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!

This book does not tell you anything about what the title of the book suggests. It basically was meant for people who never stepped into a casino. For those of you who expects to get pointers on what to do in order to get more comps, don't bother buying this book. It doesn't even give the most basic strategy about how to improve your comp. By this, I mean that it doesn't even tell you that when you are playing at a table game, to tell the dealer to hold your spot while you go to the restroom. For those of you who don't know this, the reason is simple. While you are gone, your play is still being recorded for a good amount of time until they stop holding your spot. I am going to be returning this book today. So don't bother wasting your money on it

This book provides a good view of the gambling indurstry from a person who lives it every day. The author is the President and CEO of the Claridge Casino Hotel, my favorite establishment in Atlantic City. The book explains in overview fashion the process by which casinos decide who to give free gifts to (such as a free room or a free meal). It explains what the casino looks for, how it makes its evaluations, and how to take advantage of that process. There is also a section about newer table games, such as Carribean Stud.

This is a good book for someone who wants to get an idea about philosophy in general - the only drawback is that its very boring, I had a hard time to get to page 400 (i know there's more), if you'r the kind of person that can read boring stuff and go on with it, then this one is for you.

This book has many beautiful pictures and reads easily. In history making, everyone selects what he finds most important or interesting. In my opinion, this book is written with an overall idealist bias (which I disagree with, I am theist), and a leftist perspective in the section on politics. I was in particular disappointed but the very short treatment of Aquinas, whose philosophy is "beyond the scope of this book." I wish Copleston had written a shorter history next to his monumental work, so that it would compete with this present book.

Not only is this book awful for it's smarmy tone, it also contains misinformation in certain areas. Get John May's book instead (ISBN: 0818406046).

I am a borderline bibliophile, and in the rare cases when I get rid of books (usually because of duplicate copies), I donate them to the local library. This is the only book I have thrown away, because I did not want to be responsible for someone borrowing it from the library and taking it's information as true.

John Patrick continues his misleading statements and his misuse of the word Win. This book does not overcome basic mathematics and the player disadvantage built into the game. Save your money and don't buy it; better yet, save even more money and don't play Baccarat.

Let's face it. Casinos are tough to beat. Yet every book makes it sound so easy. They go into some strategy, tell a few stories about episodes at the tables all while giving the reader false confidence that costs real money. These books rarely delve into the most grossly under-represented aspect of gambling: the loss. Not the case when it comes to books written by John Patrick. Patrick addresses losses for what they are: a sad reality. Truth is that losing and losing sessions are one half of the game. How will you handle that loss? The seasoned gambler knows that all of the table games are tough to beat. This tough player knows that the "secret" to winning is catching the streak. How does the veteran do this? How can you do it? Get this book and learn the fundamentals. The rest is up to you.

Y'know, its funny that John Patrick always dismisses authors who use mathematical models and simulations to figure out what the best play is by saying "you're not gonna play a million hands of 5,5 vs. 5 or 6, so the simulations mean nothing;split those 5's" , yet he has written a book on card counting which is, of course, based on mathematical principles! It's totally antithesis to everything he espouses. His "Up and Pull" systems are nothing more than ... regression systems, designed to quit when you're ahead(the Ultimate regression? Bet $; if you win, leave. If you lose, leave!), yet most of the value you get from counting cards comes from betting more $ when there is a higher count; something which JP says helps the dealer more than the player. He is, of course, wrong, and while his book on "Advanced" card counting does posess some facts which could help you beat a Blackjack game, his system is merely a rehash and slight modification of already existing systems. One of John Patrick's main claims as to his legitimacy is that he actually plays in the casinos, wheras most other BJ authors you never see; well, that's because casinos don't like dealing to people who posess the ability to play their game with an advantage for a significant amount of money. If you never bet more than $ a hand, you could be the best BJ in the world and few casinos would kick you out. JP is no threat to any casino BR, not in the slightest bit, if he plays as he says. Strangely enough, I think he's actually a very intelligent man capable of beating casinos, but he's a much better marketer. I guarantee you, if he had a $ bet out, he wouldn't split those 5's.

Professor Thorp proved the proper ways of beating a blackjack game nearly 40 years ago. John Patrick's methods of "up and pull" (really hunch and guess) set the standards back to the days before computers. This book is total nonsense.

A realistic account of how to survive playing blackjack. Book is focused on the player and not tons of theory that is suppost to "eventually" equal out. Theories on money management and betting series are worth the purchase price.

This mis-named book is about nothing other than the application of economic decision-making frameworks to farm management decisions. It says nothing about the context - social, institutional, political, economic, external - of Australian agriculture, nor does it say anything about how to raise animals or grow crops, nor will it help policy analysts in applying social cost-benefit analysis. On the other hand, it is a very comprehensive treatment of its chosen topic, and demonstrates that even techniques of a high level of conceptual sophistication can be applied to practical farm management decisions. The non-treatment of ecological sustainability issues will raise the ire of many - particularly the curtly inappropriate dismissal of agro-forestry. Sustainability issues can be incorporated into the decision-making framework recommended by the authors - indeed, doing so would have aided their message, as long as the discussion of time preference - discounting etc - was also adjusted to recognise the different "discount rates" that should apply to sustainability issues.

