Inside the “Secret” Worlds of VP Progressives & WSOP Tournaments
By Dana Smith (for Howard Schwartz) - Gambler's Book Shop Las Vegas.
Ms. Smith is also the Senior Editor of Cardoza Publishing (an affiliate of GBC).
Enjoy reading insider stories about gambling? Get a kick out of playing video poker progressives, but haven’t won a big one? Frank Kneeland gives you the skinny in his just-released 292-page, oversided book, The Secret World of Video Poker Progressives, ($29.42). His target audience is people who want to become professional gamblers, or just want to know what it’s like to be one—and “laugh along the way,” he adds. If you’re either of these targets, you’ll hit the bull’s eye with this sharply written and engaging book.
A snappy mix of VP strategy and true sagas, Kneeland shows you how to:
- Choose the best VP games to play
- Determine a game’s expected return to increase your odds of winning
- Avoid the pitfalls of popular misconceptions about VP machines
- Develop an effective scouting program to find the best plays
- Use math to calculate risk and determine the cost of hitting jackpots
Kneeland started his career as a professional VP progressive player at age 21 and has been at it for 17 years, starting as a team member and later managing “the largest slot team in the world,” at one time rising to 68 active players plus backups.
He spices his how-to sections with anecdotes and humor that add that all-important quality—readability—to what could’ve been just another boring book of stats. Like the time he recruited five out-of-work Riviera show girls as team members. “I put them to great effect in casinos where most pros got 86ed,” he noted, since security guards apparently weren’t prone to throwing gorgeous women out of casinos.
Aimed at teaching its readers how to make money playing VP progressives, Kneeland’s book is both educational and entertaining, with its expose on the inner workings of large gambling teams and how you can use their savvy to rake in some extra income.
Another top read is No-Limit Tournament Hold’em by Avery Cardoza (224 pages, $14.95), sub-titled the Official World Series of Poker Strategy Guide. Commissioned by the WSOP to write a book to help players learn the ins ‘n outs of how to win hold’em tournaments, Cardoza delivers the goods in his signature “I’m sitting with you at the table” style that makes even the deepest poker concepts easy to understand.
Kicking it off with seven keys to success at no-limit hold’em, he progresses to the best strategies for playing the preflop, flop, turn and river, punctuating his points with sample situations and simple “to-do” lists, such as seven things you must do to win tournaments and seven ways to increase your leverage. He clearly defines outs and odds, as well as how stack size affects your play, and gives you his dandy “4 & 2 Rule to Estimate Your Winning Chances.”
Whether you’re a tournament player or a WSOP fan, you’ll find plenty of value in this more-bang-for-your-buck, WSOP sanctioned book.
And while you’re at it, pick up its companion volume, the World Series of Poker Official Guidebook, (200 pages, $9.95). Aptly sub-titled “Everything You Need to Know about the WSOP—and More,” the book is heavily illustrated with photos of WSOP greats and multiple charts of WSOP records and winners. The book also features how-to tips for each event to help fans follow the action, a colorful history of the WSOP, and an account of the bracelet (title) race between Hellmuth, Brunson and Chan. A big read for a small price.
These books are available at Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas. You can order them at www.gamblersbookclub.com or phone the store at 1-800-522-1777 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time. Opened in 1964, GBC is located at 5473 S. Eastern between Tropicana and Russell, just a short drive from the Strip. View the store's complete line of books, CDs, videos and software at the web site.
