ed it's me tyler my love how you been sorry for the disappointments your book is a star sweet bee

For a beginner, this book is a good starting point to casino poker. Most of the in-depth material is on Hold'em and 7 card stud, but the book does skim over some lesser-played games too. If you're curious about getting into the game, the price is right.

This is an excellent book. It contains a great deal of information about what to expect when you enter a casino, the games to play and those to avoid, ettiquette etc. In addition to all this casino-based information it also has a wealth of knowledge on the games themseleves (hold-em, 7 card-stud, Hi-Lo variations, omaha and more) and at this price it is an absolute bargain. Perhaps the only area in which the book needs improvement is its information on tells and psychology.

Written nearly 20 years ago, Alvarez focuses mostly on the personalities that made up the early years of the World Series of Poker, the Binions, David Sklansky, Doyle Brunson, Stu Unger and many others. He gives their personal histories and repeats anecdotes that help explain them. He also gives a decent profile of Vegas itself and the many regional poker masters from around the world who come to Vegas to lose all their money.

I know this book is 20 years old, so its not particularly surprising that most of the anecdote and stories seem old. Its all about Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek and Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson. Naturally there's a new posse in the world of poker today, Men the Master Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth , Poker Dick Cook. and the brilliant Russell Rosenblum. The world of the world series of poker has changed much since this book was written in 1983, there remains a question even about how much longer Binions will host the world series and the there is a real possiblity that Bellagio will even buy the trademarked name. This book advertises itself as a timeless cult classic, and as a period piece from 25 years ago, A. Alvarez captured a time and place. I wonder how much of this however will resound as novel to the poker player of today. When Alvarez mentioned Stu Unger winning the world series, it left me wanting to read about how stu ungar moved from world champion to dying in a run down Vegas motel room. Or when he talked about Ted Binion running Binions, the mind flashes to the fact that binion has since been murdered .Plenty of good advice in here for hold em play, of course the problem in gambling isn't usually knowing what to do, its being able to do it, to fight fatigue, to fight temptation to play too many hands, to summon up the courage to pitch aces when you know they have been cracked. The problem with the gamblig genre is that there just arent that many good books out there. Too many agents and publishers think they won't sell and bookstores tend to look down on gambling books as being anti-literary. Snobbery in the bookstore world is a real problem, as anyone who has ever asked a proprietor if they carry the Racing Form on their mag rack will quickly find out.

Fine reading for anyone that has been around the poker scene. Alvarez provides a beautiful and captivating description of the vegas poker scene during the ealy 80's. A captivating and inspirational read.

This is an okay primer, but there's not enough to it.

If you're interested in learning poker and don't know much if anything about the games, this is the book for you. It is a nice foundation to build more advanced skills on. Also, it is great to aid in figuring out what form of poker that you'd enjoy most. Now to poker? Get this book!

I have purchased three of these books by Malmuth/Loomis: "Fundamentals of Video Poker," "Fundamentals of Blackjack," and "Fundamentals of Poker." These books are remarkable because they are such slender, unassuming volumes. If you play poker at anything less than the professional level, you should add this book to your library. It covers Hold 'em, Seven Stud, and Omaha as well as variations of these games. The discussion of how to play the games are brief and concise. The strategy sections are fundamental, yet powerful. There's not a lot of fat here, just clear writing and practical tips. This book will not make you a world class player, but will give you a solid foundation on which to build a serious and sucessful study of the game. Buy this book.

Liar's Poker's explanations of Share Trading terminology (ie. shorting and junk bonds), was helpful to the novice stock broker, as myself.

The plot was lacking, although the story of Salomon and the volatile financial markets kept my interest.

Almost everyone who is graduating is tempted by the glamour and large bonuses of Investment Banks to wonder what it would be like to work in a large investment bank on Wall Street and actually consider it as a serious career option. LIAR'S POKER provides an irreverent, bird's eye view of the whole process. This is an extraordinarily funny but thought provoking account of a money focussed guy's innings at a venerable Investment bank Salomon Brothers, starting as a $48,000-a-year trainee in 1984 to go on to become an institutional bond salesman in Salomon's London office earning $225,000 in 1987. Far from just being entertaining the book gives lots of insight into the intense cutthroat investment banking industry and makes it accessible for even the naivest of readers the intricacies of the milieu. An insider's look at the inside of an investor banking firm, with no holds barred, which makes it probably one of the most recommended books for anyone considering more than a passing acquaintance with the investment banking industry.

