Customer Reviews

Rick Jay Plays Poker (W/Book) (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ricky Jay is great. How I would love to hang out around the card table and listen to his stories! This is probably as close as I'll ever get and it's just not enough!

The musical selections and the liner notes on the CD are superb. I'm a music collector, so many of the selections were familiar, but there are some nice surprises here and it's wonderful to have them all collected in one place. The packaging is also quite nice (though I'm not sure I need a deck of cards - it does make a nice touch).

My primary motivation in picking this up, however, was the DVD (spurred on by the tantalizing clip provided above). While it was every bit as fascinating as I'd hoped, it was a bit short (less than 30 minutes). Oddly enough, the clip used to promote it does NOT appear on the DVD!! Even without that fairly obvious clue, it is apparent that there is a lot more footage from the session, so why not include more?? The DVD almost comes off as a promo/teaser for a much larger project. In that sense, it was disappointing, so I docked it a star.

Nevertheless, if you like a good cross-genre thematic compilation and some great backroom double-dealing and story-swapping, don't pass this up.

Ricky Jay has become the master...his art appears to be at an apex when you would think it would be in decline...the DVD is worth the price of admission....the CD is fine....the book is spectaular....finally a package suitable for his talent.... and satisfying for a fan.....bravo...
...now...if he will only tape and release his upcoming revival of "52 Pick Up" in LA... for those of us unable to travel to either New York or Los Angeles......

My husband and I are Ricky Jay fans. We have seen his show Ricky Jay and his 52 assistants. The songs are about poker and cardplaying and are well done. The dvd is even better because it shows his skill. I wouldn't recommend the music unless you are a follower of his work, though, because it isn't exceptional except for topic.

Since I collect Magic and Gambling items I was interested in this. Jays items I like very much. They are entertaing and well done.