Poker Night
John Vorhaus
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2004 St. Martins
ISBN: 0312334923

Winning at Home, at the Casino, & Beyond. The complete, absolutely complete manual for anyone interested in excelling himself in the home poker game.

“Play fewer hands than everyone else, but when you do play, play powerfully.” (p. 92.)

Thus proclaims poker strategist, columnist & author John Vorhaus in this smart, funny & practical guide to mastering the fine art of the home poker game (in other words, entertaining your friends while deftly picking them clean).

Covering everything from the absolute basics to advanced points of strategy & smarts, Poker Night is an essential and entertaining manual for everyone who wants to excel at the most popular poker game in the world -- the home game, where the pots aren't cut & the winning gets personal.

“You can do things in a poker game that you'd never get away with in polite society.”

Filled with hilarious observations & hard-nosed strategies for beating the rules, this smart, sassy, & readable handbook holds the key to your poker success -- whether you're just learning or you already know the difference between a fishhook & a dead man's hand. Share it with friends at your own risk.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

Are you a Sunday poker player? Do you enjoy it? Then you don't know what you have missed. You might have enjoyed the game of poker to date, but once you read this book, you will realize that you have hardly scratched the surface of poker entertainment.

This amusing & most useful guide tells us how to take poker entertainment to its zenith. Mixing fact with anecdotes, the author tells us how to enjoy a real game of poker. Right from setting up a game, the ambiance for a fun game, selecting the company to “how to understand the ‘tells’”, & most importantly how to make a killing -- John Vorhaus, in clear & lucid terms, explains the nooks • rules of a fun game of poker.

One of the most important points he highlights in Poker Night, which I found interesting, are the rules to be followed while taking food & drinks during a game. Usually, while playing with friends, the host is bound to serve some food -- chips, alcohol etc. & the guests usually gobble the same. A real poker player would avoid drinks, & if it is unavoidable, never have more than one -- for alcohol affects concentration, without us knowing it. Tell me, how many of you have followed this Rule?

Poker Night is a three-way step to success at different levels: the home, the casino & beyond casinos.

The various types of the game: Draw Poker, Texas Hold 'em, Stud Poker, Omaha, etc., & their sub- variations are dealt in detail. Thus Poker Night proves useful reading for the uninitiated player as well as the amateur seeking more from this game.

Poker Night includes a glossary of commonly used terms also is provided for easy reference, & the author's three golden rules for success in poker:
1. Have Fun
2. Play My Best
3. Try to take out more money than I put in (p. 212).

I usually played a good game of poker, but now “good” is just the minimum!

More from John Vorhaus:
Killer Poker Online: Crushing the Internet Game
The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not
Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook: A Workbook for Winners
Creativity Rules: a Writer's Workbook
(01/16/05)

Narayan
2005©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org