I really liked chemistry. I thought it was fascinating. But this book completely made me loathe it. You won't understand a thing in this. It explains one thing and when you think you are getting the hang of it, it skips the whole thing and goes in a completely confusing way to a completely confusing topic. The formulas, which are considered to be really simple are given in the most complicated way, and there are times I really threw the book at the wall out of frustation. Don't ever buy this book. You will be doomed. Buy anyone's else. Nothing could be horrible than this. After reading the other reviews, I think, my review is justified.Thank you.

This book is awful. The calculations are off on many of the problems. The text is utterly confusing. The authors go way out of their way to confuse the heck out of the reader. There is "no" way one can learn the basic concepts of chemistry by reading this book alone without the help of teachers (and even teachers will get confused on how this book explains things). A waste of money and time this book is. Also, our teacher admitted to the students that this text has numerous mistakes/errors. Obviously not proofread for content. Another thing they do here (to make things more frustrating for you) is to use their own rounding (in many cases you'll be off by as much as 3-6 units which is alot) for their answers. These professors missed the boat on this book. If you want to read a great book on introductory Chemistry, skip this book and get the "Chemistry for Dummies" book. No fooling, that book is a thousand times better/informative than this piece of drivel. I guess it could be worse though if you had to use the "Modern University Chemistry" textbook by Norbert T. Porile. Don't believe that ***** review on that. That one is much worse than this one.

For a class in college chemistry, ask your professor if you can skip buying this book and use the "Chemistry for Dummies" and the Internet resources (all kinds of goodies on the internet). I know that I did and did not need to refer to this text in the last 2 months of the class. Having a great teacher (like I did) also helps too.

I found this text to be very difficult for my students to understand. It approaches the subject of chemistry in a very disjointed way. Many steps are left out in the problem solving examples. The students were totally lost on the concepts without lecture. The CD-rom is a nice addition, but the text should be self-explanatory. Several errors have been found in the text, as well as contradictions of facts. More time should have been spent on the text itself, instead of all the bells and whistles. For example: Chapter 8 was quite confusing, as the authors write electron configurations in numerical order instead of fill order. This made it very difficult for students to follow. The authors approach many subjects in a unique way that completely throws the students off course. I highly recommend Silberberg or Brown. I used Silberberg's book in lecture, and the students comprehended the material well. I spent a lot of extra time in class trying to undo the confusion caused by this text. The only thing I liked about the book was the test writing software that came with it, but that does not make up for the difficulty the students have with the text.

This second book demonstrates that, while it may be possible to think of 202 uses for a John Major, it is not possible to think of 202 funny uses.

The first book in this series picked up on the very funny book, "101 uses for a dead cat" together with the British public's disenchantment with their then Prime Minister.

The second book has no novelty appeal in that way and the ideas are really laboured and, quite frankly, not funny.

One of the worst books about gambling that I ever read (and I read many of them).

First of all, it is too old: written in April 2001, that's more than two years ago, and that's not good for a world (the internet) that's changing daily.

Even not considering this, it doesn't give any particular advice or original consideration. Every chapter is filled out with questions that are, in the end, not answered efficacely. And if you ever played at least one online casino, you'll know more that he does.

But the worst part is that he gives wrong indications about Blackjack, Roulette, and Craps strategy. Anyone who knows the odds and basic strategy for these games can understand that. And the money management part is wrong, too.

My suggestion, go find another good gambling book.

The author, a self described "professional gambler", simply doesn't understand the game of video poker. While he jokes about being a high school dropout with "street smarts", he unfortunately doesn't understand anything about probability theory or the expected value of return calcultions required to optimize the return on what potentially can be one of the few potentially profitable casino games. In short, his advise on how to play video poker contain many mathemetical errors if optimizing return is your goal.

First he starts by telling you should play table blackjack instead, but if you are too timid to try to learn blackjack, you can minimize your losses by playing video poker his way. He doesn't seem to understand certain video poker games are positive expectation games (unlike blackjack, unless you can track the cards). His advice will quickly turn a positive expectation game (e.g., Duces Wild has a 100.7% expected payback if played flawlessly) into a negative one. One glaring example of his ignorance is "play the minimum for awhile until you see how he machine is paying". The fact is the greatest expected return is achieved by always playing max coins. He doesn't seem to understand each hand is a completely independent event from the prior hand. Some of the hands he says to "hold" are just wrong.

Parting shot: if the author is such as clever professional gambler why does he need to write books like this to make money?