Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker [Paperback]

James Ernest (Author), Mike Selinker (Author), Phil Foglio (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

Dealer's Choice is the ultimate guide to the world of low stakes poker, where fun and bragging rights count as least as much as the final tally. We all know that money won is twice as sweet as money earned, and there are plenty of books that will help you if you want to mortgage the house to play on the high-stake tables, but most of us are looking for a friendlier species of the game, a chance to test our luck in the enjoyable company of friends, and, if we are favoured with good fortune and they are not, to really, really rub their noses in it. Starting with the elementary principles of the game every beginner will need to know before swimming with the sharks - betting, bluffing, and the hierarchy of hand values - Dealer's Choice also includes invaluable tips on how to host the perfect poker evening (the relative merits of chips versus coins, what food to serve) as well as fascinating sidebars (great poker hands in cinema, trivia, unspoken laws of the game) and hilarious profiles of archetypal poker characters - the kinds of oddball one is bound to encounter sooner or later across the green felt. Every conceivable variety of poker is discussed in each of its variants, from established favourites like Baseball and Follow the Queen to truly esoteric mutations of the authors' own invention such as Frankenstein, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Hamlet (i.e., Jacks are low, Queens are wild, Kings dead). Renowned illustrator Phil Foglio has enlivened the text with spectacular line drawings. With worldwide interest in poker at unprecedented peak, Dealer's Choice gives casual players the chance to re-create, right in their living rooms, the excitement of the World Series of Poker...except without the five million dollar jackpot - but pizza and beer aren't bad either!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585676543
• ISBN-13: 978-1585676545
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Reference
  • #60 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Poker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, and a whole lot of fun., May 12, 2005

By 

Jeff Vogel (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker (Paperback)

If you want to get together with friends for a good relaxing game of poker, you must have this book at the table. It's not for serious hardcore people but for regular humans, who want to unwind with a fun game.

The best feature of the book is the list of hundreds and hundreds of different poker games, ranging from the old stand-bys everyone knows (like Baseball), to some truly crazy and entertaining games. My regular table can't survive a night without a few games of Diablo, Frankenstein, and Jane Austen.

And it's a hilarious book. Even if you don't play many of the games in it, it's simply a good read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent poker night games, October 16, 2005

By 

Freddy Arbuthnot (seattle, wa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker (Paperback)

I liked the games in this book a lot! This is the book for those evenings when you're playing with your friends for quarters, and everyone calls a crazy game. Some are old favorites that everyone's heard of, and some I have never seen before in my life. The illustrations are funny! Many, many poker nights' worth of fun.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever and Fun Poker Variants!, June 20, 2005

By 

I. Krizsan (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker (Paperback)

I have read and used this book at poker parties, and I love it. If you play poker with your friends, you really ought to have it at the table. It is an excellent source of unique poker variants that are both fun and well designed.