Book Description
Cray Dawson is en route to Black's Cut in Montana to stake his claim when he learns his old friend Fast Larry Shaw faked his death to escape his notoriety as a gunfighter. But Dawson discovers that his own prowess with firearms haunts him too.
Book Description
The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em takes you from novice to skilled player fast. This low-limit Texas Hold'em book puts you in the game, giving you actual situations where a decision must be made, and you make the next move.
Author and former gambling pro Dennis Purdy shows you the right answer to each hand with a clear explanation about whether you chose correctly - or not.
Whether you're an absolute beginner or an experienced player looking to hone your skills, The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em will have you betting smarter - and winning more money - in no time!
Customer Reviews:
Decent book, but very basic.......2007-08-07
this is a book about limit poker for a beginner. Not for the advanced player as the front of the book reads. But if you are a beginner, it seems like it should do a decent job at teaching. I was disappointed, but I've been playing foraa couple of years.
great book for my boyfriend.......2007-05-30
I bought this book for my boyfriend in Jan. He had been getting in to playing poker and wanted to learn more about Texas Hold Em. I checked out other books on Amazon, but decided to go w/ this one. Good thing I did because he LOVED it. He even looked over some other books in the store and said this was the one he would have chosen for himself.
Great book for learning how to analyze cards.......2007-01-20
This was one of the first poker books I got, and its layout was a great help. It starts with some basic principles, then jumps headfirst into 150 different scenarios, where you're asked how to play it further. Purdy provides the full odds and play situation, then his detailed answer on how you could play it, what could happen, and how he'd play it. It helped me greatly with understanding the strength of pocket cards and reading the board, plus analyzing what pocket hands would beat my made hands.
That said, the book's biggest weakness is the promotion of very tight play, plus an emphasis on using your cards as the sole determinant of whether or not to play hands. Strong pocket hands are rare, and players who put this to practice in real tournaments often will watch their stacks slowly disappear and get blinded off, going out of tournaments with a whimper. You will rarely see hands strong enough to play, and when you do, there is no guarantee you'll have a playable hand, let alone the winning hand, once the cards hit the table. The book also doesn't emphasize enough the importance of playing position, though it does go into detail how you play different based on chip counts. However, the book's scenarios often have you playing with a chip lead: obviously, as a beginner, you're not going to be in such a situation very often.
It's great for beginners picking up basic principles on pocket and hand analysis, plus elements of situational tournament play. Once you master its principles, though, you'll want to move up and read more advanced materials. Recommendations are all over the internet. However, I would suggest reading this before reading the convoluted strategy manuals that are popular today.
A good 2nd book on THE - Useful despite errors.......2006-12-04
This book contains a systematic error in its crucial table of opening hand strength on page 24-25. (It purports to give the odds a given hand has of winning when up against one other hand, but its numbers are too low for all hands but AA; the weighted average win rate should be 50%, but more than half the hands are showing win rates of less than 5%.) And there are better sources for systematic starting hand strength, generally using Slansky-style Groups 1 through 8 -- buy one of those first.
But I learned a lot from many of the situations in this book; most of the time where the book disagreed with my initial perception, the book convinced me with its logic. But sometimes Purdy missed something (in situation #146, your best hope is actually to get a fourth 3 on the turn or river, giving you the nut hand with your Ace kicker). And sometimes he made an error in drawing odds (and yes, I know that, say, 20% = 1/5 = 4-to-1); in the same situation the odds of getting an A or 10 on the turn alone are are 6.8-to-1 (not 11-to-1 as stated) and the odds of A, T or 3 are 5.7 to 1. (7 outs, for 40-to-7).
You have pot odds to call because there are probably no face-card pocket pairs (there was no raising pre-flop) and the odds are only 12/47 that anyone still in holds a 3 (6 callers saw the flop), and probably less than that since 3 is not a power card (it had more than average odds of being folded, except perhaps if it happened to be held as A3s). With pot odds you should at least call, not fold.
Low limit player, on the right track.......2006-11-10
I have been playing twice a week for a year now at a 4-8 game. Usual win rate of about 8 out of 10 sessions. This book helped to reinforce I was playing right most of the time and pointed out where I had some holes. I'd recommend for the average low limit player who thinks they are on the right track.
