Gambler's Book Club | Gambling Podcast

Episode 154--Donkey Poker

Mon, 06 Feb 2017 07:53:44 +0000

Donkey Poker teaches you how to crush the low-stakes live no-limit Hold'Em games you will find in Las Vegas. These "Donkey Games" play much differently than high-stakes live games or even low-stakes online games, so the optimal strategies are often much different. Donkey Games are filled with players who make the same mistakes repeatedly and who are very exploitable. Donkey Poker teaches a small-ball brand of exploitative and low-variance poker. It teaches you what to do and why you should do it. Donkey Poker is a soup-to-nuts description of how to crush low-stakes Vegas no-limit Hold'em. Volume 2: Post flop teaches you everything you ever wanted to know about post flop strategy, from the flop to the river. It also covers other important topics, such as variance, bankroll management, GTO strategy, moving up in stakes and exploiting live reads. Many statistics are discussed, including those from online and live NLH. Statistics from Vegas $1/$2 and $2/$5 games are published for the first time. The hand reading process in Volume 3 is optimized for low-stakes live no-limit Hold'Em. It teaches you how to incorporate actual live-action stats into your hand reading skills to maximize your profit. Many examples take you through the hand reading process step-by-step using Flopzill

Episode 153--My First 55,000 Hands:

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 22:13:11 +0000

Intrigued by a counter-intuitive strategy to winning Ultimate Texas Hold'Em(UTH), Kevin Moore has spent 8 years and played more than 55,000 hands to bring you this guide to UTH—a strategy book like no other. After briefing you on basic play and strategy, Kevin uses his favorite business tools and a no-nonsense approach to guide you step-by-step through strategic play, from the initial buy-in to the final bet. Using his know-how as a seasoned player, Kevin shares all the details you'll need to fully exploit the secret to winning. He also confides his table-side observations to help you avoid the 15 most common mistakes players make. With his keen wit and conversational style, Kevin will have you playing UTH cheaper, better, and longer in no time. Since 2006, Kevin Moore has played more than 55,000 hands of Ultimate Texas Hold'Em during his quarterly recreational trips to Las Vegas. Intrigued and impressed with his business-like approach to the game and his personal story, Las Vegas pit bosses encouraged Kevin to write this book to reveal what he has learned. Kevin is a retired CPA and businessman who lives in Midland, Texas. He and his wife Teri have been married for 41 years and are blessed with a daughter, a son, and seven grandchildren. Before his retirement in 2012, Kevin's formal business career spanned 38 years. Serving as a CPA, CFO, CEO, and chairman, his careers always involved numbers, plans, and strategies. It is from that background that he approached learning and excelling at the game of Ultimate Texas Hold'em.

Episode 152--Life's A Gamble--Mike Sexton

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 05:34:08 +0000

Mike Sexton is a legend in the poker world.

In a life spanning over four decades as a poker professional, Mike has excelled both on the felt and on the business side of poker. He is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, helped create PartyPoker in 2001 and was a key player in an event that changed the poker world forever – the launch of the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2002. He has been a commentator on the WPT, along with Vince Van Patten, since its inception.

In addition, Mike was recognized as poker's Top Ambassador at the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Awards gala in 2006. That same year, he won WSOP Tournament of Champions, winning $1 million in prize money – half of which he donated to charity. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009.

In this book Mike recounts his personal experiences and gives his take on some of poker's legendary characters over the past 40 years. If you enjoy poker, are fascinated by the development of the game and enjoy compelling poker, golf and gambling adventures, then you'll love Life's A Gamble.

Episode 151--Sports Betting and Bookmaking--Arne K. Lang

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 08:43:23 +0000

Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America's most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business.
Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America's most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business.
In Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History, Arne K. Lang provides a sweeping overview of legal and illegal sports and race betting in the United States, from the first thoroughbred meet at Saratoga in 1863 through the modern day. The cultural war between bookmakers and their adversaries is a recurring theme, as bookmakers were often forced into the shadows during times of social reform, only to bloom anew when the time was ripe. While much of bookmaking's history takes place in New York, other locales such as Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City—not to mention Cyberspace—are also discussed in this volume.
A comprehensive exploration of the evolution of bookmaking—including the legal developments and technological advancements that have taken place over the years—Sports Betting and Bookmaking is a fascinating read. This informative and engaging book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about America's long history with gambling on horse racing and team sports.
In Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History, Arne K. Lang provides a sweeping overview of legal and illegal sports and Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America's most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business.

Episode150--SHOWGIRL MEMOIR-- Roger Storkamp and Mikel Peterson

Sun, 03 Jul 2016 20:14:20 +0000

Showgirl Memoir is an open window into Mikel's personal and professional life as a showgirl/dancer. a small town girl whose dream brought her two Olympian performances - '84 in Los Angeles and '88 in Seoul, Korea, and Jubilee Showgirl in Las Vegas. As additional dressing (and undressing) to her life's story, she shares many successes and a few road bumps along the way, exposing emotional scars as straight forward as her dancing topless.

Gamblers Book Club wishes to thank Oscar Goodman former Mayor of Las Vegas for coming down to the store and meeting Mikel she was very happy.(The Mayor was famous for always appearing in public with two Showgirls.)

Episode149--Wild Cards---Philip Reed

Sun, 22 May 2016 01:25:46 +0000

Philip Reed is coasting toward retirement, looking for one last adventure, when he meets Bill Palis, a professional blackjack player and former member of the legendary MIT team that took the casinos for millions.
At a blackjack table in a strip casino, Phil sees Bill win $1,600 in 20 minutes of play—and he's intrigued. Initially, he plans to write the book as a spectator, but Bill encourages him to overcome his fears, learn to count cards, and get a piece of the action for himself. The two men form a friendship and begin traveling and playing blackjack together, often with Father Andy, who kicks in money so they can play out of a $30,000 bankroll.
Phil, who has adult ADD, and flunked math in high school, adopts the challenge of card counting as a way to banish the old ghosts of his poor self-image and build new synapses in his aging brain. With Bill as his tough mentor, Phil struggles to learn the game and secretly track the cards. As Phil's play improves, Bill teaches him to disguise his wins and avoid scrutiny from casino security and the Orwellian "eye-in-the-sky" security cameras.
Philip Reed punctuates WILD CARDS with short, funny, informational sections on various gambling-related subjects. These sections step outside the main story and add depth by investigating different card counting systems, the danger of gambling addiction, interviews with memory experts, and secrets of dealers, pit bosses, and casino surveillance specialists. Throughout, he takes a humorous look at casino characters, even as he begins to sink into the gambling world himself.

Episode148--POKER KNOWS----GENE HULL

Sat, 16 Apr 2016 04:38:53 +0000

What is the difference between an expert and a master? Are obstacles barriers or markers that show you the way? Poker Knows will challenge you to take a deep look inward at the self, while at the same time build a foundation for winning at poker and life. A methodology for surviving the game is first laid out and then you are transported through time in the advanced section on winning the game. Guest appearances are made by some of science’s greatest minds like Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr, complemented by the imagination of Alice’s friends from Wonderland. Some values stretch past the sum of the parts. You know a great meal or work of art when you experience it, but what is it that makes it so? How do you measure it? Maybe it does not matter how you measure it as much as knowing how your opponents measure it. The gold that grows bankrolls is located in a very profound place and Poker Knows draws the reader a map that leads right to it. It is not what you know that will propel your evolution, but how good you get at discovery and your imagination is the key. Everyone can have the experience of being in the winner’s circle in poker or life. Your turn is coming up soon! It starts with the next decision, or maybe it’s the next question. The only thing in the way might be you. Are you ready to go pro?

Episode 147-Las Vegas Your Way

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 08:48:41 +0000

Las Vegas! I’ve vacationed there over 30 times, and I still get excited when I just say the name. That’s why I wrote this book, to help you experience all that Vegas has to offer on your vacation. Find out why I believe Vegas is the entertainment capital of North America, as I share my knowledge of the best shows and tours, and the dining and attractions that it offers. So if you’re planning your first trip to Vegas, or haven’t been there recently, check out Las Vegas Your Way, the Downtown Edition. This is the third edition of Las Vegas Your Way and it is the best! After taking the best parts of the previous editions, more information was added about the new attractions and changes that have occurred in Vegas. Then since Downtown Las Vegas has become so popular, a new chapter on Downtown was also added to this edition. A gambling guide is also provided. For the beginner, the rules of the game of Blackjack, craps, and other table games are provided. Then to add to that knowledge, a second chapter containing information on comps, betting, and even table etiquette is provided. While this book can’t teach you how to beat the house every time, it does provide techniques that I’ve fine-tuned to gamble responsibly. This book will create a pathway for your own unique Las Vegas experience, whether your goal is non-stop adventure or relaxation. It is a travel guide you can reference on your vacation journey. Make sure you check out my Top 10 FREE attractions, and where you’ll find discounted show tickets. Perhaps you want to know the transportation options available in Vegas, or avoid the busiest times in Vegas, or what Downtown Hotel I prefer? These questions and many more are answered in Las Vegas Your Way, the Downtown Edition.

Episode 146-CASINO CHEATING DEVICES & TECHNIQUES OF THE AMERICAN GAMBLER

Mon, 22 Feb 2016 03:08:06 +0000

Born with police blood in my veins, I remained with it. First as a Army Military Policeman, then Air Force Security Policeman and ended up as a special agent of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducting criminal and counter-intelligence cases. Retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant (E-8) I still needed to work to provide. I was hired by the Las Vegas District Attorneys office to work special investigations as part of a team of eleven. Conducted surveillance of organized crime figures then participated with local police and the "Feds" in the first long term undercover police sting in the US. Tired of looking long haired and evil, I sought employment with the Nevada State Gaming Control Board as an Enforcement Agent and became their expert and cheating and cheating detection and testified at state and local trials until retirement. Not being terribly excited at watching soaps or the grass grow I did some contract work for the casinos as the "Eye in the Sky" and for the US Army conducting covert surveillance on commercial trucks carrying sensitive equipment and ammunition. On 9-11 the job stopped for obvious reasons. I began writing about some of my experiences and made them into historical fiction novels.

Episode 145- THE BERNIE SINDLER STORY

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 18:02:44 +0000

The Bernie Sindler Story tells of untold stories of murder, mayhem, and the Mafia in Las Vegas. Sindler - a protege of Meyer Lansky, who he considered his surrogate father - was associated with notorious Mob and Outfit members as a partner or employee in their Las Vegas operations, and as a close friend and associate. In his book, Sindler shares a behind-the-scenes look at famous and infamous denizens of Las Vegas, including Lansky, Siegel, Johnny Rosselli, Lucky Luciano, Moe Dalitz, Virginia Hill and Frank Sinatra. Sindler, the last living link to the old Mob bosses in Vegas and the gangsters made famous in the media, is one of the few men, and now the only survivor, who knows the real stories behind notorious and bloody events in the storied history of Las Vegas - the widely publicized multiple murder case at Rancho Circle (his future wife was the only survivor), why Sinatra's front teeth got knocked out at the Sands, and the likely killer of Bugsy Siegel, one of the most mysterious enigmas in the brutal history of the Mafia. Those unknown tales of murder, mayhem and the Mafia - and more - are now revealed in this riveting and colorful autobiography by the last living link to the days when the Mob ran Las Vegas. As Bernie likes to say, "Everyone in life is dealt a hand. I played the hand I was dealt."

Episode 144-Greatest Craps Guru

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 19:55:51 +0000

David Medansky, JD, author and attorney, is uniquely qualified to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on the greatest game in the casino. His twenty years of playing craps, finance, and legal background allow him to deliver an insightful and engaging story. “Greatest Craps Guru” is a lively fiction thriller that could pass for non-fiction; a how to book and enchanting story about making money at the craps table. Mark Jackson played in the NFL as a receiver for nine years. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 1986 NFL Draft as a wide receiver from Purdue University. He played in Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV with the Broncos. It was Jackson who caught the touchdown pass from John Elway that sent the game into over-time on "The Drive" in the Broncos' January 11, 1987 AFC Championship Game victory over the Cleveland Browns.

Episode 143--When it was Great: A Dealer's Autobiographic Story (Memoirs From Las Vegas)

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 23:48:01 +0000

When it was Great: A Dealer's Autobiographic Story (Memoirs From Las Vegas)
Want to go back to the Las Vegas of yesterday?
Meet John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Redd Foxx, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Prima and other celebrities.
In 1968, Jim Sinay packed up his green Caddy convertible and drove from Canton, Ohio to Las Vegas. His “Uncle” Ed Pucci, who was Frank Sinatra’s bodyguard and a close family friend, set him up with an entry level dealer’s job in Vegas. Over the next three decades, Jimmy experienced all Las Vegas had to offer. He dealt craps to famous gangsters in a private game, he interacted with John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Redd Foxx, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Prima and other celebrities. Jimmy was a confirmed bachelor who lived the high life with the ladies, although at times his carousing nearly cost him his life. He saw hundreds of thousands of dollars bet on one roll of the dice, he caught gambling cheaters and had run ins with some very nasty types.
Folktales from a bygone era
Jimmy’s stories are folktales from a bygone era, the 1960s, 70s and 80s when Vegas was still a relatively small town. Back in the day, the “joints” were ruled by men whose names all ended in vowels and there was a good time to be had 24/7. When It Was Great will make you laugh and touch your heart, but most of all it will take you back to the Las Vegas of yesterday, when the Rat Pack played at the Sands, Elvis headlined at the Hilton and working stiffs like Jimmy partied like there was no tomorrow.
Wid Bastian is a novelist and screenwriter. His screenplay work includes the upcoming feature film Themi scheduled for release in 2016. His published novels include Henry and Tom, The Nano Experiment, Solomon's Porch and the soon to be released When It Was Great. As a ghostwriter, Wid has penned numerous works that have been published both in America and abroad. When he's not working in Los Angeles, Wid enjoys being home in Logan, Utah with his wife Elaine, her two kids, four cats, a dog and other assorted critters.
Jim Sinay was born and now lives in Canton, Ohio. A veteran, Jim served with the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged in 1964. From 1968 to 2000, Jimmy was a craps dealer and a casino supervisor in Las Vegas. He worked at The Mint, The Sahara, The Tropicana and at other properties. While age has slowed him down a bit, Jim still loves to work out, drink a glass of wine and play a round of golf. His only living relative is his brother Bob who still lives in Vegas, but Jimmy has friends all across the country that he met during his thirty years of dealing craps in Vegas.

Episode 142--30 Illegal Years To The Strip: The Untold Stories of the Gangsters Who Built The Early Las Vegas Strip

Sat, 09 May 2015 04:29:55 +0000

Bill Friedman wrote the award-winning, Depression era, true-crime All Against The Law. He wrote the groundbreaking research work Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition, published by the University of Nevada Reno. He is also author of the seminal book for succeeding in the casino business, Casino Management. He taught the pioneer course in casino management for UNLV’s College of Hotel Administration during the decade of the 1970s. Friedman was president of the Castaways Hotel and Casino and the Silver Slipper Casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip for thirteen years. He transformed them from perennial losers into super successes, consistently in the top of Nevada’s highest profit-per-square-foot performers. Friedman is president of the Friedman Management Group, which specializes in solving casino marketing, design, and operations problems. He has consulted for forty years to casinos in the U.S. and in England, Monaco, Russia, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and several Caribbean Islands. www.BillFriedmanAuthor.com
30 Illegal Years To The Strip is the inside story of Prohibition’s most powerful leaders, who later ran elegant, illegal casinos across America, before moving on to build the glamorous Las Vegas Strip gambling resorts.
The seven leaders of the three dominating Prohibition gangs imported the world’s finest liquors on a massive scale. Although in an illegal and dangerous business, these seven espoused traditional business values and rejected the key tools of organized crime - monopoly, violence, and vendetta. This made them the most unlikely gangsters to rise to underworld leadership. But they earned every criminal’s respect, and fate made them the most powerful gangland leaders in American history.
In the mid 1900s, these seven leaders stood up to, and restrained, America’s worst villains. The seven prevented many gangland wars and killings. Unbelievably, the most murderous and most psychopathic gang leaders not only admired them but supported them in gangland conflicts.
These were the first gangs to work closely together in mutual interest. Joining these three dominating liquor-importers was the violent Chicago Capone gang, as they partnered in both illegal and legal businesses during and after Prohibition. They were also close allies in the complexities, treachery, and violence of underworld politics. Exposed for the first time are the roles actually played by gang leaders Ben Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Al Capone, John Torrio, Frank Nitti, and Moe Dalitz.
Some of these seven leaders became powerful over world political kingmakers. Allied with them in New York City politics was Arnold Rothstein, the ultimate gambler. His murder is one of several major gangland killings finally solved here.
The biggest-drawing entertainer in these gang leaders’ illegal-casino and Strip-resort showrooms was comedian Joe E. Lewis. He single-highhandedly saved the Copacabana from bankruptcy and turned it into America’s most famous and glamorous nightclub.
The careers and relationships of the gang leaders, who together would go on to build the Las Vegas Strip, are presented for the first time in this thoroughly documented, in-depth, authentic history of how organized crime developed. It contains 546 source notes, and many addendum’s that expose the serious fallacies and outright fictions of previous books about early organized crime.
This book is based on 48 years of research that began, when Friedman was drafted during the Vietnam War. A conscientious objector, he was ordered to spend his alternative service in Las Vegas hanging out with gangsters to study the history and operation of organized crime.

Episode 141--Advanced Advantage Play: Beating and Safeguarding Modern Casino Table Games, Side Bets and Promotions

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 04:30:44 +0000

Advanced Advantage Play is the most complete book ever made available to the general public on advantage play against casino table games. It examines beating and protecting nearly all of the table games and side bets that are currently available on casino floors internationally, including blackjack, baccarat and pai gow poker. Based on material first published in Dr. Eliot Jacobson’s well-known blog APHeat.net, this book also covers advantage play against marketing and promotions. Easy-to-read and backed up by computer and statistical analysis, Advanced Advantage Play is a book that everyone who wants to beat or protect casino table games should own. About the Author
Eliot Jacobson, Ph.D., was professor of mathematics and computer science for over 25 years. In 2005, he launched his second career as an independent consultant for the casino industry. After writing two books, The Blackjack Zone (2005) and Contemporary Casino Table Game Design (2010), Dr. Jacobson decided to turn his blog, APHeat.net, into this book. With dozens of publications and media appearances, Dr. Jacobson is widely recognized as one of the world’s top experts on casino table games, casino mathematics and advantage play.

