Introduced shortly after the United States declared its independence, poker's growth and development has paralleled that of America itself. As a gambling game with mass appeal, poker has been played by presidents and peasants, at kitchen tables and final tables, for matchsticks and millions. ----- First came the hands, then came the stories -- some true, some pure bluffs, and many in between. In Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America's Favorite Card Game, Martin Harris shares these stories while chronicling poker's progress from 19th-century steamboats and saloons to 21st-century virtual tables online, including: * Poker on the Mississippi * Poker in the Movies * Poker in the Old West * Poker on the Newsstand * Poker in the Civil War * Poker in Literature * Poker on the Bookshelf * Poker in Music * Poker in the White House * Poker on Television * Poker During Wartime * Poker on the Computer ----- From Mark Twain to "Dogs Playing Poker" to W.C. Fields to John Wayne to A Streetcar Named Desire to the Cold War to Kenny Rogers to ESPN to Star Trek: The Next Generation and beyond, Poker & Pop Culture provides a comprehensive survey of cultural productions in which poker is of thematic importance, showing how the game's portrayal in the mainstream has increased poker's relevance to American history and shaped the way we think about the game and its significance.

Play Cards and Learn About Bears!Anyone who enjoys wildlife and nature will love these cards for playing your favorite games or to use as flash cards. Inspired by Stan Tekiela's famous Bears photography book, this gorgeous deck features full-color photographs of North America's three bear species: black bears, grizzly bears (brown bears), and polar bears. Play card games while learning about bears. The deck is a fun and thoughtful gift.

Who's safe when there are cannibals hiding among you? That's the question at the heart of this fast-paced game of social deduction in which cannibals and pioneers face off in a fight for survival. Set in the winter of 1846, players are members of the ill-fated Donner Party wagon train, stranded atop a mountain with no food. Who will avoid becoming tonight's dinner and make it off the mountain alive? And who are the suspicious scoundrels hungry for human flesh? Rowdy, outrageous, and full of playful deception, this party game packs a delightfully wicked twist!

Dark necromancers have laid claim to forsaken kingdoms and summoned forth the souls of those who defiled their oathmarks. The dead, once again, march to war. As armies of wraiths and skeletal warriors bring destruction to their lands, the small kingdoms of the Marches also turn to the spirits of the dead. Gathering the most ancient and powerful of oathmarks, they recall the spectral forms of those that died in loyal battle to once again come forth in defence of their kingdoms. With these ethereal warriors joining their ranks, the kings of the Marches may yet stand.

This supplement for Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age introduces the forces of the dead to the game. Some armies will use dark magic to summon the souls and corpses of traitors from the past, while others will recall the spirits of loyal warriors that gave their lives and willingly fight again. This book also includes expanded rules for characters, which allow you to chart their progress from battle-to-battle, and watch as they grow in rank, responsibility, and power. All of these rules are then incorporated into a campaign featuring new scenarios that together tell of an epic war for survival.

A one-stop practical guide on how to play and master the fascinating and rewarding game of bridge with expert advice throughout from Andrew Robson, the Times bridge correspondent, the world's most famous and successful player and teacher of bridge. Previously published as Collins Need to Know? Bridge. Now with additional practice deals. Andrew Robson, the Times bridge correspondent, shows you how to play bridge - starting from the basics and taking you through the learning process step-by-step. Using clear illustrations and accompanying text, Andrew gives the reader a complete course in learning the game, including sample hands and ways to practice. You'll also learn about bidding, tricks, scoring and dealing, and etiquette whilst playing. Above all you'll begin to develop the skills you need to play bridge, and win - including ingenuity, working well in a partnership, and a good memory. Contents include: basic bidding and card-play strategies; etiquette and how to score; examples and practice tips; different types of bridge; conventions; evaluating a bridge hand.

