It’s no news that cheating pervades American culture. Americans cheat on taxes, tests, sports and spouses. But the largest arena for cheating may be at the poker table! With an estimated 60-80 million Americans playing poker every week—for the highest stakes ever—you can be sure that not everyone is playing by the rules!
In this fascinating look at the card sharper’s art—from its origins in Renaissance Italy to the high-tech methods of today—sleight-of-hand and deception e
Price:
Poker is a game of many skills and to become an expert poker player you need to master them all. This includes concepts such as hand selection, position, proper image projection, and reading hands. However, there are many players who have mastered most of these skills yet they still do poorly in the games — at best they are only small winners. And when they step up in limit and challenge the better players, they almost always fail. You see, knowing the concept is one thing, putting it all toge
Price:
Solid, interesting, and well-written!,
Allan Kronzek tackles cheating in poker as a magician and treats the subject with a conjurer’s dispassion. This is a relief; if there’s one thing we don’t need, it’s another self-congratulatory, non-falsifiable “insider’s” story of how to cheat people. Instead, we get a quick but surprisingly serious volume that manages to feed the reader some history amid the tricks.
The title isn’t an attempt at misdirection: after a brief introduction, Kronzek runs through 52 short chapters, each detailing one or more methods of cheating. Generally, Kronzek explains the technique involved, offers notes on historical uses, and closes by telling the reader how he can protect himself. Miscellanea scatter throughout the text, such as reproductions of cheating house catalogs and excerpts from landmark books, enliven the story.
52 Ways is written to be accessible to a novice who doesn’t know a shiner from a holdout. But even veteran card mechanics could probably learn a thing or two from this book. Whatever your level of experience, reading 52 Ways will at least help you appreciate the ways that you can be cheated.
That’s the rub: Kronzek is honest enough to admit that no anti-cheating tactic is absolutely guaranteed. The final proof is in the pudding: if you find yourself losing one suspicious pot too many, you should suspect malfeasance.
If nothing else, incorporating some of Kronzek’s anti-cheating suggestions into your “friendly” home game will, at the very least, raise the bar for cheaters and help to keep honest players honest. You’ll also gain a deeper appreciation for the ingenuity with which cheaters have approached poker.
There’s only one class of person who I’d warn away from 52 Ways: those that combine a tendency towards paranoia with an overactive imagination. If you’re the kind of person who can’t browse WebMD because you start imagining you have symptoms for every malady you read about, perhaps this book is not for you. By lifting the veil on cheaters and the innumerable deceptions, Kronzek has made sitting at any card table a supreme act of faith-and vigilance.
Was this review helpful to you?
|A new approach,
This book is a pleasant surprise. The author updates all of the standard cheating methods that have been described in the past, and adds many new ones that can be used in Texas hold ‘em and other popular games. He also provides a context for the scams, and shows how many go back several hundred years. I doubt that anyone can learn to deal “seconds” or “bottoms” by reading this book, but that doesn’t seem to be the intention. Rather, you learn what these techniques are, what they are used for–and there are several surprising uses–and what to look for during a game. The “protection tips” alone are worth the price of the book. It’s also a good bedside read. Two chapters and lights out.
Was this review helpful to you?
|A must if you plan to run a home game,
I bought this book as a joke. I was going to give it to a friend and tell him “this was his best chance to become a winner…..ha ha.”
Well, there was a local player caught cheating using techniques similar to those included in this book. He took $$$thousands. Not so funny. This book demonstrates the importance of relatively simple techniques (such as using cut cards, plastic cards, always cutting, etc.).
Parts of the book are really dated and are used more for their historical value (and humor). But most of this book is a “must read” for anyone running a home game.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Inside “Inside the Poker Mind,” pros and cons,
This book is more of a “Best Practices” poker book in many ways.
Here’s the real skinny on the book and the reviews as I see it.
TRUE:
1. This book should not be the first poker book you read. But reviewers neglected to mention that the author himself states this in “General Poker Concepts” and suggests many starter texts.
