, and as as a member of the elite team of business professionals known as the Mystery Diners on the popular Food Network program of the same name. He and brought the subject of his first book (the El Rey Club) to national prominence on the hit History Channel program, American Restoration. A writer since birth, Andy's humor and opinion columns have appeared in the North Las Vegas Voice newspaper, TheCheers.org, and AbsoluteWrite.com. The King of Casinos: Willie Martello and the El Rey Club is his first (and probably his last) book.

 “In a few years the book will be a poker all time classic. This is the theoretical basis to modern cash game winning poker play”. Antonios Fountouris on March 30, 2014 about Ed Miller's  book :Poker's 1%: The One Big Secret That Keeps Elite Players On Top  The book will explaine why elite poker players aren't like the rest of us. Sure, they play in huge games where tens of thousands of dollars can move in the blink of an eye. But that's not the only difference. Elite players play and think about the game in a completely different way from everyone else. If you want to raise your game to their level, it's not just a matter of getting a little better at what you already do. The honest truth is that the way 99% of poker players approach the game is fundamentally flawed. You will never be able to crack the top 1% until you know what they know. There's one big secret to the game that nearly every elite player knows, yet almost no one else understands. It's an open secret-no one is hiding it. Elite players talk about it sometimes in videos and articles. Nevertheless, top players have known this secret for years, yet still almost no one else does. Poker's 1% seeks to change that. It bridges that gap between the elite players and everyone else. It promises that as long as you are willing to put in the work, you too have a shot to reach the top. Poker's 1% teaches a way of thinking about how you play, a way to unify every hand you've ever played and ever will play into one single, overarching strategy. The goal is that you will have one big "aha" moment, the moment where you finally "get" this game. After that, it's just fine tuning. The more you fine tune your strategy, the more you win, and the higher you can go. Poker's 1% gives you a unique window into the secrets of the world's best players. It shows you what you've been doing wrong and how to fix it. And, most importantly, it guides you in a straightforward way along the path from average player to elite.

Bill Friedman is author of "All Against The Law: The Criminal Activities of the Depression Era Bank Robbers, Mafia, FBI, Politicians, & Cops", the fast-action crime story with shocking political exposes. He also wrote the groundbreaking research work Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition published by the University of Nevada Reno. He is author of the seminal book for succeeding in the casino business Casino Management. He taught the pioneer course in casino management for the University of Nevada Las Vegas's College of Hotel Administration in the early years during the decade of the 1970s.Friedman is president of the Friedman Management Group, which specializes in solving casino marketing, design, and operations problems. He has consulted for forty years to casinos throughout the United States and in England, South Africa, Monaco, Australia, Russia, Canada, and several Caribbean Islands.Friedman was president and general manager of the Castaways Hotel and Casino and the Silver Slipper Casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip for thirteen years. He transformed them from perennial losers into super successes, consistently in the top of Nevada's highest profit-per-square-foot performers.Casino Management explores all the aspects of the business and economic analysis of the gaming industry. It evaluates marketing, hosting, comps, junkets, entertainment and the value of groups. Credit is explained, verification, authorization and collection. The operation of the games, tables, slots, keno, poker and sports book is explained.

James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney is a highly respected poker coach in the online poker community and have coached hundreds of students.His brain child, Dynamic Full Ring Poker, is very well-received in the community and is universally lauded as the go-to poker book for ground-breaking strategies. YOU WILL LEARN:• How to correctly run monster bluffs ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 277! • How to hand read better by following CardRunners coach James “SplitSuit” Sweeney’s hand reading tactics ... See page 110• How to estimate your opponents’ hand ranges in a few seconds ... Go to page 107 • How to exploit your opponents and their likely holdings ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 179 • How to profitably c-bet, lead, raise, float, double-barrel, check-raise ... Read page 125 • How to profile your opponent in a few seconds ... Go to page 22 • How to 3-bet and 4-bet like a huge winner ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 57! • How to interpret board textures ... See page 315• How to use pot geometry and stack-to-pot ratios (SPR) to CRUSH your opponents' strategies and bankrolls ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 109!And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 100 advanced tactics covered, all proven to work under the Las Vegas bright lights, the New York underground games, the internet, the college dorms, the kitchen home games, and much more. You don't need advanced math or a high IQ to crush poker. You need the right strategies and that's exactly what Dynamic Full Ring Poker delivers. James ‘SplitSuit’ Sweeney began playing poker in 2004. What started as home games and smaller tournaments soon turned into a business. From grinding live games at Turning Stone Casino, to SNGs, to PLO8 cash games, James quickly began to strengthen his poker theory and strategies. In 2007 James returned to his NLHE roots and began grinding full ring cash games. Interested in not only playing, but sharing his knowledge, he began taking on students. Over the years his coaching methedologies have only improved, and he has coached over 300 students in that time. He also began making training videos for the once Stox Poker Training, and is now on the CardRunners roster as well. Teaching has been a passion of James’, and poker was the perfect outlet given the various strategic levels the game offers. In late 2010 James finished his first book, and he plans on writing another one in 2011. While poker will always be a semi-professional avenue for him, James hopes to always be teaching at a professional level. A graduate in Marketing from Syracuse University, James coaches and offers various coaching mediums at splitsuit.com.

