Among serious poker players, this book is a total joke.

Its incomplete or wrong on all aspects of the game, bar none.

The good news is that Lee Jones, Lou Krieger, and Roy West have written excellent beginners books on poker, available here on Amazon.com.

This book serves a specific purpose: to give you some kind of transition guide from your home games to the games in the casino. IT IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS. Nor is it the only book on poker that you should read before making the jump. But, if you are serious about winning, it is a must. This is because there are few books out there that address the fact that losing is a reality. Many of the acknowledged experts claim that, in theory, they always play winning poker. Well, next time you lose at a session, try going to the bar and ordering a drink with empty pockets. No, really, tell the bar-tender that you will pay (and tip) in theory. This book stresses money management and a disciplined, logical approach to playing while you learn the ins and outs of the casino style of play. Take it from an experienced gambler and casino poker player, you will not find all you need to know if you read all of the books combined, let alone one. You must play- and buy the other good books too. And this siily problem that people are having with the practice of taking chips off of the table. What a waste to wine about such trivial things. Just set the chips to the side or ask for a color change. We casino players love to play in Gardena because there are so many people there who don't focus on what's important at a poker table. Buy Mr. Patrick's book and learn some important concepts concerning the reason to play poker: to win.

I completely disagree with the negative comments from previous reviewers. Patrick stresses discipline and money management. One reviewer says "you can't take your money off the table" This is a petty comment if I ever heard it. So you ask for a color change--big deal! The main thing Patrick stresses is 1)don't chase, at the first sign of strength from the other player, get the hell out! 2)be aggressive when you need to, get out when you need to. He outlines knowledge of the game, money management, bankroll and discipline and also talks about tells and logic. Most players don't know when to quit when they are winning and likewise when they are losing. Patrick gives good insight into that, also. If you are a professional or a high-stakes player that remembers every card on the table, is an expert on odds and has a bankroll of a couple of thousand, maybe this book is not for you (but it probably is). If, however, you love the game so much you just don't want to quit it but you have been having too many losing sessions, this book is DEFINITELY for you! As I look back on my poker sessions, the times I have lost big are the times I forgot about Patrick's advise and started chasing and hoping! I would much rather win a few bucks each session. As for you poker snobs who think Patrick doesn't have anything to say, keep on hoping!

David Sklansky has a tournament poker book coming out in late April 2002. Though he's not the most organized writer, he knows poker very well. Also, he gives plenty of specific examples, which Suzuki fails to do.

BTW, others rag on Suzuki for not being a known tournament player. The book quite clearly states that Suzuki is a pseudonym. So maybe he is a known, successful player. But this book has about 20 pages worth of content repeat ad nauseum, and precious few examples. The most non-obvious section (on the mathematics of final table negotiations) originally appeared in Sklansky's book anyway.

Suzuki is not a well known or successful tournament player and this book will probably not help you become one either. I got my copy as a freebie, and would have been unhappy if I had paid for it.

If you want to learn about or improve your tournament play, I suggest "Tournament Poker" by Tom McEvoy.

While this is a little useful info in this book, it was really not what I was looking for. It also repeats the same information several times.

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.

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.

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...

Dreadful advice coupled with lousy pop psychology and too much fluff. The author crams 10 games into one tiny book and gives them all short shrift. This book will wind up costing you far more than the cover price.

After reading this book I didn't get even one thing out of it. there are much better books out there try the others.

After watching the recent movie "Rounders" I was inspired to take up and learn poker. This book gives full rules, how-to-play instructions, and good strategy for ten different games. It also includes general definitions and poker information, a glossary of terms, and insight into bluffing and psychological aspects of the game. After an hour of reading up on Texas Hold'em I ended up tripling my profit on my first home six hour session.

Barely informative and no true insight into the games. The only people who will profit from this book is the author.

Good book for the low price. Basic and easy steps to follow. Worth the money.

if you can spell "casino" you are much too advanced to waste time reading this. the author is apparently targeting the most uninitiated of casino visitors; however, it is difficult to imagine, with the proliferation of legalized gaming in this country, that any reader could be this wanting. all information in this book is readily accessible in any legalized gambling establishment free of charge and this author must certainly be aware of this fact. spend the $10 on a buffet when you get to Vegas!

The previous reviewer is correct when he says this a basic book for the first-time gambler. However, this is what the "Everything" series tries to do. These books will not make you an expert in any particular field. If you know someone who gambles occasionally, for them, this book is perfect. It covers many games and while not getting too in depth, tries to bring up the areas of each game in which to be concerned. Show me any other beginner's gambling book that covers every game any better than this one.

I've got a lot of gambling books. Not as many as some but quite a bit. The main focus of my collection is poker. For starters, let me say that most of the books on Amazon are way overrated. The Sklansky/Malmuth books along with a few others (Cooke, Caro, Brunson, Zee) excepted. So while this book gets a low ranking from me it is probably better than most. Most of the information is more or less correct as far as it goes. It does not go nearly far enough. It tries to cover too many different forms of poker and ends up not doing a good job on any of them. To make up for the lack of detailed exposition of concepts and the ways they interrelate there is too much emphasis on charts and starting hand guidelines.

for the money i expected far more hands and theories

The cover blurb for the book suggested that Dick Francis should move over because Francome is serious competition.

As if.

While the writer clearly knows what he's on about when it comes to racing, he seems to have never bothered to learn the basics of plot. There's pretty much everything I hate in a detective novel thrown in here, from hokey writing to gratuitous sex scenes.

Take a miss on this one.

This is the 5th book by John Francome that I have read. I was extremely disappointed in it. It is fragmented, confusing and a little wierd. The story does not carry you along and I had to force myself to finish it, in the hope that it would get better. It didn't. His other books have been entertaining and good reading, esp. "Outsider". Dick Francis has been one of my favorite authors for many years and I have hopes that Francome will go back to good stories with good characters and have the kind of career that Mr. Francis has had.

This is the first book I've read by John Francome. The story is only for someone who loves the world of horses and horseracing! The author is English so there were lots of expressions that were lost on me. Also, I felt there were too many characters introduced and while it was intriguing in the beginning - it was hard to believe/understand how they fit together in the end.

This is a small, 54 page spiral bound book that is so basic its not worth bothering with. Many better books out there.

Nothing much new here. I could beat this guy asleep. If he wants to play me,....johnnyhughes.com