Ever wonder why some partners seem to be able to read each other's minds? Why they are so successful at anticipating the other's intentions, avoiding all pitfalls and traps, and seem to win every time? The answer is that they are not usually guessing - by learning defensive signals it is possible for even novice players to drastically improve their game. Defence is the most difficult part of bridge, but it can be made easier by using signals to help your partner along the way to success. The book will enable readers to use, recognise and understand all the standard defensive signals used in bridge and to gain an awareness of alternative methods.

"Collins Gem Card Games" provides an introduction to the most played family card games, with clear instructions and guidance on how to master each game. With a stylish new cover design, this best-selling Collins Gem title has been updated to provide even more accessible and helpful advice on learning today's most popular card games. This new color edition will offer help and guidance in a more visually appealing style, making it a joy to learn how to play. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, this edition includes detailed instructions on how to play more than 60 different card games.

40 popular card games, with clear instructions and guidance on how to master each one. Easy to follow helpful advice on learning more than 40 of the most popular card games. This beautifully presented edition will offer all the help and guidance you need to learn how to play these ever-popular games. Illustrated throughout with colour diagrams showing hands, moves and simple to follow instructions.

Card Tricks features instructions to learn 30 of the best magic card tricks! Including two trick-decks of cards and easy-to-follow instructions with reference illustrations, this kit has everything needed to wow friends and family with slight of hand, misdirection and general card trickery! Professional magician Nigel Anderson guides you through all aspects of performing, from instructions on how to use trick decks, to the history of classic tricks, to scripts for drawing your audience in for maximum entertainment!

Jump from amateur straight to professional with this fast-track guide to reading the tarot. How do you know which interpretation to choose when there are so many possibilities with the tarot cards? This book is the first and only quick-reference tarot guide, which uses a logically progressive technique; schooling the reader in a non-linear fashion as they jump between the pages corresponding to their randomly selected cards. Designed particularly for those wanting to be time-efficient and ambitious in their learning, the book highlights key terms and uses a logic-based key coded system to synthesise what can otherwise be a vast and perplexing array of possibilities when reading the cards in combination. With black and white illustration of each card, the Tarot system opens up a dialogue with our subconscious; the Tarot provides the ultimate form of self-sufficiency, making this book a users' guide to optimising and authenticating our finest, and most precious resource, that which could never be robotically recreated or computerised, the conscious human mind. With AI fast encroaching on all aspects of life not only does this book inform and instruct on the reading of the tarot, but it also develops and trains the centralised logical, analytical, and reasoning mind to work in harmony with our innate and often over-shadowed instinctual and intuitive abilities.

Number of players: 2+ Ages: 12+ Includes: 150 trivia cards, plus one How to Play card Assembly required? No Batteries required? No Most of the clocks in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction are stuck at 4:20. True or False? How long is Ninety Mile Beach on New Zealand's North Island? Which Canadian superstar, singing in French and representing Switzerland, won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988? This trivia game, perfect for giving to a friend or family member on their fiftieth birthday, is packed with questions ranging from the totally random to things that happened in their formative years. It will bring extra fun to the birthday celebrations as you take a trip down memory lane together.

Time: 10+ minutes to play Number of players: 2+ Ages: 5+ Includes: 52 cards, plus 8 gameplay instruction cards Assembly required? No Batteries required? No What could be more fun than playing with poop? Here's a deck of cards like no other, and the smiliest (and smelliest) poop friends you're ever likely to meet. With instructions on toilet-themed games to play, including Smelly Families, Go Poop and Constipation (formerly Patience), games nights will never be the same!

Poker has never been more popular. It's played in all sorts of places - in serious international tournaments, at the casino, socially with friends and, of course, online. If you don't know how to play it, you're missing out, and here's where this book comes in! It gives you all the information you need to go off and play your first poker game. In clear, easy-to-follow text, backed up with helpful diagrams and amusing cartoons, and concentrating on the most popular poker variant, Texas Hold 'Em, the author shows you how to set up a game, how to bet (when to raise and when to fold), the values of the different hands, and the different versions of poker you can play. It also covers the essential psychological skills used by the best players. Armed with the information in this book, you'll become an expert poker player - in extra-quick time!

