Scarne on Cards

Rating:
Summary: You must find a copy of this book
Review: "Scarne on Cards" has got to be the most entertaining book about card-playing ever written. John Scarne was a card-playing genius -- and a witty writer to boot. This book focuses only on a few of the most popular card games, specifically those that can be successfully gambled at -- poker, blackjack, gin rummy, pinochle. But the lessons taken from those games could be applied to hundreds of others. Scarne doesn't just explain the rules; he explains how the games are won. If you're only a marginal card player, even a cursory reading of this book will make you better. At times it's technical, but Scarne's style is anything but dry. You'll enjoy this book. It's worth the effort to find a copy.

Rating:
Summary: You must find a copy of this book
Review: "Scarne on Cards" has got to be the most entertaining book about card-playing ever written. John Scarne was a card-playing genius -- and a witty writer to boot. This book focuses only on a few of the most popular card games, specifically those that can be successfully gambled at -- poker, blackjack, gin rummy, pinochle. But the lessons taken from those games could be applied to hundreds of others. Scarne doesn't just explain the rules; he explains how the games are won. If you're only a marginal card player, even a cursory reading of this book will make you better. At times it's technical, but Scarne's style is anything but dry. You'll enjoy this book. It's worth the effort to find a copy.

Rating:
Summary: there are better books on cards
Review: "Scarne on cards" is quite o.k. if you are just entering the world of cards and gambling; but it has to be said that there are much better books on this subject. If you want to find out how to detect cheating (or, how to cheat) you may find the theory there, but it won't help you a lot when you are gambling. If you really think about buying this book, then don't forget to skip the "mathematics of black jack" section, because it is completely wrong! During his lifetime, John Scarne was too arrogant to admit that his "black jack strategy" was wrong (same section can be found in his book "Scarne's complete guide to gambling") This book is just scratching the surface of card games and not recommendable if you really want to have deeper knowledge of cards, card games, cheating and how to detect it.

Rating:
Summary: Vade mecum of card players
Review: A lot of people think they hate cards. They haven't read this book. Written by an acknowledged expert of card games, card tricks, and detection of cheating, the book starts out with a priceless explanation of how card sharks cheat, and how to spot it. His advice is always to just get up and get out when cheating is suspected. He then explains how to play poker, gin, pinochle, blackjack, and many others, with great advice on how to win within the rules. There are plenty of "complete Hoyle" type books with lists of rules, but this one goes them one-up with the priceless savvy it gives you about the real world.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely must find this book
Review: John Scarne is a master. His life is as intriguing and entertaining as his card playing. The man was simply a genius. I am lucky enough to have uncovered copies of his books from my father. This book is one of them and I learned to play a lot of card games from it. Its truly unbelievable.

If you can find any Scarne books do so.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely must find this book
Review: John Scarne is a master. His life is as intriguing and entertaining as his card playing. The man was simply a genius. I am lucky enough to have uncovered copies of his books from my father. This book is one of them and I learned to play a lot of card games from it. Its truly unbelievable.

If you can find any Scarne books do so.

Rating:
Summary: A true classic, with some caveats
Review: John Scarne was an authority on card playing, and he wanted you to know that. He never lets you forget. Scarne's book is filed with self-promotion, and that's actually part of its charm. A lot of the so-called "according to Hoyle" books describe various games competently, but this book has personality, bombastic though it is. It's a fun read.

But Scarne wasn't perfect. His blackjack strategy is just plain wrong, so don't pay attention to it - Find a book on blackjack if that's what you want. Also, I find his description of cribbage very muddled and confusing. Some of the games are obscure, such as Radio Pinochle, which, as far as I can tell, was never played by anyone anywhere (despite his prediction that it was destined to be the most loved game in America).

The discussion of cheating was groundbreaking, and still worth reading. Scarne felt that games would be more honest if everyone knew how to cheat, so he includes not only a section devoted to the subject, but specific notes under each game's section describing cheating methods peculiar to that game.

I recommend it highly, but take some of his advice with a grain of salt.