Poker Book Review - Rolf Slotboom - Secrets of Professional Pot Limit Omaha

Read Review On Poker Book Review - Rolf Slotboom - Secrets of Professional Pot Limit Omaha

Rolf Slotboom is a well respected poker player and author, with a large amount of experience and cashes in live tournaments around the globe. He has written a number of books on poker, has a column in CardPlayer, and is editor of CardPlayer Europe.

The book is split into seven chapters, and prefaced with a warning that it is not a "how to" book. Rolf goes on to warn that players looking for a quick fix, without investing time and effort into the game, should look elsewhere. This instantly grabs my attention, as nothing screams scam louder than a get rich quick'n'easy scheme, and it's nice to see a poker book preaching that hard work is key.

The final two chapters do contain advice on how to play hands in certain situations, but the previous five are mainly related to how Rolf himself has played over the course of his poker career.

The first two chapters cover live play, from Rolf's time playing live Omaha cash games, firstly in Vienna, and then Amsterdam. Here the author mainly covers the difference in his play between deep and short stacked play, and there's a lot of great advice on choosing the right seat according to how deep you want to sit. Although these chapters are taken from a live setting, the styles discussed translate very well to online play.

The Vienna game was lower buy-in/blinds than the Amsterdam game, but there were also numerous differences in the styles of play his opponents used, which serves to illustrate an important point - how to adapt your play to suit a different game or table.

From here Rob moves on to online play in some of the biggest Omaha games available, over chapters 3 & 4 he discusses first full handed (9-10 players), and then short handed play. Again the difference in the authors playing styles between these 2 games is highlighted.

Chapter 5 is a collection of 18 Omaha articles written over the course of Rolf's career and edited for this book. Although at first glance this seems somewhat of a lazy chapter, unless you've actually read them all before, you'll gain a huge amount from this section. There's many subjects covered here, including beating aces, starting hands, bet sizing, playing blockers, strong/weak plays, and more. The style of this section makes it very easy reading, but there's also some great strategy and play to absorb.

The final 2 chapters of the book dissect actual hands; chapter 6 contains five practice hands over 30 pages, with your choices rated by a points system, giving you the opportunity to check how much of the books advice you have taken in.

Chapter 7 analyses five hands a little more deeply, showing the maths behind the hands, and how they could, or should be played. The explanations are complicated but well written, and make for a good end to the book.

As a whole the book flows well, from a rather "chatty" easy to read beginning, through most of the important aspects of Omaha play, to complex analysis and hand dissection. Rolf's style is mainly very tight, but he opens up with more loose aggressive plays where required. Wherever you play, and however much you play for, if it's Omaha, this book is going to help you a great deal. Highly recommended.

Read more

Fiction Book Review - STASH by David Klein - Marriage, Marijuana and Morality

Review On Fiction Book Review - STASH by David Klein - Marriage, Marijuana and Morality

Author David Klein narrates an entertaining, fast-paced, and thought-provoking fiction debut, in STASH, highlighting marriage, marijuana and morality.

Attractive, thirty-something Gwen Raine is living the high life-literally. No, Gwen's not a pothead. She does however, as a stay-at-home mom, occasionally like to smoke marijuana. Gwen has an ideal existence that revolves around Brian, her loving husband and successful pharmaceutics executive, and kids Nate and Nora. The Raines reside in upscale, suburban Morrissey, New York.

Gwen meets an old flame, Jude Case, at his downtown restaurant to buy an ounce of pot, in confidence. As Gwen departs, Jude unexpectedly kisses her, rekindling memories of what they once shared.

Sampling her new purchase en route home, a buzz-induced Gwen is involved in a car accident. An elderly driver hits her mini-van. Gwen escapes with a cut eyebrow, the other driver dies. Police discover the weed in Gwen's vehicle and despite evidence citing the deceased driver at fault; Gwen faces a tough road to expungement.

The accident couldn't have happened at a worse time. The town of Morrissey is developing zero tolerance for drug use; given recent cases filtering down to its middle school-aged children.

Brian knows who supplied her stash, questioning Gwen's reasons for renewing her ties with Jude: "He likes to do you favors it seems."

Jude raised his eighteen-year-old daughter, Dana, alone. He'd dated and married Claire in a Vegas chapel during a drug, drinking and gambling weekend. Once home, she continued her excessive partying, eventually becoming pregnant. Her escalating addiction found her at a rehab clinic; where she'd ultimately escape, never to be seen or heard from again. Ironically, Jude drives his daughter to St. Lawrence University to begin her first year of college, lecturing her on the perils of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.

