Book Description
"By the time you finish reading, you're going to know as much about craps as anyone who is involved with the game, and I include casino managers, pit bosses and dealers in this category. Not only that, but this book will reveal methods of play and strategies never before put into print. The purpose of this work is to transmit this knowledge to you, the reader, and to make you a winner."
Customer Reviews:
I Like Silberstang.......2007-03-01
I became acquainted with Silberstang's writing way back in the 1980s and his basic ideas do hold up. You will not really learn an advantage method in this book, but a betting system that does cut the house edge to its minimum. Silberstang's writing is crisp and clear, his experiences show that he is a player, and his knowledge of the game for random players is top notch.
This is a good book to start your craps playing career.
Frank Scoblete: Author of Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!
waste of money.......2007-02-28
If you have no idea how to play craps then i will say as all other books it explains the basic bets etc. The problem this book had, along with many other craps books i have bought is that 70% of the book is basic craps primer, 10% are about stories of big rolls, 10% is about comps and casino management and about 5 pages are about actual strategy to use while playing the game.
Drumroll please, the big strategy that will make you tons of money can be summarized in 3 sentences.
bet the pass line with double odds. After each Pass win without a loss, press the bet up. At the end it has you betting something like $500 on the pass and 1000 on the odds bet. here is the problem:
In order to get to that level the shooter, get this, has to make something liek 11 points. I have seen some shooters make 5 or 6 points but 11 is very very rare.
This book in a sentence:
After each pass with double odds win press your pass and odds bet. if you lose on 3 shooters go home.
Must-have Reference .......2006-05-22
One of the best overall reference books on craps, as worthwhile for the more advanced player as it is for the beginner. No serious craps library should be without it.
Great book .......2005-09-01
Read this book, its great for explaining the different bets and strategies. Once he explanins the bets,he goes about how to bet to maximize your winnings and minimize your losses. If you order this book you wont be sorry. Another good book is how to gamble without getting plucked like a chicken.
Love this book!.......2004-10-17
This was the first book I bought on craps. It taught me the basics and gave me a good understanding of right and wrong betting. I've been using the strategies in this book for several years now with good success. Not a big gambler, I've been able to sit at a 5-dollar craps table for or 30-60 minutes on a good night and have a ball, plus leave a winner. While luck has a great deal to do with it at least I understand what's happening on the table. I lent my book to a co-worker who went to Las Vegas with it and never returned it, so I'm buying another.
Customer Reviews:
Playing poker with a straight head.......2007-09-17
Pretty solid book. Helps getting you in the right state of mind when playing poker. I believe this is crucial to your game and have enjoyed the book. Easy to read and a good flow to it. Definitely feel like its improved my game and would recommend it. Just to give you a comparison I have read the following and thought they were solid poker books as well: Super System, Harrington on Hold'em, Phil Gordon's little green book, Caro's Book of Tells, and In the Money Strategies for winning texas Hold'em cash games. I have read other poker books but don't think they are worth purchasing.....GOOD LUCK!
Too advanced for poker retards........2007-03-08
It's no wonder some of you poker bandwagon jumpers hated this book. It's much too advanced for you. This isn't one of those cookie-cutter books that every por is writing right now to make a few bucks. This is a serious look at the philosophy of poker, written by a self-proclaimed amatuer. The best piece of advice in this book regards becoming a poker professional. "When should I turn pro?" someone asks. John answers "Probably never." It's wisdom like that which makes this book so valuable.
John gives out his email address in the version I read and I decided to write him with a question. He answered me, and gave me some good advice. What a stud. This is the best poker book I've ever read, and I've read about 40 of them. Trust me.
The worst book ever!!!!!.......2006-04-21
This is the worst book I have ever read about poker,and I have more than 20.This is not a book for serious poker player at all,it may teach some compulsive gamblers how to reduce their losses but nothing more.I paid $4 for it and I regret for buying it,don't waste your money.(I am not surprised that used copy of it goes for $1+shipping)
Don't waste your time or money.......2006-03-02
This book is worthless. Full of rediculous advice that will get you "killed" at the poker table. I tried some of these techniques and it ruined my game. If you need to get a book, get one from an actual poker player. This guy is simply a writer trying to sell some books. For those of you who said this book was great and improved your game... I have some land to sell you!