Customer Reviews:
Doing Time.......2005-10-30
Long-time correctional administrator Jim Willett and his college roommate, Ron Rozelle, have produced an exceptionally interesting book on prison life from a very personal perspective. Drawing on Willett's distinguished career with the Texas Department of Corrections that spanned three decades, the authors bring to light aspects of a prison employee's life that rarely find their way into print.
Willett, who began his prison career as a correctional officer, worked his way up in the organization to become, at the time of his retirement, Senior Warden of the historic Huntsville Unit, where court-ordered executions are carried out and over which Willett presided.
Persons seeking a better understanding of the Texas criminal justice system and life behind bars would find value in this wonderfully thoughtful and revealing book.
A look behind prison walls.......2005-07-20
Jim Willett was what some people might think of as a contradiction in terms--a compassionate prison warden. He did his job, which included giving the signal for executions to take place, while inwardly questioning the humanity of capital punishment. This is a fascinating story of a man who began his career in the prison system as a part-time guard, trying to earn some money for college. He fully intended to leave after graduation, but somehow he never did and as the years went by and the promotions came, he continued in the work for which he seemed so well-suited. This book is written in the first person and this adds to the immediacy of the description of prison life and the relations between prisoner and prison employee. The stories which are told in this book show the depths to which human beings can go and also the common humanity which binds us together. This is a fascinating and well-written book.
An excellent read.......2005-06-27
Rarely is a 'civilian' afforded the opportunity of viewing the prison system from such an honest and insightful perspective. Messrs. Willett and Rozelle have succeeded in creating a compelling work of non-fiction that reads as well as a good work of fiction. My appraisal of Mr. Willett is that of a totally dedicated, honest and compassionate man who did an outstanding job--few men could have done better. This book will remain a permanent part of my personal library.
Real Prison LIfe.......2005-06-06
Life inside prison walls has long been of interest to those not employed by or incarcerated in such an instiution. Having worked inside the walls for twenty years I can attest to the de-scriptive accuracy and the range of emotions offered as this former Warden tells his tale. Interesting throughout, this book truly gives the outsider an inside glimpse into the daily inter-action between the keeper and the kept. I believe the author is a good man who was tasked with one of the toughest, most un-appreciated jobs in America,i.e., maintaining order among soci-ety's disorderly. This account of his career will not fail to give the reader true insight into real prison life.
Charlene Suess.......2005-06-05
Warden is a genuine daily chronicle of life within the Texas Prison System.
Jim Willett not only provides an honest insight into such a society but reflects on the humanity of both the "guard" and the guarded and the daily personal struggles and decisions that are required for such a profession.
Warden is well written and provides histroical information on a personal and interesting level from start to finish.
Book Description
Clara and David Harris were married on Valentine's Day. Young and in love, they developed a thriving dental business, built a half-million-dollar mansion, and raised the perfect family. Then whispers of an affair between David and his beautiful secretary drifted through their exclusive Houston social circle. A private detective confirmed the rumors. When Clara saw her husband with his mistress, she climbed behind the wheel of her luxurious car and put an end to their charmed life together-by crushing her husband to death underneath the wheels of her silver Mercedes-Benz. What the headline-making trial ultimately revealed was: a high-profile marriage running on empty, marital infidelity, a woman's deadly passion, and the private hell behind a public life of the rich and privileged.
Customer Reviews:
The facts well presented.......2007-01-12
This book provides details you haven't seen in the newspapers and it is well written. Good book about a tragic case.
Fact is stranger than fiction.......2006-07-31
Though this story made headlines across the country, there was not enough tabloid ink to cover all the truly bizarre details of the case.
The author goes into excrutiating detail to illustrate the moral hypocrisy of the Harris's suburban Texas community. Its affluent deniszens flaunted adherence to the protestant work ethic by indulging in conspicuous consumption, and maintained god-fearing charades by attending frivolous church gatherings. New residents "denomination shopped" by the same critieria used in country club selection -- the choice of methodist vs. baptist was made according to convenience of church location and the social standing of its congregation. Most of the participants in this drama met in their church groups, and their intricate infidelities required a flow chart - in fact one was entered into evidence during the trial.