There are at least as many variations of poker as there are cards in a deck. Yesterday the game most favored by professional poker players was Texas hold'em. Today it is hold'em's close cousin, Omaha. By far the most prevalent form of poker in Europe for the past two decades, Omaha is now enjoying a tremendous surge in popularity in the United States, thanks largely to its reputation as an action game. In Farha on Omaha, Sam Farha, the world's greatest Omaha player, and Storms Reback, a noted poker writer, offer simple tips that will help transform those new to the game into winning players. The authors provide strategies on how to beat the three most popular forms of Omaha--limit, eight-or-better, and pot-limit--in both cash games and tournaments. Sam Farha, one of the best professional poker players in the world, is best known for having finished second in the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker. He plays in the biggest cash games in the world, including regular stints in the famed Big Game in Las Vegas. He has won two gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker, in the $2,500. Pot-Limit Omaha event in 1996 and the $5,000 Omaha High-Low Eight-or-Better event in 2006. After playing at the highest stakes in the world for nearly three decades, he has earned a reputation as one of the greatest Omaha players on the planet. Now for the first time, he shares with readers the inside secrets of how to beat not only the legions of amateurs flocking to this hot "new" game but accomplished professionals, as well. Providing practical advice and advanced strategy tips, and discussing specific hands from his victories at the World Series of Poker and high-stakes cash games in which millionsof dollars were on the line, Farha on Omaha promises to turn beginners into winning players and winning players into champions.

Match the upper sides and undersides of the wings of 25 species of butterfly from around the world in this beautifully illustrated matching game. With all kinds of stunning species - from the painted lady to the purple emperor - this fun and educational game is an ideal gift that will appeal to nature lovers everywhere. Includes a mini dossier on each species. Can also be used as a memory game when you get to know the butterflies. Collect more pairs than your opponent to win!

In this new and completely revised edition, the first reigning World Series of Poker Champion gets down and dirty about how to win big. It's not just about cards. It's about the people who hold them, so you'll need to be a master of human nature.

Who better to teach you than American folk hero and gambling legend Amarillo Slim? Get his first-hand secrets on everything from counting cards to judging opponents, the laws of probability, betting, bluffing, when to drop, and when to pick up your chips and head home.

Poker is much more than just a popular game. It is a world unto itself, populated with a multitude of colorful characters: professionals and amateurs, hustlers and dreamers. This royal flush of a collection brings together short stories, essays, poems, and excerpts from novels by a host of renowned writers -- from the Wild West to present day -- who have mined their personal experience of the game. Entertaining and enlightening, you'll want to ante up for Read 'Em and Weep.

With pieces by ...

Nelson Algren Andy Bellin Anthony Holden Katy Lederer James Thurber Barbara Tuchman Billy Collins Pete Dexter Martin Amis David Mamet Herbert O. Yardley A. Alvarez

...And More

Fancy yourself as a bridge player? This essential little book will show you how - in just 10 minutes. Introduces the basic rules and techniques for bidding, declarer play and defence. Useful bridge-table diagrams and quirky illustrations help the information stick. Bridge can sometimes look incredibly complicated and opaque. But that really isn't the case: it is a very easy game to learn. By the time you've read this invaluable little book, you'll be equipped with all the knowledge you need to take your partner and play your first game. In clear, easy-to-follow text, backed up with useful diagrams and illustrations, the author shows you exactly how bridge works, including bidding, defence, declaring and trumps. The book then goes on to more advanced strategies, including how to use your opponent's bidding to your advantage, and discusses the finer points of etiquette and conduct during a bridge game. Armed with the information in this book, you can go on to become a star bridge player - in double-quick time!

Introduce the Tulip to its relative the Toad Lily, or reunite the Iris family by pairing the Freesia with its siblings - the Crocus and the Gladiolus. Collect illustrated cards of 52 garden flowers, group the individual flowers into their botanical families to form complete sets of four and lay them before your opponent to win! Based on Go Fish, this fun and educational game comes with a booklet describing the features of the different flower families and will delight players of all ages.

Ships of the Great Lakes is a gorgeous deck of playing cards that features Peter Markham's professional-quality photographs of the most famous and spectacular ships on the Great Lakes! Anyone who enjoys ship watching will love having these cards for playing favorite games.

The northern lights are nature's spectacular light show. This gorgeous deck, put together by author Tom Anderson, features some of the most beautiful photographs of the aurora borealis ever captured. Anyone who appreciates nature will love having these playing cards for their favorite games.

