Bluffing Texas Style

In 1989 a woman fishing in Texas on a quiet stretch of the Colorado River snagged a body. Her “catch” was the corpse of Johnny Jenkins, shot in the head. His death was as dramatic as the rare book dealer’s life, which read, as the Austin American-Statesman declared, “like a bestseller.” In 1975 Jenkins had staged the largest rare book coup of the twentieth century—the purchase, for more than two million dollars, of the legendary Eberstadt inventory of rare Americana, a feat noted in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His undercover work for the FBI, recovering rare books stolen by mafia figures, had also earned him headlines coast to coast, as had his exploits as “Austin Squatty,” playing high stakes poker in Las Vegas. But beneath such public triumphs lay darker secrets. At the time of his death, Jenkins was about to be indicted by the ATF for the arson of his rare books, warehouse, and offices. Another investigation implicated Jenkins in forgeries of historical documents, including the Texas Declaration of Independence. Rumors of million-dollar gambling debts at mob-connected casinos circulated, along with the rumblings of irate mafia figures he’d fingered and eccentric Texas collectors he’d cheated. Had he been murdered? Or was his death a suicide, staged to look like a murder? How Jenkins, a onetime president of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, came to such an unseemly end is one of the mysteries Michael Vinson pursues in this spirited account of a tragic American life. Entrepreneur, con man, connoisseur, forger, and self-made hero, Jenkins was a Texan who knew how to bluff but not when to fold.

The New York Times bestseller! A New York Times Notable Book “The tale of how Konnikova followed a story about poker players and wound up becoming a story herself will have you riveted, first as you learn about her big winnings, and then as she conveys the lessons she learned both about human nature and herself.” —The Washington Post It's true that Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings, and convinced him to be her mentor. But she knew her man: a famously thoughtful and broad-minded player, he was intrigued by her pitch that she wasn't interested in making money so much as learning about life. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance had led her to a giant of game theory, who pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish between what can be controlled and what can't. And she certainly brought something to the table, including a Ph.D. in psychology and an acclaimed and growing body of work on human behavior and how to hack it. So Seidel was in, and soon she was down the rabbit hole with him, into the wild, fiercely competitive, overwhelmingly masculine world of high-stakes Texas Hold'em, their initial end point the following year's World Series of Poker. But then something extraordinary happened. Under Seidel's guidance, Konnikova did have many epiphanies about life that derived from her new pursuit, including how to better read, not just her opponents but far more importantly herself; how to identify what tilted her into an emotional state that got in the way of good decisions; and how to get to a place where she could accept luck for what it was, and what it wasn't. But she also began to win. And win. In a little over a year, she began making earnest money from tournaments, ultimately totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. She won a major title, got a sponsor, and got used to being on television, and to headlines like "How one writer's book deal turned her into a professional poker player." She even learned to like Las Vegas. But in the end, Maria Konnikova is a writer and student of human behavior, and ultimately the point was to render her incredible journey into a container for its invaluable lessons. The biggest bluff of all, she learned, is that skill is enough. Bad cards will come our way, but keeping our focus on how we play them and not on the outcome will keep us moving through many a dark patch, until the luck once again breaks our way.

Watermarks reflect the very stuff of the origin, date, distribution, composition, history, and culture of paper-based items. Digital imaging of watermarks releases the research potential as widely as the internet itself. One example is the digital “fingerprinting” of paper in order to enhance the security of items, such as valuable and vulnerable maps. Revealing Watermarks offers detailed instructions of this process, through the author's own PaperPrint method, and by means of the case study of a sixteenth-century watermark—a crown from the arms of Danzig—it illustrates how cultural influences spread and have endured across the centuries, in this case from Sweden to Russia.

Pradeep Sebastian has been an avid bibliophile and book collector for over a decade. In this collection of essays, he paints in full splendour the picture of a life devoted to the romance of books, blending personal experience, revelatory conversations and bewitching legends from the world of books. Meet the biryani chef guarding a prized Ottoman manuscript, track the mysterious 'Book Prince' of Kolkata, and visit the cottage in Kodaikanal that lures book collectors with its siren song. Discover how an emperor's defeat brought illuminated manuscripts into sixteenth-century India, how a rare 1865 edition of Alice in Wonderland surfaced in an Indian bazaar, and much more. An Inky Parade is a window into the charming world of antiquarian book trade in India and around the world, as well as an ode to the book as an object of art, sure to delight every reader.

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This book will introduce some of the mathematical concepts of Texas Hold'em Poker in an easily understood fashion.This book focuses on the facts of the game behind all the mathematics involved and helps you to develop a core foundation of skills to be able to play Texas Hold'em Poker more effectively.If you enjoy Texas Hold'em Poker enough to host your own game or you are considering managing your own tournament or league, there is a section dedicated to obtaining, developing and managing the resources you need to run it in a well organized fashion.First-time author Michael John Amazio invites you to learn some of the fundamentals of Texas Hold'em Poker in a way that will keep your interest from cover to cover.

Now you can play and win at the world's most popular gambling card game with the help of the "Poker Brat" himself. It makes no difference if you're a novice or a serious player, gambling online, in casinos, or in a friend's basement, Hellmuth can help you elevate your game with the secrets and strategies that made him a nine-time World Champion and the #1 professional money winner of all time. Here are the rules of the game from the master, including invaluable advice on how to play the hand you are dealt—what to bet, when to raise, when to bluff, when to fold—as well as surefire techniques for developing and trusting in your own ability to "read" your opponents and interpret their moves. Whether you're sitting in at a comfortable Limit Hold'em game or going for the gold at a high-stakes No-Limit table, this book will have you winning in no time, the Phil Hellmuth way!

Most people playing online poker think they are winning players when they're actually losing month after month. But, if you have basic knowledge of the game and follow Paul Mendelson's techniques, you can ensure that you win regularly and consistently. Find out how to: Select the best poker sites for your standard. Analyse your opponents and their games. Adapt your game to combat the styles of play you meet. Counter the costly dangers of 'tilt' and temperament. Manage your bankroll and build it into serious money. Play to benefit from being alert while others - in another time zone - are exhausted. Make the right decisions - and avoid costly mistakes. Read your opponents correctly - and keep them guessing about you!