2. This book does spend significant time on topics other than what’s going on inside a poker player’s mind. The author might do too much of that, but it’s clear that he does so to provide supporting info. The sections contrasting the thoughts of average vs advanced players do treat the subject and perhaps they deserved more emphasis.
3. Yes, the author does criticize non-limit and tournament play. Playing in casino situations is very differnent from tournaments where the chips don’t represent real money dollar for dollar. Nobody said it doesn’t take skill to win. It’s just a different skill set. Truth be told, there are plenty of great tournament books if that’s what you are into.
FALSE:
1. No, it is not fair to say this book is unoriginal. Nor is it accurate that Sklansky’s and Malmuth’s books cover everything in this book. This book has some really great real world examples of poker logic spelled out much more clearly than in other books. It doesn’t have to be the definitive poker book to be a valuable read.
2. While the book does start out a little slow, I found the stories very funny. For those who play in casino or card-room games, you will find humor in reading Feeney’s examples of mistakes that you have seen yourself and others make. I did.
3. One point needs clarification before some unsuspecting person goes and drops $2K in Vegas after reading this book. Reading this book will NOT save you thousands of dollars. No book will save you $. Only UNDERSTANDING the concepts the book trys to bring across will actually make you or save you money.
On pg 62, he writes, “Education in poker theory reduces one’s susceptibility to illusions which can interfere with good play.” Man I wish I could believe this. I think his advice to seek psycotherapy might do more to that end.
So many people read a few books and lose their shirts because of false confidence. While I totally understand the value of the material, value cannot be derived by reading it. It must be digested, pondered, and mastered to be valuable.
The coolest thing about this book is the relevance of the examples. Every topic, from reraising the weak to calling on the end, was treated in a real world way that I have observed in casino play. A great example is “Maximizing the Set” on pgs 127-128. So many books treat these concepts abstractly. I must say that I did not fully understand much of this till I read this book.
Again, the outline of the way bad players think was the hallmark. It talks about things that not only stop you from making mistakes but help you identify the saps in a real game. Perhaps the treatment of tilt could have been more explicit. But his unique viewpoint provokes thought, even though it comes along with resistance.
There’s a common quote that goes, “If you look around the poker table and don’t see any suckers, you’re it!” I would strongly advise anybody reading the sections on advanced vs. weak player thoughts to read the hands and honestly evaluate what they would be thinking if they drew that hand before reading the author’s explaination. This is a serious wake-up call to those who are unknowing maniacs or overconfident goats.
Overall this is a very practical read that deserves the attention of anybody looking to increase their hourly rate in actual casino and card-room play.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Worthwhile, but not for the beginner,
Overall Inside the Poker Mind should be part of any serious poker player’s library. However, it shouldn’t be one of the first books read about poker. Quite frankly, beginning players won’t get much out of it, and most who have (that I know of) are dissappointed.
For the intermediate to advanced player, the subjects addressed should be extremely useful. For the most part, the book focuses, as the title implies, on different ways of thinking rather than strict tactical plays. Example: in the “strategic moment” section, the author contrasts what the average player thinks as opposed to what the advanced player considers. In this way the author illustrates the depths of poker.
Overall very worthwhile if you’re ready for it.
Was this review helpful to you?
|This Is the Book for Any Player Looking for Something Deeper,
Feeney has produced an extraordinarily deep work. The sections discussing the thought processes of an expert poker player are truly eye opening, and offer an insight into the complexities of the game that most books fail to capture. The book is exceptionally well-written — exceptional in the sense that most great poker players are not great writers and most great poker books are, well, written by great poker players. (Slansky & Malmuth essentially open their “Texas Hold Em for Advanced Players” with an apology for their poor writing). This is not a book for beginning poker players, but I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who has become familiar with basic poker theory. I had read about a dozen books on poker and hold ‘em before I came to this one. No book before or since has made me feel so excited about the game.
Was this review helpful to you?
|