Book Description
The follow-up to Diary of a Mad Poker Player, in which Richard Sparks went on a wild roller coaster ride to the World Series of Poker. Now, when the dust clears, he sees one thing above all: his game needs help. So Richard approaches one of the legends of poker, World Champion of Poker Tom McEvoy, who signs on as his personal coach. Soon Richard sets out again into the booming world of poker -- armed with a lot more firepower. He sails down to Mexico, on board the Party Poker Million Cruise. He gets up close and personal with famous poker faces, top stars and big money players, old pros and young guns. He discusses the future of poker with the man behind the World Poker Tour. He hears about the bad old days from The King of the Cheats. And he gets into the action at the World Series of Poker, against the biggest names in the game. There are anecdotes, and encounters with some of poker's unusual characters. There is insight and instruction from McEvoy, as Richard's game improves rapidly -- with spectacular results. And there is plenty of real-life, real-time poker action.
Customer Reviews:
Laugh and learn.......2006-09-13
There are plenty of poker "how-to" books on the market ("Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You" by Sheree Bykofsky and Lou Krieger is a good one). Unlike other poker authors, Richard Sparks takes as his subjects the who and what and why and where and when of poker. But, in "Getting Lucky" - the sequel to "Diary of a Mad Poker Player" - there is also an element of "how." This is because, after his first book, Richard realized that he needed help with his game. So he got 1983 World Champion of Poker Tom McEvoy to coach him for a year.
The result is an interesting new angle on poker teaching. "How-to" books are always written by the teacher. This one is written by the student. So you get to go through Richard's learning process with him, in real events, with real hands in real situations. You get to witness his mistakes, and hear what his coach has to say about them. The fact that Richard's results improved out of all recognition speaks for McEvoy's excellence as a teacher - for example, in July 2006, Richard finished 20th out of 2,891 entrants in the $1,000 No Limit Hold Em at the World Series of Poker.
Mainly, though, "Getting Lucky" is the story of one player's year in the heart of the current poker boom. There are poker greats and poker degenerates. There is a week of poker bliss on the Party Poker Cruise. There are unusual angles on the game: a lesson in reading body language from an Oxford Professor; interviews with poker luminaries like Lyle Berman, owner of the World Poker Tour. And there is the will-he, won't-he thrill of an ordinary player winning his seat in our World Championship, and playing in the Big One for the first time.
Richard Sparks is a professional comedy writer who clearly loves poker. "Getting Lucky" was obviously a labor of love.
It doesn't get better than this........2006-08-28
What a read!
Poker's Perfect Storm!
Finally, a brilliant writer that understands this game of games!
Not only will reading this book improve your level of play, but you will be captivated by Richard's wit and storytelling prowess.
Richard Sparks lets us into his heart and head as he competes and struggles to improve. And that is a very special gift to all who read it.
This book taught me, like no other, that the emotions and thoughts that cascade through me at the table are part of what binds us together as poker players. Our shared experience.
I loved this book.
A wide-ranging, happy poker odyssey.......2006-08-23
After his first book, the author decides that he loves the game of poker and travelling the world to play it. He lacks only one thing: a good poker game. Mere mortals among us might read books, try software or discuss our play with friends to improve. Not Mr. Sparks. He enlists WSOP champ and author Tom McEvoy to coach him.
This method works like gangbusters. Sparks still struggles in battle at the tables, but now, he often wins. He learns from a research psychologist all about tells, in poker and otherwise. He meets all sorts of poker players, both famous and infamous. The famous include Josh Arieh, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowen, Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer -- you get the idea. The infamous player is an anonymous poker cheat who says that cheating goes on constantly in the poker room at every level.
He takes a poker cruise with everyone from Bill Gates to Mike Sexton aboard.
He tells us the story of Lyle Berman, great cash game player, pot limit Omaha expert and the man who started the World Poker Tour, The WPT is a big part of the energy behind the poker craze. Watch a poker game on TV, snooze time; watch a poker game on TV and see everyone's cards, instant hit. Berman put the first watchable poker on the tube.