You won't look at poker the same way!.......2006-01-18
Killer Poker teaches you how to look at yourself and your poker game in a whole new way. It gives you the tools you'll need to be a great player. I recommend it highly as it turned my poker game from a basic solid break-even style to a dynamic winning style. If you play poker: GET THIS BOOK!
Customer Reviews:
overlooked gem in poker books..........2005-11-08
This is one of my early poker books and rereading it once or twice a year reminds me why I like it so much. It is a quick and easy read full of reminders and "fundamental" poker ideas that are part of every game. Unlike some of the other reviews, I think this is quite good and a useful compliment to any poker library. It is well priced too unlike the flood of Sklansky-wanna-be-overpriced "clone" books which have flooded the market lately. (don't confuse my comment-the Sklansky books are very good but he set the pricing bar pretty high and many hacks feel they can get the same money for lesser quality work)This book is geared primarily for the beginning to intermediate player but is useful as a refresher for anyone who wants to get better. It is a very general book and does lightly address many topics but that is what the title tells you- it is a book about fundamentals(read "basics") of poker not an advanced course. So if you love poker and are starting a poker book library, add this one you won't be disappointed.
For the middle stakes players of medium experience.......2005-04-02
Mike Caro--or "MJC" as he was known in the early days in the clubs in Gardena, California where he was the king of the rounders--has always been an enigmatic figure in the poker world. Never a world-class player like Doyle Brunson or Bobby Baldwin--to name two from the older generation--and never a great theoretician like David Sklansky, Caro nonetheless became one of the game's great celebrities mainly due to his fine talent for self-promotion.
I was once told by a middle level professional that Mike was "a terrible player." This guy ought to know since he propped the games at the California clubs and had played against MJC many times. However the truth is Mike was and is a very good player. His problem was one that often afflicts great minds in many different fields, that of boredom. One often had the sense when playing against the self-styled "Mad Genius of Poker" that the game was too slow for him and that the challenges weren't really challenging enough, and he had to do something to liven up the game or--and this was almost always his ultimate goal--to "take over the table," psychologically speaking.
And so Mike would make the most astonishing plays--good and bad--spectacular calls and lay-downs, such as calling with a skinny pair of jacks at the showdown or showing a seemingly winning hand and tossing it away without calling. His most famous play at draw poker was to raise the opener before the draw, stand pat, and then when the betting came around to him expose his worthless hand WITHOUT betting. I heard one of the regulars in the old twenty-straight draw game remark, "Why doesn't he just mail me a check?"
But she did not understand Mike's logic. Another player, a very good one, did understood very well what Caro was about, as revealed in his pointed comment: "I'll tell you one thing about Mike Caro. He always deserves a call."
With his talent for showmanship and his desire to do more than just play cards, it wasn't surprising that as the hold'em and seven-card stud games became legal in California in the eighties, Mike would become the preeminent entrepreneur of poker through his seminars and his assumption of the "Mad Genius" persona. He gave lectures, made poker videoes, wrote books and magazine articles, and found inclusion as the draw poker authority in Doyle Brunson's original SuperSystem book from the seventies. This book amounts to a collection of essays based on some of the seminar classes from what he eventually styled as his "University of Poker."
All in all, Mike has done well for himself at the game. The question is, has he done well for his students? My answer is a qualified yes. In this book (not to be taken as an introductory text, by the way) he offers excellent advice for the small and middle stakes player. His qualities as a motivational speaker come through very well. His booster-like enthusiasm and his self-help, psychological approach will benefit many. Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, this is an easy book to read with some worthwhile advice. Some examples:
"Calling as the big blind. It's much more profitable to play if your call closes the action." (p. 135) What Caro means is that either there was no raise or the raiser was to your immediate left so that no raise or reraise is possible. This is an important concept. If you call a raise from the button after a couple of other players have limped in from early seats you are not only in danger of a reraise after your call, but if it is reraised, the reraiser in an early seat probably has a big hand.
"When everyone checks on the flop, then again on 4th Street, you can steal a lot of pots from the last position." (p. 98) Actually if everybody checks twice, you might have the best hand with little to nothing. A more sophisticated observation on this situation is that if anybody in the last position bets, you can steal more than a few pots by raising that bettor!