Eliot Jacobson received his Ph. D. in Mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1983. Eliot was Professor of Mathematics at Ohio University from 1983 to 1998, where he was undergraduate chair from 1990 to 1994. He was Visiting Associate Professor and Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1998 to 2009. Eliot has over twenty research publications in mathematics in major international journals. In 2009, Eliot retired from academia.
Eliot started his gaming career as a child, learning chess and bridge from his father at age five. He opened a casino in his garage as a teenager and quickly won all the allowance money in the neighborhood. As a young adult, Eliot continued playing games. He achieved the expert ranking at chess, ran the GO club at Ohio University, and competed in national bridge tournaments.
At a mathematics convention in Las Vegas in 1996, Eliot discovered his talent for card counting. Eliot's brief excursion into advantage play soon blossomed into his second career as an independent consultant and casino table game analyst.
Eliot founded Jacobson Gaming, LLC in 2006. His company has quickly grown to be one of the world's leading independent companies specializing in casino table game design, development, analysis, auditing and mathematical certification.
Eliot also heads Certified Fair Gambling, a company that offers quality assurance and fairness auditing for Internet casinos. With dozens of publications and media appearances, Eliot is widely recognized as one of the world's top experts on casino table games and casino table game mathematics. He is also the author of Contemporary Casino Table Game Design. Eliot can be contacted through his company, Jacobson Gaming.

Episode 140--Flamingo's Baby by David Medansky

Sat, 18 Apr 2015 04:26:05 +0000

About the Author
David Medansky is a world class authority on casino craps and trusted author of "Craps: A Winning Strategy," "Walk Away Craps," and "Wholly Craps." This is his first novel. Medansky currently lives with his wife, Debbie, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Medansky, a practicing divorce attorney gave up his legal career to become an author because being an attorney was making him sick and almost killed him.
Flamingo’s Baby is an adventure filled with dazzling suspense and intrigue will keep the reader guessing at every turn.

Episode 139--Discovering Vintage Las Vegas: A Guide to the City's Timeless Shops, Restaurants, Casinos, & More

Sat, 11 Apr 2015 07:06:00 +0000

Paul W. Papa is an American storyteller who has lived in Las Vegas for more than 20 years (making him practically a native). During that time he developed a love for writing true stories about uncommon events--the tales of America. In his books you will find fascinating stories that are uniquely American, presented in a way that makes them both engaging and informative. Paul's stories are not the typical endless series of facts, figures, and chronologies that tend to make history...well, boring. Instead, he uses words to paint a picture of the past you may never have known existed.

Discovering Vintage Las Vegas takes you back in time to all of the timeless classic spots this city has to offer. The book spotlights the charming stories that tell you what each place is like now and how it got that way from classic restaurants to shops to other establishments like the casinos that still thrive today and evoke the unique character of the city. They’re all still around—but they won’t be around forever. Start reading, and start your discovering now!

From the Author

I think I had more fun writing this book than any I've written so far. I hope it will inspire you to visit the vintage spots I've included within these pages. Use this book as both a history lesson and a tour guide to see Las Vegas in a way you may have never before experienced.

EPISODE 138--Baseball Betting for Profit by Eris Strasser

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 17:17:12 +0000

Baseball Betting for Profit

A textbook devoted to betting and winning on major league baseball. Former head of the Mirage sports book and Las Vegas super contest winner Russ Culver: "I am very impressed. Great detail in great information. I think you've produced the best textbook on handicapping baseball ever written." Las Vegas radio host John Kelly: "Strasser completes the perfect double-play by simplifying hard to understand concepts for the beginning baseball bettor while never insulting the intelligence of the smart, sophisticated gambler." Las Vegas wise guy Alf Musketa: "Anyone who reads this book will benefit and improve their baseball handicapping. I'm 100% sure of that! Whatever you are charging for this book, it's not enough!"

EPISODE 137--Dustin Marks--Blackjack Cheating Expert

Sat, 21 Mar 2015 00:28:59 +0000

Cheating at Blackjack & Other Casino Games and Cheating at Blackjack Squared: The Dark Side of Gambling
These books are for both players and casino management. They shows how various moves take place such as Getting Cards Out of Play and Returning Cards Into Play; Mucking; Adding to the Bet; Disguises; Cheating Tells and High Tech Cheating. Contains examples, anecdotes and diagrams to explain the sequence of an action. You may find the 'High Tech Cheater' chapter disturbing because of its implications.
Dustin Marks, worked in Las Vegas as a dealer over the 1970s and 1980s. During that time he managed to cheat his own bosses out of millions of dollars using a number of cheating techniques. He was mostly known for false shuffling, a method that makes it look like the dealer is shuffling the cards, but isn't actually doing so. That way the dealer (and his accomplices) know exactly where the aces and 10-point cards are. Dustin also had a method for looking at the top card and determining if it was a high value card. If it was he'd deal it to his accomplice.
Back in the 1980's, I "took off" several Las Vegas casinos, and other casinos throughout the state of Nevada, at their blackjack tables. After retiring from cheating, I wrote two books:Cheating at Blackjack and Cheating at Blackjack Squared. I also created the DVD: Cheating at Blackjack: The Real Work(www.dustinmarks.com). I was never caught.

EPISODE 136--Bob Dancer is the world's number-one video poker expert

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 04:16:44 +0000

Bob Dancer is the world’s number-one video poker expert. His real-life video poker successes are legendary, but he s also a world-class teacher. Now, after years of creating the industry standards in video poker reports, strategy cards, and software, Dancer has written the quintessential beginner s guide on the game. Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner is a how-to-win blueprint for players seeking the fast track to the upper levels of this beatable game. First, you ll master the techniques for finding and identifying the highest-returning games. Then you ll learn how to generate, understand, and implement the computer-perfect strategies that yield the ultimate goal: monetary profit! In addition, Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner imparts Dancer s professional insight relative to the game s many nuances and related considerations including in-depth coverage of slot clubs, casino promotions, progressives, team play, scouting, and tournaments. Plus, this is the first book to explain in detail how Dancer s powerful Video Poker for Winners! Software can be employed to solve previously unanswered questions about bankroll needs, promotions analysis, and profit potential. Bob Dancer is the best. Now you can know what he knows about the most exploitable gambling game of them all.

EPISODE 135--Betting Baseball 2015

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 03:05:30 +0000

Michael Murray's Betting Baseball-- 2015 is the newest book on baseball betting, first published in 1994. It discusses the money line, the run line, betting Totals, measuring offense, measuring consistency in starters, evaluating injuries, the impact of ballpark differences, creating the line. A good portion of Murray's book looks at the role umpires may play in the final score (strike zones seem to vary within leagues and among home plate umps).
Author Michael Murray contends that a skilled sabermetrician can indeed outpoint the odds maker on a consistent basis."I think the odds makers are aware of sabermetrics but they don't take it into account when they make the lines," Murray said in an e-mail interview. "Everyone can find a pitcher's WHIP in the newspaper, but ... a pitcher's slugging percentage allowed tells me a lot more than WHIP.
"Until stats like that become commonplace it is safe to say that I'm staying ahead of the odds maker. He certainly has the stats that I do, but he can't use them like I can."

EPISODE 134--Tommy Angelo Author of "Elements of Poker" and "A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales" and other articles on poker

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:08:35 +0000

Elements of Poker

Beyond statistics, beyond whether to raise, call, or fold, Elements of Poker reveals a new world of profitability for your bankroll and your life. You know tilt costs you money, but do you know how to make it go away? You know position is important, but do you know how to cash in that knowledge? Elements of Poker will teach you all of this and much more. Published in 2007, Elements of poker has been extremely well-received by the poker community for its fresh perspective, grand scope, humor, insight, and tilt reduction teachings. Tommy Angelo is a top tier poker coach, poker writer, and philosopher. Join professional, winning poker players like Phil Galfond, Ed Miller, Simon Munz, Lee Jones, and David Benefield in reading the book that Jay Rosenkrantz calls the best poker book ever.

A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales

A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales collects the best articles, blogs, and stories from Tommy Angelo's last 12 years of writing and showcases them with eighteen new introductions and afterwords. Here you'll find poker war stories from his years as a pro, poker fiction, ruminations on poker rules, and more – including a strong selection of articles on tilt, the author's signature topic. The new commentaries, found only in this volume, take you behind the curtain on Angelo's history and writing process. New readers will appreciate the humor and fresh perspective on poker, and existing fans will enjoy the exclusive commentaries as well as having a convenient collection of Angelo's most popular material.

From the author:

“Poker is not a game to me. It’s a religion. I have beliefs I can’t prove. I have saints I revere. Countless times I have held vigils all night and into the next day, seated patiently at the oval altar. And then there’s the reading I do from the ancient scrolls, and the sacred rituals I perform, and the holy lingo I speak, and of course there’s the bonded brotherhood. It’s a religion, no doubt. My elders taught me the ways of poker as a child, and I have been a faithful practitioner ever since. And I have been blessed. The poker gods saw to it that I survived 17 years as a professional poker player, despite severe degenerate tendencies, or perhaps because of them. And that’s just the beginning. I’ve had the good fortune to coach 70 players from around the world, mostly pros. My first book, Elements of Poker, has been shown much love. And my video series, The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment, won the Best Series Award at DeucesCracked.com. What happens next? I think I’ll have lunch.”

EPISODE 133-The King of Casinos: Willie Martello and The El Rey Club----by Andy Martello

Wed, 18 Jun 2014 05:29:00 +0000

WINNER! 2014 International Book Awards (Biography)

RUNNER-UP! 2014 Beach Book Festival (Biography/Autobiography)

After a horrific blaze destroyed Willie Martello’s El Rey Club in 1962, fifty years would pass before anyone knew of how that casino and one-time brothel provided a template for future gambling resorts, upset the Las Vegas mob, and inadvertently launched the career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Were it not for the chance discovery of a single photo in a LaThe King of Casinos: Willie Martello and The El Rey Club s Vegas museum, the El Rey Club would be known only as the seedy brothel where Senator Harry Reid learned to swim. Martello's outrageous exploits and accomplishments should place him among magnates like Howard Hughes or Steve Wynn, yet very few know his name.

Lost for over sixty years and featuring over 140 rare or unseen photos, these vibrant stories are now brought to light!

Andy Martello is a comedian, actor, variety entertainer, and freelance writer. Originally from Chicago he now makes his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. A writer since birth, his work has appeared in the pages of the North Las Vegas Voice newspaper and Strip Las Vegas magazine. Aside from his very popular (and rarely updated) blogs, his humor and opinion columns can be found at web magazines such as The Cheers, Absolute Write, Malicious Bitch, and Gapers Block. This is Andy’s first (and probably his last) book.

Martello is a professional comedian, variety performer, and freelance writer. Originally from the Chicago area, he now makes his home in Las Vegas, Nevada where he appears as the announcer for The Price is Right LIVE, Fremantle Media's nationally touring version of the world's most popular TV game show.

You have seen his work on NBC's Last Comic Standing and WGN TV's The Bozo Show, in films such as Last Vegas, The Company, and The Hangover 3, and as as a member of the elite team of business professionals known as the Mystery Diners on the popular Food Network program of the same name. He and brought the subject of his first book (the El Rey Club) to national prominence on the hit History Channel program, American Restoration.

A writer since birth, Andy's humor and opinion columns have appeared in the North Las Vegas Voice newspaper, TheCheers.org, and AbsoluteWrite.com. The King of Casinos: Willie Martello and the El Rey Club is his first (and probably his last) book.

EPISODE 132--Ed Miller--:Poker's 1%: The One Big Secret That Keeps Elite Players On Top

Sat, 10 May 2014 08:13:23 +0000

“In a few years the book will be a poker all time classic. This is the theoretical basis to modern cash game winning poker play”. Antonios Fountouris on March 30, 2014 about Ed Miller's book :Poker's 1%: The One Big Secret That Keeps Elite Players On Top The book will explaine why elite poker players aren't like the rest of us. Sure, they play in huge games where tens of thousands of dollars can move in the blink of an eye. But that's not the only difference. Elite players play and think about the game in a completely different way from everyone else. If you want to raise your game to their level, it's not just a matter of getting a little better at what you already do. The honest truth is that the way 99% of poker players approach the game is fundamentally flawed. You will never be able to crack the top 1% until you know what they know. There's one big secret to the game that nearly every elite player knows, yet almost no one else understands. It's an open secret-no one is hiding it. Elite players talk about it sometimes in videos and articles. Nevertheless, top players have known this secret for years, yet still almost no one else does. Poker's 1% seeks to change that. It bridges that gap between the elite players and everyone else. It promises that as long as you are willing to put in the work, you too have a shot to reach the top. Poker's 1% teaches a way of thinking about how you play, a way to unify every hand you've ever played and ever will play into one single, overarching strategy. The goal is that you will have one big "aha" moment, the moment where you finally "get" this game. After that, it's just fine tuning. The more you fine tune your strategy, the more you win, and the higher you can go. Poker's 1% gives you a unique window into the secrets of the world's best players. It shows you what you've been doing wrong and how to fix it. And, most importantly, it guides you in a straightforward way along the path from average player to elite.

EPISODE 131--Bill Friedman--author of "All Against The Law: The Criminal Activities of the Depression Era Bank Robbers, Mafia, FBI, Politicians, & Cops",

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:25:00 +0000

Bill Friedman is author of "All Against The Law: The Criminal Activities of the Depression Era Bank Robbers, Mafia, FBI, Politicians, & Cops", the fast-action crime story with shocking political exposes. He also wrote the groundbreaking research work Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition published by the University of Nevada Reno. He is author of the seminal book for succeeding in the casino business Casino Management. He taught the pioneer course in casino management for the University of Nevada Las Vegas's College of Hotel Administration in the early years during the decade of the 1970s.
Friedman is president of the Friedman Management Group, which specializes in solving casino marketing, design, and operations problems. He has consulted for forty years to casinos throughout the United States and in England, South Africa, Monaco, Australia, Russia, Canada, and several Caribbean Islands.
Friedman was president and general manager of the Castaways Hotel and Casino and the Silver Slipper Casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip for thirteen years. He transformed them from perennial losers into super successes, consistently in the top of Nevada's highest profit-per-square-foot performers.
Casino Management explores all the aspects of the business and economic analysis of the gaming industry. It evaluates marketing, hosting, comps, junkets, entertainment and the value of groups. Credit is explained, verification, authorization and collection. The operation of the games, tables, slots, keno, poker and sports book is explained.

EPISODE 130--James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney- Dynamic Full Ring Poker and Red Chip Poker(withD.Hull and C.Soto)

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 08:15:00 +0000

James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney is a highly respected poker coach in the online poker community and have coached hundreds of students.
His brain child, Dynamic Full Ring Poker, is very well-received in the community and is universally lauded as the go-to poker book for ground-breaking strategies.
YOU WILL LEARN:
• How to correctly run monster bluffs ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 277!
• How to hand read better by following CardRunners coach James “SplitSuit” Sweeney’s hand reading tactics ... See page 110
• How to estimate your opponents’ hand ranges in a few seconds ... Go to page 107
• How to exploit your opponents and their likely holdings ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 179
• How to profitably c-bet, lead, raise, float, double-barrel, check-raise ... Read page 125
• How to profile your opponent in a few seconds ... Go to page 22
• How to 3-bet and 4-bet like a huge winner ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 57!
• How to interpret board textures ... See page 315
• How to use pot geometry and stack-to-pot ratios (SPR) to CRUSH your opponents' strategies and bankrolls ... SECRETS REVEALED on page 109!
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 100 advanced tactics covered, all proven to work under the Las Vegas bright lights, the New York underground games, the internet, the college dorms, the kitchen home games, and much more.
You don't need advanced math or a high IQ to crush poker.
You need the right strategies and that's exactly what Dynamic Full Ring Poker delivers.

James ‘SplitSuit’ Sweeney began playing poker in 2004. What started as home games and smaller tournaments soon turned into a business. From grinding live games at Turning Stone Casino, to SNGs, to PLO8 cash games, James quickly began to strengthen his poker theory and strategies. In 2007 James returned to his NLHE roots and began grinding full ring cash games. Interested in not only playing, but sharing his knowledge, he began taking on students. Over the years his coaching methedologies have only improved, and he has coached over 300 students in that time. He also began making training videos for the once Stox Poker Training, and is now on the CardRunners roster as well. Teaching has been a passion of James’, and poker was the perfect outlet given the various strategic levels the game offers. In late 2010 James finished his first book, and he plans on writing another one in 2011. While poker will always be a semi-professional avenue for him, James hopes to always be teaching at a professional level. A graduate in Marketing from Syracuse University, James coaches and offers various coaching mediums at splitsuit.com.

EPISODE 129- Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas: How Jay Sarno Inspired Modern Las Vegas by David G. Schwartz

Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:19:00 +0000

I first got interested in gambling as a kid growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1970s. Some of my earliest memories are of the classic hotels of the city being imploded to make way for modern casinos with hotel towers that had none of the charm of the original. Despite this early evidence of that, perhaps, history might not have the strongest hold over people, I decided to major in it as an undergrad, along with anthropology. When it came time to go to grad school, I chose history over anthropology, though I can't recall as I'm writing this exactly why I made that decision. In grad school I was preparing myself for a career as a college history professor when a small exercise called the dissertation stepped in my way. I would have to choose something to write a book-length historical study on, and it had to be something that would contribute in some way to the literature. That's when I remembered the questions I'd had about casinos as a kid: Why did they need to blow up those beautiful old buildings to build new ones that didn't look nearly as nice? If they just wanted to gamble, why didn't they just let people gamble wherever they wanted? With a few questions like that, I was on my way to writing a dissertation that got me researching casinos. From there, I haven't looked back, except for the year that I spent after I got my degree working in casino surveillance in Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal casino. I'd worked at the Taj earlier in security,and spending some time in surveillance gave me an appreciation for just how complex casinos are, and it kindled an interest in a whole other set of questions. Since arriving at UNLV back in 2001, I've been running the Center for Gaming Research, which has let me look at some very interesting areas of gambling and Las Vegas history. My website has a ton of info about my writing, professional, and creative work. So feel free to check it out at www.dgschwartz.com.
Jay Sarno built two path-breaking Las Vegas casinos, Caesars Palace (1966) and Circus Circus (1968), and planned but did not build a third, the Grandissimo, which would have started the mega-resort era a decade before Steve Wynn built The Mirage. As mobsters and accountants battled for the soul of the last American frontier town, Las Vegas had endless possibilities--if you didn't mind high stakes and stiff odds. Sarno invented the modern Las Vegas casino, but he was part of a dying breed--a back-pocket entrepreneur who'd parlayed a jones for action and a few Teamster loans into a life as a Vegas casino owner. For all of his accomplishments, his empire didn't last. Sarno sold out of Caesars Palace shortly after it opened--partially to get away from the bookies and gangsters who'd taken over the casino--and he was forced to relinquish control of Circus Circus when the federal government indicted him on charges of offering the largest bribe in IRS history--a bribe he freely admitted paying, on the advice of his attorney, Oscar Goodman. Though he ultimately walked out of court a free man, he never got Circus back. And though he guessed the formula that would open up Las Vegas to millions in the 1990s with the design of the Grandissimo, but he wasn't able to secure the financing for the casino, and when he died in 1984, it remained only a frustrating dream.
Sarno's casinos--and his ideas about how to build casinos--created the template for Las Vegas today. Before him, Las Vegas meant dealers in string ties and bland, functional architecture. He taught the city how to dress up its hotels in fantasy, putting toga dresses on cocktail waitresses and making sure that even the stationery carried through with the theme. He saw Las Vegas as a place where ordinary people could leave their ordinary lives and have extraordinary adventures. And that remains the template for Las Vegas today.
Grandissimo is the story of how Jay Sarno won and lost his casino empire, inventing modern Las Vegas along the way.
In Grandissimo, you'll learn Jay's fascinating story, and also plenty of things you never knew about Las Vegas, including:
the true story about how Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters Union first started funding Sarno projects
how Steve Wynn ended up answering the telephone in Hoffa's suite on the second day Caesars Palace was open
how Sarno, represented by Oscar Goodman, beat a seemingly-airtight case against him when he was accused of offering the largest bribe in IRS history to an undercover agent how Sarno's unbuilt Grandissimo became the template for the 1990s "mega-resort" era in Las Vegas
From start to finish, it's the story of the man who inspired modern Las Vegas.