For years, Jude has conducted a side business of selling marijuana, carefully choosing customers to avoid arrest. He enters unknown territory when he decides to deal with former NFL star, Daryl, "Da Da" Sweet. He's opening a chain of fitness centers and turns to Jude for performance-enhancing drugs. Jude uses his Montreal connection to supply the deal. He realizes that, although he's out of his comfort zone, a few more sales like the one at hand will secure him early retirement.

Gwen's actions could ultimately have numerous repercussions for her life in Morrissey. "Mothers who served as PTA vice presidents but got busted on drug charges didn't belong in the mix."

Gwen cries legal extortion, as the police offer to drop the pending charges of vehicular manslaughter, DUI and possession, by pressuring her to reveal her supplier. How could she expose Jude's identity? She promised him anonymity. "No one likes a tattletale," she'd always told her kids. Or does she owe the town of Morrissey and its children more? What other option does she have to serve her own interests?

Brian is employed at Caladon Pharmaceuticals. He's involved in promoting its antianxiety drug, Zuprone, for a secondary purpose (known as off label usage) to promote weight loss. While the company's limited research supports the drug's secondary effect against obesity, it isn't the same as clinical trials required by the FDA. Three years of doctors prescribing the drug as an off label obesity antidote saw the drug's sales and profitability soar. Seeking FDA approval for another therapeutic use for Zuprone could prove costly; yet manufacturers who promoted a drug for off-label use acted illegally. Brian confronts his conscience when several patients taking Zuprone for weight loss develop anorexia. Other turn of events position him to lose his job or make millions as a whistle-blower.

Theresa Mascetti, a recent company transplant from New Jersey, tests Brian's nine years of fidelity to Gwen. Once overweight, she's one of Zuprone's biggest proponents, having lost 25 pounds using the drug. Svelte and sexy, she's now wearing more revealing clothes and everyone is noticing, including Brian. His recent tensions over his wife's drug use find him considering Theresa's advances: "What an opportunity to get back at Gwen-although he wouldn't tell her, he'd just do it, which would make the event an inconclusive."

STASH illustrates how it only takes a second for our lives to change, for better or worse. Klein's tight narrative will find you asking, "What would I do?" in similar situations requiring a moral compass. His stimulating fiction debut will leave you anticipating his next literary offering.

To ponder challenges posed in STASH, visit its Reading Group Guide (warning: some plot points are revealed in the questions): http://www.bydavidklein.com/reading-groups.html

Read more

A Single Shard - Book Review

Review On A Single Shard - Book Review

A Single Shard is published by Clarion books and written for children from ten to twelve years old.

A Historical fiction novel, A Single Shard, is the 2002 Newbery Medal Award winner. Sometimes you can get a hint of a story by the title. At first glance the title threw me off because it did not sound like the type of book a ten or twelve-year old would read. Linda Sue Park gives readers insight to an unfamiliar period of twelfth-century Korea which chronicles the life of an orphan, a homeless man and a talented potter.

Tree-ear was named for a "mushroom that grows without benefit of parents" by Crane Man who was so called because of his one shriveled leg. No one knows where Tree-ear came from. Rumor had it that his parents were killed in an accident. In order to survive Tree-ear rummages through garbage dumps and scavenges for food every day and if he is lucky he is able to pick up some left over rice that no one wants. Crain man, who is a straw weaver, tries to do his part but because of his disability he is only able to manage some scavenging near the rivers edge where they live. Crane-man is the only family Tree-ear has ever known.

Tree-ear made a habit of stopping at potter Min's outdoor studio to watch him create delicate celadon pottery. One day Tree-ear accidentally breaks a pot. In order to pay for damages, Tree-ear goes into servitude for nine days and ends up working full time for the potter. Naturally Tree-ear hopes Min will teach him the pottery trade but Min has no intention of training a boy who is not related to him. Min and Tree-ear begin a precarious relationship. This is a well-developed account of triumph of a boy who shouldn't have overcome the odds but did.

This story is well worth reading. The passages describing how this beautiful celadon pottery was made over 700 years ago will intrigue any reader. Park's dialogue and prose are a prime example of the adage for writers. "Show don't tell."

Read more