Scarne's Guide to Modern Poker

Humility is not one of John Scarne's traits but he has room to talk. The man is a genius in the realm of statistics, gambling, and gaming. He is self taught which makes his intellect even more astounding. That aside, this book is all you need to play poker and play it successfully. By following the guidelines set forth by this genius it is only a matter of time before your experience catches up with your knowledge and you will be unstoppable. Ok, maybe it takes alitte more work then that but you get the point. Scarne's books are the best, hands down. If you can find some of his older book (Scarne on Cards is my recommendation) pick them up. They are invaluable.

Scarne's Guide to Modern Poker, though over 20 years old, holds more useful info on poker than I've seen in any other poker book. Scarne covers topics such as rules for Draw and Stud Poker, with many variants, some major poker probability principles, money management in poker games, which poker games to avoid, and popular poker cheats (something most poker books ignore). This book deals exclusively with real poker games, played in a group of people, where the only possible house take is a fixed percentage or amount per pot (and he shows you how to figure out if a commercial poker house is giving you a bum deal). If you want to learn how to deal with video poker or casino poker games like Caribbean Stud, let me tell you right now -- you can't possibly make money in the long-term playing those games. Scarne himself will tell you this in one of his other gambling books.There's basic sound advice to be found in this book, advice you will find elsewhere: obvious things such as don't borrow money to play poker, don't play against people highly superior to you at poker, and don't play when drunk or emotional (unless you really want to lose money). However, there's advice I haven't seen elsewhere (except when they're copying Scarne): ways to prevent common card cheats, ways to calculate whether one should stay in a pot based on pot size versus your odds, and ways to mix up your play, so as to make people uncertain of your style -- so that people will stay in the pot when you've got a sure winner, and so that people will drop out when you're bluffing. I've used this last bit of advice in playing poker with friends; they know I play close to the vest (I'm very conservative on risk), so when they see me calling & raising bets, they think I know I have a sure thing. I've gotten away with some pretty horrendous bluffs with this technique. The name of the game is: don't do it too often.There are complaints about the number of stories Scarne tells about himself (and sometimes he refers to himself by name, and I go back to check who wrote the book.) Actually, in most of the stories, Scarne's not the central character; rather, some prime poker player is the center of the story. Some of the stories of the tricks he's performed is rather neat. But more to the point, I think these stories are good examples of the kinds of tips and strategies he talks about -- he mentions stories of cheats, of bold betting, and of people who have gone from great poker players simply to good, because they lost betting courage and needed to find games more their monetary limit. More to the point, I feel Scarne is completely justified in "puffing himself up" in these stories of high-roller games and visits to the Merv Griffin show - he can back up his self-promotion with actual knowledge and skill. Scarne also knew how to write a book that would serve poker players at any level, giving specifics as well as general principles to follow. For those wishing to improve their

This was a fantastic book and I only have one negative to voice - I realize that Scarne is a poker genius, however a little too much time and space was allocated to him patting himself on the back. I realize this may sound harsh, and for that I apologize, but every time Scarne brings up a point, he feels the need to preface it with a paragragh about how he was guest speaker at this or that convention, blah blah blah, and how many war vets saved millions of dollars on his advice, and he even says several times that he himself is a genius... I must of read that 100 times in this book. A genius should never be self-proclaimed... Enough of my rambling... GREAT BOOK!!! Just needs a more humble approach.

I found Scarne's reference guide to very thorough and a great resource for expanding your scope on the game of poker. There are all sorts of versions of new games of poker in here that the average card player will not easily get bored. It is very easy to follow and can make the Friday night poker games that much more interesting. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and still keep it around to learn new games whenever I get a notion to put together a poker game with some friends. I have always found the game of Poker is a great source of entertainment, and this book creates a variety for you where you will not ever get bored. If you think you have seen all there is in Poker, think again. I have had many veteran Poker players look at this book and find new games they never knew existed. This book is well worth the investment for any card playing enthusiast. Additionally it is a great resource for anyone wishing to learn the game of Poker for the first time, as all the popular games are here too. This could be called the 'Poker Player's' bible. All in all, very enjoyable.

Scarne is arguably the greatest mind this century on poker. If you are looking to learn how to play the most popular poker games, this book is for you. He also shows the reader how to apply proper strategy to each game. This book is not for poker experts, but the topics in the book must be mastered before you sit at a Vegas poker table. After reading this book, I was easily better than the players at local card games.