EPISODE 128--Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI--by Brian Tuohy

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Recognized as America's leading expert on game fixing in sports, Brian Tuohy is the author of The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR and Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI.

The Fix Is In gained international attention as it was reviewed by both the Wall Street Journal and the Independent in the UK, and led to Tuohy being interviewed on over 100 radio programs across the United States and Canada. He appearances include the nationally syndicated programs Coast to Coast AM, the Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo Sports Radio, Fox Sports' Chris Myers Interviews, JT The Brick, and the Alex Jones Show. He was also invited to speak at the 2012 AEJMC National Conference in Chicago and at Florida State University.

His newest book Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI is based on over 400 investigative files obtained from the FBI as well as interviews with industry insiders. The book will reveal the Hall of Fame names who have bet upon their own sport and the games which were fixed.

Tuohy is also the author of Disaster Government: National Emergencies, Continuity of Government, and You. Based on over three years of research into the federal government's once Top Secret files, Disaster Government reveals the shocking truths about "national emergencies," presidential executive orders, martial law, underground bases, the "shadow government" and more.

Some of Tuohy's other writing work can be seen in the late, great Paranoia magazine, History Magazine, and the Writers' Journal as well as in several locations online including Alternet.org, Examiner.com and his own popular websites thefixisin.net and disastergovernment.com.

Brian has a earlier podcast with Gamblers BookClub tha can be found at Episode 81 on his first book "The Fix Is In".

EPISODE 127-- In Being Oscar--Oscar Goodman, the former mayor of Las Vegas

Wed, 30 Oct 2013 08:07:42 +0000

Oscar Goodman, the former mayor of Las Vegas, is now the official spokesperson for the city, a director emeritus of The Mob Museum, and the namesake for the restaurant “Oscar’s Beef, Booze & Broads.” His wife is the current mayor of Las Vegas, serving until 2016.

In Being Oscar,one of America’s most celebrated criminal defense attorneys recounts the stories and cases of his epic life. The Mafia’s go-to defender, he has tried an estimated 300 criminal cases, and won most of them,.His roster of clients reads like a history of organized crime:Meyer Lansky, Nicky Scarfo, and “Lefty” Rosenthal, as well as Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King, along with a midget, a dentist, and a federal judge.

After thirty-five years as a defender, he ran for mayor of Las Vegas, and America’s greatest Mob lawyer became the mayor of its sexiest city.,He was so popular his image appeared on the $5, $25, and $100 chips.,While mayor of Vegas, he starred on the screen in,Rush Hour 2 and CSI. He is as large a character in the history of organized crime as any of his clients and as legendary a figure in the history of Las Vegas as the entrepreneurs (his friends and clients) who built the city. This is his astonishing story—the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

EPISODE 126-- WSOP JULY 2013 --Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. And a short talk with the Company rep in the adjoining booth, Eric Ganis

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 01:48:00 +0000

Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 170 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine.

Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005.

Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 170 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine.

Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005.

The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More. By Jared Tendler and Barry Carter

The mental game may be more important in poker than in any other form of competition. It's one of the only games in the world where you can play perfectly and lose-again and again. Hundreds of poker players have turned to mental game coach Jared Tender’s revolutionary approach to help them play their best, no matter how badly they're running. In this book you'll find simple, step-by-step instructions and proven techniques to permanently fix problems such as tilt, handling variance, emotional control, confidence, fear, and motivation. With the games getting tougher, now is the time to take these problems head on.
*Discover the most definitive work on tilt ever released.
*Read stories from eight players who made major improvements using Jared's techniques.
*Get motivated with methods used by SuperNova Elites.

Their newest botoursok,

The Mental Game of Poker 2: Proven Strategies for Improving Poker Skill, Increasing Mental Endurance, and Playing... by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter

Jared and Barry have also released in audio form with part two just finished and soon to be released.

AUDIOBOOK: The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More UNABRIDGED By Jared Tendler, Barry Carter, Narrated By Jared Tendler, Length: 5 hrs. and 45 mins

ERIC DANIS, GLOBALPOKERINDEX/GPI:

The Global Poker Index (“GPI”) is a ranking of the top 300 live tournament poker players in the world as of the day it is published. Players are ranked weekly based on their performance by finishing in cash positions in qualifying tournaments occurring over the previous 36 month period. A cash position is any position where the player receives a portion of the total prize for their performance in an event (all references to buy-in are inclusive of entry fees). Typically the top 10% to 20% of the participants in an event finish in a cash position. Qualifying tournaments are events with 21 or more players and a buy-in of $1000 USD (or other currency equivalent) or higher that are open to the public, and are not specialty or selected audience events such as charity, seniors, doubles, satellite, women, team, employee, executive and CEO events.

EPISODE 125-- WSOP JULY 2013-- Poker's Postflop Course Part 1: The River (Poker's Postflop Course) by Owen Gaines and Jack Welch

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 23:50:00 +0000

"Owen Gaines has produced a truly unique and innovative poker course. He combines tons of in-depth, easy-to-digest examples with attractive charts and graphs that hammer the most critical concepts home. For my students, Poker's Post flop Course is now required reading." - Ed Miller Best-selling poker author and founder of notedpokerauthority.com

"This book introduces a systematic analysis of explotive post flop no-limit hold'em. It guides the reader in a logical fashion, beginning with the simplest spots while introducing the theoretical framework, before building up to cover even the most intricate of situations. I eagerly await the continuation of this series!" - Philip Newall - Author of The Intelligent Poker Player

Part 1 thoroughly dissects every conceivable action on the river. Become an expert in river play using my methods and shortcuts. To sharpen your newfound skills, I include:

• 90 Test Your Comprehension questions and answers

• 39 Exercises involving 116 questions and answers

• 30 Example Hands

• 36 Your Turn situations with the author's explanations

Books by Owen Gaines:

Poker Math That Matters - Simplifying the Secrets of No-limit Hold'em

Hole Card Confessions: Hand-Reading and Exploitive Play in Hold'em

Poker Perspectives: Bringing the Game into Focus

EPISODE 124-- WSOP JULY 2013--DOUG HULL TALKING ABOUT HIS BOOK -- POKER PLAYS YOU CAN USE--EDITED BY ED MILLER

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 01:02:00 +0000

The book comes in two major sections. First you’ll read a series of hand examples. These examples are designed to show you the difference between how a typical no-limit hold’em player thinks and how a professional-level player thinks. Each of these hand examples represents a small improvement you can make in your play. The second section turns the lessons from the first section into missions you can do on your own. These missions are the equivalent of recipes in a book on nutrition or exercises in a workout book. Doing the missions—doing them as often and using as much your brain on them as possible—are what will make you a better poker player. Do the missions, and you’ll see results. Ignore the missions, and you likely won’t." from the Foreword by Ed Miller -Author of Playing the Player, How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold’em, Small Stakes Hold’em

Doug has been found at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun poker rooms since 2001. When he is not perfecting this craft, he is blacksmithing, woodcarving or developing his permaculture homestead in Massachusetts. He has authored an engineering textbook, co-authored a second and contributed to a third. He has taught countless people to use MATLAB through his blog at MathWorks.com. Reach him at hull@ThreeBarrelBluff.com.

EPISODE 123-- WSOP JULY 2013--ED MILLER TALKS ABOUT POKER AND DOUG HULL's NEW BOOK POKER PLAYS YOU CAN USE

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Edward Raymond Miller (born August 10, 1979) is a professional poker player and an author of books about poker. He wrote Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big with Expert Play with David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth in 2004. In 2005, he completed Getting Started in Hold 'em, a beginner's book. In 2006, he co-wrote No Limit Hold 'Em: Theory and Practice with David Sklansky. Miller is also co-author of the book Professional No Limit Hold 'em with Matt Flynn and Sunny Mehta published in 2007, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em co-authored with Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn, How to Read Hands At No-Limit Hold'em in 2011, and Playing the Player in 2012. Miller also writes an online poker column and manages a poker discussion forum. He is part owner and produces educational poker videos for Stoxpoker, a subscription fee

Ed Miller is a professional poker player. He teaches people like you the skills, strategies, and tricks necessary to win good money playing poker.

He is not flashy. He is not going to throw up a graph showing $3 million in winnings and pretend I can get you there. (I haven’t won that much myself.)

He specialize in small stakes players. Writing for the $1-$2 and $2-$5 players who find it all too difficult to string together three or four winning sessions. Also writing for the micro stakes grinders online who are struggling to get their balance above a grand.

Ed believes everyone can win $10,000 playing poker if they get the right information and they are willing to put the work in. That’s his mission. I want to get as many of my readers to $10,000 as possible.

Ed's been doing this for eight years and has a long track record of success. Here’s what you need to know about Ed.

· Written six books and sold more than 250,000 copies. Lots of readers and lots of success stories in there.

· His books have helped to launch the careers of hundreds of professional players.

· Ed's articles appear in Card Player magazine, and I’ve made dozens of instructional videos for Stoxpoker and Card runners.

· Ed has degrees in Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Naturally, He became a gambler to make my mother proud.

Stick with Ed and you’ll be very glad you did.

EPISODE 122--Reading Poker Tells by Zachary Elwood -- Current WSOP Player

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:36:00 +0000

Reading Poker Tells is being called the best book about poker tells by many players, both amateur and professional. Besides cataloging the most common poker-related behavioral patterns, the book gives a mental framework for analyzing and remembering poker tells.

From the Author:

I have always been primarily interested in the psychological aspects of poker. I like studying people, figuring out their personal strategies and tendencies, and trying to use that knowledge to my advantage. I love calling a big bluff, betting someone off a hand when I sense weakness, and reading the psychological ebb and flow of individual players and the game as a whole. I think poker is a tremendously deep game; the more I have studied it, the more psychological complexity I find.

I used to play poker for a living. Now I just use it as a supplemental source of income. Several factors went into my decision to stop playing professionally. The most important one was related to anxiety/stress; I realized that I basically was not mentally cut out for the life I was trying to lead. I’ve come to believe that some people are just better-equipped for the cumulative stresses of professional poker playing. Better-equipped than I am, for sure. Just as I believe that the psychological aspects of the game are under-rated by most players, I also believe that a proper psychological mindset is key to being a high-stakes winner. (I’m still undecided if the proper mindset is always inherent or can be learned.)

This blog is focused on poker tells, but don’t take this to mean that I think tells are the most important thing in the game. I don’t. They’re a very small part of the game. But I do believe that the importance of tells is vastly under-rated by even a lot of experienced players. And I think that being good at reading tells is one of those things that can make a very good player a fantastic player.

I don’t believe this subject is well-addressed by the mostly-inferior books on poker tells and poker psychology out there. In my opinion, Mike Caro’s book from 30 years ago is still the best book out there on the subject, which is not saying a lot. There have been several other misleading, badly-written, and just plain stupid books put out over the years, mostly by people who are not poker players, or who do not play significant stakes.

This is all very strange to me. I know there are plenty of players like myself who use tells on a regular basis to get an edge on the competition. And there are plenty of superior players who know more about this subject than I do. I don’t pretend to be a guru on poker tells. The things I know are common tricks of the trade to many professional poker players. But nobody’s writing about it. I don’t know why; it might really be due to the fact that most good live players are having too much fun taking people’s money to sit down and write about these things. (And if it wasn’t for my complex, love-hate relationship with poker, I’d probably be doing a lot more playing and a lot less writing.)

EPISODE 121--How to WIN the PICK 6: Horse Racing's Big $$$ Payout--Steven Kolb--Mr. Pick 6

Mon, 27 May 2013 08:03:00 +0000

Would a $400,000 Pick 6 paycheck change your life? Can your $32 ticket beat out a syndicate’s $12,000 wager? Are you making the smartest Pick 6 play possible? Would you be content earning a six-figure income at the racetrack: year after year? This book can pay for itself, your retirement, AND your house!

It is not a handicapping book, and it's not a "system." It is a book about learning how to routinely win monster Pick 6 paychecks. A one-of-a-kind book with 397 pages dedicated to horse racing's ultimate wager.

If you want to become wealthy playing the horses, the ONLY way to do so is to become a Pick 6 winner. A repeat Pick 6 winner. If you're a consistent loser at the racetrack, here is your opportunity to turn it all around and become a BIG winner... fast!

Millions of horseplayers just don't get it. They are losers. They fritter their money away on Exactas, Superfectas, Super High Fives and the lowly Show wager. Playing those "fun" wagers drains their bank account. They certainly aren't the wagers big winners play.

Readers of How to WIN the PICK 6 are going to "get it." They are going to put an end to their losing days by learning how to become winners. Isn't that what you want?

Readers will be educated and mentored to put winning selections on Pick 6 tickets ranging from $16 to several hundred dollars. They will be shown the amazing 3% Solution, the eye-opening 30/30/40 Rule, and other novel Pick 6 strategies to guide them toward a life of financial freedom.

Author Steven Kolb's goal is to educate readers about the intricacies of horse racing most elusive wager. If you want to be in the Winners Circle you'll need to learn how to play the Pick 6, when to play the Pick 6, where to play the Pick 6, and what to do once you start cashing in on five- and six-figure Pick 6 paychecks. All the answers to the Pick 6 puzzle are in this book; as well as lots of humor, stories, quotes and facts.

Also for Pick 4 and Pick 5 Players! *** On Twitter as MrPick6. Good luck to you and yours.

SPECIAL EPISODE -Belmont Stakes --Some tips from MR PICK 6-- author Steven Kolb--Listen to Episode 121 for the interview on the book

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:09:09 +0000

Author Steven Kolb's goal is to educate horse players, new and older about the intricacies of horse racing. This podcast is on the Belmont Stakes, upcoming in June, giving you his read on the horses running and who he believes you should look at for study if you are planning to bet this race.

EPISODE 120--1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors-Finding Profit and Humor in Card-Counting chronicles -Glen Wiggy

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:03:29 +0000

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

About the Author: Glen Wiggy was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1966. His father is a retired golf professional. His mother, before her death in 2007, was a housewife and mother of six children. Glen graduated from the United States Air Force Academy-Class of '88, first class with refrigerators-and spent a twenty-year career as an Air Force officer. While on active-duty, he served as a Security Police Shift Commander, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and Scientific Analyst. In June 2008, Glen retired from the Air Force and worked as a Department of Defense contractor at Task Force 134, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq, performing research and analysis in support of detainee operations. In June 2009, he settled in the Colorado Springs area and currently works as a government civilian at United States Northern Command. He is also an online statistics instructor with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Glen is married with two children and three grandchildren. Besides card-counting at blackjack, his hobbies include golf and snow skiing. He has a BS in mathematics from the Air Force Academy, an MBA from Boston University, and an MS in mathematics from the University of Arizona. Glen Wiggy blogs on www.blackjackstories.com

EPISODE 119--- More of Maximizing Craps DVD ---Sol Kirschner--Part 2-see EPISODE 115 for Part 1

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:50:00 +0000

In this episode Sol and Howard talk about what is in the DVD and how to use the information. There is enough information given by Sol to the listerners that some of it can be used right away.Your Maximizing Craps DVD comes with everything you need to play craps to the fullest. Maximize your winnings. Maximize your fun. Order your copy today. A full-length professionally produced DVD that explains step-by-step how to improve your game. A chapter-by-chapter explanation of the craps system that will improve your winnings, extend your playing fun and tell you when to walk away. A handy wallet card outlining all your bets. A colorful, fully annotated DVD jacket chock full of helpful information. A link to our website to post questions, reviews and comments.

Our Craps Strategy

Maximizing Craps is the one craps system that will both maximize your winnings and maximize your fun. This is a time-tested system that has been developed and refined over more than 50 years of gambling. Individuals who have used this amazing system reported that they win an average of 80% of the time. Here are a few of the things you will learn from our simple to follow DVD:

1) Learn how to set a craps gambling budget and stick with it.
2) Learn how to form a betting strategy that will maximize your winnings.
3) Learn how to pick the right casino.
4) Learn how to pick the right table.
5) Learn how and when to up your betting.
6) Learn how to play 100-to-1 casinos.
7) Learn how to play regular odds casinos.
8) Learn how to determine the amount of your first bet and where to place it.
9) Learn how to determine the amount of your second bet.
10) Learn how to determine the amount of your third bet.
11) Learn what to bet if a 7 or 11 comes up on the first roll of the dice.
12) Learn when and why to decrease your betting.
13) Learn when to walk away.
14) Learn how to maximize your fun.

Episode 118--- Cold Deck - A novel of Las Vegas and casino dealers

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:52:05 +0000

Jude is a Las Vegas casino dealer who barely survived the deadly MGM fire in 1980. More than two decades later, he’s still dealing, a tired, middle-aged man, divorced, struggling with debt, and trying to be a good father to his children. Then he loses his job and his car is totaled in an accident. When an attractive woman friend offers to help him get another job, Jude is happy to go along. Gradually, he realizes that his new job is part of an elaborate scheme to cheat a casino and that his own fate and that of his children depend on his finding the courage and ingenuity to extricate himself.