On the same page there is this (written in large white letters in a black box as on a chalkboard--as though Mike IS giving a lecture, perhaps with baton in hand): "When you bet from the last position on the flop, you can often see your whole hand for free!" This is Mike's way of expressing the "how to get a free card" concept. Usually this is explained in a situation where it has been bet on the flop and you are last with a drawing hand. You raise so that everyone will check to you on 4th Street. Then, if you make your hand, you bet, and if you miss, you just check and give yourself a free card.
Mike is right though, in passive games (which he always loved) many players will check to you on 4th Street after you have bet the flop, and you can just check behind them and see the river card for free.
One more: "Many skilled players suffer from FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). They'd rather impress weak opponents with unexpected plays than beat them with the obvious winning strategy. Avoid FPS." Here Mike could be self-analyzing. But he's right of course.
This is mostly about hold'em, but there is some tournament strategy in the book, and Caro has a chapter on seven-card stud and another on seven-card hi-lo. His chapter on the subject of money management (which I like to call "self-management," since it is all about staying in the game and not going broke) is excellent.
All in all this book is definitely worthwhile, but will be somewhat mysterious in places to the absolute beginner, and too fundamental for the experienced professional.
Excellent Refresher For Any Poker Player.......2005-01-07
This is not one of those how-to books for beginning players. It is, however, a good grouping of tips and other things you might have already known - just put in a different light. It includes all the information from Caro's seminar videos, plus all the stuff they cut out to make them 90 minutes long. If you liked the videos, you love the book.
'Caro's Secrets' are just that - secrets.......2004-02-15
Caro's secrets are still secrets to me. Actually there are very good points and ideas in this book, but the book is poorly written. It might take several reads per topic to figure each one out. Mike should keep his day job and let someone else do his writing for him.
Caro's other book, 'Poker Tells', has the same problem - good ideas but difficult to read.
There are better books for the casual player.......2003-05-03
I managed to read this book in detail in well under 2 hours with a deck of cards handy to check things out. However, I never needed the cards as this book doesn't go into descriptions of hands or offer me a chance to practice odds. Instead it felt like what it is: a transcription of a seminar delivered by a poker playing eccentric complete with big bold statements like "MOST of your profit in poker comes from borderline decisions" written on an chalkboard. Did it offer me some things to think about as a once a month casual player ? Sure. Did it improve my game ? I don't think so. I've gotten much more about reading early hand position and understanding my opponents behavior out of Steiners Thursday Night Poker than I did from this book.
Book Description
Winning Poker is a lushly designed guide to everyone's favorite Monday night game. It outlines the major games--Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and Five-Card Stud, Five-Card Draw--as well as more outlandish versions like Baseball (and Night Baseball), High-Low, Roll Your Own, Guts, and High/Low Chicago. It also features tons of insider's tips to keep players on their toes, including how to read an opponent's bluff and spot a bluffer, how to analyze a game, decipher poker slang, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect place to Start .......2006-01-11
This book is a great book if you're new to poker. It is a quick read, concise, and well worth the price. It doesn't matter if you're just playing a "friendly" neighborhood game, or going to Vegas to try your luck.
Covering a wide range of varients .......2005-01-07
Winning Poker: 200 Rules, Technique & Strategies is a straightforward guide to mastering gambling card games. Covering a wide range of varients including Texas hold'em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, Five-Card Stud, and Five-Card Draw, as well as more unusual variations such as High-Low Chicago, Winning Poker not only describes rules and statistical analyses for calculating odds, but also explains how to read an opponent's tells, analyze a game, decipher poker slang, and more. An invaluable tool for anyone looking to improve their poker game, whether among friends or at a casino, and also a useful resource for better understanding televised poker championships.
Customer Reviews:
not relevant for most.......2002-11-28
This is mostly about draw poker, which is not played in poker rooms any more.
Essential for advanced players, otherwise, very difficult........1998-03-05
The concept of "pot odds" is the core of the presentation. For example, drawing to an inside straight at 13 to 1 odds is said to be "wrong" however the authors shows you exactly when to make this move...and make all your poker bets based using this higher mathematical reasoning. You need a strong memory to use these principles, but they're worth $$$ every session.
Customer Reviews:
Forget the Math.......2006-02-09
Yes...forget the math. As we know, you cannot make a progressive betting strategy pay off "in the long run". Playing blackjack can, and should be a series of short runs. With David's approach to progression, you can make money. I say "can", not "will". The key is money management and quitting when you're up.