The author leads us through the horror of the incident itself, then traces back through the eight days prior to the vehicular assault. Empathy for the victim dwindles as he is portrayed as a self-indulgent man-child who humiliates his well-liked, hard-working immigrant wife by having an affair with a sexpot who works in their dental business. He even methodically details for his wife why he prefers his lover to her. Clara Harris thus descends into a desperate, jealous fury culminating in the vehicular assault.
Lest we think Clara Harris is an innocent victim of circumstance, her calculating side is revealed as she schemes to win her husband back, and inexcusably drags his daughter along with her. In turn, she hires an unsavory private detective firm who also have been hired by everyone else involved in the case. The second half of the book is spent detailing the trial. The author does a superb job of covering the highlights and illuminating the defense and prosecution strategies. Although he takes pains to provide balance as far as David vs. Clara, he humorlessly fails to hide his disdain for the trial judge, a Texas Republican with little regard for freedom of the press.
This is a fascinating page-turner, particularly for those who derive a sense of schaudenfreud from reading about wealthy people who have it all and lose it through bad behaviour.
Uneven coverage........2006-06-27
Fascinating story of a the death of a philandering husband in Houston was spoiled by the author's uneven coverage of the details. For example, the fact that the victim's parents chose to stand by their son's killer (the wife) and even testified on her behalf at the trial was very unusual. However the author totally failed to explore this other then to mention in one sentence the parents' fears that the wife's relatives would take custody of the children and relocate them to Colombia in the event of a conviction. Totally inadequate explanation of a bizarre aspect of the trial. Also felt the criticism of the DA, the defense counsel, and the judge showed the author's lack of objectivity. Still, all-in-all a good read for true crime aficionados. Say a seven on a scale of ten.
A Capivating Read from the First Page!.......2006-04-30
I loved this book and read it in two days. Although it was clear Clara Harris killed her husband in cold blood, I still had a great deal of sympathy for her. I was positive her attorney would defend her as a temporary insanity case; however, he didn't and I'm not sure why. I can totally understand the rage she had after discovering his mistress; then after he promises to stop seeing his lover and try to make his marriage work, she finds out he was deceiving her once again. Clara Harris worked so hard all her life and it was obvious she was a caring mother and a devoted wife who loved her husband very much -- almost to obsessive levels. For her to do what she did, over and over -- run the car over him again and again, she HAD to have been in some kind of out of control mode and I think they should have taken that into consideration and cut her a break. The Judge was relentless, almost as though she had no sympathy for Clara Harris at all. I realize she is a murderess but I still felt bad for her. Her heart was broken and her jealousy toward her husband's other woman just set her off. I definitely would recommend this book and I promise you will not be bored.
Out of control, The Clara Harris story by Steven Long.......2005-09-12
I absolutely loved this book it was excellently written! It was very precise in all its facts and presented them well. It gave you insight on all the people involved not just Clara Harris. You really felt for all of them. You came away with a new prespective.
Average customer rating:
- Practical Steps of Renewal for the Mainline Church
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Beyond These Walls: Building the Church in a Built-Out Neighborhood (Innovators in Ministry)
Richard L. Dunagin , and
Lyle E. Schaller
Manufacturer: Abingdon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| Subjects
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ASIN: 0687085969 |
Customer Reviews:
Practical Steps of Renewal for the Mainline Church.......1999-11-21
Dunagin is right on target by giving us practical steps of outreach, renewal, and growth in the mainline church located in an area that has experienced demographical changes. With great programatic recommendations, he's right on target with United Methodists, Lutherans, Disciples, and others who want to get off the plateau.
Average customer rating:
- Eye-opener, well written and well spoken (audio cassette)
- West Dallas's Teacher's review...
- The 1st yr. West Dallas Teacher's review...
- WINNING IN AMERICA - AGAINST ALL ODDS
- Out of Curiousity...
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Out of the Madness: From the Projects to a Life of Hope
Jerrold Ladd
Manufacturer: Hachette Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
African-American & Black
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ASIN: 1570420556 |
Book Description
The child of a heroin-addicted mother growing up amidst poverty, violence, and drugs in the ghetto of West Dallas, Jerrold Ladd was determined to lead a better life. Fiercely independent, he took responsibility for his future, and, with the love of his family, became the first person in his family to attend college and later a national spokesperson on inner city problems.