Cold Deck is the exciting story of an ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. Moving from Las Vegas mean streets to the insider’s world of casino workers, this is a story of survival set against the greed, fears, and glitz of Sin City.

H. Lee Barnes is a former Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a deputy sheriff, private investigator, and casino dealer. He currently teaches English and creative writing at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. He is the author of three short story collections, another novel, a memoir, and a nonfiction book about casino workers. His short fiction has received the Willamette Fiction Award and the Arizona Authors Association Fiction Award, and in 2009, he was elected to the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.

Episode 117---Million Dollar Slots--the Slot King--- 500 into millions over the past eighteen years

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:31:00 +0000

Can you really make money playing slot machines? Peter Liston, otherwise known as the Slot King has done just that, turning $500 into millions over the past eighteen years.

For the first time, Peter reveals the secrets that have turned him from a high school teacher into a globe-trotting professional gambler doing what is considered to be impossible ・playing the slot machines as a business.

Share with Peter as he cracks the code to the slots, tests the theories in his local slot venues, then exploits that winning knowledge in hotels, clubs and casinos around the world.

PeterListon has appeared in television and radio interviews in U.S.A., Australia and U.K.

Peter is the world's leading authority on advantage slot machine play. A former high school teacher and a member of Mensa, Peter used his mathematical skills to establish a system of beating the slots in 1994. He started with $500 and turned it into millions of dollars, exploiting linked progressive jackpots in Australasia, Asia, North America and Africa. He appeared on the ZKK British television documentary "The World's Greatest Gambling Scams" as well as on current affairs television and radio interviews in Australia and Las Vegas. Peter is based in Melbourne, Australia but frequently travels to casinos around the world looking for the best slot jackpots. He is also consulting, teaching and writing about advantage slot play.

Episode 116--RISK OF RUIN by Arnold Snyder (see also Episode 51)-- Risk of Ruin is about Bart Black, a professional gambler-biker-tattoo-artist

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Risk of Ruin is about Bart Black, a professional gambler-biker-tattoo-artist who becomes obsessed with an underage stripper who believes she's God.
It's a story of rebellion, crime, and passion that attempts to answer a question that has tormented gambling men since Adam placed an all-in bet on Eve: Is she worth the risk?

Arnold Snyder, more noted as an a professional gambler and author of numerous blackjack books (The Big Book of Blackjack and Blackbelt in Blackjack among them) as well as poker (The Poker Tournament Formula and The Poker Tournament Formula 2) and has ventured into the (under)world of topless clubs in Las Vegas. Titled Sin City Advisor's Topless Vegas (Episode 51).

From the Author

Risk of Ruin is my first novel--or at least, the first novel I'm willing to put my name on. Years ago, I used to write pseudonymous and anonymous hack fiction--two cents a word stuff. Risk of Ruin is my apology to all the trees that have died through the years for the terrible books I used to write.

What I really wanted to do with this book was violate the common genre formulas I was once forced to adhere to, while at the same time creating a moving love story, a cop drama, a paranormal romance, a porno potboiler, and an adventure story. To accomplish this, I started by creating main characters that violate the requirements for the protagonists of any of the popular fiction genres.

Take Bart, my protagonist/hero. He's five-foot-two and always broke. He's dirty, in the sense of grimy. (He works part-time as a hack motorcycle mechanic, when he's not in Reno trying to make money on a professional blackjack team.) He's a high school dropout, uses crude language, has satanic tattoos up and down both arms and a Napoleonic superiority complex. He rides a chopped Harley. A fun night for Bart is going to a bar that has a wet t-shirt contest and spraying water on the women who are competing, because that's about as close as he's going to get to a relationship with a woman and he knows it. He's not a person you'd ever care to hang out with, and he definitely would not be cast in the role of protagonist/hero in any genre of novel that I know of.

As for Stacy, the love interest: When she meets Bart, she's sixteen years old (he's 43) and she's a runaway working as a dancer in a nude strip club, a job she got using fake ID. Her superiority complex is even greater than Bart's, as she believes she's God. Literally. Even though Stacy is leggy, blond and beautiful, there is no genre of novel that would have this character as the hero's love interest.

So, writing this book was a challenge. My task was to make Bart into a real hero, someone the reader would be rooting for, while making Stacy a person he could really love. Violating the norms of genre fiction forced me to create a story so compelling that the physical, emotional, psychological and social flaws of the characters become irrelevant.

EPISODE 115---Maximizing Craps DVD ---Sol Kirschner---maximize your winnings and maximize your fun

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 23:51:11 +0000

our Maximizing Craps DVD comes with everything you need to play craps to the fullest. Maximize your winnings. Maximize your fun. Order your copy today. A full-length professionally produced DVD that explains step-by-step how to improve your game. A chapter-by-chapter explanation of the craps system that will improve your winnings, extend your playing fun and tell you when to walk away. A handy wallet card outlining all your bets. A colorful, fully annotated DVD jacket chock full of helpful information. A link to our website to post questions, reviews and comments.

Our Craps Strategy

Learn how to set a craps gambling budget and stick with it.
2) Learn how to form a betting strategy that will maximize your winnings.
3) Learn how to pick the right casino.
4) Learn how to pick the right table.
5) Learn how and when to up your betting.
6) Learn how to play 100-to-1 casinos.
7) Learn how to play regular odds casinos.
8) Learn how to determine the amount of your first bet and where to place it.
9) Learn how to determine the amount of your second bet.
10) Learn how to determine the amount of your third bet.
11) Learn what to bet if a 7 or 11 comes up on the first roll of the dice.
12) Learn when and why to decrease your betting.
13) Learn when to walk away.
14) Learn how to maximize your fun.

EPISODE 114---WINNING NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM----ASHLEY ADAMS

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:35:00 +0000

Do you want to learn how to become a winning no limit hold'em player? Ashley Adams, an experienced author and winning cash game player, has written his new book, Winning No-Limit Hold'em, A Practical Guide to Beating Low Buy-in Cash Games, for you. Whether you are a complete beginner or an intermediate player already competing, but losing, in the typical low limit version of the game, Winning No-Limit Hold'em gives you the practical knowledge you need to beat the game. Ashley Adams has done for hold'em what he has already done for 7-card stud in his highly acclaimed and top selling book Winning 7-Card Stud. He's taken a very complicated subject -- beating the typical low limit no limit hold'em game -- and made it simple and easy to learn. The book is broken up into simple, concise chapters that cover every topic necessary to go from beginner to winner. Such chapters include: LEARNING THE BASICS -- a simple explanation of the basics of betting and the language of poker , A BASIC STRATEGY of the game so you'll be able to sit down and start playing with confidence and limited risk, FIRST TIME IN A CASINO -- a primer on how to play poker easily and confidently in public poker rooms, as well as chapters on odds, tournament play, deception, tells, reading opponents, and improving your game. Each chapter ends with a quiz -- so you'll be able to test your poker knowledge you have to bet on it. So if you want to learn how to play -- or if you know the basics but haven't yet been able to consistently win -- Winning No Limit Hold'em is the book for you.

Ashley Adams has the rare ability to explain poker concepts accurately and clearly, which is why each of his books are gems of the rarest kind. His books are easy to follow and easy to understand. When you read this book a second time, you'll gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to be a winning poker player. And when you read Adams a third time which you really should do you ll find yourself well along the road to mastering poker concepts and becoming a favorite in your local game. Because Adams will teach you more than most of your opponents know, all you have to do is apply his teachings whenever you play. It ll work. I guarantee it. Lou Krieger --Lou Krieger

This Ashley Adam s book is comprehensive and easy to understand. Sure, it breaks new ground by tackling the neglected garden of lower-limit hold em. But, in truth, most of the powerful concepts and advice on these pages are profitable in larger games and gardens, too. Buy it! Mike Caro, the Mad Genius of Poker --Mike Caro

EPISODE 113---Bi-Count Blackjack [Spiral-Bound] --- by Burton Winslow

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Bi-Count Blackjack is for serious Blackjack players. It's a system of card-counting that lets the player track 36 cards from a deck with ease while telling the player how best to play out each hand. Multiple deck play will actually add to the players advantage.It is superior to plus/minus card-counting systems with running counts that are virtually impossible to follow and with betting patterns that give you away as a counter as well. It provides a wealth of information which will change the way you play your game. With Bi-Count Blackjack you are in control. You know what the deck(s) have in store for you. You can anticipate receiving a Blackjack, a high 2-card hand, or either a "make" card for you as well as how to play out the hand. With Bi-Count Blackjack you don't double down or split pairs unless it's to your advantage. You don't hit a 'stiff' or stand when the dealer has a 3,4,5, or 6 unless it's to your advantage. You don't surrender or take insurance unless it's to your advantage to do so. The Bi-Count Blackjack system comes in a 62 page spiral-bound book filled with Blackjack analysis including the weaknesses of Basic Strategy as well as those of most counting systems. Over 40 tables explain the fallacies of card-counting systems with "index" numbers. It explains the "defensive" deck characteristics used by casinos and tells you how to anticipate a winning hand on more than a "ten rich" deck. It tells you of the fallacies of making larger bets into a "ten rich" deck when the next hand is actually a disadvantage to your winning. Bi-Count Blackjack has an answer for "defensive" deck techniques and prepares you for the high/low deck and "streaks" that play havoc with a 10-card counting system. Only a limited amount will be sold. Right now only available at Gamblers Book Club, not available at Amazon.

EPISODE 112---The Poker Party is Over ----Alan Schoonmaker, Ph.D.

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:03:00 +0000

Alan Schoonmaker earned his Ph.D. in industrial psychology at U of California, Berkeley. He taught and did research at UCLA, Carnegie-Mellon, and Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. After running management development at Merrill Lynch, he worked as a consultant in twenty-nine countries on all six continents. His clients included the world's largest corporations such as IBM, Mobil, GE, GM, and Chase Manhattan. The annual sales of his clients exceed one trillion dollars.He has written or co-authored three research monographs and five books on industrial psychology. His work has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, and Indonesian. He has also developed several multi-media training programs. His "Selling: The Psychological Approach" was once the world's best selling computer based instructional program for business people. A major theme of his work is understanding and adjusting to different kinds of people. His attitude toward our game is unique for a poker writer: "I play only in smaller games because maximizing my profits is much less important to me than relaxing and learning about people. I became a psychologist because I enjoy people-watching, and a cardroom is a wonderful place to do it." "Players in small games are much more interesting than the more serious players. They are more varied, open, and relaxed. They laugh more, tell better stories, and never forget that the purpose of playing any game is to have fun." "As the stakes get higher, the players become more serious and homogeneous. Most of them study the same books, know the same odds, and try to use similar strategies. In the smaller games there are more rocks, more maniacs, more calling stations, more nerds, more "Deluded Experts," and more oddballs, which means I learn more and get better material for my writing." "Most poker writers focus on how the champions think and play, but hardly anything has been written about ordinary players. I want to help them to understand themselves and the people in their games." Poker is much more than knowing the right strategies; it's also knowing how to actualize those strategies. The game is full of losing players who know how to play, yet can't seem to induce themselves to consistently make the right plays. "Black Friday" and the current state of the U.S. economy have changed the sub-culture in which we live and play. The dynamics of the poker world have drastically changed. Internet poker is not the cash cow it used to be, thereby changing the face of live poker. The games got tougher as Internet pros gravitated to the live action, the only action they can currently find. As players we must find ways to adapt to our new realities. For the Internet player looking to become a major winner in live poker this involves changes in skill sets and mindsets. For the B&M players it involves adjusting to the skills and styles of former online players. The Internet game and the live game, though related, have very different fundamentals, not to mention all the innumerable different nuances. And, because there are fewer weak players, everybody must adjust to tougher games. The Poker Party is Over will teach things about developing into a great poker player. You'll learn how train your mind to adjust from Internet poker to live poker, or - if you're a B&M player - to adjust to internet players. You'll ascertain how to become an expert on "tells", learn how to effectively manage your bankroll, and be taught how to guide your mind through poker logic. You'll discover how to prepare yourself for survival in our dog-eat-dog world and much, much more.

EPISODE 111-2012 NFL HANDICAPPING BOOK--Michael W Hillin--7th Edition--Listen to EPISODE'S 88 & 48 ALSO

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 04:27:00 +0000

This is my 7th year of publication. If you want a solid tool to use against the spread to pick winners in the NFL, then this book is for you. Whether you are playing against the spread, contests, or fantasy football, it's a good idea to know which team has the edge by numbers. This is my best designed book in 7 years and it contains all the vitals you need to win. It's a small investment for a larger payoff. I have 37 years of experience handicapping college and NFL games. Don't be the only one without it this season.The 2012 edition has professionally formulated power ratings, spread range tracking, system plays, (74.5% over last 4 years), against the spread trends, last year's grass and turf results, rout wins and losses, estimated season win totals, schedule strength rankings, and West Coast teams marked with T.C. when faced with an early start on an East Coast road trip. Thursday games are shaded to point out when a team is on a short week. There is a walk through of power rating analysis with the 2011 Green Bay Packers with Mike's opinion and how he played each week. Player rosters are adjacent to each team page with columns for late additions and key injuries. Whether you bet against the spread, or play the many contests in Las Vegas, this is the book you want to use before you make your play. Indexed 84 Pages Paper bound

EPISODE 110---DAN GLIMNE---SWEDISH POKER PLAYER AND GAMBLING EXPERT---WSOP 2012 PART FOUR

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:01:00 +0000

Glimne of Hope – A Lifelong Love Affair with Games

Dan Glimne has so many strings to his gaming bow it’s practically a harp. The Swedish poker expert, author, gaming pundit and inventor can be found commentating on the action, traveling the world in search of gaming experiences from Cuba to Hong Kong, or sat at the felt putting theory into practice at Unibet Open.

Having played five Unibet Open tournaments so far, he has yet to make his mark on the leader boards, although he’s enjoyed previous success at the WSOP and Master Classics of Poker (at which he came third in 2005 for over €35,000). He has, however, been known to go deep in a side event or two on the tour, most recently and perhaps unexpectedly the Maria Poker Ladies’ Event at Unibet Open Budapest in March, where he finished as runner-up!

When asked what he thought it took to succeed in poker these days, he replied, “Mental discipline, and a willingness to absorb new ideas and constantly improve your game. Winning at Texas hold’em ten years ago, live or online, was no problem; but these days the competition is fierce and everyone studies poker theory.” He’s been playing long enough to have an overview of the game’s development too – as he recounts with almost glamorous underworld detail, “I still remember the illegal so-called “black clubs” in Sweden, where you had to knock on secret doors and identify yourself before stepping into those smoke-filled rooms…” Playing seriously for 20 years, Glimne recalls a time before the present boom which has been so beneficial for students of the game, making online celebrities out of its top players (his opinion on who Isildur1 may or may not be is also floating around the internet).

In between appearing on the live mike, Glimne recently made a series of short videos called Dan Glimne’s Poker Curiosities for Unibet Open in Budapest, relaying in his inimitable style (and Swedish accent) stories from Binion’s in Vegas, the early greats, apocryphal tales and that Sting worked in a funeral parlour before moving into music (part of his Curiosities Part 3 – What Players Did Before They Went Pro…). His interest in all aspects of the game of poker is infectious and doesn’t stop at the door of the card room. In his own words:

“I have been in the games industry in the wide sense for thirty years now, writing books, working as a consultant in the casino sector, and inventing board and card games with over 1.5 million sold in over twenty countries. Apart from poker I play mainly mahjong (one World Championship and two European Championships, apart from playing the brutal cash game form of the game in Hong Kong clubs), Othello (third in the Swedish Championship) and a variety of others for pleasure. And I collect pretty much everything in the way of dice and dice-related objects, which has led to some pretty interesting encounters with – among other people – witch doctors in South Africa and Santeria priests in Cuba. One day, when I am ready, that collection will be put on exhibit in a museum. I guess I would have to say that gaming is a life-long love affair for me!”

Enjoy this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOf1T0Z6Ak&feature=player_embedded

EPISODE 109--ED MILLER--HOW TO READ HANDS at NO LIMIT HOLDEM & PLAY THE PLAYER--WSOP 2012 PART THREE

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:53:00 +0000

Ed Miller is a professional poker player. He teaches people like you the skills, strategies, and tricks necessary to win good money playing poker.

He is not flashy. He is not going to throw up a graph showing $3 million in winnings and pretend I can get you there. (I haven’t won that much myself.)

He specialize in small stakes players. writing for the $1-$2 and $2-$5 players who find it all too difficult to string together three or four winning sessions. Also writing for the microstakes grinders online who are struggling to get their balance above a grand.

Ed's been doing this for eight years and has a long track record of success. Here’s what you need to know about Ed.

Written six books and sold more than 250,000 copies. Lots of readers and lots of success stories in there.
His books have helped to launch the careers of hundreds of professional players.
Ed's articles appear in Card Player magazine, and I’ve made dozens of instructional videos for Stoxpoker and Cardrunners.
Ed has degrees in Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Naturally, He became a gambler to make my mother proud.

Stick with Ed and you’ll be very glad you did.

EPISODE 108---JARED TENDLER M.S.--- THE MENTAL GAME OF POKER--_WSOP 2012 PART TWO

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Jared Tendler, M.S., LMHC, was a mental game coach for golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours before he became the leading mental game expert in poker. He now coaches some of the top players in poker and more than 200 other professionals from around the world. Jared's groundbreaking methods have also helped thousands more through his training videos, articles, and forum Q&As. He is also a featured coach for DragtheBar.com, and writes monthly instructional articles for WPT Magazine.
Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005.

The mental game may be more important in poker than in any other form of competition. It's one of the only games in the world where you can play perfectly and lose-again and again. Hundreds of poker players have turned to mental game coach Jared Tendler's revolutionary approach to help them play their best, no matter how badly they're running. In this book you'll find simple, step-by-step instructions and proven techniques to permanently fix problems such as tilt, handling variance, emotional control, confidence, fear, and motivation. With the games getting tougher, now is the time to take these problems head on.
Discover the most definitive work on tilt ever released.
Read stories from eight players who made major improvements using Jared's techniques.
Get motivated with methods used by SuperNova Elites.

EPISODE 107--Bennett Onika--UNLEASH YOUR HIDDEN POKER MEMORY--WSOP 2012 INTERVIEW--PART ONE

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:29:00 +0000

Bennett Onika is a poker player who has combined the latest in memory training with the vast and detailed statistics of the online poker world. He attends the World Series of Poker annually. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Going beyond the common poker strategy book, this one-of-a-kind guide utilizes basic memory techniques designed to enable a player to easily keep track of poker statistics during a live game. A variety of engaging imagery is provided, teaching players how to remember approximately 10 to 100 times the information an untrained player would have at a tournament. Covering everything from how often a player plays to memorizing tells, this is the ideal companion for both serious amateurs and professional card sharks.