A view of the guts of part of the finantial industry in a style that I found very similar to Tom Wolfe's ( no offense intended to either author). Instructive as well as entertaining.

This book is a great read. It is not a book for a serious player but is pleasurable for the casual player. For the price anybody should read it.

The cover of the book makes this book look like trash. This is unfortunate because the book is not so bad at all. If you just want to get some quick advice about Poker and not get into the serious studying then this is a good book for you. Also, if you are just looking to pick up a decent afternoon's read about Poker ' go ahead and read the book. This book was never meant to be to sharpen the skills of the already experienced Poker player ' it's just a small booklet for the average Joe. It gives you the basics and a little bit beyond.

There is just one segment in the book that some may find confusing. The author states that in some Hoyle books straights don't count in 5-card stud. The author says that the reason for this rule is obvious because "in 5-card stud straights are often result of accident or of bad play." He says this but does not elaborate. I can see how some novice players may find this confusing. Why would straights in 5-card stud be results of accident or of bad play? Although the author does not explain it ' this is because in order to get a straight a player must play a hand that should be considered junk. In other words, any good player would fold a hand that may lead to a straight because if a player plays the odds then the odds are against him/her. Therefore only players who leave too much to chance would ever go through all the betting rounds to get a straight. Tight players would consider this foolish gambling and not smart play. Again, the author did not explain this at all.

If you're a big fan of the original TV seris from the (1957-61 staring James Garner and Jack Kelley) you'll love the book. (The book, BTW, was written in the early 60's to capitalize on the success of the original TV show, not the silly Mel Gibson movie in 1994 or the various TV sequels staring Charles Frank or James Garner again.) Like the original seris, the book is very entertaining and offers a cornicopia of wisdom and lessons that can be applied not just to Poker, but to Life (Relationships, Women, and Work-lot better than recent pop psychology junk now writtem). One of my favorite quotes from the book is "My pappy always said you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. Those are pretty good odds!"

Book's also great for the novice poker player, but not really for serious or exerienced players.

I wasn't thrilled with this book. I know it's a compilation of articles published individually, but they didn't hold together well as a whole.

I've packed my books away for a move, so i can't tell you exacty what it is, but seem to remember the same phrase in nearly EVERY piece and almost the same exact paragraph over and over. I got sick of it after a while. Perhaps my focus on hold 'em biases me, though. Overall, Mr. Malmuth knows much more than i do about playing poker in a casino and i respect his ideas for that at the very least.

It was a great book and contained much informational essays.

Mason Malmuth in Poker Essays I and Poker Essays II provides the most direct and relevant general information on playing poker. Having played casino poker for a decade and having read and reread most of the poker literature I feel that Malmuth provides the most credible material. The information in both of these books is general, covering all aspects of poker. If you are interested in the world of poker then these books should be part of your global reference. (These books are a reedited collection of magazine columns.)

For the same reasons Sklansky's Advanced Hold 'Em book is required reading: most everyone playing no-limit hold 'em has probably read this book by now. The advice is sound, basic no-limit advice. Unfortunately, everyone else has incorporated this information into their play so you'll have to adapt it to your own style of play. For beginners, this is an excellent introduction. And as an aside: Jim McManus in "Positively Fifth Street" details his play in the WSOP main event and uses this book as his "guide". As he gets closer and closer to the finish he ends up playing against the author of this book. It's a brief, but funny moment in an otherwise 'okay' book. But back to this book: it's short at 200 pages, but it's still the best introduction to no-limit hold 'em which is all the rage these days because of the WPT. So before you go 'all in' read this book.

