Granny's Kiss represents a new bidding system for contract bridge scored with International Match Points. The book provides the reader with both the system and the reasons and objectives which lie behind its bidding treatments.

Centered around multi-million dollar stakes and a series of nationally televised poker tournaments, Fading Hearts on the River offers a story of odds the odds of a newborn surviving severe jaundice, the odds of Congress passing a law that renders one's online gambling income inaccessible, the odds of drawing the right card on the turn or the river. In this tale of fatherhood and worldy success, Haxton follows his son Isaac's unlikely career as a poker player, the nervous father often sitting on the sidelines with his fingers crossed or staring at a casino monitor while Isaac wins more in one hand of play than Haxton has earned from all his books of poetry combined.In this deftly crafted story Haxton explores the propensity for abstraction, logic, and memory all good poets and poker players share, all the while taking readers on a rollicking tour of complex, intertwined topics, ranging from game theory and financial strategies, to medical mysteries and lost love, to chess, Magic cards, and Texas Hold  em. Guided by the through-line of a father's love and admiration for his talented son, Fading Hearts delivers a unique perspective on professional gambling and one family's experience playing the odds.

This is the very same, classic popular online poker strategy book that has been selling online for $39 a copy since 2004. It has been revised and expanded in this 3rd edition to reflect recent changes in the online poker landscape, including the effects of political events which occurred in both 2006 and 2011. It includes new chapters with specific strategies for popular new game types and structures. Americans can still make surgeon's income playing online poker for a living. In fact, playing at the smaller-traffic poker rooms (which USA citizens are now proliferating) offers certain advantages to a skilled player - IF you know how to exploit them. Any dedicated student of the game who is armed with the knowledge and tactics taught in this course will be a force to contend with at today's tables. Topics covered include: Complete lessons in Holdem, Omaha, Stud, Badugi, and High-Low Split games Short-handed play strategy Organizational training for multi-tabling and using player notes Targeting the players who are your best customers Specific winning tournament strategy for both small and large-field tournaments Managing your poker playing like a business What the political environment has done to the game, how to take advantage of it, and what looms on the horizon (and why you need to position yourself for it NOW) ...and much, much more. This is a full-length book that many winning online players credit as their training manual. Will you be next?

PLAY BRIDGE TODAY by Lan Sluder is a short, easy-to-use how-to guide to help you learn to play bridge fast. The simple approach in this unique guide lets you learn bridge basics in minutes. Just add up your points and start bidding and playing right away. Using this simple new approach and the handy "cheat sheets" to bidding and play, in minutes you'll be having fun playing the most fascinating of all card games. There's nothing complicated here, no confusion, no jargon The author isn't a bridge expert. He's just a regular guy, living proof you don't have to be a rocket scientist to play this fascinating game. Lan Sluder also is the author of more than a dozen books on travel and retirement, including Fodor's Belize, Amazing Asheville, Moving to the Mountains, Living Abroad in Belize, Frommer's Best Beach Vacations, Easy Belize and others. PLAY BRIDGE TODAY covers all these subjects and more: Why Play Bridge? The First Rule Is to Have Fun What You Need to Know About Bridge Mechanics of the Game: Bidding Merchnics of the Game: Playing Purpose of the Game: How You Win Scoring Bridge (By Hand or Using Digital Apps) Ready, Set, Deal Bridge Bidding 'Cheat Sheet' Bridge Play 'Cheat Sheet' Bridge Probabilities -- Only the Essentials Bridge Etiquette Definition of Common Bridge Terms Resources to Help You Play Better About the Author

Why is there a twelve on the cover of this blackjack book instead of the usual twenty-one? No blackjack author in their right mind would put a hand of twelve on the cover. Glen Wiggy did--he is full of surprises like that. Part how-to manual, part memoir, 1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors--Finding Profit and Humor in Card-Counting chronicles Wiggy's amusing experiences while playing blackjack during more than eight hundred casino visits from January 2001 until June 2008. It also introduces blackjack card-counting in a fun and easy-to-learn format.

In addition to the everyday casino patrons, starving puppies, angry pit bosses, French doughnuts, talking sea gulls, and 1536 bottled waters make unforgettable appearances in these entertaining stories tailored for casual blackjack gamblers. For players pursuing the game for serious profit, Wiggy also presents practical tips on

- Aspects of blackjack basic strategy- Fundamentals of card-counting- Techniques for managing money- Dangers of greedy gambling behavior

Unlike most blackjack strategy guides, 1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors won't teach you how to "kill" the dealer or make a living playing the game. Instead, you'll learn basic strategy and introductory card-counting skills that give you enough confidence to approach the table with a positive attitude and reasonable expectation of winning. Plus, you'll learn what to expect from the cards and the wonderfully strange people and places you may encounter. Enjoy the ride.

"Undoubtedly, the most enjoyable blackjack book I've read in my twenty years as the editor of a gambling publishing company. It had me laughing out loud."--Deke Castleman, editor for Huntington Press

Read more at www.blackjackstories.com.

The same authors' previous book, 'Declarer Play at Bridge: a Quizbook', was named the 2013 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. Building on the success of that title, this book gives the near-beginner a chance to practise the principles on which sound bidding is based, from the opening bid onward. This is not just a series of problems, however. Each section contains a brief introduction to its topic, and the ideas are reinforced with carefully explained solutions and helpful tips throughout.

