Munchkin's radio interview of the author could not violate social mores and be truthful about the book.

Here are just a few reactions that I have (after buying the book at Barnes & Noble).

The author's mentor cannot be a (real) pro player as he plays like an amateur.

The author plays, coast to coast with IMPERFECT Basic Strategy and WITHOUT counting.

Here is the best example of bad advice that is repeated MANY times. Our ploppy author

takes a seat and buys-in for $300 in nearly every case, irrespective of the table minimums.

He then places 2 bets at 2 X the table minimum. That is $100 in almost all cases. He explains

that this is important to do because the game is essentially "even off the top" on the first round.

He then retreats to ½ of that amount - under ALL circumstances. "Quelle Bizarre."

His mentor, who is presented as brilliant, teaches him this fallacious nonsense;

and the "Pro" never spreads beyond $50 to about 2 X $150;

and that is at some really awful games with nastily high House Edges !

Throughout the book, if on the second hand there are a few "baby cards" the author

feverishly repeats that he MUST instantly have an advantage and increases his bets.

His spread is generally $25 to $75. When you read that the cards composing his first

two rounds are looking like he has a running count that is negative; not that it matters

that early, heads-up, with 6 or 8 decks. He even plays CSM's on occasion.

"Bill" [the Chicago "Pro"] tells our protagonist that he will teach him B J "secrets"

that "NOBODY KNOWS" Of course, he never does anything of the kind.

Throughout the book sums are added incorrectly and there are many typos.

There are boring sections of the book dealing with sight-seeing in Patagonia, religion,

family matters, the author's learning disability, and other tangential subjects.

After playing for 9 months, he (always) refers to the cards in a "pitch game" as a shoe.

He adds "the" when mentioning any count, e.g. "The Hi-Lo", "The Zen."

He calls K.O. " The Knock Out" {sic}

Believe it or not, this is merely a sampling of my criticisms.


I really want others to address this book. Of course, it is not worth purchasing.