(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best card games books

This is one of my only prepping areas of expertise. Every time the power goes out, I learn about some new way that I could've been better prepared for the boredom. I've created separate categories.


No Power


If you're woefully unprepared or all of your power is completely gone, you still have a few options:

• Playing Cards: I see these recommended all the time, and I'm sure everyone knows a few card games. But how many? 3 or 4? How many games can you almost remember, but not quite? That was an issue I realized I faced, so I bought a book of card game rules, like this one.
  
  
  
• Board Games: For those who didn't know, there was a board game revolution of sorts that began in 1995 with Settlers of Catan. Since then, there have been some REALLY incredible games that have come out. I love board games so much, I go to monthly meet-ups with fellow enthusiasts to play new and different games. Once you play a gateway game like Ticket to Ride, you'll never look back.
  
  
  I now have a good 30 board games, and am always looking for more. A typical board game can last for over an hour including setup, so they're a great way to kill time and have fun if there's nothing else to do.
  
  
  Check out some of the recommendations over at the board games subreddit
  
  
  
• Physical Books: Unfortunately, I don't have much of a physical library. But anyone who reads before bed knows how easy it is to get sucked into a good story and suddenly it's 3:00am.
  
  
  I like to have several books I love, some books of short stories, and stuff I'm kind of 50/50 on. I figure, if I try something out when there's no power and it can't hold my attention, then it really isn't a good book for me.
  
  
  Access to SOME Power
  
  
  If you're like me, you have a solar charger for electronics) coupled with a battery pack. With that, you should be able to stay at least sort of powered indefinitely. This setup increases your entertainment tremendously.
  
  
  
• Kindle: Charge it once and the battery lasts forever. I have a ton of books I've been meaning to read and books I had to put down because life got in the way. They're all there, just waiting for the power to go out. Additionally, a lot of older classics are free to download. And...err...I hear you can find books for free if you are willing to compromise your morals a bit.
  
  
  I prefer the original Kindle or the Paperwhite, since I want it solely for books.
  
  
  
• Tablet: Another prep I still need to make, but one I've researched a ton. Basically, you want some way of streaming movies, shows, and music. An old tablet+connected hard drive can potentially keep you entertained indefinitely, provided you can keep re-charging. And again, I hear there are places you can go to...find movies.
  
  
  
• Phone: Of course, you should only use your phone if you can reliably keep it charged (and have a backup burner for 911 calls!). If you can do that, and you are still able to get 3G/4G, you should be more than entertained. And you can always download podcasts, movies, music, etc. to your phone in advance in case your cellular access is limited.
  
  
  Full Power
  
  
  There are only a few situations I can envision where you have access to uninterrupted power, but can't leave your house. If you have a generator, of course, or if you're in some type of Contagion situation. If that's the case...you really don't have an entertainment problem.

I like to read, so most of my advice is book related. I learned by reading "Bridge for Dummies" by Eddie Kantar. I think it's terrific.


Other books that I've found valuable:

• Bid Better Play Better by Dorthy Hayden Truscott
  
• Introduction to Declarer's Play by Eddie Kantar
  
• Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense by Eddie Kantar (more advanced)
  
• How to Read your Opponents' Cards by Mike Lawrence (more advanced)
  
• Standard Bidding with SAYC by Ellen Pomer and Ned Downey
  
• 2/1 Game Force by Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell (once you have the basics of Std American down I highly recommend learning 2/1. It's almost the same and a big improvement, IMO).
  
• 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know by Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith. (don't go crazy here. Stayman, Jacoby, weak 2, RKC Blackwood, and negative doubles will take you pretty far.)
  
  The best way to learn is to find someone who is patient and better than you and play with them. If you play on BBO there's somethign called the Beginner's & Intermediates club. It costs $45 / year. The most valuable portion of it is that they will set you up with a mentor. I play 1x a week with a very patient, very skilled woman who gives me a lot of feedback.
  

Ray Zee's hi-low book is a great book for stud hi-lo (and Limit Ohama hi-lo).
7 card stud for advanced players is also meant to be good but I haven't read it.
Super System 2 has only a chapter on stud hi-lo if I remember correctly, but Super System 1 has a chapter on stud hi and razz, but it is very outdated.