I first got interested in gambling as a kid growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1970s. Some of my earliest memories are of the classic hotels of the city being imploded to make way for modern casinos with hotel towers that had none of the charm of the original. Despite this early evidence of that, perhaps, history might not have the strongest hold over people, I decided to major in it as an undergrad, along with anthropology. When it came time to go to grad school, I chose history over anthropology, though I can't recall as I'm writing this exactly why I made that decision. In grad school I was preparing myself for a career as a college history professor when a small exercise called the dissertation stepped in my way. I would have to choose something to write a book-length historical study on, and it had to be something that would contribute in some way to the literature. That's when I remembered the questions I'd had about casinos as a kid: Why did they need to blow up those beautiful old buildings to build new ones that didn't look nearly as nice? If they just wanted to gamble, why didn't they just let people gamble wherever they wanted? With a few questions like that, I was on my way to writing a dissertation that got me researching casinos. From there, I haven't looked back, except for the year that I spent after I got my degree working in casino surveillance in Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal casino. I'd worked at the Taj earlier in security,and spending some time in surveillance gave me an appreciation for just how complex casinos are, and it kindled an interest in a whole other set of questions. Since arriving at UNLV back in 2001, I've been running the Center for Gaming Research, which has let me look at some very interesting areas of gambling and Las Vegas history. My website has a ton of info about my writing, professional, and creative work. So feel free to check it out at www.dgschwartz.com.Jay Sarno built two path-breaking Las Vegas casinos, Caesars Palace (1966) and Circus Circus (1968), and planned but did not build a third, the Grandissimo, which would have started the mega-resort era a decade before Steve Wynn built The Mirage. As mobsters and accountants battled for the soul of the last American frontier town, Las Vegas had endless possibilities--if you didn't mind high stakes and stiff odds. Sarno invented the modern Las Vegas casino, but he was part of a dying breed--a back-pocket entrepreneur who'd parlayed a jones for action and a few Teamster loans into a life as a Vegas casino owner. For all of his accomplishments, his empire didn't last. Sarno sold out of Caesars Palace shortly after it opened--partially to get away from the bookies and gangsters who'd taken over the casino--and he was forced to relinquish control of Circus Circus when the federal government indicted him on charges of offering the largest bribe in IRS history--a bribe he freely admitted paying, on the advice of his attorney, Oscar Goodman. Though he ultimately walked out of court a free man, he never got Circus back. And though he guessed the formula that would open up Las Vegas to millions in the 1990s with the design of the Grandissimo, but he wasn't able to secure the financing for the casino, and when he died in 1984, it remained only a frustrating dream. Sarno's casinos--and his ideas about how to build casinos--created the template for Las Vegas today. Before him, Las Vegas meant dealers in string ties and bland, functional architecture. He taught the city how to dress up its hotels in fantasy, putting toga dresses on cocktail waitresses and making sure that even the stationery carried through with the theme. He saw Las Vegas as a place where ordinary people could leave their ordinary lives and have extraordinary adventures. And that remains the template for Las Vegas today. Grandissimo is the story of how Jay Sarno won and lost his casino empire, inventing modern Las Vegas along the way.In Grandissimo, you'll learn Jay's fascinating story, and also plenty of things you never knew about Las Vegas, including:the true story about how Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters Union first started funding Sarno projectshow Steve Wynn ended up answering the telephone in Hoffa's suite on the second day Caesars Palace was openhow Sarno, represented by Oscar Goodman, beat a seemingly-airtight case against him when he was accused of offering the largest bribe in IRS history to an undercover agent how Sarno's unbuilt Grandissimo became the template for the 1990s "mega-resort" era in Las VegasFrom start to finish, it's the story of the man who inspired modern Las Vegas.

Recognized as America's leading expert on game fixing in sports, Brian Tuohy is the author of The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR and Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI. The Fix Is In gained international attention as it was reviewed by both the Wall Street Journal and the Independent in the UK, and led to Tuohy being interviewed on over 100 radio programs across the United States and Canada. He appearances include the nationally syndicated programs Coast to Coast AM, the Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo Sports Radio, Fox Sports' Chris Myers Interviews, JT The Brick, and the Alex Jones Show. He was also invited to speak at the 2012 AEJMC National Conference in Chicago and at Florida State University. His newest book Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI is based on over 400 investigative files obtained from the FBI as well as interviews with industry insiders. The book will reveal the Hall of Fame names who have bet upon their own sport and the games which were fixed. Tuohy is also the author of Disaster Government: National Emergencies, Continuity of Government, and You. Based on over three years of research into the federal government's once Top Secret files, Disaster Government reveals the shocking truths about "national emergencies," presidential executive orders, martial law, underground bases, the "shadow government" and more. Some of Tuohy's other writing work can be seen in the late, great Paranoia magazine, History Magazine, and the Writers' Journal as well as in several locations online including Alternet.org, Examiner.com and his own popular websites thefixisin.net and disastergovernment.com. Brian has a earlier podcast with Gamblers BookClub tha can be found at Episode 81 on his first book "The Fix Is In".

  Oscar Goodman, the former mayor of Las Vegas, is now the official spokesperson for the city, a director emeritus of The Mob Museum, and the namesake for the restaurant “Oscar’s Beef, Booze & Broads.” His wife is the current mayor of Las Vegas, serving until 2016.   In Being Oscar,one of America’s most celebrated criminal defense attorneys recounts the stories and cases of his epic life. The Mafia’s go-to defender, he has tried an estimated 300 criminal cases, and won most of them,.His roster of clients reads like a history of organized crime:Meyer Lansky, Nicky Scarfo, and “Lefty” Rosenthal, as well as Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King, along with a midget, a dentist, and a federal judge.     After thirty-five years as a defender, he ran for mayor of Las Vegas, and America’s greatest Mob lawyer became the mayor of its sexiest city.,He was so popular his image appeared on the $5, $25, and $100 chips.,While mayor of Vegas, he starred on the screen in,Rush Hour 2 and CSI. He is as large a character in the history of organized crime as any of his clients and as legendary a figure in the history of Las Vegas as the entrepreneurs (his friends and clients) who built the city. This is his astonishing story—the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 170 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine. Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005. Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 170 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine. Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005. The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More. By Jared Tendler and Barry Carter The mental game may be more important in poker than in any other form of competition. It's one of the only games in the world where you can play perfectly and lose-again and again. Hundreds of poker players have turned to mental game coach Jared Tender’s revolutionary approach to help them play their best, no matter how badly they're running. In this book you'll find simple, step-by-step instructions and proven techniques to permanently fix problems such as tilt, handling variance, emotional control, confidence, fear, and motivation. With the games getting tougher, now is the time to take these problems head on.  *Discover the most definitive work on tilt ever released. *Read stories from eight players who made major improvements using Jared's techniques.  *Get motivated with methods used by SuperNova Elites.   Their newest botoursok, The Mental Game of Poker 2: Proven Strategies for Improving Poker Skill, Increasing Mental Endurance, and Playing... by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter  Jared and Barry have also released in audio form with part two just finished and soon to be released.   AUDIOBOOK: The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More UNABRIDGED By Jared Tendler, Barry Carter, Narrated By Jared  Tendler, Length: 5 hrs. and 45 mins   ERIC DANIS, GLOBALPOKERINDEX/GPI: The Global Poker Index (“GPI”) is a ranking of the top 300 live tournament poker players in the world as of the day it is published. Players are ranked weekly based on their performance by finishing in cash positions in qualifying tournaments occurring over the previous 36 month period. A cash position is any position where the player receives a portion of the total prize for their performance in an event (all references to buy-in are inclusive of entry fees). Typically the top 10% to 20% of the participants in an event finish in a cash position. Qualifying tournaments are events with 21 or more players and a buy-in of $1000 USD (or other currency equivalent) or higher that are open to the public, and are not specialty or selected audience events such as charity, seniors, doubles, satellite, women, team, employee, executive and CEO events.