How do chess players react in the line of fire? Are they able to remain calm in a storm? Defending against a threatening attack on your own king is one of the most difficult aspects to master in chess. Yet given the frequency of such offensives, it's certainly worthwhile investing a good amount of time on honing the ability to defend properly.
In this valuable and entertaining book, Angus Dunnington arms the reader with all the necessary skills to be able to cope with vicious assaults on his or her king. Using illustrative games, Dunnington investigates in depth defensive ideas such as blockading, giving up material, and the timely launch of counterattacks. Read this book and defend with confidence!
AS is commonplace with the renowned Starting Out series, there are an abundance of notes, tips and warnings throughout the book to help the improving player. Starting Out: Defensive Play is perfect for those who have previously honed their chess skills with the earlier books Starting Out in Chess and Tips for Young Players.
"Includes all aspects of defensive play
"Sharpens tactical and combinative awareness
"Ideal for the improving player

What is the best way to improve your opening knowledge? Memorizing variations? Not really. In the first volume of Dariusz' trilogy, the author helps you to understand the instructive patterns that arise from the immensely popular Nimzo-Indian Defense. Packed with plenty new ideas, his methods consider the different ways White has at his disposal. His unique approach shows Black has nothing to fear, on the contrary! Thinkers is convinced you will enjoy the read!

In the Battle for Britain series, well-known historical illustrator Peter Dennis breathes life back into the 19th century paper soldier, supplying all the artwork neede to create the armies which struggled for supremacy through our island history. Here, the Legions of Rome and the fierce Celtic inhabitants of Britannia can clash again using simple rules from veteran wargamer Andy Callan. This source book shows you how to copy and make any number of colourful and durable stands of troops using traditional skills with glue and scissors. To play the game you will need a tabletop playing surface, a tape measure and a handful of dice.

Darts fans, you require...this book! With help from the sport's biggest names, Matt Bozeat tells the inside story of darts' 50 greatest games. The book includes exclusive interviews with 16 world champions - including Michael van Gerwen and Phil 'The Power' Taylor - who relive the back-and-forth drama of their greatest ever moments on the oche. Here are classic matches such as those between Taylor and Ray van Barneveld and, further back, darting duels involving legends like Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson, John Lowe, Leighton Rees and many more. The secrets behind Taylor's darts domination are revealed, Andy 'The Viking' Fordham tries to remember the night he won the world championship, and other revelations include why being brainy won't make you a good darts player! Darts' Greatest Games follows the sport's story from its 'thud, sweat and beer' beginnings on television in the 1970s up to the present, including the rise of van Gerwen.

Claw your way to the top of the animal kingdom! Fans of beloved illustrator Richard McGuire will revel in this wild deck featuring animals from a range of environments (ocean, forest, jungle, savannah, and Arctic), ranked by their order in the food chain. The highest cards take the lowest cards, but the "Wild Cards" take all! An irresistible tin package, cards adorned with striking art, and brilliant pops of Pantone colors serve up a card game experience that can't be tamed!

The Game of the Goose is one of the oldest printed board games, dating back 400 years. It has spawned thousands of derivatives: simple race games, played with dice, on themes that mirror much of human activity. Its legacy can be traced in games of education, advertising and polemic, as well as in those of amusement and gambling - and games on new themes are still being developed. This book, by the leading international collector of the genre, is devoted to showing why the Game of the Goose is special and why it can lay claim to being the most influential of any printed game in the cultural history of Europe. Detailed study of the games reveals their historical provenance and - reversing the process - gives unusual insights into the cultures which produced them. They therefore provide rich sources for the cultural historian. This book is beautifully illustrated with more than 90 illustrations, many in color, which are integrated throughout the text.

Fire your imagination with these fun storytelling cards. Reviving the Victorian craze for 'myrioramas', the 20 picture cards can be placed in any order to create seamless scenes. Almost infinite combinations of cards provide endless storyscaping possibilities. London, 1900. A brilliant scientist leaves the world above to create his own world below, determined to prove his radical theory - that gravity is a geometric property of spacetime. What happens when time is bent, space is collapsed and dimensions overlap? Descend into the shadow world to find out. With many games to play and millions of stories to tell, each turn of the card is a new adventure. Where will the story take you?