However, if you are willing to learn these games through the medium of video, I would highly recommend using the free trial (or sign up) for Deucescracked.com and watch a series called 'From a Donk to a Stud' - it's a great series which teaches the basics of mixed games for a hold'em player. There is also a follow up series call 'All mixed Up', with more advanced play.

I doubt the rake is beatable but it probably depends on how loose the table is and if you're adjusting correctly.

> If money is removed from the pot via a rake or button charge, you must play more tightly than if you pay time on the half-hour. That's because some of the money that you collect by winning the pot is gone. If your game is a $2-4 or $3-6, and they're taking 5% up to $3, then (on most pots) the entire 5% is gone before you can get your hands on it. A fixed button charge of $3 is an even bigger bite out of your potential profit (if the pot stays under $60). So if there is money being taken from the pot, be more con- servative about your starting hand requirements. Avoid the mar- ginal hands (which isn't a bad idea anyway) and just play quality cards.

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Low-Limit-Holdem-Lee-Jones/dp/1886070237/

This is a very good book, I highly recommend it if you continue the low-stakes limit games. Personally, I would just move up at least 2 limits ($5/10 limit or whatever).

You got downvoted not because you said counting cards give you a 2% edge (which is true), but because you are not familiar with expected value.

First of all, the point of counting cards is being able to adjust your bet.

However, in a hypothetical world where someone bets $1000 every hand, he can expect to win that measly $20 every hand he plays. Blackjack is the fastest table game in the casino, at an empty table someone is likely to see four or five hands a minute - which, when extrapolated, is around $5400/hour.

The reason counting cards isn't more popular is because of variance - blackjack players win only about 1/3 of the total hands played; the reason a player's edge goes up is because of doubling down, blackjacks,surrendering, and, of course, increasing bet size when there are more 10s and aces in the shoe. The odds are, someone counting cards is going to have major "downswings" and will quit because they've lost thousands of dollars when they were playing by the book. They will not quit, though, because the potential profit is too low.

You need to change your mentality and your view of poker. You can't play with scared money. Read some good poker books to hone your strategy.

• Easy Game
  
• Application Of No Limit Poker
  
• The Mental Game of Poker
  
• Every Hand Revealed
  
  Those are a good start. Lose the fear. You can't just play the cards, you need to read your opponents and play poker. One thing I do at home is deal out 9 poker hands face up and see how I would play each one and deal out all the streets see how you would play each hand. What if you played one hand differently? What if you raised or re-raised a particular hand? How would that affect the other hands? That helped me out a lot.

The activation requirement doesn't count against Roar because drawing either card when you can't meet Roar's activation requirement loses you the game regardless. I already said this. Hard drawing Roar has several engine bonuses, any one of which puts it over the top compared to Judgment: it gives you recursion through Sunlight Wolf, it gives you recursion through Falco, it gives you recursion through its own grave effect, and effect negation is a superior effect to summon negation. Where are you not seeing the engine bonus? In addition, a second Roar provides redundancy with Desires that Judgment can't provide. I already acknowledged that Judgment does one other thing than Roar (negates Denko). As I've already said, this application is not worth the sacrifice in synergy and redundancy, nor is it worth using one of 15 precious slots on a matchup that is already favorable for you when you go first.

All of this is competitive Yugioh 101. You say you don't think you need more experience, yet you've all but stated that you don't know what Sunlight Wolf, Falco, or Roar's text say. At this point, I can't tell if you're a beginner or you've just dug your heels that deeply into motivated reasoning. If it's the former, you literally need to read the cards in your deck and play more Yugioh. If it's the latter, then you aren't going to improve at this game by arguing to be right; the minute you decide your goal is to win the argument rather than arrive at the truth is the moment you give up on self progress. This is really basic stuff. If you don't get it yet, then just accept it and practice. Do open-hand testing where you hard draw Roar vs Judgment going first and second in both openings and late game. Hell, buy the book. I'm seeing nothing but classic Dunning-Kruger here. If your goal is to get good, then recognize that's what's going on.

The set game along with this book. Its fun for all ages such a simple game but always a favorite for anyone I have shown it too. Great to play with groups also.

If you have 10 bux, I recommend Wizard. It streamlines the processes of bridge beautifully while retaining good depth of strategy. It's easily one of my favorite games ever.

They used to put out books like this back in the day. Box sets for the more popular ones. 5e doesn't really have any official ones except for the aforementioned Sword Coast one. There are third party ones for Middle Earth and Midgard etc.