I've tried David's system in a combination of simulated play (using a reliable simulator...you know, the one counters train with) and actual table play. I've logged 240 sessions, with almost 11,000 hands played. I'm up 500 units. While that's not the "long run", I feel I can make the system work with David's 3 to 1 approach and good money management (loss limits, pull plateaus, discipline and reasonable win expectations). Heck, I wish I were bankrolled enough to use $100 units. If I can make 2.4 units per hour as an average over, say, 100 hours...well, I'd sure be doing it.
Why does it work? Probably because it's the real world, and the player controls when he leaves or stays. There is some real world reality to streaks and clumping.
Why do I give it a 4 and not a 5? I think the math contains some fuzzy logic (as a previous reviewer points out). It could be about a twenty page book...but then, would it have any credibility?
I liked it and would recommend it to casually serious non-counting players.
a flaw in this theory.......2001-10-19
I red the first edition of this book. First of all the basic stratedgy slightly differs from what other books say (like doubling 9 against dealer's 7).
The main idea of the book is to bet on a series of wins/losses. If you win first bet you should increase you bet K times, if you lost your unit bet (and after that other 2) you increase you bet K times again. If it doesn't help, you keep loosing a unit bet at a time.
The simplest way to proove the authour is WRONG is the following: he claims that every unit you add to K increases you chances to win by 0.5% (you probable win). Take K = 1000. Do you get 500% edge? No it can not exceed 100%.
The author makes the fallowing mistake: if you average probability to wit is p=0.47 then the probability to loose is 1-p. Our edge (in bets) is -(1-2*p)=-6.0%. We are loosing. The probability to win 2 times is p*p, to loose the second time is p*(1-p). So he says the edge is -p*(1-2*p) is less than -(1-2*p) in absolute value and theirfore (due to blackjack and doubling) he says you can win money. What'a wrong here? It's not an edge. An edge in this situation would be -p*(1-2*p)/p. Because out of 100 bets we only will apply this stratergy p*100 times. And our edge is once again exactly the same -(1-2*p) = -6.0% in bets or (-0.3% in money under playing conditions he describes). You could just increase your everage bet once again with the same result.
A word of causion. If you want to try geometric progression system (doubling you bet every time you loose), it would work, provided you could place an unlimited bets. But as long as maximum bet is restrected, in everage, you will loose onse again. If your chances to win were 50% (much better then 47), your mathematical expectation would be exactly 0.0 dollars to win. The problem is that every time you win the doubling chain you only regain 1 unit bet, when you loose your maximum bet you loose double your maximum bet minus unit (taking into account account what you lost already from the start). You can triple, the result would be the same (when the maximum bet is fixed).
If there is a lawer who belives he could make this guy to pay for deceiving people, I'd be more then happy to help (tol60@hotmail.com).
It doesn't mean you can not win with this strategy. I could give you another one. If it works, you might get reach, if it doesn't, you won't loose much time in a casino: take all your money you have for betting and bet it all (no more then you are redy to loose). If you win, drink free coke and go home, if you loose, do the same. And you save those 10$ for the book.
Some words about progression betting........2000-03-17
I play blackjack for a living, and that means before I decided to do so you need to seperate the good from the bad books. I'm not the person to tell you what to do relating towards your goal playing blackjack, but one year after me trying to get it done the easy way, I,m glad that I switched to cardcounting. Remember do no think that blackjack is a easy money program. Many system sellers are making only money from selling books, or working indirectly for casinos. Any form of progression betting will get your cash in the longrun. I know from the early years of me playing blackjack that playing any form of progression you are able to winn money in the short run, but it will burn you out playing into the longrun, and I played too Popik's theory. But you can't compare a flip of a coin with 2 outcomes with a game of blackjack where you have 13 different outcomes relating to your hands.
I play about 100 hours a month, 1200 hours a month. It is not about the no. of sessions you winn, but the no. of hours.
Using Popik's system I won a majority of the sessions playing it in 1991, but the sessions I lost, I lost all what I won related to my winning sessions before. This is happening to all forms of progression play.
Therefore I would suggest you to start reading work from Stanfort Wong, Lance Humble, Arnold Snyder or Peter Griffin.
