Jounalist 'London' Tony Holden, clearly no slouch at the poker table, is emboldened by a boss placement at the World Series of poker (he finished ninetieth). He decides to see if he can 'run with the big boys,' or become a professional poker player. Thus begins a year of much intercontinental travel and poker play. Reading this account, it helps to be familiar with card games, especially Texas Hold 'Em; if you're not you might be perplexed or just bored by the play-by-plays of various hands ('the flop was a Qc-Kh-7c... Did the river hold an ace?'). But you need know nothing about gambling to enjoy Holden's breezy writing style: within these pages lie more than a few telling and insightful remarks on the foibles of gamblers, on his own gambling obsession (courtesy of a shrink Holden hires for that purpose), on the history of gambling and cards, especially in America, and the crazed capitalism concentrate that is Las Vegas. It's good stuff, delivered with the wisdom of a seasoned traveler and the self-effacement of a confirmed Briton. The book probably isn't representative of what might happen if Joe Public were to start mixing it up with the pros of poker; given the ease with which Holden mops up most of his competition, and regularly busts out old pros, he must be one of the better players out there. But if you're looking for a book that takes a hard, sympathetic look at the culture of gambling, this is a good one.

Okay, I'm not a regular poker player, but after reading Holden's delightful book, I'd like to become one. His stories jump off the page and suck you in. You'll feel like you're right there with Holden, sweating the size of your bankroll, taking on the likes of Johnny Chan, and making your way through the World Series of Poker.

You don't need to know a great deal about poker to enjoy the book, but a rudimentary knowledge of Hold'Em would certainly make the poker-table anecdotes even more exciting. Either way, you'll be exhalting over Holden's wins and cringing through his bad beats right along with him.

Holden is an exceptional writer with a dry sense of humour that will have your friends wondering what the heck is so funny about that book you've been chuckling your way through for the past few days.

If you like poker, you will love this book. I did!

If you wasted your money on Bellin's Poker Nation, redeem yourself by picking up this previously out-of-print classic. You will not be able to put it down. Holden is one of the few serious poker players who comes off like a genuinely humane and funny person in print. You'll learn quite a bit about how to play, but this is really a book about the culture of the game. And when it comes to that topic, it has no equals. Alvarez's Biggest Game in Town came first, and is also well worth buying, but Big Deal has better pacing and a more personal touch that makes it compulsively readable.

I've never written a review before, but I really think this book is worth rooting for. You won't be disappointed.

stone cold is right he sure knocked me out when i purchased his book

Sixteen-year old Dennis Doyle is learning about an important tool of independence - money. Like many young people, his first job is mowing lawns. He's good at his job, and keeps track of his profits down to the last cent. He learns that money can give him some control in his life, which is something he's been looking for since his dad left him and his mom.

We get to know Denn Doyle so well very early in "Stone Cold", especially since the book is in first person through Denn's perspective. Pete Hautman does such a good job portraying the stage of life Denn is in - somewhere between child and adult, and we can't help but laugh with Denn, and really like him.

Denn's newfound interest in money and the control it gives him leads him down a path we readers know he shouldn't go down, but can't help but wonder if we would take the same path if in his shoes.

It starts with a simple card game, but Denn wins, and he's hooked. He plays more and more, dreams about and studies poker, and we readers experience Denn's addiction, his obsession, and what it does to his life, and his youth.

Before we know what's happened, Denn Doyle has left childhood far behind, and we get quite a hint at what adulthood has in store for him.

"Stone Cold" is such a moving depiction of adolescence and addiction, and though I must admit it saddened me, it also had me laughing out loud more often than most books I've read. It's a good one - for both young adults and adults.

Stone Cold by Robert Swindells

Stone Cold deals with frighteningly realistic social issues in a sympathetic and understandable manner. It follows the story of Link, a runaway teenager, as he learns to cope with life on the streets in London. The reader is shown Link's progress from a naïve schoolboy to a streetwise kid. Somewhat unusually, Swindells chooses to unveil his plot through two narrators: Link and Shelter, a format which certainly increases the tension.

This book gives great information on big bet poker and will need to be read and re-read in order for it all to sink in. Though the tournament discussion is limited, the big bet ring game information is plentiful. Reuben and Ciaffone are old school but they definitely know big bet poker.

If you are even considering playing big bet poker, you must read this book. If for no other reason than almost all of your opponents will have read this book.

Bob Ciaffone has played professional level poker for many years. He has also written for 'Card Player' magazine for many years. I own all of his books and can honestly say that his writings have improved my game. And, to top it all off, he is a gentleman.

Ignore the person who gave this book 1 star. Ciaffone and Rueben offer excellent poker advice for both money and tournament players. They cover all the major money games, including Holdem, Omaha, and 7stud. The writing is clear and the examples are excellent. If I had to have only 1 poker book, this might be it. (I'd be tempted by Cloutier's book on Pot and No Limit Holdem; it'd be a hard choice.)

