Poker is an extremely complicated game, especially if you play Texas hold 'em or seven-card stud. In addition, the typical opponent has gotten tougher as more good information has become available. As a result, those of you who just play tightly (also known as playing ABC) are able to win only at the lower limits. To win at higher limits requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game. This text contains essays written before 1991, most of which originally appeared in "Card Player magazine. Topics covered include general concepts, technical ideas, structure, strategic ideas, image, tournament notes, in the cardrooms, and poker quizzes. In addition, advice is offered on jackpot games, handling pressure, why you lose, fluctuations, bankroll requirements, differences between stud and hold 'em, too many bad players, limit versus no-limit, thinking fast, weak-tight opponents, the best hold 'em seat, playing short-handed, playing loose or tight, appropriate image, being an alternate in tournaments, taking advantage of tight play in tournaments, behaving professionally, the future of poker, and much more.

This text contains essays written from 1991 through early 1996. Topics covered include: General Concepts, Technical Ideas, Structure, Strategic Ideas, In the Cardrooms, Quizzes, Erroneous Concepts, and Something Silly. In addition, advice is offered on handling rushes, moving up, poker skills, simulations, maximizing your expectation, betting when first to act on the river, whether limit hold 'em, should have two or three betting levels, playing the overs, adjusting to the big ante, how to play well, low-limit hold 'em, how many hands you should play early in a tournament, chopping the blinds, cardroom theory, and much more.

Poker is a game of many skills and to become an expert poker player you need to master them all. They include selecting hands, playing position, projecting the proper image, and reading hands. However, many players who have mastered most of these skills still do poorly--at best they are small winners at lower limits. When they step up in limit and challenge the better players, they almost always fail. You see, having the skills is one thing, putting them all together is another. As the text will show, winning poker requires a lot of thinking as well as a thorough and systematic approach to the game, and that is what this book is about.

This text contains essays written from 1996 through early 2001. Topics include: General Concepts, Technical Ideas, Strategic Ideas, In the Cardrooms, Hands to Talk About, The Ciaffone Quiz, and Two More Quizzes. In addition, advice is offered on which game to play, controlling steaming, marginal hands, selecting the best game, bluffing, unusual strategies, raising with suited connectors, keeping poker honest, reading hands, checking aces, and much more. As with the first two books in this series, "Poker Essays, Volume III is designed to make the reader do a great deal of thinking. In fact, very few readers will agree with everything this text offers, but the information provided should help most people to become better poker players.

Designed to aid the serious player beat the games in today's modern casino environment. The days when you could simply master a count and expect to be a winner are gone forever. As a result, winning at blackjack requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game. Unlike most blackjack books, this text assumes that you already know how to count cards, and it introduces techniques that should be useful to the successful player. The topics covered are card domination (more commonly known as shuffle tracking), theoretical concepts, blackjack biases, current blackjack, mistaken ideas, supplemental strategies, playing in a casino, obsolete techniques, and front loading. In addition, advice is offered on gambler's ruin, the one-deck game, back counting, betting strategies, heads-up play, becoming a professional, casino preparation, first basing, and much more.

A hard-hitting guide to the best strategies for the most popular casino poker games--seven-card stud and Texas hold 'em--plus insights into winning at Omaha, Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud eight-or-better, razz, and lowball.

Is must reading for anyone planning to play hold 'em. It was the first definitive work on hold'em poker and was originally published in 1976. Yet it is still one of the best-selling poker books available, and in 1997 it was expanded and updated to account for today's modern double blind structure. The text is designed for someone relatively new to the game, but it still contains much sophisticated material which all players should find beneficial. It is probably best known for the Sklansky Hand Rankings, which made the game much simpler to quantify and understand. Some of the topics include how Texas hold'em is played, the importance of position, the first two cards, the key flops, strategy before the flop, semibluffing, the free card, slowplaying, check raising, heads-up on fifth street, and how to read hands.