"Owen Gaines has produced a truly unique and innovative poker course. He combines tons of in-depth, easy-to-digest examples with attractive charts and graphs that hammer the most critical concepts home. For my students, Poker's Post flop Course is now required reading." - Ed Miller Best-selling poker author and founder of notedpokerauthority.com "This book introduces a systematic analysis of explotive post flop no-limit hold'em. It guides the reader in a logical fashion, beginning with the simplest spots while introducing the theoretical framework, before building up to cover even the most intricate of situations. I eagerly await the continuation of this series!" - Philip Newall - Author of The Intelligent Poker Player Part 1 thoroughly dissects every conceivable action on the river. Become an expert in river play using my methods and shortcuts. To sharpen your newfound skills, I include: • 90 Test Your Comprehension questions and answers • 39 Exercises involving 116 questions and answers • 30 Example Hands • 36 Your Turn situations with the author's explanations Books by Owen Gaines: Poker Math That Matters - Simplifying the Secrets of No-limit Hold'em Hole Card Confessions: Hand-Reading and Exploitive Play in Hold'em   Poker Perspectives: Bringing the Game into Focus

The book comes in two major sections. First you’ll read a series of hand examples. These examples are designed to show you the difference between how a typical no-limit hold’em player thinks and how a professional-level player thinks. Each of these hand examples represents a small improvement you can make in your play. The second section turns the lessons from the first section into missions you can do on your own. These missions are the equivalent of recipes in a book on nutrition or exercises in a workout book. Doing the missions—doing them as often and using as much your brain on them as possible—are what will make you a better poker player. Do the missions, and you’ll see results. Ignore the missions, and you likely won’t." from the Foreword by Ed Miller -Author of Playing the Player, How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold’em, Small Stakes Hold’em Doug has been found at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun poker rooms since 2001. When he is not perfecting this craft, he is blacksmithing, woodcarving or developing his permaculture homestead in Massachusetts. He has authored an engineering textbook, co-authored a second and contributed to a third. He has taught countless people to use MATLAB through his blog at MathWorks.com. Reach him at hull@ThreeBarrelBluff.com.

Edward Raymond Miller (born August 10, 1979) is a professional poker player and an author of books about poker. He wrote Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big with Expert Play with David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth in 2004. In 2005, he completed Getting Started in Hold 'em, a beginner's book. In 2006, he co-wrote No Limit Hold 'Em: Theory and Practice with David Sklansky. Miller is also co-author of the book Professional No Limit Hold 'em with Matt Flynn and Sunny Mehta published in 2007, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em co-authored with Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn, How to Read Hands At No-Limit Hold'em in 2011, and Playing the Player in 2012. Miller also writes an online poker column and manages a poker discussion forum. He is part owner and produces educational poker videos for Stoxpoker, a subscription fee Ed Miller is a professional poker player. He teaches people like you the skills, strategies, and tricks necessary to win good money playing poker. He is not flashy. He is not going to throw up a graph showing $3 million in winnings and pretend I can get you there. (I haven’t won that much myself.) He specialize in small stakes players. Writing for the $1-$2 and $2-$5 players who find it all too difficult to string together three or four winning sessions. Also writing for the micro stakes grinders online who are struggling to get their balance above a grand. Ed believes everyone can win $10,000 playing poker if they get the right information and they are willing to put the work in. That’s his mission. I want to get as many of my readers to $10,000 as possible. Ed's been doing this for eight years and has a long track record of success. Here’s what you need to know about Ed. ·        Written six books and sold more than 250,000 copies. Lots of readers and lots of success stories in there. ·        His books have helped to launch the careers of hundreds of professional players. ·        Ed's articles appear in Card Player magazine, and I’ve made dozens of instructional videos for Stoxpoker and Card runners. ·        Ed has degrees in Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Naturally, He became a gambler to make my mother proud. Stick with Ed and you’ll be very glad you did.