Also, these guys are just fun to read. Not the dry (...) you get in some poker books.

I was not impressed with this book. It is very short, has many simple editing errors (which imply it was a rushed deal), and lacks many of the specifics available in other hold'em books. I realize that Nelson can not go through every situation, and that this is a beginner book, but for the money, I would (and did) purchase "The Winner's Guide to Texas Hold'em Poker" by Ken Warren. It is a much better book.

I have taught poker classes for many years, mostly Texas Hold 'Em. I have used these three books by Andy Nelson as my texts for 9 years now. I use them because they are great teaching material. They are reader friendly and they allow me to move the students along at a pace that will make them into players who win. They are great primers.

This was my first introduction to value betting and some other basic hold'em concepts. Recently I am able to consistently win in play money games, due in large part to this book. When in doubt I still fall back on his starting hands. The book seems conscientiously written to educate. The instructions he gives can be followed.

This book contains some interesting thoughts and lessons for serious poker players. However, David Sklansky's "The Theory of Poker" is clearly superior, and essential to the aspiring player.

I sure wish I had this book available when I started Playing poker. It would have saved me a LOT of money while I learned the game.
Many books deal with statistics and starting hands. This book deals with strategies and emotional factors. Like facing up to ourselves as our own worst enemy. And what to do when another player puts us on tilt with a check raise. And why other players do such crazy things. Learning how to cope with life at the table is what this book is about and Mr. Nelson has done a fabulous job of helping us develop winning skills.

If you have read some books on poker, have you EVER read anything about coping with a check raise? What do you do when you place a bet and someone who has already checked puts in a raise? COPING WITH A CHECK RAISE is but one valuable chapter in this fabulous book on practical poker. There are 101 chapters that are useful for the novice and the professional player. Another chapter title is WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE AN EARLY LOSS. Another is THE IMPORTANCE OF MARGINAL HANDS. As you can tell, this book is worth hundreds of times its purchase price. It has helped me move from the recreational poker player level to the semi-pro level. The highly recommend this book.

But the writer hasn't really pulled it off. Far from essential for poker players.

You wont learn funky plays with this books, which is more focused on keeping your emotions under control, and avoiding the costly "steaming" sessions. As mentioned by another reviewer, the principles in this book are also interesting for traders.
Two main criticisms:
1. Poker players know they must keep their cool, avoid steaming, manage their expectations... Still, anger is a human thing, and I think the book does not give good tricks in terms of implementing the methods advised (which is the difficult part rreally...)
2. Poker is a game of agression: trying to implement "Zen Poker" puts your usual poker at risk, as playing Zen/agressive really is tough.
Overall this book is interesting because it takes a different view to poker, but all in all it wont revolutionize your play.

"Zen and the Art of Poker" teaches lessons essential for anyone who wants to better understand the emotional element of the poker game. I consider this text to be the most useful thing I have ever read on poker (and card playing in general). Any success I have had since reading this book is the direct result of the lessons contained in its pages, as I have transformed myself from a sloppy gunslinger to a cold-blooded pot-dragger.

Success at the tables can be owed to three things. The first is luck, which can't be taught. Next is a player's mathematical understanding of the statistics of the game, which is the subject of almost every other poker book written. Finally, the overlooked element of successful poker play concerns self discipline at the table. This book outlines Buddhist philosophies that can be applied in a poker game, helping a player better understand how their mental approach to the game is as important as the cards they are dealt.

This book is not for the average poker player. A person needs to be prepared to do some serious self analysis and abandon old tricks, habits and superstitions that have no real practical purpose in the game. If an open-minded player does "buy-in" to the lessons of this book, they will learn to focus, remain calm and dominate weaker-minded opponents.

gives and overview of the rules of the games in excrutiating detail. Nothing to do with strategy. The book is a waste of time for anyone who knows the basics of poker. Only one small reference to actual gaming odds of various poker hands. SUMMARY: If you have a pair of tens or better in Let it Ride you should stay. If you get a pair or ace-king in certian situations in Caribbean Stud you should stay.

This is a must read. It is very informative and useful for novices and expert alike. It includes easy to read charts and strategies that actually work.

Beyond a doubt, this is the best book available on these two games. It is tightly written, packed with info on everthing from odds and vigorish to playing strategy and winning methods. I've read a few other books on these games before, and I've been playing them for a few years now, but this book has more info than any I've read, and the strategies are the best I've seen. I've already won more money than I ever have before! Thank you Mr. Vogel!

This book has some unintentional entertainment value, as the author lays out his Machiavellian mind set. But I found almost nothing of actual use at the poker table.

