The most fun you can have learning Texas Hold'em (and we ain't bluffin') Playing Texas Hold'em is about the most fun you can have with two cards in your hand. Navigating the slang, rules, and intricacies of the game can be challenging, though. With Texas Hold'em For Dummies, 2nd Edition, you'll learn the tricks you need to know to win your first online or in-person game. From ranking the various poker hands to applying betting strategies, this book helps you build the skills necessary to achieve poker room success. In Texas Hold'em For Dummies, you'll learn to: Improve your chances at casinos and in online poker rooms Participate in a poker tournament with confidence Bluff, bet, raise, and fold in the right way at the right times The perfect handbook for beginning poker players who want to play in-person or online, Texas Hold'em For Dummies is also an essential companion for more experienced players looking to brush up on the fundamentals and improve their skills.

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.

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

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.

When you think of 'gambling' you might think of Vegas casinos, betting shops and football flutters but the risk of gambling is embedded in numerous corners of popular culture that many of us consume. By considering the concept of 'soft gambling', No Dice asks how we could possibly link the Pokemon Trading Card Game with gambling. Can we compare Netflix to a night at the theatre? When does fictional gambling within video games go too far with their infamous loot boxes? Does such risk affect everyone or are socio-economic divides driving further inequality? No Dice explores the messy world of gambling and risk that we encounter regularly, from childhood through adulthood, considering if it is worth the risk and if we even know what risks we might be taking.

This "raucous retelling of the life of a consummate gambler, grifter and quintessential American character" (Kirkus Reviews) introduces Alvin "Titanic" Thompson (1892-1974), who traveled with golf clubs, a .45 revolver, and a suitcase full of cash. A terrific read for anyone who has ever laid a bet, Titanic Thompson recaptures the colorful times of a singular figure.

During the early twentieth century, professional gamblers were such a scourge in the smoking rooms of trans-Atlantic passenger liners that White Star Line warned its passengers about them. In spring 1912 three professional gamblers travelled from the USA to England for the sole purpose of returning to America on the maiden voyage of Titanic. "Kid" Homer, "Harry" Rolmane and "Boy" Bradley (Harry Homer, Charles Romaine and George Brereton) were grifters with a long history of living on the wrong side of the law, who planned to utilize their skills at the card table to relieve fellow passengers of cash. One swiftly fell under suspicion of being a professional "card mechanic", and was excluded from some poker games, but other games continued apace. This new book, the result of years of research by George Behe, reveals the true identities of these gamblers, their individual backgrounds, the ruses they used, and their ultimate fates after tragedy struck, as well as providing an intriguing insight into a bygone age.

Is this a great country or what?

You can bet on the turn of the card or a roll of the dice, but also on the NFL, the NCAA, and which Olsen twin marries first. We bet $80 billion a year, the amount growing wildly as more and more people gain access to this huge American wheel of fortune. No longer quarantined in Las Vegas, gambling has become as local and convenient as our neighborhood cineplex. If there's not a casino around the corner, there's one on your laptop computer.

In "Jackpot Nation," Richard Hoffer takes us on a headlong tour, alternately horrifying and hilarious, across our landscape of luck. Whether he's trying to win a side of bacon in a Minnesota bar, hustling a paper sack filled with $100,000 in cash across Las Vegas parking lots, poring over expansion plans with a tribal chief in California, or visiting the New York prison cell of a retired bus salesman with a poor understanding of three-game parlays, Hoffer explores with wit and heart our national inclination--a cultural predisposition, even--to take a chance.

He played in casinos around the world with a plan to make himself richer than anyone could possibly imagine -- but it would nearly cost him his life.

Semyon Dukach was known as the Darling of Las Vegas. A legend at age twenty-one, this cocky hotshot was the biggest high roller to appear in Sin City in decades, a mathematical genius with a system the casinos had never seen before and couldn't stop -- a system that has never been revealed until now; that has nothing to do with card counting, wasn't illegal, and was more powerful than anything that had been tried before.

Las Vegas. Atlantic City. Aruba. Barcelona. London. And the jewel of the gambling crown -- Monte Carlo.

Dukach and his fellow MIT students hit them all and made millions. They came in hard, with stacks of cash; big, seemingly insane bets; women hanging on their arms; and fake identities. Although they were taking classes and studying for exams during the week, over the weekends they stormed the blackjack tables only to be harassed, banned from casinos, threatened at gunpoint, and beaten in Vegas's notorious back rooms.

The stakes were high, the dangers very real, but the players were up to the challenges, consequences be damned. There was Semyon Dukach himself, bored with school and broke; Victor Cassius, the slick, brilliant MIT grad student who galvanized the team; Owen Keller, with stunning ability but a dark past that would catch up to him; and Allie Simpson, bright, clever, and a feast for the eyes.