Probably the best book on "big bet" Hold 'Em available. Written in an easy-to-read, "down to earth" style, making it very easy to understand, with reasons why to and NOT to make certain moves in different situations. Achieved my very first top finish in a "no limit" tournament after reading this book. Part luck, yes, as in all of Poker, but not a total coincedence, in my opinion. Also contains some very colorful and entertaining stories, told by T.J. Cloutier, about his days as a "road gambler".

Moorehead's book is a good first book with sound but somewhat conservative advice. It does not address any of the newer games like Hold'em or Omaha, but is one of the few books with a section of Draw.

This book lacks any specifics about pokwer situations... It is a very general book and will not help any advanced player...it will only help beginner players slightly...find a better book

After reading the glowing reviews of this book, I ended up disappointed by it--although I want to give Michigan Roll a try. First, the plot was predictable. Waverly is holed up across a conveniently abandoned hotel, which you just know is going to figure prominently. When his room gets conveniently fumigated (convenient from the perspective of the plot), you anticipate what is going to happen. So, the action comes across as contrived. Second, Kakonis completely and relentlessly overdoes the slang. Slang brings life to dialogue, but I've never heard anyone in real life use slang as much as his characters do. It was almost as if he would take every single nonslang sentence like "We need to get $200,000" and then translate it into slang ("We need to score 2 balloons" or something), which is OK in moderation, but just don't do it for *every* sentence, because then it doesn't sound authentic. Leonard is a master at capturing everyday speech patterns, but he never overdoes it. Third, the pace of the book starts off too slow. For the first half of the book, I keep picking it up and then putting it down after a couple of pages. The plot doesn't gather steam until the card games. Fourth, his characters are blatant stereotypes--*every one*. Fifth, Waverly is supposed to be the sympathetic "doomed yet philosophical tough guy," someone at home in Jacktown but who can quote Marvell, yet I got tired of his self-pity. Sixth, some scenes included errors (a room is too dark to see in, and then suddenly a character is gathering up small objects from the floor as if it were well-lit) or were just plain unbelievable (would he/she really act this way in this situation?). Given all that, why am I going to try another of his other books? Because this book had a few things going for it: the gambling angle, humorous characters, occasional exciting action sequences. Maybe Michigan Roll hangs together better.

Tom Kakonis is perhaps the best mystery writer in America today. Though he has not received one tenth of the acclaim or the attention given to Elmore Leonard, his cast of characters is more colorful and his plots more intriguing. Tom Kakonis is a true artist with respect to the "craft " of writing. As a former bookseller at one of Denver's more renowned bookstores,I recommended Tom Kakonis hundreds of times and always heard gratified thanks from returning customers. Double Down is a top-notch mystery/suspense that will be enjoyed by any reader of James W. Hall, Elmore Leonard, or James Burke

Krieger's first book "Hold'em Excellence" is a much better buy. This follow up seems to primarily rephrase previous thinkings from its former. The latter half of "More Hold'em Excellence" seems to just add length and does not offer too many more insightful tips. In fact, you could probably just read pages 32 to 72 in a book store and have absorbed 90% of the useful information. There is a 12 page section on statistics and probabilities - how to compute/apply them - that's fairly interesting and valuable. Overall, average players should just stick to "Hold'em Excellence" and not look to expand their knowledge too much with this book.

Author Lou Kreiger has a big time hit with his book More Hold'Em Excellence. this volume takes you from being a occasional winner to being "A Winner For Life" just as the sub title suggests. In 184 fun to read yet highly informative pages Mr. Kreiger lays out a step by step map to making the most out of your poker outings. Set forth in 36 chapters card playing champion and all aroung good guy Lou Kreaiger takes the student from setting a rock solid foundation through the perils of pre-flop play past the maniac and the rock like players and into the line at the cashiers cage. All the while delivering to you his 10 keys to success. I found the chapters on playing your best always and, fighting your emotions highly rewarding and suprizingly insightful. a 63 question apptitude test is a poker like SAT for the aspiring pro level player. It is high time this well kept poker secret be brought into the lime light that it so richly deserves. Moreover, More Hold'em Excellence has been touted by well known players such as Mike " Americas Mad Genius" Caro and WSOP champion Razz player/publisher, Linda Johnson. I as well highly recommend it.