Again, I want you to winn but If you will ever decide to choose the profession I choosed you will realise that playing fulltime any progression system will hurt you playing about 1200 hours a year.
Simply the best gambling book I have read.......1999-11-11
This book is fantastic. It is an easy read and a logical system based purely on mathematics. It does require some discipline, but when followed the system has proven to be profitable and substantially easier than learning to count cards. Will be useful to the occasional player as well as the consistent player.
Simple, Powerful Stuff! It works! READ THIS BOOK.......1999-06-28
After listening to my friend explain his card counting methods -- I was impressed (actually amazed at his winnings) but discouraged to think I'd have to spend that much time and energy to beat the dealer at a game of Blackjack.
So I found a book for the non-counter by Donald Dahl titled Progression Blackjack. A worthwhile read, but while using his strategies playing online, I quickly saw that the systems were "missing something."
Then I read "Winning Blackjack Without Counting Cards" by David S. Popik! It's a real eye opener! He simply and powerfully shows that BJ is not a game of chance when certain rules are adhered to.... But MORE than that, he teaches a truly brilliant system for consistently beating the house! It's so simple a 12 year old couldn't lose with this strategy. The book's about an hour's reading time (or a little more to carefully go over all the numbers -- the author carefully documents all his findings)
In my first game online after reading this book, I won over $500 in less than 2 hours. Don't miss this one!
Customer Reviews:
Good for making you think, but that is about it.......2004-04-22
I bought this book before heading to Vegas mainly because I wanted to brush up on the rules of blackjack. I was only going to have 4 hours there so i didn't want to waste any time getting ready to play. I found the second chapter and other sections that describe how things work in casinos (where to get your chips, what hand signals to give the dealer, etc) useful in keeping me from wasting time when i got there. The rest of it was worth reading to learn the rules of the games and to get me thinking about probabilities.
Unfortunately, the logic's not always there and sometimes the data are wrong.
Some examples:
In the roulette section, he recommends that if you are going to bet on a single number, you should pick one that hasn't shown up in the past 20 spins. This, after explaining how a lot of people keep gambling on the faulty premise that if something hasn't happened in a while, it's likely to happen, and after describing bias in roulette tables, which would make a number more likely to re-appear if it HAS appeared multiple times before.
In the blackjack section, I re-calculated the probabilities for each of the tables that he has in there, and while most of his numbers are right, some of them are off by as much as 5%. True, my numbers could be wrong, but since i wrote a computer program to do it (meaning that it did it consistently for each test), why would it be right for all but one value in the table? More likely, they are hand-copying or editing errors.
I wrote software (yes, i'm a geek) to play the game, implemented his suggestions one by one, and played 100,000 hands with each to see what kind of improvement each one made. The fact is, if you play your hand just like the dealer (hold at 17+, hit below), you will win 48% of the time, lose 43% of the time, and push 9% of the time. If you implement all of his strategies, you will win 48% of the time, lose 43% of the time, and push 9% of the time (yup! exactly the same!). What's important turns out not to be how you play the game (in most of the strategies, you are trading busts for losing hands and vice versa), but how you BET. Using his doubling and splitting strategies lets you hang on to your money much longer before going broke (sometimes twice as long). In the blackjack section, he doesn't spend much time talking about betting.
Lastly, and this applies to blackjack again, he claims that the casino's main advantage in blackjack lies in the fact that "the players must choose before the dealer whether or not to draw more cards." While it's true that you could play a lot better if you could see the dealer's cards, that is not what gives the casino the advantage. Remember, the dealer is basically a human machine -- it hits at
< 17, holds at 17+. The dealer does not have the benefit of seeing EITHER of your cards, so that can't be the advantage. The casino's real advantage is that the player has one more losing condition than the dealer has. That condition occurs when both the dealer and the player bust. Other than that, if the player played exactly like the dealer, they would both do exactly the same. You cannot overcome this handicap. If you play conservatively such that you do not bust (which is where most of Svoboda's recommendations lead you), the percentage of hands you lose because the dealer has more points than you will go up.
That's about it for now. Just wait till I read the other chapters, though!