Play cards and learn about animal tracks! Anyone who enjoys the outdoors will love these cards for playing your favorite games or to use as flash cards. Based on the popular Animal Tracks: Midwest Edition field guide by award-winning author Jonathan Poppele, this gorgeous deck features detailed illustrations of 54 of the most notable mammal tracks in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Each card depicts realistic tracks of such animals as the Black Bear, Bobcat, or Northern Raccoon--so you can play card games while learning to identify animal tracks. Get Animal Tracks of the Midwest Playing Cards for yourself, and give it as a fun and thoughtful gift.

This gorgeous deck of playing cards by author Dave Bosanko features detailed illustrations of 52 of the most common and sought-after fish species of the Midwest states, including the Walleye, Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass and more! Anyone who enjoys fishing will love having these playing cards for their favorite games and for quick I.D.

A large print bridge guide aimed at the less experienced or social player who longs to improve but keeps repeating the same mistakes, often not knowing that they are mistakes. Andrew Robson, The Times Bridge Correspondent, is both a champion bridge player and an inspired teacher. At his bridge club he teaches and tutors and has acquired great practical knowledge about how people learn to play bridge. Based on Andrew Robson's Friday column in The Times, common bridge mistakes are presented with an outline of what actually happened and what should have happened. Along with every mistake is a handy tip 'If you remember just one thing..' which has proved very popular with The Times readers. The first section of the book, 'The Game', is a basic outline providing the key to playing a sensible game of Bridge, subdivided into Bidding, Declarer Play and Defence. Included within this are all the 'If you remember just one thing' tips that also appear in the main body of the book. The reader can either read 'The Game' first, paying particular attention to the tips, or they can dip in and out of the main body of text, picking a common mistake at random, with the option of cross-referencing to the same tip in 'The Game' section. Bridge is a growing enthusiasm and is now being played by a much wider age range - it is no longer a game for those who have retired. This is a long-awaited first book aimed at the vast majority of bridge players who would like to avoid falling into the same trap time and time again.

This gorgeous deck features real photos of 52 of the most common and interesting mammal species of the Midwestern states, including the Pronghorn, Gray Wolf, Black Bear and more! Wildlife lovers and outdoor enthusiasts will appreciate having these playing cards for their favorite games and for quick I.D.

Bring some drama to your card table with 54 of the most influential TV stars and series creators, arranged into four suits: Hearts = Comedy, Clubs = Drama, Diamonds = Crime, Spades = Fantasy & Sci-fi Includes illustrations of all the big names, from George R. R. Martin and David Simon to Elisabeth Moss and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Number of players: 2+ Ages: 12+ Includes: 150 trivia cards, plus one How to Play card Assembly required? No Batteries required? No The French word for pie chart is Camembert. True or false? Which tennis players competed in the Battle of the Sexes in September 1973? What colour are aircraft black boxes? This trivia game, perfect for giving to a friend or family member on their seventieth birthday, is packed with questions ranging from the totally random to things that happened in their formative years. It will bring extra fun to the birthday celebrations as you take a trip down memory lane together.

Learn about wines from all over the world in The Wine Game a deluxe go fish/happy families game. With two decks of cards - one for red wines, one for whites - covering all the major wine-producing regions and some unexpected gems, this is the perfect way to dip in to the world of wine. Includes a booklet with brief descriptions of each region along with some tips on which labels to look out for. LEARN ABOUT WINE VARIETIES. Distinguish your Bordeaux from your Burgundy and your Chianti from your Champagne - this fun card game provides an easy and amusing way to learn about wines INCLUDED BOOKLET features descriptions of wine regions STURDY & ATTRACTIVE BOX perfect for gifting and storage.

At one time the game was even bigger than baseball. Today bridge is played by more than twenty-five million people in the United States alone, with Bill Gates, a sitting Supreme Court justice, and the guys from Radiohead among its devotees. In this spirited homage, Edward McPherson recounts the colorful history of the game and his attempts to master its mysteries in time to compete at the North American Bridge Championships--despite being barely able to shuffle cards, let alone play competitively. Insightful, funny, and steeped in respect, "The Backwash Squeeze" is an affectionate view of a grand game by an outsider trying to make his way into the inner circle.