EPISODE 106-- Final Table: A Winning Poker Approach from a WSOP Champion by Jonathan Duhamel

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 01:12:00 +0000

Jonathan Duhamel was raised in Boucherville, a neighboring town 10 mins drive from Montreal, Quebec. From a comfortable middle-class family, his father, an aeroplane engine mechanic and his mother, a bank cashier, brought him and his younger sister up in the security and space of a suburban ‘white picket fence’ childhood.“ As a big brother, I fought with my sister all the time. I remember my parents didn’t like it, so whenever I hit her” says Jonathan “I would get grounded. If she was hitting me though, it was all fine. I’ve learn a lot from that!” Both Jonathan’s parents were fairly strict, ensuring he understood the value of money from an early age by encouraging him to take part-time jobs outside of school. His first job, as he recalls, was at age 13, picking strawberries. This tough-love gave Jonathan a strong work ethic and the insight that with hard work he would reap his own rewards. Duhamel makes no secret of his love of sport – playing ice hockey, baseball, soccer, etc… as a child and a fervent supporter of his local Montreal Canadian’s ice hockey team, he really relishes sports which has taught him the importance of working in a team. “I’m always going to remember the first Montreal Canadian game I saw. My dad brought me, and they were playing Boston. At the end, we lost 4-3, but it was an amazing game, amazing experience. On the ice, myself, I’ve always been very competitive. Even though I wasn’t the best, the desire to win was always there, and it is something I still have, in everything I do in life. When I do something, I always do it 100%.” The next step, obviously took the young Canadian to college and university. Studying Business Administration and Finance – it was the numbers and maths that really challenged him into this path. After about a year at university, his friends and he started playing poker home games and this suddenly became an overnight passion. Unsure of his vocation, Jonathan decided to take a year off to think about his future. He used this free time to travel around the world with friends and rediscover his own life objectives.

It’s also during this time that Jonathan had the chance to focus on his new passion, and this materialized in his first major cash at EPT Prague in 2008 where he placed 10th. His strategy improved mainly by interaction, rather than reading, for Jonathan “There are a lot of very good poker players in Quebec, we all talk strategy together, and I am the player I am now because of them!” A self confessed cash games player, it is only after his initial successes to build a healthy bankroll, that he turned his attention to tournaments. Several other tournament cashes were however dwarfed, by what has now lead to Jonathan Duhamel’s fame in the poker world – winning the coveted WSOP 2010 Main Event Championship.

From there, Jonathan’s life transformed, becoming a member of Team PokerStars Pro, touring tournament after tournament with a close group of friends and poker players (winning EPT Deauville High Roller shortly after the WSOP) and writing a book on his life ‘Cards on Table’.

EPISODE 105--The Last Natural: Bryce Harper's Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever by Rob Miech

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:40:23 +0000

Before Bryce Harper was the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft, before he signed the sport’s biggest contract ever for a first-year pro, he gambled his future on one make-or-break season.

The Las Vegas High School sophomore already had dominated the competition like Mickey Mantle on the playground and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which dubbed him the “most exciting prodigy since LeBron James.” Seeking greater tests as a hitter, the precocious phenom got his GED and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, where he could face pro prospects in a challenging wooden-bat league that prohibited the hitter-friendly aluminum bats used throughout college ball. Harper shattered the school’s home run record with 31 (the previous mark was 12) and compiled a startling 1.513 OPS while leading his team to the Junior College World Series. For his heroics, the 17-year-old became the only position player from a junior college to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s best amateur baseball player.

Las Vegas sportswriter Rob Miech was “embedded” with the Southern Nevada Coyotes team and brings us along for the ride—into the dugout and locker room and on team buses and in motel rooms, from the scorched fields to the snow-capped horizons of the Scenic West Athletic Conference—to deliver a warts-and-all account of a boy among men playing like a man among boys. Amid the media circus that descended upon team and town, we read fascinating personal stories including the dynamics between veteran coach Tim Chambers and Harper’s protective father, the camaraderie with—and jealousies of—other players, the fans and autograph seekers (and girls) who all want a piece of the young star, and how Harper is suspended from the World Series after protesting an umpire’s call, and the role his faith plays in his life.

The Last Natural shows us a season in the life of baseball’s top rising star, culminating in a dramatic conclusion when Harper is drafted #1 by the Washington Nationals and, after tense negotiations that go up until just seconds before the midnight deadline, signs a $9.9 million contract. Even more than this, Miech’s book is the story of a team and its community, the hopes and aspirations of its players and coaches, and the spirit of pure baseball that lies at the heart of the American dream.

EPISODE 104---Barry Chalmers Premier Poker Podcaster from Scotland--Double Interview!!

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 20:02:00 +0000

Bio: 1983 Born in Dundee Scotland. I dreamed of being a cross between James Bond and Gordon Gekko. 10 years old I stumbled into my first entrepreneurial adventure. I spotted some old vintage star wars figures in a model shop next to my school, they were the same as ones I had at home. I talked with the owner and he said he would pay me 50pence (80 cents) per figure. I went home and ripped the attic apart to find as many as I could, I sold him like 20 figures for £10 ($15) a decent sum for me at the time. I instantly bought a black widow catapult (was confiscated less than a week later !!) from the same store and gambled the rest on slot machines. I later discovered through some research that the figures I sold for 50p each were worth in the region of £5-£10 each, that was the first time I was on the wrong end of information asymmetry (in English, the guy knew what they were worth and I didn’t!) But it taught me a valuable lesson and started me on the path to Star Wars and Toy Dealer extraordinaire! I would spend the next few years searching for these figures from people who did not know what they were worth, and then sell them through local papers/collectors fairs and to antique/collectors shops. I did this for years, and regularly made the odd £1000 ($1500) great pay for my years as a 12-15 year old. Again, I spent this money on clothes, eating out and gambling! (slot machines and now horse racing and football and boxing bets I would get adults to place for me!). 1999 was my first major score in the international vintage toy game . I noticed an advert in the local paper that said “38 star wars figure for sale, £10 each” Now some of them are only worth about that, but some of the rarer ones can go for £90-£100 ($150), so I thought if some of them are there, then I’m laughing! I phoned the guy up and I asked what condition they were in, my jaw nearly hit the floor when he said they were all unopened, he had bought them in the 70's and 80's and just put them in his attic. Straight away the minimum price now jumps to around £30 ($50) He wanted £10 each, so £380….This was £380 I didn’t have, I was never a saver I did however have an asset, my PC! I sold it on the Saturday for £430 and now had enough for the toys that I was sure I was going to treble my money on at least (plus expenses to get to the guy to buy them!) The toys were in a little coastal town in Scotland (UK) about 4hrs train journey from my house, so I paid for my little brother and his friend to come along for the ride! We arrived at our destination and what did I do? I headed straight for the fruit machines! (degenerate gambler gene pops up again!) I lost until I had £350 exactly left (lucky I bought return train tickets!) So I gave myself a kick and headed for the guys house to buy the toys (what we were there for in the first place!!) I knocked on the door and he opened it, Albert Soden was his name (I will always remember Albert!) He was a World War 2 veteran, with medals on the wall and several missing fingers! (GENUINELY) He showed me the stuff and it was all amazing and in pristine mint condition, I was looking at several of them thinking “They are worth £500 each ($800) shit that one is worth over a grand!!! I explained to Albert that I had to get the train down etc and I only had £350, and he was delighted to sell them to me for that price. Some other dealers/collectors at the time said on various forums that they would have told the seller how much they were worth…..I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy that! Who is going to say “You want £10? no, no no, that is worth £500, I will give you £300!!” He paid pennies for them in the 70's and 80's and was delighted with his return on investment! He was so old school and gave me a handwritten receipt for my purchase, I have it framed now and keep it as a reminder of my first major deal. So for the £350, ($500) I sold the entire 38 figures for in excess of £15,000 ($25k) I sold most of them on eBay and some to major collectors in the U.S, Japan and Ireland. Left High School and went to University to study Economics (I figured that was the closest thing related to my fields of interest!) While at university I continued to wheel and deal in he vintage toy and antique market and it provided a great income for a student!!, I never had to take a job and it allowed me to indulge in eating out at restaurants and travel. It was also at this time in my life that I really started to dabble in trading stocks/shares, commodities and foreign currencies. I would do this through spread betting and also buying the shares. I graduated from university in 2005 (I got a first by the way ). This was a great time in my life, I started importing goods from Hong Kong and mainland China and selling them online and to companies in Scotland and the UK. I started off buying the items through a contact I’d met online, but then I decided to cut out the middle man and fly direct to Hong Kong and buy it all myself! I’ve been to Hong Kong 7 times and although every trip apart from one was for business, not one felt like a business trip! I was young free and single and making tons of cash, so I did what young free and single guys do… 5 star hotels, tons of women, tons of alcohol and tons of ego! Sadly my import business collapsed due to a combination of factors, namely price drops in the commodities I was selling and also more and more people starting to compete in the same market………Oh yeah, my excessive spending did not help either!! I found poker in 2008 and I love it, I have a true passion and it seems to have a bit of everything I love. It’s a strategy game, there is a lot of skill in it, but also that element of luck/chance that you have to accept and negotiate! I feel poker satisfies the degenerate gambling beast part of me, and to an extent, almost tames the beast! I aim to become as good a poker player as I can be, and hopefully by interviewing many of the games greats, it will help both me and you in the quest to become a great player.

My pod casts and more information are located at : www.Oneouter.com

EPISODE 103---David Medansky--- "Wholly Craps!" (listen to Episode 100 with David also)

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 22:43:00 +0000

Are You Winning at Craps? If you are looking for a consistent method of walking away from the craps table a winner, your complete guide to succeeding at the craps table is here!

Wholly Craps! by David Medansky, a word class authority on the game and trusted author, serves as a teaching manual that delivers the course material you need to achieve your goals in craps. This instructional book contains the essential information on the techniques as well as addressing the mental discipline that is required to master the proven strategies. Medansky takes a profound look into the game and breaks open not just one - but several betting methods that allow you to consistently win at the craps table. The "Medansky Methodology" is proven to give you the mental, psychological and emotional advantage to overcome the casino's hypnotic techniques to accomplish their mission - separating your money from you. Industry experts are calling 'Wholly Craps!' the most comprehensive manual to play and win at craps. Students applying the methods are calling it, "far more rewarding than our wildest dreams."

David Medansky is a practicing attorney who has studied a number of "games of chance" for more than 20 years. Medansky has worked with several professional gamblers to help develop his techniques and philosophy, and goes to casinos on a regular basis to refine his skills. Medansky shares his techniques at public and private events and personally teaches the game of craps on a full size craps table obtained from the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

Playing craps professionally requires you to avoid distractions, maintain mental discipline, adhere to precise rules and techniques, and to control your emotions. The greatest reward as a professional player is the freedom to “work” your own hours and to be your own boss. Playing craps as a business avoids typical problems and/or costs. For example, it requires no accountants, bookkeepers or attorneys to operate. You will have no collection problems with receivables, no inventory, no advertising, no “customers” and no employees, which means you do not need to contribute to employee benefits or taxes. Playing craps as a business requires no insurance, licenses, dues or registration. There are no “competitors” playing craps professionally. If anything, you have a commonality with other players at the craps table - to take money from the casino, not each other. Caveat: Playing Craps is Gambling! There are no fool proof systems, strategies or methods. You will not get rich overnight. There will be times when you will lose money. How you handle these loses will determine if you will be successful or not. Success requires a lot of patience.
All of this sounds great right? Wrong. Here are some problems with the logic. First, unless you live in Las Vegas, Laughlin or Reno, Nevada or you need to live in a geographical area where the local casinos operate craps tables. So there is a cost and expense to travel to Vegas to play craps.
Second, you will not win on every shooter. So you need to have a large enough bankroll to withstand some losses. An adequate bankroll is $3,500 of money you can afford to lose. Having an adequate bankroll is a must to ensure you have a proper psychological attitude. Herein is the problem because most people play not to lose instead of playing to win. Third, the majority of people who play craps do not have the discipline to stick with a betting strategy or to be satisfied with earning $200 per day, let alone per hour. Greed has turned many winners into losers. Fourth you need to have a betting strategy wherein you can make $25 on each shooter while minimizing your risk of loss. So you need to understand the basics of the game and then some. There are many different betting strategies that will allow you to win $25 on a shooter. Some are better than others. Again, the method I use is very simple and unique.

EPISODE 102---Ron Cramer---OFFICIAL RULES, REGULATIONS & PROCEDURES MANUAL FOR POKER

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 06:16:00 +0000

If you play poker in various casinos, you know that each one seems to have unique rules and procedures. This book tries to create a standardized set of rules for the benefit of the house and the player. Divided into 17 chapters, it covers general rules, dealing procedure, ranking of suits, betting terms, button procedures, stud-type games, draw-games, kill games, and Chinese poker. 74 Pages Paperbound 1998. Updated 2011.

EPISODE 101-----CRAPS WAGERING STRATEGIES USING ACTUAL ROLL DATA------Eric Cybulski

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:46:40 +0000

Many authors have written about the game of craps using computer simulations, statistics, or probability tables to represent the game outcomes. This book analyzes over 2100 actual rolls of the dice. The data is provided for you to test your own wagering strategies.
“In truth, to only use statistics is flawed because it totally ignores other factors such as individual shooter’s ability, shooter fatigue, shooter position at the table, casinos, table lengths, time of day, duration of the throw, etc., which indeed have an impact on the outcome of each and every roll.”

Like playing other games, learning to play craps and ways to win entails a sequence of steps. Much like other games, craps can be easy to learn and understand.

Craps is the fastest-moving, action-packed casino game especially when the dice is hot. There are 2 parties in this game, your bank. Since this game is associated complexity, you shouldn't be intimidated to try out since this game is easy to learn and understand. Craps is probably the loudest and one of the most exciting games in the home.

Eric's previous Podcast at Gamblers Book Club was Episode 55-- Craps Roll Strategies with Eric Cybulski. Check it out by going to the archives or telling I Tunes to find it at the Gamblers Book Club.

EPISODE 100---------David Medansky--- "Walk Away Craps " ---"Craps: Playing for the Money"

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:21:15 +0000

David Medansky--- “Walk Away Craps “ ---”Craps: Playing for the Money”

EPISODE 99--Hold'em Hands I Played Badly ----Michael Hesse

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 06:13:00 +0000

In a remarkably different approach from every other poker book, and a book that is written by a typical player for a typical player (not penned a TV pro) the author explains how he played hands badly, why he made those decisions, and afterward, why the plays were wrong and how they should have been played. Hesse has been charting his mistakes for 30 years as a tool for increasing his profits and avoiding bad plays in the future. This book is a result of the author’s painstaking effort. Readers learn from the thousands of dollars of mistakes and years of wrong moves made by Hesse and how they can avoid these struggles and instead, quickly get into profitable territory. As the author says, he wishes someone else had written this book so he wouldn’t have had to learn the hard way.

Michael Hesse has been a consistent winner at poker for three decades. A professional analyst of mathematical systems and a graduate of UCLA and MIT, Hesse became a part-time professional online and live poker player when he realized how much money could be made at the tables. For the last 35 years, he has been teaching professional poker players and other gamblers on how to increase their edge using systems he’s developed.

EPISODE 98--How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold'em--Ed Miller

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:15:04 +0000

Edward Raymond Miller (August 10, 1979(1979-08-10)) is a professional poker player and an author of books about poker. He wrote Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play with David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth in 2004. In 2005, he completed Getting Started in Hold 'em, a beginner's book. In 2006, he co-wrote No Limit Hold 'Em: Theory and Practice with David Sklansky. Miller is also co-author of the book Professional No Limit Hold 'em with Matt Flynn and Sunny Mehta published in 2007. His most recent book is Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em co-authored with Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn. Miller also writes an online poker column and manages a poker discussion forum. He is part owner and produces educational poker videos for Stoxpoker, a subscription fee based poker coaching site.

After prepping at New Orleans, Louisiana's prestigious Isidore Newman School where Miller was a standout performer on the school's renowned forensics team and in the same graduating class as noted author Christopher Rice and American Idol finalist Judd Harris. He was a member of the U.S. Physics Team. Ed Miller received degrees in both Physics and Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. Initially, Miller worked as a software developer for Microsoft. After many months of poker playing in the Seattle area, Ed moved to Las Vegas in 2002 where he met Dr. Alan Schoonmaker, the author of The Psychology of Poker . Schoonmaker introduced Ed to David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth of Two Plus Two Publishing, LLC.[3] Ed married Elaine Vigneault in 2005. In 2006, Miller was made over by the Fab Five of the Bravo television show, Queer Eye.

The Queer Eye summary: "You can't be in Vegas without running into a card shark and Ed is that card shark. But you wouldn't know it by looking at him. The wild hair, the overgrown beard, and the overall unkempt look keeps Ed from looking like the high roller that he is. He has a nerdy look but nerdy can be cool. Unfortunately, Ed hasn't gotten the 'cool' part. Even more unfortunate, Ed's parents lost their home during the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. This is a great time for our boys to 'make better' Ed and throw a poker tournament benefiting the relief efforts in New Orleans."

After living in Manhattan for two years, Miller now lives and works in Las Vegas.

EPISODE 97---Gambling, Space, and Time: Shifting Boundaries and Cultures -- David G. Schwartz

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:10:20 +0000

David G. Schwartz, the Director of the Center, has been at the University of Nevada Las Vegas since 2001.

As Director of the Center for Gaming Research, he oversees the acquisition of new materials for the Center and seeks to encourage its utilization by scholarly, media, government, and industrial researchers. He also created and maintains this website, gaming.unlv.edu.

Complementing his work at UNLV, Schwartz is a writer, and consultant on gaming and related issues. He has consulted with law firms for prior art in gaming patent cases, delivered expert witness testimony about casino history, and helped casinos research and share their own company histories.

As a speaker, he talks to a variety of audiences, from visiting classes to convention groups, who enjoy his wide-ranging, fast-paced introduction to casino topics, including his "Seven Things You Should Know About Casinos" presentation.

Born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Schwartz earned his bachelor's degree (a double major in anthropology and history) as well as his master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania before seeking his doctorate in US History from UCLA.

