BOOKS THREAD

[Moderator1]

Well, it wasn't Burt Reynolds.

 

[Abe Froman]

Daddy Mack/Mack Daddy,
Homicide was decent, and you can see the background for some of The Wire's storylines. I'd bet The Corner is probably better though.

And I'm not going to go back through the thread to find out who made the suggestion re: Venkatesh's "Underground Economy of the Urban Poor" but that was really good. Thanks for the heads up.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I am currently attempting to read "23 Days in Korea" about a fanboy looser's trip to the World Cup. Tucker Max's book was Pulitzer material compared to this mess.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

In an ongoing effort to improve my poker game, I'm going to buy a poker book(s). I've been thinking about getting Dan Harrington's three-volume set, but wondered if anyone had suggestions. Thoughts?

"Double Down" by Frederick and Steven Barthelme. One of the top first-hand accounts about organized gambling. The brothers, both creative writing professors at Southern Miss, inherit a shirtload of money. Gamble away their entire newfound fortune and are charged with cheating at the tables. The book takes a long look at the mystical side of playing cards -- the feel of the cards, the sounds of the chips and the crowds, the cultural quirks of the floating casinos, and examine what makes people want to keep coming back for more. "What you ask when you're arrested for the first time is: How long is this going to take? Or, more properly, like surgery, how long will this last?"

 

[zeke12]

This isn't the first time I've had to admit something humbling, but just finished my first Dan Jenkins book. I'd found "The Money-Whipped, Steer-Job, Three-Jack, Give-Up Artist" in hardback cheap somewhere and it had been on my shelves for a little while. Picked it up and polished it off pretty quick. Entertaining, funny read. Nothing deep in the plot, but he certainly had the Billy Joe Grooves voice down.

Go find Dead Solid Perfect.

Semi Tough.
Stat.

Followed quickly by You Gotta Play Hurt.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

In an ongoing effort to improve my poker game, I'm going to buy a poker book(s). I've been thinking about getting Dan Harrington's three-volume set, but wondered if anyone had suggestions. Thoughts?

"Double Down" by Frederick and Steven Barthelme. One of the top first-hand accounts about organized gambling. The brothers, both creative writing professors at Southern Miss, inherit a shirtload of money. Gamble away their entire newfound fortune and are charged with cheating at the tables. The book takes a long look at the mystical side of playing cards -- the feel of the cards, the sounds of the chips and the crowds, the cultural quirks of the floating casinos, and examine what makes people want to keep coming back for more. "What you ask when you're arrested for the first time is: How long is this going to take? Or, more properly, like surgery, how long will this last?"

Very interesting book. I never pass what they refer to as the "12-14 sign" on US 90 coming south from Hattiesburg without thinking about that book now. (They used to call folks and tell them where they were by refering to the "I-10 12/Gulfport 14" mileage sign.)

One caveat: The story happened long before the poker boom. Their game is blackjack, but it's still enlightning about the obsessive gambling experience.

 

[Jones]

In an ongoing effort to improve my poker game, I'm going to buy a poker book(s). I've been thinking about getting Dan Harrington's three-volume set, but wondered if anyone had suggestions. Thoughts?

If you're naturally a patient player, then Harrington's stuff is the best you can get. But his style is definitely not for everybody: lots of by-the-book play, very tight, with the occasional mind-blowing move. It's also best for tournament play, I'd venture. If you're a cash game player, his system might be too tight for you. Some of the best tournament players -- Harrington, Jesus -- don't play a lot of cash. Different beasts.

So, basically, you have to decide what kind of player you want to be, and then work on a system that will work for you. Again, Harrington, if you want to be a tight tourney player, is the best there is.

A surprisingly decent beginner's book (If! you! can get past! the exclamation! points!) is Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros. It's a really light read, but it has some pretty decent tournament strategy in there.

The sequel -- Bad Beats -- is terrible.

 

[MC Sports Guy]

In an ongoing effort to improve my poker game, I'm going to buy a poker book(s). I've been thinking about getting Dan Harrington's three-volume set, but wondered if anyone had suggestions. Thoughts?

If you're naturally a patient player, then Harrington's stuff is the best you can get. But his style is definitely not for everybody: lots of by-the-book play, very tight, with the occasional mind-blowing move. It's also best for tournament play, I'd venture. If you're a cash game player, his system might be too tight for you. Some of the best tournament players -- Harrington, Jesus -- don't play a lot of cash. Different beasts.

So, basically, you have to decide what kind of player you want to be, and then work on a system that will work for you. Again, Harrington, if you want to be a tight tourney player, is the best there is.

A surprisingly decent beginner's book (If! you! can get past! the exclamation! points!) is Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros. It's a really light read, but it has some pretty decent tournament strategy in there.

The sequel -- Bad Beats -- is terrible.

Thanks. I'm definitely not a cash game guy, as I prefer the tournament format. I play pretty tight, which is why I was leaning toward Harrington. I think I'll give that a spin.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Del B, amazing. I've had the same thoughts along that stretch. I think of the brothers every time I see the poster(s) here. The brothers' redemption is the book itself.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Del B, amazing. I've had the same thoughts along that stretch. I think of the brothers every time I see the poster(s) here. The brothers' redemption is the book itself.

LJB --
In your bailiwick, I'm having a great time reading Sean Wilentz' Rise of American Democracy.
The Wilmot Proviso!

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Fenian, I think you'd dig this book.

It traces the formative role of newspapers in the political process, the power printers began to wield in the democratization of their readers and really understands the star-crossed marriage of journalism and politics.

Wilmot is a great dog name. I'm going to give that one a run. heck, Proviso's a good dog name, too.

 

[Huggy]

Still on my fiction thriller kick.

Read a couple of good ones recently that we picked up at the library: The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer (good story but I really liked all the inside Washington stuff) and Mission Road by Rick Riordan (fast-paced read with a clever ending).

 

[Moderator1]

Rick Riordan is excellent. Go get Big Red Tequila and some of his earlier stuff.