Customer Reviews:
Eye-opener, well written and well spoken (audio cassette).......2004-08-19
This story is hard to imagine anyone living through. Mr. Ladd's accomplishments are outstanding. This brings a reality to the reader that most people have no idea exists except those living it. This autobiography also shows the power of determination, attitude and self-reliance.
This should be inspiring and educational to young people especially but also to adults who can see the world from a young black man's perspective. Ladd allows us to walk in his shoes for a while; it is a privilege and a lesson.
The narrator for the audiocassette does an excellent job reading the book.
This story reminded me of "Finding Fish" by Antwoine Fisher, another great, inspiring story.
West Dallas's Teacher's review..........2000-12-20
As a 24 yearold 1st yr. teacher in West Dallas I have been looking for answers. I work at the Middle School across from the projects referred to in this book. I am not too far from "Fishtrap", and the gangs (boyz) have changed from Ladd's time but only by the faces of their members. Some of the most infamous being my most delightful students. My kids are not like all of the others in America. They are different...special even and Jerrold Ladd told me why. As I read this book with every page I turned I anticipated that the "story" would get better. I prayed that his mother would change. I longed for the chapter when some long lost Great-Uncle from Georgia would come and take him from the reality of his torrid life. But it never happened. And I became frustarted because my students do not have anyone to rescue them from their realities, not for the long haul at least. Jerrold Ladd's book explained to me the generational frustaration that West Dallas incorporates. The resentment and struggle of blocks and blocks of people is the only thing this community truly owns. Ladd wrote the testament and explanation of a community's fear. His hopes and fears were evident on every page of this book. I only wish that my studenrs could take time from their troubles of hunger, fear, anger, and poverty to big up this reflection of possible positive self. Thank you for this invaluable tool of living and learning.
The 1st yr. West Dallas Teacher's review..........2000-12-19
As a 24 yearold 1st year Teacher in West Dallas I have looked for reasons as to why my students (my kids) as I call them are the way they are. I teach eighth grade History at Thomas Edison Middle Learning Center which is located across the street from the projects referred to by Mr. Ladd. I can testify that all of my 109 students are the soul of Jerrold Ladd.
I have gone home frustrated many nights, crying myself to sleep distraught over what my kids must face at home from day to day after a long day at school. Mr. Ladd brought home the realities of my student lives. He pushed their questionable futures to the forefront of my classroom and by this Christmas I was sad to see them go. I was sad because I questioned how many of them would bathe without the motivation of not being ridiculed by mean classmates. I was sad because I wondered to what length one of my kids would go to pay his mother's rent, the same mother who stood in front of me and her precious son parent-confrence night and stated how he was a waste of 13 years.
As I turned the pages of this book I waited with each page for Mr. Ladd's situation to get better. Similarly, as I come to work everyday I look for my kids situation to get better. In the final ten to twelve pages of this testament to the community of West Dallas I finally saw inspiration and hope, however I shudder to think how long it will take the children of West Dallas to see the same thing.
Jerrold Ladd thank you for this guide into the minds of my babies. It is a invaluable tool.
WINNING IN AMERICA - AGAINST ALL ODDS.......2000-10-02
Excellent writing from a motivated and dedicated young man. Jerrold Ladd experienced disrupted education, a lack of early age positive male influence while proving first hand, that you can over come all obstacles and succeed in America.
It is a gut wrenching look into living in America's projects shortly after desegregation. It reminded me of the fact that life in America is not and has never been the same for everyone. For many, it is a living torture. Once you have read Out Of The Madness, you feel like you personally know the author. The author, Jerrold Ladd, tells an in-depth story about his life, his family (Mother, sister and brother) and some of his friends and associates. He provides an incredible amount of detail for a relatively short book (under 200 pages and large print). He allowed me to walk in his foot steps, feeling his disappointments, success's and failures. Each chapter presented intense quality of life and life treating situations that would test and potentially break the fiber of any man or woman. Jerrold exposes himself, his friends and associates in a bold and remarkable manner that allows you to actually feel his emotions. This book is a dead serious look at life within a segment of America, yesterday and today. The book reminds you that to many people (children and adults), needlessly, experience this and worst everyday. I recommend the book as a must read for everyone. My reason: This book provides an insight into a situation that many generations of Americans helped create. It gives motivation to those in similar situations and those that have not lived integrated into murder, drugs and abuse. Most of all, it proves, in America you can change your life.