He became the youngest Ph.D. in recent memory from UCLA's history department, filing his dissertation and receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 26 in early 2000. His dissertation, Suburban Xanadu,charted the evolution of the casino industry on the Las Vegas Strip from 1945-1978. It is now a published book, the first of three currently available.

After completing his graduate studies, Schwartz worked in the surveillance department of an Atlantic City casino resort and taught casino history, communications, and hospitality courses as an adjunct professor, before coming to UNLV. In his current work, he combines his "real world" experience in the casino industry with his academic expertise.

For more information about Dr. Schwartz's creative and professional activities, including his speaking, executive seminars, and consulting work., visit his website: http://www.dieiscast.com.

Schwartz has written three books and numerous articles. His books include Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond, Cutting the Wire: Gaming Prohibition and the Internet, and Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. Suburban Xanadu is a look at how casinos began and developed on the Las Vegas Strip in the years after World War II, and how they changed late 20th century ideas of gambling. Cutting the Wire looks at how the Wire Act, the culimation of a half-century's effort to contain interstate bookmaking, ended up being used to prosecute legal online sports books in the early years of the Internet. Roll the Bones is a comprehensive history of gambling, from the dawn of civilization to roughly 2 AM, April 28, 2005, incorporating cards, dice, lotteries, horseracing, and several other forms of gambling. He also writes regularly for Casino Connection, Vegas Seven magazine, and Las Vegas Business Press. - For Casino Connection, Schwartz writes a monthly Atlantic City history column. - For Vegas Seven, Schwartz pens the weekly "Green Felt Journal" gaming and tourism column and occasional essays and feature articles. - For the Las Vegas Business Press, Schwartz writes bi-weekly opinion essays on the past, current, and future state of Southern Nevada's gaming industry.

The eight essays in Gambling, Space, and Time use a global and interdisciplinary approach to examine two significant areas of gambling studies that have not been widely explored--the ever-changing boundaries that divide and organize gambling spaces, and the cultures, perceptions, and emotions related to gambling. The contributors represent a variety of disciplines: history, geography, sociology, anthropology, political science, and law. The essays consider such topics as the impact of technological advances on gambling activities, the role of the nation-state in the gambling industry, and the ways that cultural and moral values influence the availability of gambling and the behavior of gamblers. The case studies offer rich new insights into a gambling industry that is both a global phenomenon and a powerful engine of local change.

EPISODE 96---VEGAS RAG DOLL--- WENDY MAZAROS

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:20:31 +0000

As a child, Wendy relished the small frontier town of Las Vegas. But as a teenager in the 1970s, Wendy's troubled home life and rebellious spirit led her to the legendary Horseshoe Club on Fremont Street, where she hooked up with Ted Binion, youngest son of notorious gambling figure Benny Binion. Her affair with the casino scion soon devolved into dalliances with high-rolling gamblers and suitcase deliveries of cash to Midwest mobsters. Binion then passed off Wendy like a trophy to Tom Hanley, a man thirty-nine years older who nonetheless drew her affections and ultimately married her. In partnership with his sadistic son, Gramby, Tom was a mob hitman. Wendy became a terrified and silent witness to his numerous crimes. Authorities say Hanley may have been responsible for more than twenty murders over three decades. Vegas Rag Doll paints a compelling portrait of the final years of organized crime in Las Vegas. In a fascinating era when legitimate facades disguised dark secrets, Wendy had a front-row seat - and a knack for survival.

EPISODE 95---The Gaming Table Edition 4 and The Chip Rack Edition 13 -- David Spragg-- Auction Chairman of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Inc., and owner of Marlow Casino Chips

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:34:00 +0000

The Gaming Table Edition 4—Chip, Check and Token Collectors' guide for Worldwide Gaming Establishments is now available for immediate shipping, or ordering for collection at the Superbowl Chip Show in Las Vegas. The Gaming Table is the leading source of identification for all known gaming establishments worldwide, past & present, licensed and unlicensed. The publication comprises an alphabetized listing of establishments and identified chips (where the markings on those chips do not otherwise identify their origin). The availability of manufacturer's records not previously in our possession means there is much new information in the latest edition of this constant work in progress.

The new edition has a whole new columnar format, similar to The Chip Rack, making it easier to read whilst continuing to provide all the additional data within the same single volume. Approx 800 existing listings have been consolidated, and a further 7,400 edits and new entries have been made so that this edition now contains some 31,400 records. The 4th edition of The Gaming Table was published in January 2012.

The Chip Rack Edition 13—A Price Guide to the Casino Chips and Checks of Nevada is now available for immediate shipping. The Chip Rack is the leading source of information for collectors of Nevada casino chips. With its all new design, the 432 page book now has detailed descriptions of 32,000 chips; house, roulette, baccarat, poker, commemorative and limited edition, making it the most comprehensive guide book available. Over 900 Nevada casinos are listed. Only 500 copies of edition 13 have being produced.

Since the publication of edition 12 in 2010, the editors have added approximately 2,000 new chip records to The Chip Rack, and have revised a further 2,000 existing entries in addition to price changes. We have once again maintained a single volume issue, with no change in price.

EPISODE 94---THE NAKED TRUTH IN A GENTLEMEN'S CLUB--by--VALARIE AMBER

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:46:00 +0000

This book specializes in the Gentlemen's Clubs in Las Vegas. Valarie Amber is well known in the industry as one of the top VIP dancers working in Las Vegas for the past 10 years. She wrote this book to help and educate young women all over who are considering entering the dance world in Las Vegas. This book will also help women who are currently working as dancers and it will also educate Society on the reality on how the Gentlemen's clubs in Las Vegas work. This book will help young ladies work in an environment that can be intimidating to those who visit or work in it. Thousands of dancers travel from all over the United States to work in the Gentlemen's Clubs in Las Vegas and millions of customers travel to Las Vegas to visit our Gentlemen's clubs. This is not your average Gentlemen's club. Because of the nature of the business mainly in Las Vegas, in this book, Valarie teaches the girls how to work safely and productively. The Las Vegas Gentlemen's Clubs are very different than your average strip club in any other state because of it's location and reputation of the city, Las Vegas. It's a whole different world not like any other- dancers and customers don't realize it until they are in it. This is the first book of it's kind which was originally written mainly as a guide for dancers but has surprisingly crossed over attracting high interest from men, women in other professions and now, society wants to know more.

Biography of “Valarie Amber”

My family moved to Los Angeles California when I was 5 years old and we have lived humbly ever since. My mother was a housewife and my father was a workaholic, very strict parents. Coming from a family of 5 brothers and sisters, we were always in competition with each other. I married at age 28 when my husband decided to become a drug addict, our marriage ended and caused me to flea from L.A. for my own safety & financial reasons and that’s when I discovered Las Vegas. Since I didn’t begin dancing at a young age like most dancers do, I come from a business background where I worked for private investors helping to open up various businesses and organizing the functions of the business. Also, I was involved in the entertainment industry, formally a Soul Train dancer, model, trained professional dancer, actress (playing extras on several TV shows etc…) and worked as an executive secretary for Channel 52 (Telemundo). My background gave me focus as I entered a world unknown to me and to the average person. I quickly had to figure out the type of business I became involved in and create a technique that would work for me to keep my reputation in good standing without running into trouble or getting involved with various groups that may cause me my future. I created and became my own media mobile for this industry and it worked for me. This industry showed me a different side of life and learned survival skills. For that I am thank full. It has made me who I am today and allowed me to explore areas of my life I would have never known. Prior to writing my book, dancers were offering me money to teach them techniques that can work for them. I ultimately approached one of the biggest Gentlemen’s clubs in Las Vegas offering to teach its dancers how to work in this industry in such a way that it would also benefit the club. Other clubs heard about what I was doing and inquired about my courses, trying to get me to teach in their facilities as well. Although soon after I had to stop teaching the classes to dancers when my older sister became ill of a brain tumor, I needed to help take care of her. At the same time, I also know that a huge need for training existed in this industry. I decided to write a book for the industry about how to earn good money as a dancer in a respectable way all the while taking care of my sister with her illness. As she passed, I inherited her kids and kept a solid promise to her that her kids will always be taken care of and that I would finish my book as she saw a huge need for this type of information to be told. Having worked in Las Vegas for the past 10 years as a tope VIP dancer and maintaining my status at my age proves that no boundaries exist that prevent a woman from being sexy and successful at any age regardless of the business she is in. Currently, I am working on my second book of a three part series of “The Naked Truth in a Gentlemen’s Club”. This industry has become a huge trend and an epidemic within dancers.

EPISODE 93--BY A NOSE-- Gambling Tales From A Horseracing Insider---Jim Gentile

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:16:00 +0000

Author Jim Gentile likes to gamble. It’s in his genes, thanks to his father. As a teenager, an $88 Quinella at Arlington Park hooked him. Since then, he has had many a lucky day. He parlayed his passion for “playing the horses” into a thirty-year career working at seven Chicago-area tracks. This book provides a peek behind the gate of the horseracing industry. It’s a humorous account of Jim’s experiences in the trenches as a teller, ticket room clerk, cashier, manager, and senior auditor, with plenty of opportunity to hone his skills as a bettor: “ On Wednesdays — payday — there were three lines at the in-town tracks: one line to get your check, another line to cash your check, and the third line was to pay back your gambling losses. If you only went to line one, you were way ahead of the game.”

An odd cast of characters is woven throughout these memorable stories. You’ll meet, among others:Gravelly-voiced Aunt Flo who blew her husband’s entire savings at the racetrack while he was on a WWII Navy ship. “Uncle Dick thought he was returning home to a comfortable nest egg, only to find out that Aunt Flo did not understand the nest egg concept — she had gambled away every cent. To his credit, as the story was told to me, Uncle Dick went on a four-day bender and Aunt Flo lived to tell the tale.”

Two overly eager co-workers whose wily wagers cost them their jobs: “By the last race Howie was in the box for over $76,000! With only one race left, his only hope was to hit the Trifecta. Hey, what’s another $24,000 when you are already stuck 76 large.” “Louie’s eyes were glued to the television, as the lead horse was ahead by 3 lengths on the backstretch. He quickly punched in $200 to win, the maximum bet the machine would allow, punched the number of the horse on the lead, and started hitting the repeat button. This feature allowed clerks to issue multiple tickets rapidly and Louie was working that machine like a construction worker holding a jackhammer.”

Tommy and his plan to rule roulette: “When the ball bounced around it landed on red, but only momentarily before it leaped into a black slot like a poisonous frog.” Tommy had fallen prey to a common condition called “Gambler’s Fallacy”. Simply stated, this is the “incorrect belief that the likelihood of a random event can be affected or predicted from other independent events.” The “law of averages” is one phrase that gamblers should strike from their vocabulary.”

Avid gamblers as well as non-gamblers will be highly entertained by a myriad of sagas, which also include sports betting, dog racing, and poker. By the end of the book, like the author, readers will end up asking themselves, “Is today going to be my lucky day?” You betcha!

EPISODE 92---ELLIOT FROME--CASINO GAMING ANALYST

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:52:00 +0000

Elliot Frome is a casino gaming analyst and the son of the late Video Poker Hall of Famer Lenny Frome. Lenny was a pioneer in the world of video poker and released a total of 9 books that revealed basic, intermediate and advanced video poker strategy to the general public for the first time ever. He died of a heart attack in 1998 but his son would continue in his father's footsteps with major contributions of his own to the video poker world.Education and Career

Like his father, Elliot possesses a natural talent for mathematics and computing that has proven extremely helpful in his gaming career. This became evident when Frome junior was still in high school. He was able to design a Blackjack analysis program nearly 25 years ago using nothing but his high school computer.

He put his gambling ambitions aside, however, to pursue a career in computer science. Elliot graduated from the State University of New York, where he majored in Computer Science and Business Administration. He spent 15 years as an analyst, systems designer and business analyst before finally deciding to get back to his roots and pursue casino gaming once again.Back to Video Poker

This time he put everything he had into the dream and designed a video poker analysis program to aid in his strategy research. Even though there were already several video poker programs available at the time, Elliot wanted control over his own program so he could tweak it as he wanted and update it for the newest video poker variants. He would go on to use this program for years to help develop optimum strategies for the newest video poker games.

Elliot now writes a weekly column for the "Gaming Today" publication and for the website "Casino City Times." His book titles include "Expert Strategy for Caribbean Stud", "Expert Strategy for Three Card Poker", "Expert Strategy for Four Card Poker" and "Expert Strategy for Five Deck Frenzy."

Elliot's personal website is www.gambatria.com . Although Elliot is well known for his video poker writings, his emphasis is actually on analyzing all the newest casino games. The titles of his books show how far Elliot has expanded into the gambling world.

Video poker is the one casino game in which players can gain an edge but his books on other casino games still come in handy for gambling enthusiasts. Whether or not a game is beatable in the long run, Elliot still provides expert strategy advice to help players make the best possible plays every time.

If you'd like to get your hands on some of Elliot's most prolific writing, you should check out the book "Winning Strategies for Video Poker." It was originally written by his father at gamblersbookclub.com.

Just keep in mind that the book was written by a major math mind, so some of it will be pretty advanced. You'll probably want to read up on our basic video poker strategies before tackling the advanced material presented in "Winning Strategies for Video Poker."

EPISODE 91---- ANTHONY CURTIS -- PUBLISHER-- HUNTING PRESS

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:18:00 +0000

Anthony Curtis is a blackjack player, gambling expert, and author. He is also the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor, a popular newsletter first published in 1983, about getting good deals in Las Vegas. Curtis became interested in gambling at the age of 16 when he received a book about blackjack as a gift. He made his first trip to Vegas shortly after turning 21 in 1979. In his capacity as a world-renowned expert on Las Vegas and gambling, he's frequently quoted in national media and has appeared on Travel Channel, Discovery, NBC, A&E, and BBC and has appeared on televised blackjack events like the World Series of Blackjack and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

Anthony Curtis is the author of Bargain City—Booking, Betting, and Beating the New Las Vegas(OUT OF PRINT and co-author of The Art of Gambling. Curtis has served as a consultant and gambling authority for Disney Studios; ABC’s "20/20", and NBC’s "Crime Story." Articles about or by Curtis have appeared in USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Casino Player, Chicago Sun-Times, L.A. Times, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Discover Magazine, the London Times, and other high-profile publications. Curtis has also been featured on "48 HOURS" and "DATELINE NBC." As a professional gambler, Curtis’ top tournament wins include $76,000 World Matchplay Blackjack Championship, $125,000 Atlantic City Craps Championship, $50,000 Las Vegas Keno Championship, and $60,000 Las Vegas Blackjack Championship. He is the publisher of Huntington Press and lives in Las Vegas.

EPISODE 90----LOST IN LAS VEGAS---AVERY CARDOZA

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:10:00 +0000

Avery Cardoza is the world’s foremost authority on gambling and million-selling author of more than 21 books including Winning Casino Blackjack for the Non-Counter, Official World Series of Poker Strategy Guide: No-Limit Tournament Hold’em, Poker Talk, and the encyclopedic How to Win at Gambling. In 1981, when even the biggest casinos refused him play, Cardoza gave up professional blackjack card counting and founded Cardoza Publishing, the largest gaming book publisher in the world. Cardoza is the home of a who’s who of authors in the world of gambling, including Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, T.J. Cloutier, Mike Caro, Tom McEvoy, Mike Matusow and Arnold Snyder.

Cardoza is a five-time Gold and Platinum award-winning designer (48th annual awards, National Paperbox Association) and the author of the 432-page bible on publishing, The Complete Guide to Successful Publishing, which the Publisher’s Marketing Association called “the most comprehensive guide on publishing…maybe ever.” The Guide has laid the foundation for thousands of writers and publishers in bringing their dreams to fruition.

Cardoza expanded his reach into the world of gambling in 2010 with the purchase of the Gambler’s Book Club (www.gamblersbookclub.com), rescuing a legendary gambling institution with a history dating back to 1964 when founders John and Edna Luckman first opened its doors. Publishers of more than 250 titles—including the first manual on hold'em poker, written by David Sklansky in 1976—and mentioned in over 1,000 others, the store has mentored untold numbers of authors, researchers, documentary filmmakers, and preproduction personnel from Hollywood and television during its almost 50-year history as the reigning authority on gambling publications. John Scarne, Walter Gibson, Sonny Reizner, and the great Harry Houdini are just a few GBC Press authors. Ex-mobsters, FBI agents, and law enforcement personnel regularly shop at Gambler's Book Club, as well as casino owners such as Steve Wynn, Jackie Gaughan, Bob Stupak, Carl Icahn and Jack Binion have patronized the store. In fact, pretty much anyone who was or is anyone in the gambling world has passed through the doors of the GBC. Nick Pileggi (Casino, Wise Guys), Jimmy Breslin (Damon Runyon biographer), and poker legends Brunson and Amarillo Slim are but a few of the memorable book signings that have taken place at the GBC. With the most extensive library of gaming books for sale anywhere, the GBC is an astounding 3,000-book superstore of gambling books—plus a wide range of biographies, Vegas interest items, Mafia titles, and popular games such as chess, backgammon and sudoku.

EPISODE 89----LAS VEGAS LEGENDS - WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:13:00 +0000

Greg Niemann graduated with a degree in journalism from California State University, Los Angeles, and is an accredited business communicator. He was a communications manager and publications editor with United Parcel Service for over 34 years before he retired in January 1995. Niemann was president of both the Los Angeles and Orange County chapters of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and was named Communicator of the Year by that organization. He has also served on the board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC).

He worked for UPS as a teenager in 1957-58, and then served in the U.S. Army in Germany where he earned the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) with the highest score in the battalion. He returned to UPS as a Hollywood center delivery driver, and was promoted into management where he edited the company magazine, the Big Idea, in Southern California. Later he coordinated the editing of numerous company publications throughout the West Coast, and often helped organize visits of key UPS executives. He has personally known every UPS CEO from founder Jim Casey to the recent Mike Eskew.

Since retirement, he has been a newspaper columnist and still contributes regularly to several publications. Presently, Niemann is on staff of the San Clemente Journal, writing the award-winning South of the Border column and a travel column featuring Palm Springs and other desert destinations. Most of his articles are travel- or Baja-related, including a series on the Baja missions along with numerous fishing and off-road racing articles.

Niemann’s books include Baja Fever, Baja Legends, Palm Springs Legends, Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS and Las Vegas Legends. The memoirs brought out in Baja Fever created a loyal following of Baja fans. Baja Legends, which focuses on the characters, events, and locations that put Baja California on the map, won an award from the Outdoor Writers Association of California, and is in its third printing. Palm Springs Legends has been one of the top sellers in all Coachella Valley bookstores since its release, and is now also in its third printing. Big Brown is in several languages world-wide, and Las Vegas Legends is being released by Sunbelt Publications in mid-2011.

