Card Games For Dummies [Paperback]

Barry Rigal (Author), Omar Sharif (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2005

Card games offer loads of fun and one of the best socializing experiences out there. But picking up winning card strategies is a bit of a challenge, and though your buddies may think that picking up the rules of the game is easy, winning is a totally different story.

With Card Games For Dummies, Second Edition, you’ll not only be able to play the hottest card games around, you can also apply game-winning strategies and tips to have fun and beat your opponents. Now updated, this hands-on guide shows you everything you need to know—the basics, the tricks, and the techniques—to become a master card player, with expanded coverage on poker as well as online gaming and tournaments. Soon you will have the card-playing power to:

• Pin down your opponents in Texas Hold’em
• Show off your power in Stud Poker
• Hit wisely in Blackjack
• Break hearts ruthlessly in Hearts
• Mix up the night with Gin and Rummy
• Build yourself a victory in Bridge
• Send them fishing in Go Fish

This straightforward, no-nonsense guide features great ways to improve your game and have more fun, as well as a list of places to find out more about your favorite game. It also profiles different variations of each game, making you a player for all seasons!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Card Games for Dummies bills itself as "the fun and easy way to play and win your favorite card games." The book is broken down into different sections that broadly encompass the types of card games available: card-swapping games (gin and rummy), trick-taking games (whist and euchre), games where you try to score as many points as possible (pinochle), and games where you don't want to score any points at all (hearts). Each chapter starts with the fundamentals--the definition of a "trick," for example--and builds from there, progressing from the simplest games in each category to the more complex.

Written by journalist Barry Rigal, Card Games for Dummies is a nice companion piece to the more staid Complete Hoyle's Games. Unlike Hoyle's, Card Games for Dummies not only explains game mechanics, but gives you useful tips for play, provides the lowdown on strategy, and warns of the boneheaded blunders that you'd undoubtedly make if you'd been taught the rules and nothing more.

So if you've always wanted to learn cribbage, but never wanted to ask a friend for a tutorial, this is the book for you. One word of warning: if you want to learn how to play bridge, you won't find much here other than a synopsis of the rules and a recommendation for Bridge for Dummies. --Matthew Baldwin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Covers live, tournament, and Internet Poker

The fun and easy way® to play and win the most popular card games!

Card sharks of the world beware! With this plain-English guide, you'll not only understand how to play top card games like Blackjack, Bridge, and Gin Rummy, you'll also get expert strategies you need to win! Plus, there's expanded coverage of Poker favorites such as Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Draw, and Stud. You'll score, deal, and play like the pros in no time!

Discover how to

• Improve your card-playing skills
• Develop a winning strategy
• Play regional game variations
• Find and play cards online
• Teach kids to play responsibly

Get the inside deal on these games and more!

• Blackjack
• Bridge
• Canasta
• Cribbage
• Draw Poker
• Eights
• Euchre
• Fan Tan
• 500 Rummy
• Gin Rummy
• Go Fish
• Hearts
• Oh Hell!
• Omaha
• Palace
• Pinochle
• President
• Setback
• Snap
• Solitaire
• Spades
• Spit
• Stud Poker
• Texas Hold 'Em
• Whist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (October 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764599100
• ISBN-13: 978-0764599101
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overall look at some great games, May 20, 2000

By 

Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Card Games for Dummies (Paperback)

This book has some fun games! It has popular games like Hearts, Rummy, and Cribbage. It also has games that I have always wanted to learn how to play, like Euchre and Canasta. In all, the book discusses over twenty games.

The layout of the book is a discussion about games. Even if you have felt confused before in reading through card game rules, this book is an excellent introduction to playing card games. It goes over everything that happens in the game, from the rules, to strategy and tips, to history of the game-a fascinating book.

Because it goes in-depth into each of the games, you will not find one place in the chapter that has a concise list of the rules. The rules are scattered throughout the discussion of the chapter. I found it useful to check a book of rules from the library to read along with this book.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most frustrating & least helpful book I've ever read on any subject, ever., March 24, 2009

By 

Cousin Hepcat - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Card Games For Dummies (Paperback)

This is the most frustrating & least helpful book I've ever read on any subject, ever.

I've read & understood texts on everything from software engineering, to military strategy, to electromechanics and audio circuitry design and repair, to wood furniture refinishing, to home repair - but this book is a total failure.

The reason: It is TOTALLY written for PEOPLE WHO ALREADY KNOW all the "slick cardshark jargon". THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR PEOPLE NEW TO CARD GAMES. If you don't ALREADY KNOW HOW TO PLAY, this book won't even TRY to teach you!

Basically, Amazon user Gadgester's review is dead-on: I'll repeat his opening and closing statements, cause I can't say it any better:

"Simply put, this is absolutely one of the worst instructional books I've read. If you know nothing (or next to nothing) about card games -- like I still don't after reading this book twice -- avoid this very confusing book. ... I haven't read a book as frustrating as this one in a long time. I highly recommend you stay away from it. "

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Every home should have this book., August 2, 2008

By 

linda gurtler (san jose, ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Card Games For Dummies (Paperback)

This is a great reference book to have in your home. Before I purchased this book, there were many occasions where questions came up about the rules and scoring of card games. I wished I would have had that book then.