Wallace's is surely one of the best books ever written about playing poker. His is not the scientific how to manual that will make you more technically proficient. For that read any of a number of books about specific brands of casino poker (Sklansky, Malmuth, Caro, Kreiger, Jones, Carson can help you there). But if you want the quintessential book about how to take advantage of poor home game players then this is your bible.

Intentionally or otherwise, in the process of showing you how to best fleece your friends and acquaintances at poker Wallace forces the thoughtful reader to examine the underlying reasons we play this game. Do we really want to get friends into feeder low stakes games, dupe them into thinking they're pretty good, convince their spouses that they're doing OK at poker, while luring them into higher stakes games where we can go for the kill? If we do, this book shows us how. But even if don't, by showing us how, Wallace forces us to come to grips with how far we're willing to go to win at this fascinating game.

The book is not without its flaws and holes however. Wallace's statistical tables in the back are in error. Check out Scarne's tables in his books or Caro's from the MCU on line. And Wallace doesn't even touch on tournament poker or playing in a casino or on the now-popular forms of poker like Hold Em and Omaha. But then, Wallace begins his instruction as if you are already a solid technical player. His tutoring is on how an already good poker player can win the most money from other home game players. In that regard his book is a masterpiece.

As a final aside, it's interesting to note that in Wallace's later works -- the whole "Neo-Tech" genre -- he clearly has gone off the deep end. But this book was written before these bizarre excursions into psuedo-science and seems sane, though obsessive.

This should have been the poker book that ended poker books. At the time it came out, it was far, far deeper and more sophisticated than anything else in the field, and in some ways, despite the exponential improvement in poker literature, still is. When the Jacoby's and Rubens's were telling us to keep stakes down, quit by midnight, and don't let players get hurt, Wallace knocks down those barriers like wooden fences in a category 5 hurricane.

As with Wallace's other writings, he purports theory without many specific examples. that's up to you, which demands a lot of the reader. But this book is the only one I know of which provides a framework for working a maximum-win approach in home poker games, with stark amorality and requiring a tremendous amount of work (and patience, a necessary poker virtue which Wallace severely underemphasizes). That approach isn't what most poker players want, and few of those would work hard enough to implement it decently, but for the handful of others it could work.

The book gets its true greatness at the end, when he explains that for all the possibilities inherent in poker, it's a losing proposition. After teaching us to be "good players," he explains why the "good player is the biggest loser in poker." Why, you'll have to read. This book is no match technically for the products of Sklansky, Malmuth, Zee, and others, but has a vision which stands tall even today. Poker is work - if you want it, you can excel at it. and that's true for a lot of the rest of life as well.

I was slightly disappointed with this book. I have been playing online for a month or so and have learned 96% of the information in this book myself. If you are a new poker fan (a la Travel Channel Wednesday nights) looking to play online, then this is a good read. If you are familiar with the internet and have a basic understanding of poker this book will not help you much. I would suggest taking the money and just playing some games online.

This book is a must read for poker players! The future of online poker is enormous and this book will prepare and guide new players in the right direction.
Krieger and Watterson have done their research, the reader will know where to play and how to prevail on line.

As a beginner I was reluctant to invest my hard-earned money at an online poker site until I read this book. Everything was made simple, all was demystified, and with a little practice under my belt I'm now completely comfortable playing online.

I was also impressed with the CD that comes with the book. There are 125 poker hands from the Wilson "Turbo" series that you can play interactively on your computer, while reading how the authors would play those hands.

In addition, the CD includes downloads to some of the bigger, and more well-established online poker sites. The book is very well written, clear, concise, and easy to read and understand. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing poker online.

Now, if I can only duplicate Chris Moneymaker's feat by winning a $40 Internet tournament and parlaying it into winning the World Series of Poker, that would be icing on the cake.

With a few months of internet experience, and a bankroll steadily growing, I considered myself an intermediate player. But I wanted to get a more steadfast grip on concepts such as position and implied odds. I did not find much of value in this book, and especially the casual style of the author annoyed me immensely. If you want poker jokes and elementary card playing skills you might enjoy this book. If you're serious about poker go find something more structured. This book teach you only the basics and is not even good at that.

the cover is excellent that is the two star rating the rest of the book doesn't carry enough information to make you a solid player like he stated it's not recommended

I have taught poker for going on to 14 years. For the last nine years I have used books by Andy Nelson as textbooks. I do that because they provide the best and clearest examples for learning the game, especially Texas Hold 'em. The feedback I get from the students is that these books are short and great primers. I start the students out with Book One, and then go to this Intermediate book. By the end of the course, they advance to the Advanced book. Also the price is reasonable. The amount of solid material they get from these books if incredible.
At the end of the course, I also suggest that they each buy Nelson's book, POKER: 101 WAYS TO WIN.