In the classroom, they were geeks. On the casino floor, they were unstoppable.

Busting Vega$ is Dukach's unbelievably true story; a riveting account of monumental greed, excess, hubris, sex, love, violence, fear, and statistics that is high-stakes entertainment at its best.

A New York Times bestseller

In a remarkable career, Edward O. Thorp rose up from nothing to become a professor at MIT, invented card counting and the world's first wearable computer, beat the casinos of Las Vegas at blackjack and roulette, then became a bestselling author and a hedge fund heavyweight, ushering in a revolution on Wall Street. Now he shares his incredible life story for the first time, revealing how he made his fortune and giving advice to the next generation of investors. An intellectual thrill ride, replete with practical wisdom, A Man for All Markets is a scarcely imaginable tale of ludicrous success.

This book is designed to provide valuable insight into how to improve the return on your investment when playing the lottery. While it does not promise that you will win more often, it does show you how to improve the odds of winning larger amounts when your numbers do come up. So, when you do win that million-dollar jackpot, you will be less likely to have to share it with anyone else.

Among the intriguing topics covered are the most popular (and the most foolish) combinations of numbers, why it is impossible to improve the odds of any legitimate lottery, how popular (and thus unprofitable) an attractive-looking ticket might be, why not to follow the suggested numbers from so-called "expert advisors" and why it is important to avoid winning combinations of past drawings. With this book and a little luck, the dream of winning millions might just come true.

Maximize your odds on the casino floor Casinos are designed for distraction, so it helps to know a bit about when the odds are in your favor and when they're not before you push a stack of chips onto a table. Professional blackjack player Kevin Blackwood and lifelong sports bettor Swain Scheps know a thing or two about casino gambling. In Casino Gambling For Dummies, these seasoned gaming veterans guide you through the essential strategies for walking out of the casino ahead of the game. They also show you the most common mistakes made by players, helping you avoid gambling risks while you enjoy what the gaming industry has to offer. Learn to see past the flashing lights, decide how much you're willing to wager, and find out how to enjoy yourself. In this book, you'll also discover: Step-by-step walkthroughs of casino etiquette and the rules of common casino games, including poker and blackjack Explanations of video poker and slots and ways to avoid losing more than you're comfortable with Explorations of online gambling, so you can enjoy the fun of a casino from the comfort of your home The perfect guide for anyone looking for an easy introduction to the world of casino gaming, Casino Gambling For Dummies is also an essential resource for those seeking to improve their odds at blackjack, craps, video poker, slots, and other games.

This power-packed book on beating no-limit hold'em is one of the three most influential poker books ever written. Negreanu headlines a collection of young, great players - Todd Brunson, David Williams, Erick Lindgren, Evelyn Ng and Paul Wasicka - who share their insider professional moves and winning secrets. You'll learn about short-handed and heads-up play, high-limit cash games, a powerful beginner's strategy to neutralize professional players, how to mix up your play, bluff, and win big pots. The centerpiece, however, is Negreanu's powerful and revolutionary small ball strategy. You'll learn how to play hold'em with cards you never would have played before - and with fantastic results. The preflop, flop, turn and river will never look the same again. It is a must-have!

This book develops the concept of "gamble-play media", describing how some gambling and gambling-like practices are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. Digital gambling brings gambling closer to the practices and features of videogames, as audio-visual simulations structure users' experiences. By studying digital gambling from media studies, videogame and cultural studies approaches, this book offers a new critical perspective on the issues raised by computer-mediated gambling, while expanding our perspective on what media and gambling are. In particular, it critically analyses terrestrial, mobile and online slot machines, online poker and stock trading apps through a selection of case studies.

This first comprehensive history of America's lottery obsession explores the spread of state lotteries and how players and policymakers alike got hooked on wishful dreams of an elusive jackpot. Every week, one in eight Americans place a bet on the dream of a life-changing lottery jackpot. Americans spend more on lottery tickets annually than on video streaming services, concert tickets, books, and movie tickets combined. The story of lotteries in the United States may seem straightforward: tickets are bought predominately by poor people driven by the wishful belief that they will overcome infinitesimal odds and secure lives of luxury. The reality is more complicated. For a Dollar and a Dream shows how, in an era of surging inequality and stagnant upward mobility, millions of Americans turned to the lottery as their only chance at achieving the American Dream. Gamblers were not the only ones who bet on betting. As voters revolted against higher taxes in the late twentieth century, states saw legalized gambling as a panacea, a way of generating a new source of revenue without cutting public services or raising taxes. Even as evidence emerged that lotteries only provided a small percentage of state revenue, and even as data mounted about their appeal to the poor, states kept passing them and kept adding new games, desperate for their longshot gamble to pay off. Alongside stories of lottery winners and losers, Jonathan Cohen shows how gamblers have used prayer to help them win a jackpot, how states tried to pay for schools with scratch-off tickets, and how lottery advertising has targeted lower income and nonwhite communities. For a Dollar and a Dream charts the untold history of the nation's lottery system, revealing how players and policymakers alike got hooked on hopes for a gambling windfall.

