Tag: Books

Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich

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“Pistol” Pete Maravich was the greatest college basketball player to ever play the game. The “Pistol” was a guard and he averaged over 40 points a game throughout college before there was ever a 3 point line. He had a great shot and actually made a lot of shots which would have easily been worth 3 points in today’s game. No one will ever come close to his scoring record.

Mark Kriegel did a great job writing this book as far as information goes, but his story telling left a little to be desired. I enjoyed reading the book because I learned a lot about “Pistol” Pete, but I felt as if I was struggling to get from page to page.

If you’re a basketball fan, I recommend reading this book to learn about one of the greatest players to play the game of basketball. Pete changed the way bball was played and is responsible for a lot of what we see today in games.

Review: The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King

Nick Momrik4 Comments

The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All TimeInside the Richest Poker Game of All Time

I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf since Christmas, when I received it as a gift. A few weeks ago I finally got around to reading it and finished it last week. It ranks right up near the top with some of the other poker related books I’ve read.

Before starting on the book I knew the general idea of what the book was about, but I really had no idea the events discussed in the book happened so recently. The “Richest Poker Game” was just before and around the time of Chris Moneymaker’s famous World Series of Poker win.

For those not familiar with everything, “The Professor” in the title refers to poker pro Howard Lederer, “The Banker” refers to Andy Beal, and “The Suicide King” is the King of Hearts because of his sword stabbing his own head. The “Richest Poker Game” was a limit hold’em heads-up match between Andy Beal and a group of poker professionals. The game was played at limits up to $100,000/$200,000, so swings of millions of dollars were not unusual.

Michael Craig did a great job telling the story by piecing together information from many different sources about the game. It’s really an insightful read into the high stakes poker world. I’d easily give it an A.

2 New Books

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A couple of new books came in from Amazon today…

I’ve been enjoying tournaments lately so HOH2 was a no brainer buy, especially after I liked Volume I so much. Hold’em gets boring at times so I figured I’d try to learn a little O8 on the side. Al, the expert O8 blogger told me HLSP was the bible, so that’s what I bought.

Poker Podcasts

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On my rides to and from work each day I’ve been listening to poker podcasts. Listening to poker discussions keep my mind off the traffic. In the mornings the poker talk gets my mind thinking and after work it helps to relax me after a long day.

My favorite poker podcast without a doubt is Card Club on Lord Admiral Radio. Cincinnati Sean, Brent Stacks, and everyone else who contribute to the show to an excellent job. Congrats on your 1 year anniversary guys!

Another poker podcast I started listening to is Rounders. It’s actually a poker radio show that they turn into a podcast. The radio station is Team 1040 AM out of Vancouver, Canada. My favorite part of the show has been the interviews with some of the top names from the poker world.

What do you know…my two favorite poker podcasts are both from Canada…eh! As a lifetime Michiganer I’m glad to finally find something good to come from our friends across the lake. 😉

Another popular poker podcast is Poker Diagram by Henry and Zog. It comes all the way from London. Each week they play some kind of online poker and discuss their play and other things poker. I listened to a couple of episodes and it was put together well.

I’m sure there are many other podcasts out there related to poker. Do you have some I didn’t mention? Leave a comment because I’d love to check them out.

Poker Hacks

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As many of the poker bloggers know, Doubleas is writing a book for the O’Reilly Hacks Series which will be titled Poker Hacks. The people contributing to the book make a who’s who list of poker bloggers. Earlier this week Doubleas contacted me to see if I’d like to contribute something from Poker Chip Tricks and I couldn’t say yes quick enough. I can’t teach you any poker lessons or knock your socks off with my writing, but I can teach you a chip trick or two. He announced it on his blog today, so I figured I could spill the beans here now as well.

PCT has been in one magazine (twice so far), a different magazine on the way, and now a poker book.

Review: Harrington on Hold'em – Volume I

Nick Momrik5 Comments

Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments (Strategic Play)I finally finished reading the best poker book available on tournament play. Dan Harrington has done the poker world a great service by writing Harrington on Hold’em. I would have finished the book much sooner, but it was my bathroom reader, so I was only reading 10-15 pages a day.

Harrington breaks down the game of no-limit just like any other author by pre-flop, flop, turn and river. What makes this book stand out though are the awesome Problems presented at the end of each chapter. Dan uses actually hands that he’s run into or observed over the years. He lays out the hand and then asks you questions along the way. He describes what you should be thinking as you make you decision. It’s great to see what a world class player and World Series of Poker Champion is thinking during a poker hand.

Volume I is a great book for any poker player of any level. The attention to details is fantastic and the book is easy to read. I can’t wait to get my hands on Volume II for some of the more advanced topics and moves.

Harrington on Hold’em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments (Strategic Play) definitely gets an A+ from me.

Review: Deception Point

Nick Momrik4 Comments

Deception PointDan Brown wrote another great book with Deception Point. I couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it and ended up finished all 550+ pages in a few days. That’s pretty good for me. I’d have to say that this is my second favorite (to The Da Vinci Code) book by Brown.

I’m not a fan of reading about history or politics, but Brown does a masterful job of making it fun. Deception Point is filled with behind-the-scenes politics, which was very interesting to read about. Not only do you get a great story, but you learn a lot of information about the United States Presidency, NASA, and other government agencies. No wonder it takes Brown so long to write a book with all of the research that goes into his writing.

I need to find other authors similar to Dan Brown. I’ve read all four of his books and I want more. His next book isn’t due out for awhile, so let me know if you suggest anything.

I give Deception Point an A.

Review: First Strike (Halo)

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First Strike (Halo)This book is the 3rd in the series and should be an enjoyable read for any Halo fan. First Strike tells the story that leads up the action experienced while playing the video game Halo 2.

Master Chief is the main character as you might expect, but there are other Spartans as well as Cortana and a few others from the first two books. While reading, you’ll learn some important pieces to the overall Halo story. The authoer, Eric Nylund, does a good job of weaving action with some of the backround info that is essential to the story.

If you enjoyed playing Halo and Halo 2, the book series is a great supplement. I give First Strike a B+.