Reading Poker Tells is being called the best book about poker tells by many players, both amateur and professional. Besides cataloging the most common poker-related behavioral patterns, the book gives a mental framework for analyzing and remembering poker tells.  From the Author: I have always been primarily interested in the psychological aspects of poker. I like studying people, figuring out their personal strategies and tendencies, and trying to use that knowledge to my advantage. I love calling a big bluff, betting someone off a hand when I sense weakness, and reading the psychological ebb and flow of individual players and the game as a whole. I think poker is a tremendously deep game; the more I have studied it, the more psychological complexity I find. I used to play poker for a living. Now I just use it as a supplemental source of income. Several factors went into my decision to stop playing professionally. The most important one was related to anxiety/stress; I realized that I basically was not mentally cut out for the life I was trying to lead. I’ve come to believe that some people are just better-equipped for the cumulative stresses of professional poker playing. Better-equipped than I am, for sure. Just as I believe that the psychological aspects of the game are under-rated by most players, I also believe that a proper psychological mindset is key to being a high-stakes winner. (I’m still undecided if the proper mindset is always inherent or can be learned.) This blog is focused on poker tells, but don’t take this to mean that I think tells are the most important thing in the game. I don’t. They’re a very small part of the game. But I do believe that the importance of tells is vastly under-rated by even a lot of experienced players. And I think that being good at reading tells is one of those things that can make a very good player a fantastic player. I don’t believe this subject is well-addressed by the mostly-inferior books on poker tells and poker psychology out there. In my opinion, Mike Caro’s book from 30 years ago is still the best book out there on the subject, which is not saying a lot. There have been several other misleading, badly-written, and just plain stupid books put out over the years, mostly by people who are not poker players, or who do not play significant stakes. This is all very strange to me. I know there are plenty of players like myself who use tells on a regular basis to get an edge on the competition. And there are plenty of superior players who know more about this subject than I do. I don’t pretend to be a guru on poker tells. The things I know are common tricks of the trade to many professional poker players. But nobody’s writing about it. I don’t know why; it might really be due to the fact that most good live players are having too much fun taking people’s money to sit down and write about these things. (And if it wasn’t for my complex, love-hate relationship with poker, I’d probably be doing a lot more playing and a lot less writing.)  

Would a $400,000 Pick 6 paycheck change your life? Can your $32 ticket beat out a syndicate’s $12,000 wager? Are you making the smartest Pick 6 play possible? Would you be content earning a six-figure income at the racetrack: year after year? This book can pay for itself, your retirement, AND your house!  It is not a handicapping book, and it's not a "system." It is a book about learning how to routinely win monster Pick 6 paychecks. A one-of-a-kind book with 397 pages dedicated to horse racing's ultimate wager.  If you want to become wealthy playing the horses, the ONLY way to do so is to become a Pick 6 winner. A repeat Pick 6 winner. If you're a consistent loser at the racetrack, here is your opportunity to turn it all around and become a BIG winner... fast!  Millions of horseplayers just don't get it. They are losers. They fritter their money away on Exactas, Superfectas, Super High Fives and the lowly Show wager. Playing those "fun" wagers drains their bank account. They certainly aren't the wagers big winners play.  Readers of How to WIN the PICK 6 are going to "get it." They are going to put an end to their losing days by learning how to become winners. Isn't that what you want?  Readers will be educated and mentored to put winning selections on Pick 6 tickets ranging from $16 to several hundred dollars. They will be shown the amazing 3% Solution, the eye-opening 30/30/40 Rule, and other novel Pick 6 strategies to guide them toward a life of financial freedom.  Author Steven Kolb's goal is to educate readers about the intricacies of horse racing most elusive wager. If you want to be in the Winners Circle you'll need to learn how to play the Pick 6, when to play the Pick 6, where to play the Pick 6, and what to do once you start cashing in on five- and six-figure Pick 6 paychecks. All the answers to the Pick 6 puzzle are in this book; as well as lots of humor, stories, quotes and facts.  Also for Pick 4 and Pick 5 Players! *** On Twitter as MrPick6. Good luck to you and yours.

Author Steven Kolb's goal is to educate horse players, new and older about the intricacies of horse racing. This podcast is on the Belmont Stakes, upcoming in June, giving you his read on the horses running and who he believes you should look at for study if you are planning to bet this race.

Why is there a twelve on the cover of this blackjack book instead of the usual twenty-one? No blackjack author in their right mind would put a hand of twelve on the cover. Glen Wiggy did-he is full of surprises like that. Part how-to manual, part memoir, 1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors-Finding Profit and Humor in Card-Counting chronicles Wiggy's amusing experiences while playing blackjack during more than eight hundred casino visits from January 2001 until June 2008. It also introduces blackjack card-counting in a fun and easy-to-learn format. In addition to the everyday casino patrons, starving puppies, angry pit bosses, French doughnuts, talking sea gulls, and 1536 bottled waters make unforgettable appearances in these entertaining stories tailored for casual blackjack gamblers. For players pursuing the game for serious profit, Wiggy also presents practical tips on; Aspects of blackjack basic strategy; Fundamentals of card-counting; Techniques for managing money; Dangers of greedy gambling behavior Unlike most blackjack strategy guides, 1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors won't teach you how to "kill" the dealer or make a living playing the game. Instead, you'll learn basic strategy and introductory card-counting skills that give you enough confidence to approach the table with a positive attitude and reasonable expectation of winning. Plus, you'll learn what to expect from the cards and the wonderfully strange people and places you may encounter. Enjoy the ride. "Undoubtedly, the most enjoyable blackjack book I've read in my twenty years as the editor of a gambling publishing company. It had me laughing out loud". -Deke Castleman, editor for Huntington Press  About the Author: Glen Wiggy was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1966. His father is a retired golf professional. His mother, before her death in 2007, was a housewife and mother of six children. Glen graduated from the United States Air Force Academy-Class of '88, first class with refrigerators-and spent a twenty-year career as an Air Force officer. While on active-duty, he served as a Security Police Shift Commander, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and Scientific Analyst. In June 2008, Glen retired from the Air Force and worked as a Department of Defense contractor at Task Force 134, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq, performing research and analysis in support of detainee operations. In June 2009, he settled in the Colorado Springs area and currently works as a government civilian at United States Northern Command. He is also an online statistics instructor with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Glen is married with two children and three grandchildren. Besides card-counting at blackjack, his hobbies include golf and snow skiing. He has a BS in mathematics from the Air Force Academy, an MBA from Boston University, and an MS in mathematics from the University of Arizona. Glen Wiggy blogs on www.blackjackstories.com