Twenty-four million people wager nearly $3 billion on college basketball pools each year, but few are aware that winning strategies have been developed by researchers at Harvard, Yale, and other universities over the past two decades. Bad advice from media sources and even our own psychological inclinations are often a bigger obstacle to winning than our pool opponents. Profit opportunities are missed and most brackets submitted to pools don't have a breakeven chance to win money before the tournament begins. Improving Your NCAA (R) Bracket with Statistics is both an easy-to-use tip sheet to improve your winning odds and an intellectual history of how statistical reasoning has been applied to the bracket pool using standard and innovative methods. It covers bracket improvement methods ranging from those that require only the information in the seeded bracket to sophisticated estimation techniques available via online simulations. Included are: Prominently displayed bracket improvement tips based on the published research A history of the origins of the bracket pool A history of bracket improvement methods and their results in play Historical sketches and background information on the mathematical and statistical methods that have been used in bracket analysis A source list of good bracket pool advice available each year that seeks to be comprehensive Warnings about common bad advice that will hurt your chances Tom Adams' work presenting bracket improvement methods has been featured in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and SmartMoney magazine.

This book develops the concept of "gamble-play media", describing how some gambling and gambling-like practices are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. Digital gambling brings gambling closer to the practices and features of videogames, as audio-visual simulations structure users' experiences. By studying digital gambling from media studies, videogame and cultural studies approaches, this book offers a new critical perspective on the issues raised by computer-mediated gambling, while expanding our perspective on what media and gambling are. In particular, it critically analyses terrestrial, mobile and online slot machines, online poker and stock trading apps through a selection of case studies.

Everyone who plays pool knows that it is "mostly mental," but the conventional wisdom about the mental game is about as accurate as the idea that the earth is flat. Until now, no one with any expertise on how the human mind works has bothered to write about pool. In Pleasures of Small Motions, Bob Fancher, a psychotherapist and pool columnist, breaks new ground by applying good science to the mental game of billiards.This book does for pool what Timothy Gallwey's bestselling "The Inner Game" books did for golf and tennis. Fancher explains how the conscious and unconscious mind work together, prescribes drills to help players improve, advises on mastering emotion and developing rhythm, explains the difference between concentration and focus, and gives invaluable insight on competitive play. (6 x 9, 160 pages, illustrations)Bob Fancher's column, "Dr. Bob, Pool Shrink," appears monthly in The American Cueist. He earned his Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University and practiced psychotherapy in New York for fourteen years. His acclaimed book Cultures of Healing has been used in classes at Columbia University, Princeton, and many other schools, and is writing has appeared in The Washington Post and other publications. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Provides a historical perspective for understanding the exponential growth of casinos in the United States since 1990, by telling the story of Atlantic City, New Jersey since the 1970s. This work uses oral history to focus on the human stories of the region in addition to the broader story of economic and social impacts.

This book explores the rise and increased acceptance of gambling in America, particularly the growth of the game of poker, as a means for examining changes to the American Dream and the risk society. Poker both critiques and reinterprets the myth of the American Dream, putting greater emphasis on the importance of luck and risk management while deemphasizing the importance of honesty and hard work. Duncan discusses the history of gambling in America, changes to the rhetoric surrounding gambling, the depiction of poker in the Wild West as portrayed in film, its recent rise in popularity on television, its current place in post-modern America on the internet, and future implications.

Against a background of extraordinary growth in the popularity of betting and gaming across many countries of the world, there has never been a greater need for a study into gambling's most important factor - its economics.
This collection of original contributions drawn from such leading experts as David Peel, Stephen Creigh-Tyte, Raymond Sauer and Donald Siegel covers such interesting themes as:
*betting on the horses
*over-under betting in football games
*national lotteries and lottery fatigue
*demand for gambling
*economic impact of casino gambling
This timely and comprehensive book covers all the bases of the economics of gambling and is a valuable and important contribution to the ongoing and growing debates. The Economics of Gambling will be of use to academics and students of applied, industrial and mathematical economics as well as of being vital reading for those involved and interested in the gambling industry.