He goes to the WSOP, this time as a player.
An informative, wide-ranging,and winning poker memoir.
Heck, I'm gonna raise my rating up another star because of all the great material in this book. I've read a lot of these poker memoirs lately, and this is one of my favorites.
Customer Reviews:
More Than Poker Advice.......2007-05-21
I have purchased several copies of this book over the years. I bought the first one to sharpen my play and my wife's play when, in graduate school, we got together with our best friends (two other married couples) and played into the early morning hours (A total of $15.00 at stake--$2.50 each!). This latest purchase is a gift to a friend who is interested in the beginnings of our current intelligence agencies--NSA, CIA etc. No doubt there are better poker guides on the market: No doubt Yardley's guide is the only one worth reading just for the fun of it. (See Yardley's "The American Black Chamber")
A fantastic book that addresses the textural aspects of the game........2007-05-10
Poker books of late, for the most part, have all been about strategy. If you're already figured out how to play small pairs in early position or if you're looking for a poker book that isn't about "odds", this one is about as good as you're going to get.
I don't know if all the stories are to-the-letter true or not- Yardley may have exaggerated some of them a wee bit- and it was definitely written in a different time but overall, the organic advice about the gamesmanship aspects of poker is spot-on accurate (from my perspective as a winning NLHE and mixed games player). There is just so much more that goes in to beating this game than pot odds and hand selection.
I don't think this book will appeal strictly left-brained sort of people who view the game of poker almost entirely as a mathematical exercise, but it will appeal to everyone else.
Valuable, Easy-to-Use Guide.......2007-01-07
This is a valuable guide for beginning and even experienced poker players. Author Herbert Yardley (1889-1958) gives easy instructions that help your game and make you think. Among his basic rules: fold quickly when you have a poor hand, don't open without two Kings or better, never send good money after bad, always know the odds, and forget about luck. Yardley also provides clues on when and when not to bluff, and we get a brief look at his Indiana youth at a time when poker was common recreation. Unfortunately, this book came out in the 1950's, before the now-popular Texas Hold `Em version burst onto the scene. Still, some of the valuable advice in these pages may carry over to that style of the game as well.
Yardley's talent for math, odds and probabilities guided him in poker and as a top cryptanalyst for the U.S. Government. In 1931 he angered the government with his book on code-breaking (American Black Chamber), and a court order kept him from publishing another on grounds of national security. This book, however, drew no censors; author Theodore H. White even called it as useful to beginning players as a sex manual is to college freshmen.
Classic for every beginner.......2006-09-18
I bought this book in 1957 and still have it among about 50 books I own on Poker.It was the first Poker book I ever read
and I read it until I had it memorized. Although the modern,flop type, games are not included, the basics of this book can make you a lifetime winner. Every new poker player should read/study this book first.
Another vote for this great classic.......2005-08-31
In looking at some of the other reviews for this book, I find I am not alone in being the proud owner of a copy which is easily over 40 years old, in a 50 cent Cardinal Edition paperback book. I acquired my copy when I was a junior in high school, on the advice of a buddy who was even more bookish than I, and we used it to hone our penny ante games with a bet limit of a nickel.
I have not spent a lot of time with any other books on poker, as I never felt the need for any better advice on the game than what I got from this book.
While the author, who went on to become a major American cryptanalyst (code breaker), has put a lifetime of statistical experience into his suggestions in this book, most of the recommendations can be summarized in a few simple sentences.
And, using these principles for all the basic games such as five card draw, seven card stud, five card stud, and low ball, I have almost always won. These suggestions work so well that I required no convincing to believe that unlike virtually all other casino games, playing poker is NOT gambling, if you know what you are doing.
On top of all that, the book is entertaining to read. And, in addition to guidance on the statistics of the game, the author gives sound advice on how and when to bluff. This advice is not deep, but for the average game, it is more than enough.
While there are probably now hundreds of fair to good books on playing poker, I strongly suggest this to any newcomer to the game, as it served me very well when I knew nothing about poker or probablility.
