Winning Concepts in Draw & Lowball [Paperback]

Mason Malmuth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993

This is the ultimate book for anyone trying to master these games. It is for both the typical player and the professional player. The text is partitioned into sections that are designed to help all players grow and improve their games. Also, it teaches you how to think like a top player which is absolutely essential to winning play. Topics discussed include poker reasons, basic mistakes, basic strategy, technical plays, advanced strategy, jackpot games, killing the pot, psychology, game theory, high-draw mathematics, and advanced plays. Advice is also provided on bluffing errors, lowball value betting, profitable losing bets, playing patterns, going all in, acting the opposite, raising with weak hands, ante structure and game size, getting maximum value, cat hops, and image plays.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mason Malmuth was born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1973 he received his BS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech, and completed their Masters’ program in 1975. While working for the United States Census Bureau in 1978, Mason stopped overnight in Las Vegas while driving to his new assignment in California. He was immediately fascinated by the games, and gambling became his major interest.

After arriving in California, he discovered that poker was legal and began playing in some of the public cardrooms, as well as taking periodic trips to Las Vegas where he would play both poker and blackjack. In 1981 he went to work for the Northrop Corporation as a mathematician and moved to Los Angeles where he could conveniently pursue his interest in poker in the large public cardrooms in Gardena, Bell Gardens, and Commerce.

In 1983 his first article, "Card Domination — The Ultimate Blackjack Weapon," was published in Gambling Times magazine. In 1987 he left his job with the Northrop Corporation to begin a career as both a full-time gambler and a gambling writer. He has had over 500 articles published in various magazines and has authored or co-authored 14 books. These include Gambling Theory and Other Topics, where he tries to demonstrate why only a small number of people are highly successful at gambling. In this book he introduces the reader to the concept of "non-self weighting strategies" and explains why successful gambling is actually a balance of luck and skill. Other books he has co-authored are Hold ’em Poker For Advanced Players, written with David Sklansky, and Seven-Card Stud For Advanced Players written with David Sklansky and Ray Zee. All the "advanced" books are considered the definitive works on these games.

His company, Two Plus Two Publishing, has sold over 400,000 books and currently has 26 titles to its credit. These books are recognized as the best in their field and are thoroughly studied by those who take gambling seriously.

Product Details

• Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: Two Plus Two Pub.; 2 edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880685078
• ISBN-13: 978-1880685075
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Draw" is Jacks-to-open, March 1, 2006

By 

Karl F. Kuhn Sr. (Richmond, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winning Concepts in Draw & Lowball (Paperback)

I bought the book for help with playing 5-card draw on the internet. Nowhere in the description of the book did I see that he discusses Jacks-to-open as his draw game. This is a very different game for guts-to-open that is played on internet sites that I know. I wish I had known.

Then he spends the first 39 pages with an introduction and as many as 50 reasons for each of the following actions: Open, Call, Fold, Raise, Check, Bet, Bluff, Play, and Quit, including such gems as this reason for checking: You are planning to sandbag.

He lists some errors that are commonly made by players, and I found this interesting, along with a few other things that prevented me from rating this lower than 3 stars.

4.0 out of 5 stars Draw & Lowball Expert Info, April 7, 2011

By 

Hugh C. Moore (Harrington Park, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winning Concepts in Draw & Lowball (Paperback)

This is the most in depth expert info on draw and lowball available by one of the most thoughtful poker writers.

3 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winning Concepts for Draw and Lowball, January 27, 2007

By 

Joseph Brindley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning Concepts in Draw & Lowball (Paperback)

The book is terrific. The service was terrible. I accidentally double ordered the book and the Amazon clerk refused to allow me to cancel one order, saying that "The book was already pulled, boxed and ready for shipment." Although it was only two minutes since I had ordered the book twice by mistake. I now own two copies and will never do business with Amazon again,