This work is about bidding at duplicate bridge. An effort has been made to be certain that the concepts, the conventions, and the treatments used are not only written clearly but are backed up by bidding examples and an extensive glossary. The target of this work is the moderately experienced player who, along with a partner, wishes to elevate thier level of bidding. Playing this system a partnership is not likely to feel that their bidding system is inferior compared the the systems of whoever their opponents may be. The conventions and treatments presented conform to the ACBL's General Convention Chart.

Getting to good games, slams, and staying out of poor contracts is an important aspect of bridge. The best way to improve your bidding is not to add a new convention but to improve your hand evaluation skills.

In Mastering Hand Evaluation: Understanding the Principles of Partnership Bidding you will learn about the science of hand evaluation, going far beyond 4-3-2-1 high card points. Enhance your ability to recognize good cards and discover the magic of the 30-point deck. Popular point count and losing trick count methods are examined and tested with a database of over 121,000 hands from championship play as well as practice matches with at least one world champion at the table. Improvements to the best methods are introduced based on the results.

When should you invite on the way to 3NT? When there is a known fit, how many losers does partner have for his 1NT opening? Based on the modified New Losing Trick Count, how many losers do you need to start a slam investigation if partner may have more than minimum values? When you learn the answers to these questions and apply the techniques, your partnership communication skills will improve dramatically.

Hand evaluation is not simply a personal skill. If you and your partner study these techniques together, you will both be on the same wavelength. Your new-found ability to have an intelligent conversation during the auction will lead to better bridge results.

Lawrence Diamond is a Gold Life Master with multiple Bracket 1 and Flight A wins. In 2014, he ranked 265th on the Barry Crane Top 500 list.

This is a newly updated and revised edition of "Bridge Over Troubled Bidding" which was published in 2000. The American Contract Bridge League has made some important changes to basic bridge bidding. Because a solid foundation in basic bidding is the bridge player's most important asset, it is necessary to keep up with the times. Although written with the novice player in mind, experienced players wishing to update their bidding skills to the "new bridge" will find it very beneficial. It is a step by step self teaching tool that is very easy to understand as it is written in plain English. The first edition covered only basic bidding but two conventions have now been added. These conventions are used in Notrump bidding and are the Stayman Convention and Jacoby Transfers.

Welcome to the fun world of creativity and an 8-step problem-solving ladder (Chapters 9-17) to help you solve problems creatively. This book brings together the modern creativity triggers that provide the skills you require. ----- Ranging from analyzing problems to the creation of action plans, with idea generation and creative idea sorting in between, this amazing book introduces you to the fun in creative effort. High quality solutions easily appear after enjoyable efforts to generate and select from new perspectives and ideas that create new possibilities. ----- Everyone wants to achieve high quality solutions to problems. Your success can depend on it. Yet few people have access to the new creativity triggers that lead to the highest-level outcomes. These creativity triggers focus on the real issues within a problem and on its quality solution. ----- In this book, you will find three types of creativity triggers to help solve problems creatively when working alone or in groups (Chapter 9): ----- First, use creativity triggers to shift paradigms and produce unexpected ideas (Chapter 13). ----- Second, use creativity triggers that change the creative climate so new ideas flourish (Chapter 8). ----- Third, use creativity triggers that stop pigeonholing people, including yourself, so you stop stifling creative thinking(Chapter 7). ----- Here's what else you will find: ------ What creativity really is and the many reasons to be creative, including the fun involved (Chapters 1 & 2). ------ How to unblock yourself from 'writer's block' and 'idea-generating block' using "automatic writing" and 'non-evaluative listing' (Chapter 4). ------ Advanced creativity triggers to carry out the three key creative steps to shift paradigms and solve problems more creatively (Chapter 9). ------Creativity triggers for permanent creativity groups formed from people in your community (Chapter 20). ------ Puzzles that illuminate your habits and traps that block you from unexpected, new ideas Chapter 7). ----- How to beef up meetings with creativity triggers (Chapter 19). ------ An assessment of 'Your Creative Thinking Habits' (Appendix II). ----- Top ten ways to help creative thinking in your life (Appendix I). ------ Habits that spoil creative thinking, and the triggers to avoid them (Chapter 7). ----- This book can work for you. The results ultimately depend on your commitment to alter habits and apply new creativity triggers to your problems. ----- Enjoy. ----- WELL WORTH OWNING

Bridge students quickly discover that 'basic bidding' will only get them so far. To improve it is necessary to master a certain number of bidding conventions, and be prepared both to play them and to play against them. Each of the books in this series covers a number of useful conventions, explaining them carefully along with numerous examples and quizzes to help the reader understand what is being learned. Included in this book: Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, Texas Transfers, Smolen, Four-Suit Transfers, Three-level Responses to a 1NT Opening Bid, Three Spades over 2NT and Lebensohl. PATTY TUCKER (Dunwoody, Georgia) is an ABTA Master Bridge Teacher and co-founder of Whirlwind Bridge and Atlanta Junior Bridge. Her success at the bridge table culminated in her victory in the 2000 Baldwin Flight A North American Open Pairs with long-time bridge partner Kevin Collins. Patty and Kevin were married in 2006.