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.

WILL SHORTZ, puzzle editor of The New York Times since 1993, founded and directs the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the World Puzzle Championship. He is the Puzzlemaster for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. Shortz lives in Pleasantville, New York.

ACROSS OR DOWN,

THE BEST CROSSWORDS AROUND!

In 1924, Simon & Schuster published its first title, "The Cross Word Puzzle Book." Not only was it this new publisher's first release, it was the first collection of crossword puzzles ever printed.

Today, more than eighty years later, the legendary "Simon & Schuster Crossword Puzzle Book" series maintains its status as the standard-bearer for cruciverbal excellence. Published every two months, the series continues to provide the freshest and most original puzzles on the market. Created by the best contemporary constructors -- and edited by top puzzle master John M. Samson -- these Sunday-sized brain-breakers offer hours of stimulation for solvers of every level.

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Warning: this puzzle book may cause enjoyment and momentary loss of grumpiness The world has gone to hell in a handbasket and everyone around you is a fool. What you need is something to take your mind off it all. Grumble your way through these word searches, sudokus, crosswords, spot the differences, quizzes and mazes and you’ll find your crabbiness melting away – until you get stumped by a silly anagram, that is!

Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations… but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada’s murder mystery?

In 1934, the Observer’s cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written.

The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible – through logic and intelligent reading – to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers.

Only three puzzlers have ever solved the mystery of Cain’s Jawbone: do you have what it takes to join their ranks?

Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted.

200 New Puzzles -- From Easy to Just About Difficult

Su Doku, "the crossword without words," comes with a warning: it is seriously addictive. You don't need to be a mathematical genius to solve these puzzles; it is simply a question of logic and a little patience.