In this episode Sol and Howard talk about what is in the DVD and how to use the information. There is enough information given by Sol to the listerners that some of it can be used right away.Your Maximizing Craps DVD comes with everything you need to play craps to the fullest. Maximize your winnings. Maximize your fun. Order your copy today. A full-length professionally produced DVD that explains step-by-step how to improve your game. A chapter-by-chapter explanation of the craps system that will improve your winnings, extend your playing fun and tell you when to walk away. A handy wallet card outlining all your bets. A colorful, fully annotated DVD jacket chock full of helpful information. A link to our website to post questions, reviews and comments. Our Craps Strategy Maximizing Craps is the one craps system that will both maximize your winnings and maximize your fun. This is a time-tested system that has been developed and refined over more than 50 years of gambling. Individuals who have used this amazing system reported that they win an average of 80% of the time. Here are a few of the things you will learn from our simple to follow DVD: 1)  Learn how to set a craps gambling budget and stick with it. 2) Learn how to form a betting strategy that will maximize your winnings. 3) Learn how to pick the right casino. 4) Learn how to pick the right table. 5) Learn how and when to up your betting. 6) Learn how to play 100-to-1 casinos. 7) Learn how to play regular odds casinos. 8) Learn how to determine the amount of your first bet and where to place it. 9) Learn how to determine the amount of your second bet. 10) Learn how to determine the amount of your third bet. 11) Learn what to bet if a 7 or 11 comes up on the first roll of the dice. 12) Learn when and why to decrease your betting. 13) Learn when to walk away. 14) Learn how to maximize your fun.

Jude is a Las Vegas casino dealer who barely survived the deadly MGM fire in 1980. More than two decades later, he’s still dealing, a tired, middle-aged man, divorced, struggling with debt, and trying to be a good father to his children. Then he loses his job and his car is totaled in an accident. When an attractive woman friend offers to help him get another job, Jude is happy to go along. Gradually, he realizes that his new job is part of an elaborate scheme to cheat a casino and that his own fate and that of his children depend on his finding the courage and ingenuity to extricate himself.Cold Deck is the exciting story of an ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. Moving from Las Vegas mean streets to the insider’s world of casino workers, this is a story of survival set against the greed, fears, and glitz of Sin City. H. Lee Barnes is a former Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a deputy sheriff, private investigator, and casino dealer. He currently teaches English and creative writing at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. He is the author of three short story collections, another novel, a memoir, and a nonfiction book about casino workers. His short fiction has received the Willamette Fiction Award and the Arizona Authors Association Fiction Award, and in 2009, he was elected to the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. H. Lee Barnes is a former Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a deputy sheriff, private investigator, and casino dealer. He currently teaches English and creative writing at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. He is the author of three short story collections, another novel, a memoir, and a nonfiction book about casino workers. His short fiction has received the Willamette Fiction Award and the Arizona Authors Association Fiction Award, and in 2009, he was elected to the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.

Can you really make money playing slot machines? Peter Liston, otherwise known as the Slot King has done just that, turning $500 into millions over the past eighteen years. For the first time, Peter reveals the secrets that have turned him from a high school teacher into a globe-trotting professional gambler doing what is considered to be impossible ・playing the slot machines as a business. Share with Peter as he cracks the code to the slots, tests the theories in his local slot venues, then exploits that winning knowledge in hotels, clubs and casinos around the world. PeterListon has appeared in television and radio interviews in U.S.A., Australia and U.K.  Peter  is the world's leading authority on advantage slot machine play. A former high school teacher and a member of Mensa, Peter used his mathematical skills to establish a system of beating the slots in 1994. He started with $500 and turned it into millions of dollars, exploiting linked progressive jackpots in Australasia, Asia, North America and Africa.  He appeared on the ZKK British television documentary "The World's Greatest Gambling Scams" as well as on current affairs television and radio interviews in Australia and Las Vegas. Peter is based in Melbourne, Australia but frequently travels to casinos around the world looking for the best slot jackpots. He is also consulting, teaching and writing about advantage slot play. 

Risk of Ruin is about Bart Black, a professional gambler-biker-tattoo-artist who becomes obsessed with an underage stripper who believes she's God.It's a story of rebellion, crime, and passion that attempts to answer a question that has tormented gambling men since Adam placed an all-in bet on Eve: Is she worth the risk? Arnold Snyder, more noted as an a professional gambler and author of numerous blackjack books (The Big Book of Blackjack and Blackbelt in Blackjack among them) as well as poker (The Poker Tournament Formula and The Poker Tournament Formula 2) and has ventured into the (under)world of topless clubs in Las Vegas. Titled Sin City Advisor's Topless Vegas (Episode 51). From the Author Risk of Ruin is my first novel--or at least, the first novel I'm willing to put my name on. Years ago, I used to write pseudonymous and anonymous hack fiction--two cents a word stuff. Risk of Ruin is my apology to all the trees that have died through the years for the terrible books I used to write.What I really wanted to do with this book was violate the common genre formulas I was once forced to adhere to, while at the same time creating a moving love story, a cop drama, a paranormal romance, a porno potboiler, and an adventure story. To accomplish this, I started by creating main characters that violate the requirements for the protagonists of any of the popular fiction genres.Take Bart, my protagonist/hero. He's five-foot-two and always broke. He's dirty, in the sense of grimy. (He works part-time as a hack motorcycle mechanic, when he's not in Reno trying to make money on a professional blackjack team.) He's a high school dropout, uses crude language, has satanic tattoos up and down both arms and a Napoleonic superiority complex. He rides a chopped Harley. A fun night for Bart is going to a bar that has a wet t-shirt contest and spraying water on the women who are competing, because that's about as close as he's going to get to a relationship with a woman and he knows it. He's not a person you'd ever care to hang out with, and he definitely would not be cast in the role of protagonist/hero in any genre of novel that I know of.As for Stacy, the love interest: When she meets Bart, she's sixteen years old (he's 43) and she's a runaway working as a dancer in a nude strip club, a job she got using fake ID. Her superiority complex is even greater than Bart's, as she believes she's God. Literally. Even though Stacy is leggy, blond and beautiful, there is no genre of novel that would have this character as the hero's love interest.So, writing this book was a challenge. My task was to make Bart into a real hero, someone the reader would be rooting for, while making Stacy a person he could really love. Violating the norms of genre fiction forced me to create a story so compelling that the physical, emotional, psychological and social flaws of the characters become irrelevant.