Do it again!.......2004-03-19
Once I picked up this book I knew immediately I would breeze through the explainations easily. The text was well done and very readable = the charts, graphs and diagrams all came at the right time. The tid-bits about Mr Svoboda's experiences were fun to read, But.. most of all I was able to acquire a grounded knowledge of how to approach the games at any casino! Can't wait for the next book to come out from Mt Svoboda!! His knowledge and skills at communicating the nuances and the details of each game were very evident! Fun and easy lessons!!
garbage.......2002-01-08
I browsed through this book at the local bookstore. All I can say is don't take any pointers from this guy. He says before placing bets on "any craps", you should wait until the die hasn't produced craps for atleast 18 rolls???? He says after this the probability of any craps showing is 88 %. What is this all about? The truth is the odds of rolling craps is the same (11 %) regardless of how many times it's been rolled in the past. If you already own this book, I suggest you take your loss and throw it away.
Incorrect information.......2001-07-11
This is the first review I have written on Amazon. I felt compelled to write this to keep unsuspecting people from purchasing this book. I do not know the author, I am not an author, and I have no interests in whether this book does well or not. I am simply giving my opinion.
Simply put, my problem with this book is that it is full of incorrect statements and poor advice which completely ignores probability theory. For example, on roulette, Mr. Svoboda actually says, "The house will always have a 5.26% edge, but you can increase your winning probabilities by playing it smart." What?!? When I read that, I knew he had a very weak grasp of probability theory. It is impossible to change the odds in roulette; they are fixed. You are always at a 5.26% disadvantage, no matter what your betting strategy is. Period. I suggest you run away from any book that asserts otherwise.
The surprising thing is that in several parts of the book, Mr. Svoboda agrees that the casino has an advantage over the player in the long run. However, to overcome this, he recommends that players play in the short run! I couldn't believe that an engineer, and someone who supposedly understands mathematics and probability, would actually write such completely incorrect information. True, in the short run you may win, but odds are that you will lose. The percentage disadvantage you face does not change.
Over and over, Mr. Svoboda asserts that his strategies increase your chances of winning. How can you increase your chances of winning if the odds against you are fixed? For example, after several pages of detailed and complex tables and charts, Mr. Svoboda admits that his craps betting strategy gives the house a 2% advantage. Yet he still advocates following his strategy, saying that you just need to know when to walk away when ahead. What he fails to mention is that you will be behind more often than you will be ahead.
In games of chance and independent trials (such as craps, roulette and keno, to name a few), the house has a fixed percentage advantage over the player. This is a proven mathematical fact. There are no betting systems or strategies whish can change this percentage advantage. The only thing a player may do is bet slowly and bet the minimums in order to decrease the rate at which he loses. Gambling at these types of games should be viewed as paying for entertainment, not investing, as Mr. Svoboda suggests.
Casinos love people with systems. Why do you think companies choose to spend $1 billion to build a new casino? Because they know that system betters will come in and lose more than that. Casinos exist because they make money for their owners. I had thought that with the advanced level of gaming theory available today, that books which advocated incorrect probability theory would become a thing of the past. Then I read Mr. Svoboda's book and realized I was wrong.
On the plus side, the book does clearly state the rules of the games and the odds of winning. It has very pretty and colorful charts and tables. As a rule book, it is very good. However, as a strategy guide, you are much better off ignoring this book. Mr. Svoboda's assertion that "this book will help you learn how to level the playing field...and gain a return on your investment" is false. This book does not tell you how to even the odds against the house. The only return on investment you will get by following the advice in this book is negative.
A Casino Gaming Guide You'd Like to Have Around.......2001-03-04
Beating The Casinos At Their Own Game is a book you should consider if you'd like some help playing at the casinos. It's a well, written and nicely illustrated 278-page gambling guide with instructions for most of the games you'll find at any casino. The author, Peter Svoboda, knows his math because he has the credentials: a degree in both mechanical and civil engineering.
You'll find casino basics in chapters 1 and 2 including some history, odds of winning and losing, what the casinos do to get you there, the house advantage, advice on managing your money and when to quit. And if you have a gambling problem, Peter will direct you to the right place. Chapters 3 through 13 list rules of the ten most popular casino games, with playing strategies and some betting systems you can try. The illustrations will help you learn the games and the math listed will explain the odds and probabilities of winning.
Peter includes some known strategies for Craps, Roulette and Baccarat. So, if you're inexperienced at any of these games, you can take an expert with you to the casino. Peter also presents some of his own winning systems.
