It's not always easy for nice guys to win in the poker and whist worlds. Blake Eskin reviewed the article

 It's not always easy for nice guys to win in the poker and whist worlds. Blake Eskin reviewed the article

Most books on card games, including A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist by Edmond Hoyle in 1742 have provided instructions on how to play or how to increase your chances of winning. Some books focus only on one game, such as Omar Sharif's on bridge. Some teach techniques that can be used in many games, such as dealing with the bottom of a deck. These books provide narrative examples and advice about how certain players can win, but they do not follow Hoyle's rules.

All's Fair

Penn Jillette's and Mickey D. Lynn's How to Cheat Your Friends At Poker: The Wisdom of Dickie Rich (St. Martin's $19.95) may not prove to be of practical value. This book is not intended to be a guide on sleight of hand; the authors recommend S.W. Erdnase's The Expert At the Card Table. How to Cheat lists 10 ways to make your poker game safe, but it also explains how to circumvent these safeguards.

It's mostly a lengthy monologue from a man of extraordinary social dexterity. Dickie Richard, a pseudonym, although Jillette is an illusionist, we don't know. He has spent 30 years looking for strangers in country clubs, talking his ways into their basements and stealing their money. He is arrogant, foul-mouthed, and very pleasant company. "Good people don't play poker," Dickie says. "The goal of poker is win and lies and unfair advantage are part of the game. Poker players "forget" about ante-up and notice the "tells" of others. It's easy to mark cards, stack decks, and palm chips from there. Or, if all fails, take off with your cashbox.

Dickie said, "In poker, anything you can get away from is fair." Even though Dickie cannot cheat the same friends forever for good, he says it's not possible. Dickie's boastful stories lead to a hilarious tale about a high-stakes casino hosted by a New Hampshire judge. It involves a $25-million payday, a prostitute giving Dickie a discount, and then passing on a venereal disease. This tale is the gambling version to the one about the big fish who got away. It's so outrageous that you have to wonder if the authors were lying. Four of Poker's Nice Guys