our Maximizing Craps DVD comes with everything you need to play craps to the fullest. Maximize your winnings. Maximize your fun. Order your copy today. A full-length professionally produced DVD that explains step-by-step how to improve your game. A chapter-by-chapter explanation of the craps system that will improve your winnings, extend your playing fun and tell you when to walk away. A handy wallet card outlining all your bets. A colorful, fully annotated DVD jacket chock full of helpful information. A link to our website to post questions, reviews and comments. Our Craps Strategy Maximizing Craps is the one craps system that will both maximize your winnings and maximize your fun. This is a time-tested system that has been developed and refined over more than 50 years of gambling. Individuals who have used this amazing system reported that they win an average of 80% of the time. Here are a few of the things you will learn from our simple to follow DVD: Learn how to set a craps gambling budget and stick with it.2) Learn how to form a betting strategy that will maximize your winnings.3) Learn how to pick the right casino.4) Learn how to pick the right table.5) Learn how and when to up your betting.6) Learn how to play 100-to-1 casinos.7) Learn how to play regular odds casinos.8) Learn how to determine the amount of your first bet and where to place it.9) Learn how to determine the amount of your second bet.10) Learn how to determine the amount of your third bet.11) Learn what to bet if a 7 or 11 comes up on the first roll of the dice.12) Learn when and why to decrease your betting.13) Learn when to walk away.14) Learn how to maximize your fun.

Do you want to learn how to become a winning no limit hold'em player? Ashley Adams, an experienced author and winning cash game player, has written his new book, Winning No-Limit Hold'em, A Practical Guide to Beating Low Buy-in Cash Games, for you. Whether you are a complete beginner or an intermediate player already competing, but losing, in the typical low limit version of the game, Winning No-Limit Hold'em gives you the practical knowledge you need to beat the game. Ashley Adams has done for hold'em what he has already done for 7-card stud in his highly acclaimed and top selling book Winning 7-Card Stud. He's taken a very complicated subject -- beating the typical low limit no limit hold'em game -- and made it simple and easy to learn. The book is broken up into simple, concise chapters that cover every topic necessary to go from beginner to winner. Such chapters include: LEARNING THE BASICS -- a simple explanation of the basics of betting and the language of poker , A BASIC STRATEGY of the game so you'll be able to sit down and start playing with confidence and limited risk, FIRST TIME IN A CASINO -- a primer on how to play poker easily and confidently in public poker rooms, as well as chapters on odds, tournament play, deception, tells, reading opponents, and improving your game. Each chapter ends with a quiz -- so you'll be able to test your poker knowledge you have to bet on it. So if you want to learn how to play -- or if you know the basics but haven't yet been able to consistently win -- Winning No Limit Hold'em is the book for you. Ashley Adams has the rare ability to explain poker concepts accurately and clearly, which is why each of his books are gems of the rarest kind. His books are easy to follow and easy to understand. When you read this book a second time, you'll gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to be a winning poker player. And when you read Adams a third time which you really should do you ll find yourself well along the road to mastering poker concepts and becoming a favorite in your local game. Because Adams will teach you more than most of your opponents know, all you have to do is apply his teachings whenever you play. It ll work. I guarantee it. Lou Krieger --Lou Krieger This Ashley Adam s book is comprehensive and easy to understand. Sure, it breaks new ground by tackling the neglected garden of lower-limit hold em. But, in truth, most of the powerful concepts and advice on these pages are profitable in larger games and gardens, too. Buy it! Mike Caro, the Mad Genius of Poker --Mike Caro 

Bi-Count Blackjack is for serious Blackjack players. It's a  system of card-counting that lets the player track 36 cards from a deck with ease while telling the player how best to play out each hand. Multiple deck play will actually add to the players advantage.It is superior to plus/minus card-counting systems with running counts that are virtually impossible to follow and with betting patterns that give you away as a counter as well. It provides a wealth of information which will change the way you play your game. With Bi-Count Blackjack you are in control. You know what the deck(s) have in store for you. You can anticipate receiving a Blackjack, a high 2-card hand, or either a "make" card for you as well as how to play out the hand. With Bi-Count Blackjack you don't double down or split pairs unless it's to your advantage. You don't hit a 'stiff' or stand when the dealer has a 3,4,5, or 6 unless it's to your advantage. You don't surrender or take insurance unless it's to your advantage to do so. The Bi-Count Blackjack system comes in a 62 page spiral-bound book filled with Blackjack analysis including the weaknesses of Basic Strategy as well as those of most counting systems. Over 40 tables explain the fallacies of card-counting systems with "index" numbers. It explains the "defensive" deck characteristics used by casinos and tells you how to anticipate a winning hand on more than a "ten rich" deck. It tells you of the fallacies of making larger bets into a "ten rich" deck when the next hand is actually a disadvantage to your winning. Bi-Count Blackjack has an answer for "defensive" deck techniques and prepares you for the high/low deck and "streaks" that play havoc with a 10-card counting system. Only a limited amount will be sold. Right now only available at Gamblers Book Club, not available at Amazon.