A popular speaker, Niemann has presented numerous slide shows and/or book signings at venues including: Barnes & Noble, Borders, Costco, Discover Baja Travel Club; Distant Lands Travel Club, Book Expo America, and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. He is a member of the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, the Palm Springs Historical Society, the Las Vegas/Clark County Library District Foundation, and the Friends of Classic Las Vegas. He enjoys big game ocean fishing, fresh water fishing, and other outdoor activities, like hiking, bicycling, and rafting.

Niemann is a fourth generation Californian whose great grandfather at one time published the Pomona Progress and Independent. He and his wife reside in southern California. They travel as much as possible and also have a weekend home in Baja California, Mexico.

EPISODE 88-----Las Vegas Handicapper Michael W Hillin,College Football and Pro Game

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 01:01:00 +0000

2011 Pro Football Las Vegas Linemaker VI $29.95

By Mike Hillin Author/Handicapper

The Las Vegas Linemaker VI is designed to pick winners in pro football using power ratings and spread range charts. The degree of difficulty is equivalent to junior high math and is simple enough for new or experienced handicappers to use. The book takes about 20 minutes of your time to update weekly.

One of the basic fundamentals of football gambling is to determine if the point spread accurately represents the difference in relative strength of the two teams, or if it is a number to create balanced betting action. The power ratings will determine the relative strength between two teams. A comparison with the point spread will show you which team is getting value.

The spread range chart is used to track how teams are doing against the point spread. The rationale behind it is that odds makers are so closely in tune with how teams are doing against the spread. Odds makers tend to make teams that are doing well more expensive, and teams doing poorly more attractive. Power ratings will point out how much odds makers are compensating.

2011 College Stat Tracker $19.95 By Mike Hillin Author/Handicapper

The College Stat Tracker was created with a yardage per point system. The book has every NCAA division 1 college team with two stat pages each, to record statistical data for every game played. The yards per point system is easy to use and requires simple addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication.

A short exercise was added on page 9 to make sure the reader understands the calculations to achieve a theoretical score. The stat columns include team and opponent rankings, offensive and defensive points for and points against, first downs, rushing yards, passing yards, total yards, and offensive and defensive yards per point.

The second page lets you total those figures so you won’t have to go back and calculate them later in the season. The College Stat Tracker gives you the room other publications don’t.

About the Author:

Mike Hillin has been handicapping college and pro football for over 30 years and uses the material that has been the most successful for him. He has arranged this material in two solid handicapping books so that the reader has the best chance to succeed against the odds makers.

EPISODE 87---- THE LAS VEGAS CHRONICLES

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:13:00 +0000

A former casino executive and 12-year resident of Las Vegas, Andrew McLean was a table games employee at the Flamingo, the Dunes, and Circus Circus. He’s a graduate of Michigan State University, 1972, and along with his partner and soul mate, Liz (Jenny) Rouse, resides along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

McLean is the bestselling lead author of Investing in Real Estate (6th Edition) and co-author with George H. Ross, Donald Trump’s right-hand man in Trump Strategies For Real Estate; Billionaire Lessons For the Small Investor, published in four languages by John Wiley & Sons.

“The Las Vegas Chronicles by Andrew McLean is a truly remarkable read. After doing extensive research for my Las Vegas police and Mob books, I figured I knew most everything worth knowing about Sin City. At least that’s what I thought until I read this book.

“In The Las Vegas Chronicles Mr. McLean accurately tells his readers the history of the city, who the key players were—both good and bad, the celebrities, the gaming, trivia, it’s all there.

“I highly recommend this book to all readers. And if you’re a history buff, a Las Vegas fan, or a bit of both, The Las Vegas Chronicles is a must read."

—Denny Griffin, author
Policing Las Vegas,
The Battle for Las Vegas, CULLOTTA

“A wonderfully lucid and fascinating book of the Las Vegas scene during the mobster days and the transition to corporate ownership of the casinos. A fascinating book of stories, facts, and illustrations of one of the most interesting cities in the world. Andy’s personality shows though in his fluid writing style. A most enjoyable must-read book.”

—“BR” Bob L. Riley, Aerospace Engineer retired

"Very enjoyable and interesting read. Anyone with a gambling/Vegas background will be interested in this book.”

—Al Rainosek, Ph.D

EPISODE 86----The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More.

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:12:00 +0000

Jared earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, and became a licensed mental health counselor prior to becoming a mental game coach in 2005.

Barry Carter is a poker journalist from Sheffield, United Kingdom. He is the editor of uk.pokernews.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker, with mental game coach Jared Tendler.

EPISODE 85---YOU CAN/T MAKE THIS UP----STU MICHAELS

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:56:00 +0000

Telling a good story is a talent, and Stu Michaels was born with a silver tongue. A modern-day Will Rogers, Michaels has turned his experiences as a New York City detective and a Las Vegas casino security boss into a book full of rich and witty tales.

From a cop’s life on the streets of Brooklyn to hobnobbing with celebrities in the resorts of Las Vegas, Michaels delivers intriguing insights and nonstop laughs. He’s seen it all, from tracking the Son of Sam serial killer in New York to record shopping sprees with Michael Jackson in Las Vegas. Along the way, Michaels has met many of the world’s most famous and interesting people, encounters that
inevitably yielded a fascinating story.

EPISODE 84 -Trading, Buying & Selling of Casino Memorabilla

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:09:01 +0000

Sheldon Smith

Sheldon and his wife, Christine (known collectively as “Team Smith”), have been collecting for more than 25 years! First, they just had random items that “walked away” from the casinos with them – because they just liked them or forgot they had them! But, in the last ten years or so, they have collected casino memorabilia in earnest! “Team Smith’s” primary collection is $1 Nevada chips. However, some say their house looks like a mini-museum! Before leaving Chicago for Las Vegas, they helped organize the Chicago-land Chippers!

Until his retirement and relocation, Sheldon ran a not-for-profit educational institution (TestWatch Research Institute Ltd.) and he has been known to say that “Chips are much easier to work with than students and their parents!” Sheldon and his wife became members a little over ten years ago and have been very active ever since! In addition to serving as Vice-President, Sheldon is also both the Publicity Director and Education Director for the CC>CC.

As Publicity Director, Sheldon significantly expanded the number of articles, placements and announcements regarding the Club and the Annual Convention in national magazines and newspapers, all of which he hopes has helped the Club gain more national attention. Recently, Sheldon was instrumental in arranging for TV’s “American Pickers” to visit club member Doug Deems in Kingman, AZ!

As the Education Director, Sheldon arranges for interesting topics and knowledgeable presenters for the Educational Seminars at the Club’s Annual Convention. These seminars provide additional reasons why collectors of casino memorabilia -- and those who love the history of gambling across the U.S. and around the world -- come to the CC>CC Convention.

Sheldon has also brought PAYPAL to the Club. This provides an easier method of collecting dues and processing purchases from and for the club. He was also able to bring the CC>CC to eBay! Through eBay, the CC>CC now has access to the world’s largest online marketplace – and it to us! Under eBay rules, our Club is “not-for-profit,” which allows members to donate items for sale and now receive a tax donation letter.

Sheldon and Christine have 5.5 grandchildren and more are expected within the year! Their blended family has 2 sons, 1 daughter, 1 son-in-law, 1 daughter-in-law, 1 ex-daughter-in-law, 2 brothers, 2 sisters-in-law, 2 nieces, 2 nephews and assorted cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and pets – all of whom (except the pets!) are expected to be on the look-out for casino memorabilia, chips from wherever they all travel, and anything that is even remotely related to gaming, gambling, or games of chance! One of Sheldon’s Chicago friends affectionately dubs himself, “Sheldon’s chip-mule” because of all the chips he brings back from his many cruises!

EPISODE 83---"Don't Listen to Phil Hellmuth," Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt is one of the real success stories of online poker. He’s the “Average Joe” who started playing micro-stakes games and eventually turned that into millions of dollars and a sponsorship deal with PokerStars. In his first book, “Treat Your Poker Like a Business,” Schmidt revealed some of the secrets to becoming an internet success story and laid out the blueprint for how micro- and small-stakes players could follow in his footsteps.

Coming off the acclaim of his first book, Schmidt teamed up with Christopher Hoppe to write his second book, “Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth,” which claims to correct the 50 worst pieces of poker advice you’ve ever heard. The book is available for $49.99 either as a hard copy or a PDF file that can be loaded onto most popular e-reading devices.

The concept of the book is pretty provocative and clearly the title was meant to stir the pot and create a bit of controversy. For a book being sold strictly online, there’s some leeway when it comes to self-promotional methods, so I can’t come down too hard on the shameless attempt to grab headlines through the title alone.

Nevertheless, as a player who plays small-stakes games and looking to make the jump into mid-stakes games by the end of this year, I find myself agreeing with the concept of the book more and more: the advice we all heard when we first jumped into poker is woefully outdated. The books aims to take that advice and give it a real world spin.

The books starts with an unapologetic look at the advice of years gone by from poker commentators on television and instructors on websites. The tone of the book is much more analytical than anything else, which was a good move since a book with a bratty and spiteful tone would have lost a lot of readers. The introduction sets the tone well and demonstrates the reality that poker is an organic game that is constantly evolving.

The book consists of 50 chapters, each of which has a common misconception in the game of poker. Each chapter states the misconception and then deconstructs the truth and falsehood behind it while demonstrating its reality in today’s micro- and small-stakes games. Each chapter is about four pages long and most have hand history examples if the concept calls for one.

I’m sure there will be plenty of debate regarding the advice, but the idea is that the mind will be thinking about interesting poker spots. There’s a real world look at the games in the context of each misconception and there’s definitely bound to be some nuggets of golden advice for all readers in the 50 chapters in the book.

The book isn’t necessarily linear, meaning the chapters don’t have to be read in order to make sense. If you find some of the misconceptions particularly juicy from the table of contents, skipping to them is appropriate and doesn’t take away from the experience of reading the book.

The second part of the book is a section entitled “25 Hands with Dusty Schmidt,” where the authors take a look at hands from the mid- and high-stakes cash games and break down the play. There are a lot of interesting spots that Schmidt played and there’s a strong emphasis on playing back at an opponent type and range. Again, there’s bound to be discussion about the lines Schmidt took and the summaries given.

After about 80 pages encompassing those hand histories, the final part of the book is the “Study” section, which contains a 27-page, 60-question quiz. The answers to the quiz are given on the last page so you can check.

PokerNewsDaily Book Review

GAMBLERS BOOK CLUB GRAND OPENING--MAY 25, 2011

Mon, 30 May 2011 07:15:00 +0000

THIS PODCAST CONTAINS INTERVIEWS FROM GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE AND THE OWNER AND GENERAL MANGER OF GLAMBERS BOOK CLUB AT THE GRAND OPENING OF THE NEWLY RENOVATED STORE. THE CLUB IS ALSO PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF THE GAMBLERS BOOK CLUB STATE OF THE ART AUDIO AND HD VIDEO STUDIO. WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A FIRST FOR A BOOK STORE/CLUB IN THE WORLD AND HOPE WHEN IN LAS VEGAS YOU WILL COME AND VISIT OUR STORE AND STUDIO.

EPISODE 82---DONNA MABRY

Fri, 27 May 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Donna Foley Mabry

When Donna was five years old, her father gave her a red and white Singer sewing machine for Christmas. It was powered by turning a little wheel on the side, and it was just what the little girl wanted. Somehow, Mabry says, she already knew how to make simple dresses for her dolls.

Over the years, her machines included an old foot-treadle powered White, then her first electric, another Singer, with a cast-iron body that was so heavy she couldn’t lift it by herself. She made clothes for herself and her daughter, Melanie. When her children were small, she didn’t work outside of the home, but earned her own money dressmaking for wealthy ladies.

When the family moved to Florida, Melanie was fifteen and immediately became involved with the Venice Little Theatre. Soon, the whole family was spending their free time there. Husband Lonnie acted and helped with props, son David acted and did lights. One Christmas, David was a witches helper in, “The Wizard of Oz,” and grew so much over the summer that the next year, he was the Scarecrow.

The costume designer, Joan Dillon, taught Donna the finer points of costume construction. Over the years, Donna sewed, acted, and performed various other duties at the theatre, and her daughter went on to study acting and dance at USF and became a professional actor. That led both of them to Las Vegas.

Melanie came first, doing a show at the MGM Grand for a year, then deciding to settle down. She went into marketing, starting in events and tournaments at the Sahara, then working her way up to Entertainment Director at Harrah’s on the Las Vegas strip.

While she was working there, Melanie persuaded her boss to hire her mother to make costumes. Melanie introduced Donna to her friends and workmates, colorful people to say the least. She set up a work area for her Mom in the back of the dressing room. Soon, Donna was making notes on things she heard while she was sewing.

Donna hadn’t written since college, but thought about the interesting people and great stories and decided to stitch them together into her first novel, “The Last Two Aces in Las Vegas.”

Everyone in it is based on at least one real person. Some of the characters are two or three people put together.

“My leading man, Alberto, is actually three people, he has one person’s childhood, a different one’s early adulthood, and another’s older years. Many of the stories told in the book are true, and a few of them didn’t take place until after the book was finished. I’m very interested in what makes people do the things they do, so given their personalities, it wasn’t too difficult to see how they would react in certain situations. It‘s fun when a Vegas old-timer reads it and tries to guess who the character is in real life. Sometimes, the guess surprises me, and sometimes they‘re right on the money. It‘s not always who you might think.”

With four books now published in the series, the story lines seem almost endless. “These are sort of backwards mysteries, like the old TV show, Colombo. You know right away who the killer is, the mystery comes in finding out what will happen to trip them up,” Donna says.

EPISODE 81---THE FIX IS IN---

Fri, 13 May 2011 04:40:00 +0000

Professional sports in America: it’s all about fair play and the goal of winning championships. At least that’s the spin. But could it be a massive showbiz operation filled with greedy owners, crooked referees, and coddled players, all with the unstated goal of grabbing as much money as possible?

Author Brian Tuohy provides a full-sourced saga of the corruption that has infected the storied histories of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR.

With reality obscured by a complacent and often complicit sports media, The Fix Is In shines a light on a hidden history of clandestine arrangements between television networks and sports leagues, all against a background of drinking, drugging, and crime.

Finally, here’s a book that unflinchingly examines the sordid underbelly of the American sports industry.

Brian Tuohy maintains the website thefixisin.net and is a frequent contributor to the CBS Sports website bleacherreport.com, where he chronicles sports scandals and conspiracies as the stories break. Brian has been interviewed by The New York Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, andThe Power Hour radio program.

About the Author

Brian Tuohy's has been interviewed by ESPN, The New York Times, and Fox Sports, and has contributed many articles to The Bleacher Report.

Episode80---YOU WANT WHAT???--CONCIERGE TALES FROM THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO MAKE LAS VEGA SDREAMS COME TRUE

Sun, 01 May 2011 04:33:00 +0000

You Want WHAT???' is a story collection that takes you inside Las Vegas and shows you what guests from all over the world are really looking for in this 24 hour city. This book will have you laughing hysterically as you get inside awkward situations or hear embarrassing questions that guests have asked concierges... ...and the next second, you'll be tearing up at a particularly emotional moment a concierge experienced. What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. Dozens of the finest Las Vegas concierges were interviewed to create this book, and gave their strongest memories about being a concierge...from hilarious requests to touching moments. Note from Author: "As a Las Vegas concierge, reading these stories makes me smile, laugh, and sometimes cry. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of collecting them, and I hope you love reading them. This is the perfect gift for friends and family who love Vegas, or for someone considering vacationing there. Order today and take a journey through the concierge's life in Vegas!"

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/16988120/book-chronicles-bizarre-requests-made-to-las-vegas-concierges

Episode 79---DEAD NEON ---An Interesting and Important Book

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:12:00 +0000

The 14 contributors to this insubstantial anthology, most of whom lack science fiction publishing credentials, bypass focused extrapolation in favor of satire surrealism, and vaguely hinted catastrophes. The best of the lot is Chris Niles's "Sin's Last Stand," in which Las Vegas is finally overwhelmed by the tyranny of the religious right, sort of like The Handmaid's Tale condensed to 12 pages. Felicia Campbell's "4/18" destroys Vegas with a mysterious toxin that freezes gamblers, revelers, and debauchees in place forever. Vu Tran's "Kubla Khan" is genuinely haunting, and there is even a parody of Harlan Ellison in C.J. Mosher's "A Girl and Her Cat," but longtime SF readers looking for a richness of ideas won't find it here.

This is an interesting and important book. It blends serious literary intentions with what have been typically called genre concerns to make a collection that really speaks to contemporary fears in our culture.

Episode78-- Al Simon book The Think Tank The Poker Players Bible

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 03:17:00 +0000

AL SIMON, FROM CANADA , AUTHOR OF COUNT ME IN , HOW T PLAY BLACK JACK, TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK ON POKER CALLED THE THINK TANK THE POKER PLAYERS BIBLE. AL IS A WELL KNOWN BLACKJACK PLAYER AROUND THE WORLD AND IS ALSO A RESPECTED POKER PLAYER. HE VISITS VEGAS AND OTHER HOT SPOTS REGULARLY.

Episode77--Confessions of a Pool Hustler

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:26:00 +0000

As a youngster, Robert “Cotton” LeBlanc was introduced to the sport of billiards at a local bowling alley that owned one pool table in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 12 years old. A quick learner, he became skilled at the game and mastered it under the guidance of top billiards professionals in the state. After finishing school, he began traveling the billiards circuit across the country. During that time he learned new strategies and techniques from accomplished players like Buddy “The Rifleman” Hall, Wade “Boom-Boom” Crane, and Ronnie Allen. He soon earned the recognition and respect of the top pool players in the country by winning local, regional and statewide competitions. Some of Robert’s professional recognition includes:

AWARDS

1st Place Awards

Billiard Congress of America, National 8-Ball Championship Open Men’s Mixed Team.