Don't ruin your next trip off world! Next time your players stumble upon some timeworn ruins on an unexplored planet, they won't have to wait while you draw every crumbling wall and collapsed structure. Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Alien Planet Ruins Expansion provides beautifully illustrated 6" x 6" map tiles that can be used to create the ruined remains of ancient alien civilizations, whether archaic and magical or more technologically advanced! Inside, you'll find 24 richly crafted, double-sided map tiles. This expansion set, along with Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Alien Planet Starter Set, allows you to create even more extraterrestrial environments for endless planetary encounters! So stop your sketching and start your flipping today! Suitable for experienced GMs and novices alike, this product fits perfectly into any Game Master's arsenal. Wet, dry, and permanent markers erase from the tiles! These double-sided city tiles come in convenient packaging for easy storage.

Over the course of its 25-year history, Magic: The Gathering the world's first and most popular trading card game has redefined the fantasy genre through its exploration of diverse, fantastic worlds. And traversing those worlds are Planeswalkers, heroes who have sworn to defend the Multiverse from harm. Magic: The Gathering: Rise of the Gatewatch is a visual history and celebration of Magic's first team of Planeswalkers Jace Beleren, Ajani Goldmane, Gideon Jura, Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Liliana Vess, and Teferi. The Gatewatch's character histories, from their origins through their final confrontation with Nicol Bolas, are presented here via the very best card, packaging, and convention-exclusive artwork, all of it reproduced together here for the first time, some seen for the first time outside of the card frame. Rise of the Gatewatch is a giftable visual reference guide sure to appeal to new and longtime Magic fans alike.

Improve your memory, improve your game! The aim is to encourage players to improve their bridge by solving the puzzles This challenging book of puzzles will help you to improve your game by concentrating on defensive play. By the time you have solved the last puzzle, your astonished partners will be well advised to secure copies for themselves. Whatever the situation, this splendid selection of defensive play puzzles will test your skills - and you will learn from the detailed explanation that Ron Klinger gives on the page following each puzzle.

A roleplaying game of mystery and hardboiled action in a city that never sleeps. I woke with a start, my mouth tasting like an old glove and my head pounding from the events of the previous evening, though I wasn't sure if it was the beating from Benny's boys or the half bottle of drugstore whiskey that had done the most damage. I lifted my eyelids like stubborn blinds to find my gaze fall on a dame with a hundred-dollar purse in one hand and a cheap bean-shooter in the other. I groaned and cursed myself for ever getting involved in this mess... In Hard City, character creation is swift and simple, generating competent yet flawed individuals and focusing on what sets them apart as they walk the fine line between right and wrong. Fast action resolution places the emphasis on the momentum of the plot, while the sandbox setting provides evocative hooks for adventures - fight crooks, rescue the innocent, thwart blackmail plots (or start them!), or uncover corruption in the Mayor's office. Stalk the mean streets of a world filled with two-bit thugs, hard-nosed gumshoes, intrepid reporters, gangsters, and femme fatales, all doing what they must to survive in the concrete jungle. With trouble around every corner, a secret on every lip, and a gun in every pocket, danger is never far away in the hard city.

A set of wargames rules covering heroic adventure and dastardly villains during the early 20th Century. Enter a world of perilous adventure and explore steaming jungles, desert canyons, and arctic wastes! Brave the perils of nature and discover lost ruins, ancient treasures, and the secrets of forgotten civilizations! Race against rival adventurers and face off against diabolical villains! Take to the city streets and fight back against gangsters, spies, and sinister cults! Pulp! is a scenario-driven skirmish wargame set during the interwar years of the early 20th Century. Players build teams of bold explorers, daring archaeologists, hardboiled detectives, and costumed avengers - or criminal masterminds and evil geniuses - and dive into a world of fortune, glory... and menace. Pulp! contains all the rules needed to game globetrotting escapades in this rip-roaring era.