Alan Schoonmaker earned his Ph.D. in industrial psychology at U of California, Berkeley. He taught and did research at UCLA, Carnegie-Mellon, and Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. After running management development at Merrill Lynch, he worked as a consultant in twenty-nine countries on all six continents. His clients included the world's largest corporations such as IBM, Mobil, GE, GM, and Chase Manhattan. The annual sales of his clients exceed one trillion dollars.He has written or co-authored three research monographs and five books on industrial psychology. His work has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, and Indonesian. He has also developed several multi-media training programs. His "Selling: The Psychological Approach" was once the world's best selling computer based instructional program for business people. A major theme of his work is understanding and adjusting to different kinds of people. His attitude toward our game is unique for a poker writer: "I play only in smaller games because maximizing my profits is much less important to me than relaxing and learning about people. I became a psychologist because I enjoy people-watching, and a cardroom is a wonderful place to do it." "Players in small games are much more interesting than the more serious players. They are more varied, open, and relaxed. They laugh more, tell better stories, and never forget that the purpose of playing any game is to have fun." "As the stakes get higher, the players become more serious and homogeneous. Most of them study the same books, know the same odds, and try to use similar strategies. In the smaller games there are more rocks, more maniacs, more calling stations, more nerds, more "Deluded Experts," and more oddballs, which means I learn more and get better material for my writing." "Most poker writers focus on how the champions think and play, but hardly anything has been written about ordinary players. I want to help them to understand themselves and the people in their games." Poker is much more than knowing the right strategies; it's also knowing how to actualize those strategies. The game is full of losing players who know how to play, yet can't seem to induce themselves to consistently make the right plays. "Black Friday" and the current state of the U.S. economy have changed the sub-culture in which we live and play. The dynamics of the poker world have drastically changed. Internet poker is not the cash cow it used to be, thereby changing the face of live poker. The games got tougher as Internet pros gravitated to the live action, the only action they can currently find. As players we must find ways to adapt to our new realities. For the Internet player looking to become a major winner in live poker this involves changes in skill sets and mindsets. For the B&M players it involves adjusting to the skills and styles of former online players. The Internet game and the live game, though related, have very different fundamentals, not to mention all the innumerable different nuances. And, because there are fewer weak players, everybody must adjust to tougher games. The Poker Party is Over will teach things about developing into a great poker player. You'll learn how train your mind to adjust from Internet poker to live poker, or - if you're a B&M player - to adjust to internet players. You'll ascertain how to become an expert on "tells", learn how to effectively manage your bankroll, and be taught how to guide your mind through poker logic. You'll discover how to prepare yourself for survival in our dog-eat-dog world and much, much more.

This is my 7th year of publication. If you want a solid tool to use against the spread to pick winners in the NFL, then this book is for you. Whether you are playing against the spread, contests, or fantasy football, it's a good idea to know which team has the edge by numbers. This is my best designed book in 7 years and it contains all the vitals you need to win. It's a small investment for a larger payoff. I have 37 years of experience handicapping college and NFL games. Don't be the only one without it this season.The 2012 edition has professionally formulated power ratings, spread range tracking, system plays, (74.5% over last 4 years), against the spread trends, last year's grass and turf results, rout wins and losses, estimated season win totals, schedule strength rankings, and West Coast teams marked with T.C. when faced with an early start on an East Coast road trip. Thursday games are shaded to point out when a team is on a short week. There is a walk through of power rating analysis with the 2011 Green Bay Packers with Mike's opinion and how he played each week. Player rosters are adjacent to each team page with columns for late additions and key injuries. Whether you bet against the spread, or play the many contests in Las Vegas, this is the book you want to use before you make your play. Indexed  84 Pages Paper bound

Glimne of Hope – A Lifelong Love Affair with Games Dan Glimne has so many strings to his gaming bow it’s practically a harp. The Swedish poker expert, author, gaming pundit and inventor can be found commentating on the action, traveling the world in search of gaming experiences from Cuba to Hong Kong, or sat at the felt putting theory into practice at Unibet Open. Having played five Unibet Open tournaments so far, he has yet to make his mark on the leader boards, although he’s enjoyed previous success at the WSOP and Master Classics of Poker (at which he came third in 2005 for over €35,000). He has, however, been known to go deep in a side event or two on the tour, most recently and perhaps unexpectedly the Maria Poker Ladies’ Event at Unibet Open Budapest in March, where he finished as runner-up! When asked what he thought it took to succeed in poker these days, he replied, “Mental discipline, and a willingness to absorb new ideas and constantly improve your game. Winning at Texas hold’em ten years ago, live or online, was no problem; but these days the competition is fierce and everyone studies poker theory.” He’s been playing long enough to have an overview of the game’s development too – as he recounts with almost glamorous underworld detail, “I still remember the illegal so-called “black clubs” in Sweden, where you had to knock on secret doors and identify yourself before stepping into those smoke-filled rooms…” Playing seriously for 20 years, Glimne recalls a time before the present boom which has been so beneficial for students of the game, making online celebrities out of its top players (his opinion on who Isildur1 may or may not be is also floating around the internet). In between appearing on the live mike, Glimne recently made a series of short videos called Dan Glimne’s Poker Curiosities for Unibet Open in Budapest, relaying in his inimitable style (and Swedish accent) stories from Binion’s in Vegas, the early greats, apocryphal tales and that Sting worked in a funeral parlour before moving into music (part of his Curiosities Part 3 – What Players Did Before They Went Pro…). His interest in all aspects of the game of poker is infectious and doesn’t stop at the door of the card room. In his own words: “I have been in the games industry in the wide sense for thirty years now, writing books, working as a consultant in the casino sector, and inventing board and card games with over 1.5 million sold in over twenty countries. Apart from poker I play mainly mahjong (one World Championship and two European Championships, apart from playing the brutal cash game form of the game in Hong Kong clubs), Othello (third in the Swedish Championship) and a variety of others for pleasure. And I collect pretty much everything in the way of dice and dice-related objects, which has led to some pretty interesting encounters with – among other people – witch doctors in South Africa and Santeria priests in Cuba. One day, when I am ready, that collection will be put on exhibit in a museum. I guess I would have to say that gaming is a life-long love affair for me!” Enjoy this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOf1T0Z6Ak&feature=player_embedded

Ed Miller is a professional poker player. He teaches people like you the skills, strategies, and tricks necessary to win good money playing poker. He is not flashy. He is not going to throw up a graph showing $3 million in winnings and pretend I can get you there. (I haven’t won that much myself.) He specialize in small stakes players. writing for the $1-$2 and $2-$5 players who find it all too difficult to string together three or four winning sessions. Also writing for the microstakes grinders online who are struggling to get their balance above a grand. Ed believes everyone can win $10,000 playing poker if they get the right information and they are willing to put the work in. That’s his mission. I want to get as many of my readers to $10,000 as possible. Ed's been doing this for eight years and has a long track record of success. Here’s what you need to know about Ed. Written six books and sold more than 250,000 copies. Lots of readers and lots of success stories in there. His books have helped to launch the careers of hundreds of professional players. Ed's articles appear in Card Player magazine, and I’ve made dozens of instructional videos for Stoxpoker and Cardrunners. Ed has degrees in Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Naturally, He became a gambler to make my mother proud. Stick with Ed and you’ll be very glad you did.

Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 200 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine.Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005. The mental game may be more important in poker than in any other form of competition. It's one of the only games in the world where you can play perfectly and lose-again and again. Hundreds of poker players have turned to mental game coach Jared Tendler's revolutionary approach to help them play their best, no matter how badly they're running. In this book you'll find simple, step-by-step instructions and proven techniques to permanently fix problems such as tilt, handling variance, emotional control, confidence, fear, and motivation. With the games getting tougher, now is the time to take these problems head on.Discover the most definitive work on tilt ever released.Read stories from eight players who made major improvements using Jared's techniques.Get motivated with methods used by SuperNova Elites.

Bennett Onika is a poker player who has combined the latest in memory training with the vast and detailed statistics of the online poker world. He attends the World Series of Poker annually. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Going beyond the common poker strategy book, this one-of-a-kind guide utilizes basic memory techniques designed to enable a player to easily keep track of poker statistics during a live game. A variety of engaging imagery is provided, teaching players how to remember approximately 10 to 100 times the information an untrained player would have at a tournament. Covering everything from how often a player plays to memorizing tells, this is the ideal companion for both serious amateurs and professional card sharks.

Jonathan Duhamel was raised in Boucherville, a neighboring town 10 mins drive from Montreal, Quebec. From a comfortable middle-class family, his father, an aeroplane engine mechanic and his mother, a bank cashier, brought him and his younger sister up in the security and space of a suburban ‘white picket fence’ childhood.“ As a big brother, I fought with my sister all the time. I remember my parents didn’t like it, so whenever I hit her” says Jonathan “I would get grounded. If she was hitting me though, it was all fine. I’ve learn a lot from that!” Both Jonathan’s parents were fairly strict, ensuring he understood the value of money from an early age by encouraging him to take part-time jobs outside of school. His first job, as he recalls, was at age 13, picking strawberries. This tough-love gave Jonathan a strong work ethic and the insight that with hard work he would reap his own rewards. Duhamel makes no secret of his love of sport – playing ice hockey, baseball, soccer, etc… as a child and a fervent supporter of his local Montreal Canadian’s ice hockey team, he really relishes sports which has taught him the importance of working in a team. “I’m always going to remember the first Montreal Canadian game I saw. My dad brought me, and they were playing Boston. At the end, we lost 4-3, but it was an amazing game, amazing experience. On the ice, myself, I’ve always been very competitive. Even though I wasn’t the best, the desire to win was always there, and it is something I still have, in everything I do in life. When I do something, I always do it 100%.” The next step, obviously took the young Canadian to college and university. Studying Business Administration and Finance – it was the numbers and maths that really challenged him into this path. After about a year at university, his friends and he started playing poker home games and this suddenly became an overnight passion. Unsure of his vocation, Jonathan decided to take a year off to think about his future. He used this free time to travel around the world with friends and rediscover his own life objectives. It’s also during this time that Jonathan had the chance to focus on his new passion, and this materialized in his first major cash at EPT Prague in 2008 where he placed 10th. His strategy improved mainly by interaction, rather than reading, for Jonathan “There are a lot of very good poker players in Quebec, we all talk strategy together, and I am the player I am now because of them!” A self confessed cash games player, it is only after his initial successes to build a healthy bankroll, that he turned his attention to tournaments. Several other tournament cashes were however dwarfed, by what has now lead to Jonathan Duhamel’s fame in the poker world – winning the coveted WSOP 2010 Main Event Championship. From there, Jonathan’s life transformed, becoming a member of Team PokerStars Pro, touring tournament after tournament with a close group of friends and poker players (winning EPT Deauville High Roller shortly after the WSOP) and writing a book on his life ‘Cards on Table’.

Before Bryce Harper was the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft, before he signed the sport’s biggest contract ever for a first-year pro, he gambled his future on one make-or-break season. The Las Vegas High School sophomore already had dominated the competition like Mickey Mantle on the playground and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which dubbed him the “most exciting prodigy since LeBron James.” Seeking greater tests as a hitter, the precocious phenom got his GED and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, where he could face pro prospects in a challenging wooden-bat league that prohibited the hitter-friendly aluminum bats used throughout college ball. Harper shattered the school’s home run record with 31 (the previous mark was 12) and compiled a startling 1.513 OPS while leading his team to the Junior College World Series. For his heroics, the 17-year-old became the only position player from a junior college to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s best amateur baseball player.  Las Vegas sportswriter Rob Miech was “embedded” with the Southern Nevada Coyotes team and brings us along for the ride—into the dugout and locker room and on team buses and in motel rooms, from the scorched fields to the snow-capped horizons of the Scenic West Athletic Conference—to deliver a warts-and-all account of a boy among men playing like a man among boys. Amid the media circus that descended upon team and town, we read fascinating personal stories including the dynamics between veteran coach Tim Chambers and Harper’s protective father, the camaraderie with—and jealousies of—other players, the fans and autograph seekers (and girls) who all want a piece of the young star, and how Harper is suspended from the World Series after protesting an umpire’s call, and the role his faith plays in his life.  The Last Natural shows us a season in the life of baseball’s top rising star, culminating in a dramatic conclusion when Harper is drafted #1 by the Washington Nationals and, after tense negotiations that go up until just seconds before the midnight deadline, signs a $9.9 million contract. Even more than this, Miech’s book is the story of a team and its community, the hopes and aspirations of its players and coaches, and the spirit of pure baseball that lies at the heart of the American dream.