The only reservation one may have about the book is that it really only deals in depth with the most familiar older games. While a clear thinker should have no problem translating the author's suggestions to games such as Texas hold-um, I cannot guarantee all the advice will transpose effectively.
But, I am certain you can get a copy of this little gem very cheaply. And, it is worth every penny.
Average customer rating:
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The Education of a Poker Player
Herbert O. Yardley
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Poker
| Card Games
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
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ASIN: B000O8V3U4 |
Product Description
A lusty, funny, cool and knowing introduction to the great American sport of poker by one of the great masters of all time.
Average customer rating:
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The Education of a Bridge Player
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Poker
| Card Games
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B000CNMI1O |
Product Description
"The autobiography of the man who has been considered the Number One American contract bridge player for 40 years .. each anecdotal chapter ends with a lesson and strategy."
Customer Reviews:
Can Be Read as a Novel Or a How-2.......2007-01-15
When I first read THE EDUCATION OF A POKER PLAYER by Herbert O Yardley, I was about fifteen and had never played poker. I thought it was a good read about the Bildingsroman growth of a young boy, sort of like David Copperfield cutting his teeth in the poker salons in mid 19th century rural America. Yardley was a smart kid who learned the basics of hard-nosed poker from his poker sensei Monty. In later years after I had begun to play poker, I remembered Yardley's book and reread it, this time for his sage advice. What I found was that Yardley's wisdom on the felt table has transcended time. Every future book on poker theory that I later read was neither as informative or as enjoyable as this one. Highly recommended.
The Definitve Guide to Poker.......2003-03-13
After reading many books on poker, I keep returning to the first book I have ever read on the art of poker playing. Zen and the Art of Poker is a good book on how our inner selves influence our actions. Silberstang explains the finer points of the game, but one does not need any special training to make money following Yardley's advice. In clear, simple examples, Yardley can make anyone a winner, with the caviat that not everyone will follow his instructions to the letter. Yardley has the techniques, but it is up to the player to have the discipline to stick to the task.
Average customer rating:
- Great book
- Brains, games, making money and overcoming the odds.
- I loved this freaks and geeks story!
- A magic story
- Not That Interesting
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Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids: How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas
David Kushner
Manufacturer: Listen & Live Audio, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
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Magic
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Poker
| Card Games
| Puzzles & Games
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| Gambling
| Puzzles & Games
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ASIN: 1593160690
Release Date: 2005-09-01 |
Product Description
If you think a gang of real-life geeks cant take on the world and win big...think again. And whatever you do, dont sit down across a gaming table from Jon Finkel, better known as Jonny Magic. Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids is his amazing true story: the jaw-dropping, zero-to-hero chronicle of a fat, friendless boy from New Jersey who found his edge in a game of cardsand turned it into a fortune! The ultimate bully-magnet, Finkel grew up heckled and hazed until destiny came in the form of a trading-card game called Magic: The Gathering. Magic exploded from nerdy obsession to mainstream mania and made the teenage Finkel an ultra-cool world champion. Once transformed, this young shark stormed poker rooms from the underground clubs of New York City to the high-stakes tables online, until he landed on the largest card-counting blackjack team in the country. Taking Vegas for millions, Finkels squad of brainy gamers became the biggest players in town. Then they took on the towns biggest game, the World Series of Poker, and walked away with more than $3.5 million! Thrilling, edgy, and ferociously feel-good, the odyssey of these underdogs-turned-overlords is the stuff of pop-culture legend. Acclaimed author David Kushner masterfully deals out the outrageous details while bringing to life a cast of characters rife with aces, kings, knaves
and more than a few jokers. If you secretly believe every player has his day, youre right. Heres the proof.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2006-06-01
I didn't know anything about the game of Magic, but basically read this book for the Blackjack card counting story and the poker story. Very easy to read and interesting. I read it in 2 sittings and wanted to read more. Interesting to find out about other poker players that were into the game magic, thunder keller and david williams. Great book, highly recommended by this card shark...