If you've never been to a casino, but think you might want to try some of the games offered, I'd recommend studying this book before you enter. It has all the basic playing information you'll need to improve your chances of winning...
Customer Reviews:
Most Underrated BJ book of all time.......2007-08-30
I am a psychologist and successful low level card counter. When I switched from Hi-opt I to the High-Low count I got Reynolds book first. I subsequently read all the classics et al and used other counts at times but this is absolutely the most underrated book in blackjack. Some of the index numbers are slightly different from Wong at times but Wong's research found that minor index differences aren't a big deal. The book is just a joy to read. Its really too bad that others have not noticed what is probably a Magnum Opus by Reynolds as it is probably the most sound, fun and useful entry to High-low count out there. I love the 101 tips in the back of the book. Excellent advice that I still use. I have made this same claim repeatedly on BJ21 a few years back. Read the other books later. Congratulations, Mr. Reynolds...yours is the most underrated book in the whole realm.
This is THE book on Blackjack..........2005-11-09
I've played blackjack using the widely-available "basic strategy" for over 20 years. I love the game; but I just don't get to play as often as I'd like - MAYBE three times a year. Of course, each time I have to re-learn the basic strategy on the flight to Las Vegas. I've read a lot of books on the subject and I'm writing this review to tell you (it's actually the first review I've ever submitted to Amazon.com) that you needn't clutter up your bookcase as I have with any other blackjack books once you've read The Complete Book of Blackjack.
It covers everything you need to know about how play the game and the nuances of actual casino play. It's not deeply mathematical; but I have gained a better understanding of the game and have actually adapted my own counting system based on the information in the book. I've learned to subtly range my bets and have taken the time to learn some of the Modified Basic Strategy which is clearly laid out in the text. I have not returned from a blackjack trip a loser...and the strategies and methods in this book will allow you to really take control of your blackjack experience - helping you understand when the risks are high or low, and how to take advantage when conditions are favorable...
This really is the "complete book" of blackjack - and it is absolutely "usable" in that it is written in a straightforward and engaging style.
There is no substitute for actual casino experience; we all have to make our own stupid mistakes. But if you take the advice and information in this book and apply it diligently, you will enjoy your time at the table and the success it will bring.
10X +ROI in first 3 days.......2001-02-08
I bought this book because I was going on vacation to a destination with a casino, and although I'm hardly an avid gambler, I thought I'd spend some time playing blackjack. But this time, I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing, because I was tired of simply showing up at a table with a pocketful of hope.
I was aware that there were basic systems around for amateurs that purported to even out the casino's edge in blackjack, but to be honest, I'd never taken the time to read about them or learn one. If I ever knew all the right plays, like when to hit, stand, split or double in every conceivable situation, I had long ago forgotten the rules. For example, do you hit a 16 when the dealer has a 7 showing?
Enter "Professor" Reynolds with The Complete Book of Blackjack. I call him Professor because I never would have imagined a more literate, humane, or succinctly instructive treatment of a subject like this. If you ever decide to play blackjack, the section on the "Basic Strategy (BS)" will repay you many times over. In this unit, you learn the cold, hard mathematically validated rules on when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, reinforced with practical exercises and drills. There's an immensely readable chapter on myths of blackjack, all debunked with the same matter-of-fact, analytically based style. I didn't have time to absorb info on money management techniques and the real payoff that comes from counting systems, but the Professor assured me that I could hold my own with the basic strategy, so I decided to give it a try.
After three days of occasionally studying the tables and quizzing myself until I had BS memorized, I summoned up the courage to enter the casino, despite the fact that the book prudently warned me to practice at home or on the computer first. It's an entirely different game when you know the statistically right thing to do in every situation: violent emotions of hope and despair are replaced with relative calm and dispassionate observation. Don't get me wrong: this system doesn't guarantee that you will win every time out or get rich quick. It just insures you won't make a decision that concedes the advantage to the house.
So what happened? I played for two hours the first night and won $85 betting $5 a hand. I played for 45 minutes the next day with the same betting routine and won $75. Unfortunately Professor Reynolds can't accompany you and swat you in the head when it's time to get up from the table-you have to do that for yourself, although he offers advice on how to quit when you're ahead. Cost of book: $12 plus shipping. Return: $160. Not bad for openers.