Out of Curiousity..........2000-03-23
I am a freshman student at my high school, and was assigned to a book report... I then choose this book, yet not out of wantingness, but just to get something and be done with it. When I started this book, I was so amazed at the details, and way Jerrold lived, with such horrific times in his live from his living style, to growing up, and all the obstacles, and problems that occured in his life. It was so sad, yet you cant put it down.
Customer Reviews:
Folklore and schooling.......2006-08-07
The 25 articles in this volume cover a variety of topics that are relevant to folklore and learning. The majority of the essays were culled from presentations made at meetings of the Texas Folklore Society, and they include interesting stories as well as good descriptions of rituals and beliefs. The essays and articles are arranged into themes that deal with folklore and primary school, the folklore of high schoolers, and college student folklore. There are also essays that provide a tribute to the master teacher Paul Patterson and a discussion of language and the study of folklore. The essays on Paul Patterson will likely appeal mainly to Texans who knew him, and the essays on folklore and language may have wider appeal to those intersted in connections between traditional knowledge and various ways of speaking. Some of the stronger essays offer interesting insights into connections between learning theory and folklore, and I especially liked what Barbara Morgan-Fleming offers in relation to connecting folklore to various learning processes. I also greatly enjoyed James Lee Ward's witty article entitled "Talking Fancy." He offers a fun description of various dialects and a clever critique of pretentious rhetoric. But many of the essays in this volume lack in-depth analysis and interpretation, and, as a whole, the entire volume only marginally addresses how we do learn through folklore.
Average customer rating:
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Texas Out Back
Leon Hale , and
Harry A. Deyoung
Manufacturer: Madrona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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ASIN: 089052002X |
Average customer rating:
- SPARE AND SOBER, YET A RICH TALE
- An haunting and eery experience
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Called Out
A.G. Mojtabai
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 038547430X
Release Date: 1994-05-01 |
Customer Reviews:
SPARE AND SOBER, YET A RICH TALE.......2005-07-03
Returning to her themes of separatist movements and cultural divisions, A. G. Mojtabai begins her sixth novel with the crash of a passenger jet. The gigantic plane plummets to earth by the small town of Bounds, Texas, a place where the inhabitants had never anticipated such a climatic disaster.
One of the first to observe the crash is a Roman Catholic priest, Father Mark, who sees the plane falling as he drives home. He had been thinking of various parish problems and reconsidering his vocation. Now, he is called to minister to the accident victims.
Other witnesses include the town's grumpy postmistress in whose field lies the twisted debris, and a newspaper reporter from Fort Worth who was headed for a yard sale but ran into the country's top story.
"Called Out" is aptly named for it is a story of how individuals are summoned forth from lives of isolation to interact with their fellow men. There are no pat answers here. What does such a disaster mean? The author leaves us to wonder.
This is a spare, sober tale yet a rich one causing readers to ponder their places among their fellow human beings.
- Gail Cooke
An haunting and eery experience.......1998-02-25
I have read this novel many years ago, and still the story continues to haunt me. It comes in vivid images : A quiet little town in Texas. A plane crash. Survivors pouring out of the wreck, disoriented, shocked, changed for the rest of their lives. This town, it will never be the same again. The people, they will come together. Milan Kundera once said that the success of a so-called 'Best-Sellers' is that it urges you to find a key, a solution. It is exciting, but once you've found it, the magic is over. You can throw away the book, the mystery is unveiled, the excitement is gone. Read this book, be different. It belongs to another category.
Books:
- Flip Side of The Game
- Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
- Fortune's Fool (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 3)
- From Alpha to Omega, An Introduction to Classical Greek, Rev Third Edition
- Half Broken Things
- Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, Volume II (Handbook of Flavor Ingredients)
- Headache and Your Child: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Treating Migraine and other Headaches in Children and Adolescents
- Hidden Power for Human Problems
- Highland Fling
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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