Brains, games, making money and overcoming the odds........2006-03-24
Jon Finkel was an overweight, middle school nerd who was bullied, laughed at, and ostracized until he found his calling in a fantasy game called Magic. Magic combines the otherworldliness of Dungeons and Dragons with complex elements of card play and has become a cult game with tournaments of its own. In Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids, David Kushner follows the transformation of Finkel from teenage geek in the throes of Magic mania into a thin, sophisticated and extremely wealthy professional gambler who joins the highly successful blackjack counting team known as The Lawyers. The true-life story traces Finkel's evolution from bully magnet to World Champion Magic master, to card counter and shuffle tracker, to sports bettor, and onto the World Series of Poker. Throughout his adventures, Finkel is accompanied by the so-called "Card Shark Kids," a strange mix of misfits and brainiacs who find a sense of belonging through the addictive escape of Magic and carry that into the gambling world.
Kushner does an impressive job of providing condensed explanations of such wide-ranging gaming concepts as the underlying premise of Magic, the mathematical foundation of card counting, and sports betting theory, while keeping the reader engaged in Finkel's ongoing tribulations and triumphs. Interwoven within the biography is also an intriguing account of Dr. Richard Garfield, the inventor of Magic, who would be a worthy subject for his own story.
Ironically, the story's pinnacle comes via the success not of Finkel but of David Williams, another Card Shark Kid and Magic enthusiast, who claimed the 3.5 million dollar second prize of the 2004 World Series of Poker. Although Finkel is having success at poker tournaments, he doesn't yet have the crowning achievement to capture a literary climax to his own journey, so Kushner sneakily manipulated Williams' victory as if it was connected to Finkel.
What is particularly revealing about Jonny Magic from a game player's point of view, is that it provides an unexpected answer to the question, "Where are all the young guns of poker gaining the championship qualities to end up as final table tournaments players?" Apparently, a surprising number have been Magic players from a young age -- honing the essential qualities of discipline and emotional control long before tackling the intricacies of poker. And if Magic is far harder to master than poker, as Finkel suggests, Magic players would have a distinct edge.
Yet, while Finkel's tale has the makings of a fascinating read, Kushner's book isn't as emotionally gripping as one might expect from a biography about a man's metamorphosis. Even when Kushner describes a young Finkel as afraid to go to school because of such humiliating experiences as being urinated upon, the reader might wish he had a deeper and less cliched reason to root for the game-playing underdog, who we really don't get to know at any more than a surface level.
Certainly, if the inside life of a professional gambler intrigues you, Jonny Magic will satisfy some of your voyeuristic curiosity -- but be forewarned that at least half of the book is focused on Finkel's life playing Magic, and not on how he later accumulated his ample wealth as a professional gambler. If you're a Magic player, this might light your fire, but if you're not, you might be tempted to skip ahead to the casino action. Whatever else the book accomplishes, it does confirm one thing most professional gamblers already know: that brains are always a frontrunner over beauty when it comes to making money and overcoming the odds.
I loved this freaks and geeks story!.......2006-03-03
I'm not really one for books about Poker and games, but i read the last book by this author, Masters of Doom, and I saw a review of Jonny Magic in the New York Times book review that seemed interesting so I picked it up. I really loved it! Great characters--Finkel is a classic, and the story reads like the most gripping fiction. David Kushner's writing style is humorous and riveting.I think this should be a movie or television show.
A magic story.......2006-03-03
I loved this book! I picked it up on a whim at the airport, and couldn't put it down for the entire flight. Now I'm telling all my friends to get it. Not only does it have tips about playing cards, but it's just a flatout pageturning thriller. You keep wondering where this guy's life is going to lead him next. Very suspenseful and funny too. Highly recommended.