Honestly I would just trawl through the various wikis for the different settings like Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Eberron, Dark Sun and the like. Or hit up Ebay for the older setting books.

Some things I used several years ago. I make no claim that they are "that one" resource.

http://home.comcast.net/~kwbridge/

http://home.comcast.net/~kwbridge/basics.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Commonsense-Bidding-Complete-Methods-Standard/dp/0517884305/

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Bridge-Conventions-William-Root/dp/0517884291/

Play for free online at bridgebase.com. Best to play with someone you know. Otherwise prepare to get yelled at by random partners for not knowing what you're doing.

Find a bridge club with beginner lessons or at least a good Non-Life Master game. https://web3.acbl.org/findalist/club

Where are you from?

How about:

• This Crash Course US History Timeline Poster ($12)
  
• This Crash Course US Government Poster ($10)
  
• This beautiful book of illustrated maps ($25)
  
• Rad American Women A-Z ($17)
  
• Literally anything related to Hamilton
  
• A "On This Day In History" Calendar ($9)
  
• The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation ($15)
  
• A History of America in 100 Maps ($23)
  
• Something under "history classroom" on Etsy
  
  Also: Have you tried having a look at what she's pinned on Pinterest? You might find some helpful ideas there. Good luck!

I found my favorite deck [Tarot Illuminati] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738737909/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_.aZ0AbR485KBHbecause) because I was Facebook friends with the artist as he was creating it and he would post each card as he finished them. It really is one of the most beautiful decks I've ever seen and I use it almost exclusively now for readings.

I have a Ball of Whacks and a X-Ball, I greatly enjoy them. All the kids (and some adults) love them too, they are not expensive and encourage creative thinking in a way that also involves magnets, which are also pretty big so I don't think there's that much of a swallowing risk (don't take my word for it though).

Can You Win?: The Real Odds for Casino Gambling, Sports Betting, and Lotteries https://www.amazon.com/dp/0716721554/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mHPnDbYXREPH5

The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic https://www.amazon.com/dp/032328275X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cJPnDbWRATQ83

OP, there’s a good amount out there and you can go deep down the rabbit hole quickly. I recommend those two books as good starters. The first is friendlier.

Look into his book. While I did not like this article, his book takes a lot of what was into this article and expands greatly on it. The link is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Mental-Mana-Mastering-Magic-Gathering/dp/1981488774/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1526364140&sr=8-1

I may do a formal review of it next week, since I have enough free credit on amazon to get it and no one really has given this book the time I think it deserves.

Congratulations on getting your own place! fingers crossed

omfg candroth

My item

Hmm... not sure if I'd be interested in an Excel version, though I am the type of person that uses that sort of thing; I make item cards for all the magic items my players find—I made a template in Photoshop and use that. Here are some examples.

I really like being able to add a picture, so if you do make something you might want to leave a space for that.

There's an "official" product for what you're describing too. Obviously that doesn't help when it comes to making custom items (which is why I made my own template), but it gives an example of formatting.

These look cool https://www.amazon.com/dp/078696670X/?coliid=IHCSLIRHYTLHH&colid=33BBM3N1SWA4H&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I went through something similar. I highly suggest the book, Mental Mana.

It's basically sports psychology applied to our game, and has a lot of mental tips and tricks to help find your center in the game. It actually helped my oldest boy with MtG and Sports, too.

Illuminati Tarot may strike your fancy. I've found that, even if I'm not 100% a fan of a particular decks art, companion books can be helpful if the creator(s) of the deck explain their perspective and what they were getting at in a deck's creation.

Illuninati uses the RWS system, I believe. This one comes with a decent enough companion book. There's also an indepth guidebook but at a separate cost.

Nice. I am DMing Tomb of Annhilation rn and using magic item cards really takes the pain out of loot.

Recommend these, too:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gale-Force-Nine-Dungeons-Spellbook/dp/078696670X/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=5e+magic+item+cards&qid=1557050764&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Here you go!

https://www.amazon.ca/Mental-Mana-Mastering-Magic-Gathering/dp/1981488774/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542577213&sr=8-1&keywords=Mental+Mana+Will+Jonathan

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mental-Mana-Mastering-Magic-Gathering/dp/1981488774

Wizard!

http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Card-Game-Ken-Fisher/dp/1572812478/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406346725&sr=8-2&keywords=wizard+card+game