Undefeated against 4,000 teams

One Pocket Tournament, South Bay Billiards, South Bay, CA

National Team Champions, McDermott US Team Open Championship, Las Vegas

US Scotch Doubles Hueber Cup VIII (partnered with top-ranked Women’s Professional Play, Robin Bell), Laughlin, Nevada

Miller Lite Regionals, 8-Ball Division, Chicago

Miller Lite Regionals, 9-Ball Division, Chicago

Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool Regionals, 8-Ball, Chicago

Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool Regionals, 9-Ball, Chicago

2st Place Awards

Western Division, McDermott US Team Open, Las Vegas

Andy Mercer Memorial 9-Ball Classic, Las Vegas

International Award

World One-Pocket Tournament, 5th Place, Reno, Nevada

FILM AND TV

Lucky Strike Cigarette TV commercial, technical advisor and trick shots for Michael Stone (Actress Sharon Stone’s brother)

Trick shot exhibition segment for MTV with host Carrie Wuher

Body double and trick shots in movie, “Hot Shots” for Carey Elwes

Technical Consultant for the movie, “Pool Hall Junkies” script; movie loosely based on Robert’s life

TV sitcom, “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” trick shots

PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL

Technical consulting for TV commercials and feature films. Working on sets with directors and actors.

Technical consulting for pool room start-ups. Clients and career positions with the Hollywood Athletic Club (CA), Events Sports Bar (CA), Rack ‘Em Up (CA), National Sports Grill (American Restaurant Group, CA)

House Pro, National Sports Grill (6 locations)

House Pro, Hollywood Athletic Club

House Pro, Jersey’s Sports Grill

House Pro, Kelly McCue’s

As the House Pro, responsibilities included running tournaments, technical consulting, private and group lessons, billiard sales, billiard maintenance, increasing sales.

League Director, National Sports Grill (6 locations)

League Director, Jersey’s Sports Grill

League Director, Kelly McCue’s

League Director, Plush Pocket

League Director, Yankee Doodles

As the League Director, responsibilities included organizing leagues, weekly stat reports, organizing banquets, organizing All Star Tournaments and Team Championships, training assistant directors, providing league manuals.

SPECIAL SKILLS AND INSTRUCTION

Billiards instruction for private and group lessons

Billiard league organization and supervision of more than 50 competitive leagues with more than 500 teams of 2,000 players

Trick shot exhibition; Challenge matches

Equipment evaluation/selection for billiards rooms, pros and students

Private party consultant at large and small venues

Episode76---No Limits by Chris 'Fox' Wallace and Adam Stemple

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:29:00 +0000

Casual poker fans may not be familiar with the online poker pro known as “Fox”, but Chris Wallace has been making a name for himself in the world of online poker for quite some time. Wallace isn’t simply an online poker player grinding away at the tables –although he does grind with the best of them—the name “Fox” is even better known for his theoretical work, insightful articles, and his terrific results as a poker coach.

Now the poker world will become even more familiar with Chris “Fox” Wallace. For his latest endeavor he has teamed up with Adam Stemple to author the new No Limit Holdem strategy book, No Limits: The Fundamentals of No-Limit Holdem.

At 227 pages, No Limits is broken up into 16 chapters with 3 Appendices and a Glossary, giving you plenty of material to digest. Each chapter also contains multiple sample hands, so you can see each concept in action. Although shorter than other poker primers, there is very little fluff in this book, and you’ll likely need to read the book multiple times, and will pick-up something new on each reading.

Before you even get to the quality of the advice, one thing you will notice immediately is the quality of the book itself. Little expense was spared in the printing process, including full-color depictions of playing cards in the sample hands, something I wish every poker book contained.

Episode75--ELIHU FEUSTEL---Conquering Risk: Attacking Vegas and Wall Street

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 10:11:00 +0000

About the Author

George S. Howard, Ph. D. is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. He has served as Chairman, Department of Psychology and Director, Laboratory for Social Research at Notre Dame, as well as the Joseph Morahan Director of College Seminar. He served as President, Division of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology and President, Division of Humanistic Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He also was the 1998 winner of Notre Dame's Faculty Award. Author of 14 books and over 190 scientific articles and chapters, his specialties include philosophical psychology, research methodology, narrative psychology and environmental psychology. Elihu D. Feustel, J.D. is a professional gambler. He was an insurance lawyer for 10 years until he began sports-betting full time. He was an odds maker and consultant for Pinnacle Sports in 2004-2006. His primary focus is on winning at sports betting. He still has a minor involvement in law mediating internet gambling disputes.

All manners of gambling are becoming increasingly popular in our society. Whether a person places a bet on sports or gambles on a stock, he is making a decision on risk. Most people need much more information than they have to make good decisions on either. A majority of the book focuses on sports betting. Four in-depth winning models are demonstrated for MLB, NFL, NCAA Football and WNBA. In addition to methods for handicapping these sports, there are explanations of a variety of approaches to exploit sports market inefficiencies and incorrect assumptions of bookmakers. The approaches to stock betting challenges commonly accepted knowledge. How important is diversification? Are investors in individual stocks just gambling? Is maximizing your portfolio growth worth taking on added volatility? Is sports betting a better investment than stocks for some people? The approaches offered to risk taking, especially sports betting are ground breaking, with more fresh ideas than ever seen in a single coherent publication.

The authors present a lucid and comprehensive guide for developing a plan to succeed at sports gambling in an increasingly complex marketplace. Whether you're interested in becoming a winner at sports betting or simply fascinated by the role of risk in our society, 'Conquering Risk' is must reading. --Jeff Haney, Sports Columnist

Episode74--RICHARD STEIN-WINNING CRAPS-NOT THE HARD WAY

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:54:00 +0000

RICHARD STEIN----“ My decision to write this book grew from years of frustration watching average people gamble in casinos. If you see gambling as a ego trip this book is not for you. It is not easy to beat the casino, especially for the long term. Winning craps, or any other casino game, requires patience and discipline. Reading a library of books left me with the impression that successful common sense strategies did not exist. Yet I knew better, having used specific craps strategies with long term success.”

“ My book provides a simple, direct approach identifying five secrets to successful gambling and how they are applied to specific craps strategies. I concentrate solely on the bets a player should make, teach hou to play for keeps, and explain why my method of play is best.”

Episode73-Best-Selling Author Jack Sheehan

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:22:00 +0000

Best-selling Las Vegas author and public speaker Jack Sheehan, who has written 18 non-fiction books including Buried Lies, Skin City, Class of '47, Quiet Kingmaker, Forgotten Man, Embedded Balls, Above Las Vegas, and The Players: The Men Who Lowell Thomas Award 1991

For Outstanding Land Travel Article In The United States titled, "The Loneliest Road in America" which appeared in Endless Vacation Magazines

Made Las Vegas, is available to write full-length, high-end biographies.

Nevada Screenwriters Award 1988

For "Buddies", optioned to Warner Brothers Motion Pictures and ABC television.

Western States Outstanding Journalist Award 1987

For magazine feature writing.

Also...

Inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award Vegas Golfer M

Episode72--Frank DiTondo ---A "Bettor" Friendly Guide to Profitable Handicapping for Novice and Seasoned Handicappers

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:59:00 +0000

Frank DiTondoFinancial services his profession, thoroughbred racing his passion! Frank DiTondo got hooked early in life when his father took him to Suffolk Downs in the summer of 1942 to see Whirlaway, the Triple Crown winner in 1941, run and win the Massachusetts Handicap. He became an avid student of the game, with an unquenchable thirst to learn, enabling him to grow from a novice teenager learning to read the Daily Racing Form to an informed and acknowledged successful handicapper.

Becoming an owner in 1986 by "getting his feet wet" in a racing partnership was a natural progression. In 1988 he teamed with Monica Driver and formed the White Sash Racing Partnership. Private ownership followed in 1993 after meeting John Parisella. That experience became the stepping stone to becoming the syndicator and managing partner of the Parisella Racing Group partnerships following his retirement from a major life insurance company. The contractual dissolution of PRG Silver Stables in 2000 led to the re-birth of White Sash Stable and a return to private ownership.

The lessons learned, knowledge, and experience acquired along with associating with accomplished and successful racing industry professionals, helped hone and refine his handicapping skills. The writing of One Minute Handicapper is the culmination of 63 years of learning.

"In The Beginning" chronicles the metamorphosis from"Hooked" at Suffolk the Summer of 1941 to the "Conception" of the OMH at Saratoga in August 2004.

One Minute Handicapper

Introduced in March 2007 The One Minute Handicapper has caught the attention of racing fans, racing industry organizations, companies and professionals worldwide.OMH Clients are from forty nine of the fifty United States and The District of Columbia and internationally from Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Trinidad

Episode71--TOM McEVOY---WSOP WINNER AND AUTHOR

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:45:00 +0000

McEvoy first cashed in the WSOP in 1982, finishing in 6th place in the $1,000 Razz event. The following year, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event, defeating Irish professional poker player Donnacha O'Dea heads-up to win the tournament.

McEvoy won the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. He was the first winner to earn his buy-in through a satellite tournament. His heads-up matchup with Rod Peate was the longest heads-up battle in WSOP history before being surpassed during the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event in 2006 by Chip Reese and Andy Bloch.

Since his two bracelet wins in 1983, McEvoy has gone on to win two more WSOP bracelets. He won the Razz tournament in 1986, defeating Alma McClelland, and a Limit Omaha tournament in 1992, defeating 1986 world champion Berry Johnston. But his luck in the WSOP Main Event since his championship win has not been so good. McEvoy's only other main event cash since 1983 was in the 2006 WSOP, when he finished in 371st place, earning $34,636.

In March 2006, Tom McEvoy won the third ever Professional Poker Tour event beating a field of pros-only at the Bay 101 casino. He defeated a final table that included fellow WSOP bracelet winners, Toto Leonidas and Hoyt Corkins.

Episode70--Lem Banker talks life and betting sports

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:30:00 +0000

Lem Banker's Book of Sports Betting has long been considered to be a classic in the field. After a long absence, it is now available in print again through the Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas. Banker's recommendations are worthwhile. Most interested sports bettors can learn from this legendary book.

This book has been out of print for more than 15 years but it's so legendary that people have been willing to pay $50 or more for a copy of it . Now, it is available in reprint form. Banker, a veteran of more than 40 years in sports betting, was co-authored by Fred Klein. They broke the topics into eight major sections and focused on betting football, basketball, baseball and boxing. Banker discusses what it was like to be betting in the pre-computer days and how information was gathered, evaluated and bet on. He explains why a professional gambler cannot afford to be a fan. His insights on why it's important to know how to watch a game or event on television is crucial, as are his views on handicapping services, his reasoning for when to be early or late and his insight into fixed games. Certainly the art of handicapping and where to get a big bet down has changed in the past two decades, but reading Banker's book is both a how-to bet and a history lesson, a lot of it covering how to survive; how to manage your money and understanding how tough it is to sustain a winning percentage and make a living over the long run. A whole generation has missed this wonderful book. It's now available for the first time in years. You'll like it, because it imparts knowledge and it makes good sense, to learn from a very classy guy. 182 pages, plastic spiralbound, January 2004 (Reprint)

Episode 69 -2010 NFL BETTING LINE & OTHER TIPS FROM FEZZIK

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:32:00 +0000

Jay Kornegay can't even imagine the odds.

Funny, because as the Las Vegas Hilton sports book's executive director, Kornegay spends every day dealing with numbers. But he thought it would be nearly impossible for anyone to win the Supercontest, the Hilton's annual football handicapping contest, two years in a row.

"It's such a long shot," Kornegay said. "It would be like UNLV winning the BCS National Championship."

Steve Fezzik defied the odds. Fezzik, who has bet on sports professionally for the last nine years in Las Vegas, finished with the best record in the Supercontest and won the grand prize.

Fezzik went 52-29-3 in the contest, in which each bettor picks five NFL games each week of the regular season, and won $196,800. It was the first time in the history of the 20-year contest that a handicapper won back-to-back titles.

"If you ask me what sport is my specialty, I'd say football, but it's really football contests," said Fezzik, who posts his weekly picks and is a moderator at lvasports.com. "To make a comparison, I would say straight bets in football are like cash games in poker. A player like Phil Hellmuth is a much better tournament player than cash games. I would say I'm a lot like Phil Hellmuth in football."

Episode 68 - Video Poker Pro Frank Kneeland

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:32:00 +0000

An attempted stroll through the somewhat cluttered mind of the author of
the only modern book on progressive video poker. In his book, Frank
Kneeland provides techniques and methods for finding the best-paying
machines and making winning progressive strategies. He also includes a
history of pro gambling with a spotlight on video poker & slot teams in
Las Vegas. He explains as well how the teams were structured and
operated and who owned them—sans last names of course. A mathematical &
computer genius, the author has avoided creating an overly mathematical
book. The Secret World of Video poker Progressives is instead downright
funny at times as was this interview. He provides information & formulas
for calculating true machine return (including meter-rise) using the
very same mathematics the teams used back in the day. 291 pages,
paperback, 2010.

Episode 67 - Poker Pro Dusty Schmidt

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:52:00 +0000

We sit down with Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt, a man who has made serious money in the world of online poker. Dusty has just authored a new book, "Treat Your Poker Like A Business", which is selling well at the Gambler's Book Club. He discusses why online play can be more profitable than live games, how to identify good games and bad players. He also talks about his dedication to the game & the hours he has played online, and the need for discipline and a bankroll strategy. Dusty Schmidt is 29 from Portland, OR

Episode 66 - Sports Betting Maven Beth Raymer

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:02:00 +0000

Beth Raymer discusses her new book, Lay The Favorite, in which she relates her story of working in the sportsbetting world at a time of massive expansion. Beth became the right-hand "man" of a well-known sports bettor.

Episode 65 - P. Moss, Barkeep & Author

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:08:00 +0000

This episode's guest is P. Moss. A gamblers and a bar owner, Moss now has turned author with "Blue Vegas" a collection of tales that is an undiluted look at this city of sinning, winning and everything in between. The book probes the dark, human stories lurking in the neon shadows, Blue Vegas represents the work of a writer who knows Las Vegas and is a keen observer of its diverse population. These seventeen stories explore the clash between old and new Las Vegas, and the quest for scraps of love and dignity amid the ruins of the lives of hasbeen showgirls, desperate killers, degenerate gamblers and quickbuck mercenaries. The debut title for CityLife Books, Blue Vegas shines a light on the hard luck, faded dreams and lingering anguish faced by people who've been trampled by this singleminded city.

Episode 64 - Poker expert Dana Smith

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:33:00 +0000

After a two-month break, we're back with another episode of our podcast with another great guest. Author & former publisher Dana Smith talks with GBC's own Howard Schwartz about gambling, poker, new books, and the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP). Listen as two people who've been there as the poker world has evolved for the last three decades talk poker memories & poker happenings.

Episode 63 - Linda Johnson, First Lady of Poker

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:06:00 +0000

Linda Johnson, a well-known and well-respected person in the poker world, sits down with us and lets us pose endless questions to her. We discuss her life, her publications (past & future), and her own Card Player Cruises, as well as who she feels are some of the best players out there today. Linda even gives us an intriguing prediction about online poker and the future of the UIGEA.

Episode 62: Jerry Izenberg Talks About Sports Journalism and More

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:45:00 +0000

For close to six decades, Jerry Izenberg set the standard for the written word in sports information. During his years with the New Jersey Star-Ledger, which began in 1951, he brought sports to life not by recording hits or goals or transactions or salaries but by writing about the sportsmen themselves. Because of his straightforward reporting, Jerry includes among his friends the likes of Muhammed Ali and Larry Doby, two of the many people he talks about in his bio Through My Eyes: A SportsWriter’s 58-Year Journey. Inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey in 2000, Jerry won the prestigious Red Smith Award from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In this interview he discusses many of the highlights of his career of the people he met and of the events he covered. A graduate of Rutgers University, he has a passion for sports journalism and discusses the state of sports and journalism and what makes a great sports writer.

Episode 61: Willy Allison Discusses Casino Protection

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:25:00 +0000

Willy Allison worked surveillance in casinos worldwide for 15 years before becoming a vendor for digital technology. He got his start in the casino industry in 1987 as a trainee surveillance operator in Australia. In 2005 he founded World Game Protection to provide better information and education on game protection within the casino. Annually, he presents the World Game Protection Conference at the Las Vegas, a conference, panel, forum for casino surveillance personnel only. From its inception in 2006, the conference has become a must-attend event by industry insiders interested in discussine threats to casino gaming and to offer solution options for resolving those threats.

Episode 60: Fezzik Talks Football Handicapping

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:35:00 +0000

Winning a football handicapping contest takes a ton of effort .... Winning a football handicapping contest back-to-back takes a ton of effort and a ton of talent. In the history of Vegas handicapping contests, starting with the original at the old Castaways, through the Stardust and up to the Las Vegas Hilton, nobody has ever won two years in a row. Until now, that is. The honors go to this week's podcast guest Fezzik, a local handicapper and bettor who made a name for himself last year when he anted up his $1500, chose his five teams a week and finished at the top of the heap. In 2009, his record of W53 L29 T3 earned him the title again and the prize of $196,800. The "football hero" talked at length about sports betting, how he goes about handicapping, and his road to success.

Episode 59 - Video Poker Author Linda Boyd

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:51:00 +0000

Linda Boyd, now living in Arizona and author of The Video Poker Edge (How to Play Smart and Bet Right) offers tips, advice and caveats about playing the video poker machines. She's energetic, informative and has hit many a jackpot herself using strategies in her book. She's sharp in mathematics and his been writing for a variety of publications on the proper way to play the machines. In this interview, she'll tell you what to look for, how to protect yourself and what the smartest players know.

Episode 58: Sam and The Duke Share the Mike with Howard

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Downtown Las Vegas poker fans know this week's guest by their action. Sam O'Connor, author of How to Dominate $1 and $4 No-Limit Hold'em and Tales of Old Vegas, writes regularly for Poker Pro magazine. His favorite subject is the character known as The Duke, a tight player who has mastered the no-limit game by playing it by the book. Both men spent their afternoon discussing poker strategies, poker people, poker stories and everything else poker. Howard started the conversation with Sam, but soon the three of them were talking like old friends sitting on at a sidewalk cafe, sipping an after-dinner drink and sharing their knowledge and experience. This, the last podcast of 2009, was a fitting broadcast.

Episode 57: The Godfather of Poker-Doyle Brunson

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:18:00 +0000

No matter which name you use, Doyle or Texas Dolly or Mr. Brunson, it's for certain the name, Doyle Brunson is not just synonymous with poker champion but also is synonymous with poker in general. Everybody who has played the game or watched any poker on TV knows the name. Brunson, who has authored a few books, visited Gamblers Book Shop for this podcast and while he was in the store, signed books for dozens of folks who came by solely for that purpose. By the end of the two-hour visit, fully 80 people walked out with autographed copies of The Godfather of Poker, while others opted also for signed copies of the Super Systems and two other titles. Most stayed to listen to Brunson talk about his early days in poker, his view of today's poker scene, the popularity of doylesroom.com and myriad other topics.