Not That Interesting.......2006-02-23
Jon Finkel was obviously a very bright boy who grew up heckled and hazed until taking up a trading-card game called Magic: The Gathering. He initially flunked out of Rutgers, then re-entered and did much better. After his success transformed Jon into a cool world champion he moved into poker rooms, than a card-counting blackjack team, and finally to the World Series of Poker. In the process, he cast off his nerdy looks by investing in contacts and nice clothes, and losing about 65 pounds (from 250 to 185). When we leave Jon at the end of the book he is en route to a $2-3 million winning year.
Little/no drama, and not that interesting.
Book Description
The Visual Key to Maya
One look and you'll see that this Maya book is different from all the others. It presents the core Maya features visually, using pages packed with striking graphics and loaded with concise explanations of the Maya interface. This expanded edition includes more tutorials; updated material on modeling, animation, rendering and dynamics; and new coverage of Toon Shaders, along with other exciting Maya tools. Engaging step-by-step lessons provide hands-on reinforcement as you learn. Start your adventures in Maya with this full-colour, visual guide—the perfect introduction to Maya 8.
- Use Paint Effects to create images from scratch or add painterly qualities to existing images.
- Learn how Maya's MEL scripts can help with tasks, such as connecting a curve's CVs to joints to pre-visualize a skeleton.
- The enclosed CD includes the Maya Personal Learning Edition and all the files you need to complete the tutorials.
Customer Reviews:
Ridiculous CD.......2007-07-15
I initially really enjoyed the fast pace of this book, but was pretty dismayed to find out that the CD for this Maya 8 book only has Maya 7 on it. How could this have happened? Its nonsense.
Good for begginers.......2007-05-19
This book covers most of the basics in MaYa 8. It is ok to get you a feel of how the program works. The CD has examples of the info covered.
Very good book........2007-05-01
This book helped me a lot, this book gives you a quick general overview of all the major functions of Maya, without going into too much detail. It's not too long and is full of lots of colourful pictures, which makes it easy to read compared to other Maya books which can be huge and daunting in their detail.
I recommend this book to people who have never done any 3d animation who are interested in trying it, as the name suggests it is essentially a beginners book; don't expect to be able to produce a short movie at the end of it. This book merely skims the surface of a giant program, but it'll give you an idea of how to go about creating an animation.
It's good to just start out with this book to give you an idea of what Maya involves, and after finishing you can start with one of the larger Maya books that are out there to explore it deeper and be able to produce your own short animations or models depending on what you want to use Maya for.
Great book for any Animator.......2006-02-28
I bought this book not knowing what to expect. What I found was a book full of valuable resources and tips to help out any aspiring or current animator. The book was simple to understand coupled with the tutorials at the end of each chapter makes this an essential for anyone interested in computer animation.
Great for newbies.......2005-04-13
don't know anything about 3D? don't know anything about Maya? like pictures? this book is great! it has hundreds upon hundreds of color illustrations and explains in lamen terms what you are doing. there is more than one picture, and in most cases four or five, for everything explained and for every variation that he talks about.
if you know anything about 3D or Maya then this book may not be for you, but i have spent a lot of money buying books on Maya and 3D modeling and animation and this is the first one that i can actually follow. he explains everything very well and then moves on, but the book is laid out in such a way that if you need to look something up you don't have to read the entire chapter again to understand it! if my dog could read then he could learn how to use Maya with this book. definitely for beginners though... if you want to make the next "Gollum" this book doesn't do that, but if you want to start somewhere this is definitely the place.
Books:
- GURPS Bestiary : Monsters, Beasts, and Companions (3rd Edition)
- GURPS Horror: The Complete Guide to Horrific Roleplaying
- Hard-To-Solve Brainteasers (Mensa)
- Hell in Freeport: A D20 System Adventure for Levels 10 to 12 (Hunt: Rise of Evil)
- Heroes at Home: Help and Hope for America's Military Families
- Herzl's Nightmare: One Land, Two Peoples
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Hoyle's Rules of Games, Third Revised and Updated Edition
- If You Could Only See ... A Gnome's Story: A Groundbreaking First Person Account of the Nature Kingdom As Told by the Gnomes, Leprechauns, Elves, and Faeries Themselves
Books Index
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