I'm sure there are plenty of other books that offer similar systems and probably even more depth, but this a terrific primer for someone who doesn't want to devote his life to the subject. Thanks, Professor!
A step-by-step guide to playing, winning, and discretion..........1999-09-07
I've got to declare my bias up front... I'm the author's son, *but* I am also a computer programmer -- *the* computer programmer that wrote the simulation programs used by T.J. Reynolds in his research, in fact.
I knew very little about the game before I became responsible for replicating its play electronically and assisting in the proof-reading...
I used the amalgamated systems to win enough to pay for my honeymoon cruise through the Carribean, and still had enough left over to buy a *very* nice watch!
The best thing about the book, in my opinion, is how the author explains the rationale behind every element of the Basic Strategy as well as the more complex topics in a straight forward manner that seems to assist in remembering them.
I also appreciate the section that debunks the common Myths of Blackjack, and shatters the superstitions that are the most common causes of ruin among amateurs -- once again he pulls no punches about the statistics while wording the explainations in a way that is accessible to those of us who are crappy at Math...
With this book -- which is a fusion of all the most noted works on the game of BlackJack published this century -- you don't need to buy any of the originals by Thorpe, Wong, Uston, etc. -- It's all inside reduced to the essential concepts without any of the peripheral dissertations that would only be of interest to Statisticians.
If you can only afford to buy or travel with one book, THIS IS THE ONE!
Excellent discussion of topics from beginner to expert..........1999-05-12
I would consider myself a better than average card player, and I can play blackjack pretty well. But I have never looked at the formal mathematics or strategies involved in playing blackjack, *to win*.
This book covers "BS", the Basic Strategy, in itself enough to improve your game. Once you master this topic (you are dealt an A,7 and the dealer has a 3, what do you do?), the author introduces more and more advanced topics to continually improve you chances of winning (or rather remove the advantage the casinos already have, i.e. your chances of losing)
These advanced topics include several different methods of counting cards (take your pick), ranging your bet based on the count, and then finally using MBS, or "Modified Basic Strategy", complete with a whole new set of tables to master, oh my!
This book provided me exactly the information I wanted to become a better player, namely the BS strategy table, methods for counting cards, and sound reasoning to back it up. As a bonus, the author continually stresses how to reduce the chances of getting wiped out, and in general I think provides some good tips to keep in mind when gambling.
Customer Reviews:
A Lot of about Nothing.......2005-11-13
Purely descriptive book written to get money from custommers. After I read it I still did not know how to play poker. A lot of unuseful information. For example, short chapter about holdem ends "If you want to learn how to play holdem buy my next book".
Great primer ..........2005-11-03
This was the first of four poker books that I've read (The Big Poker Book, Super Systems II; and Sklansky's books: The Theory of Poker, and Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players). The Big Poker book was an excellent primer, and starts with the right message, "poker isn't about winning or losing but making the best possible decision with the information you have."
I like the writer's style, you get the sense that he is a real person not a professor or prima donna. The other books are much more technical, and easy to get bogged down in.
After watching the WSOP, I was itching to go all-in but the book gets you thinking about the fundamentals. A good read ...
Hidden Treasure.......2004-09-07
This book is an excellent tool for those trying to understand the game, or for those that are looking for strategies to increase their winning odds. From the first complete history of the game, to explaining the play of the game and many different variations of each game, this book assists you step-by-step in learning and mastering the game of Poker. I've now actually started to win with my buddies each month!!!
Average customer rating:
- Terrible
- Misleading title, no winning strategies involved( bad )
|
The Basics of Winning Baccarat
Avery Cardoza
Manufacturer: Cardoza
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Gambling
| Card Games
| Puzzles & Games
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| Books
Poker
| Card Games
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Baccarat
| Gambling
| Puzzles & Games
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General
| Gambling
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ASIN: 0940685302 |
Customer Reviews:
Terrible.......2007-08-30
This book is terrible. A complete waste of money. Luckily I bought it used and didnt pay full price. Nothing in this book to help you win or give you any strategies at all. Skip it.
Misleading title, no winning strategies involved( bad ).......1998-06-06
This book only teaches you the rules and nothing about how to win in baccarat. It deceptively set you up for purchasing the more expensive $20.00 book instead, so why did I need to buy this one.
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