Dealer's Choice is the ultimate guide to the world of low stakes poker, where fun and bragging rights count as least as much as the final tally. We all know that money won is twice as sweet as money earned, and there are plenty of books that will help you if you want to mortgage the house to play on the high-stake tables, but most of us are looking for a friendlier species of the game, a chance to test our luck in the enjoyable company of friends, and, if we are favoured with good fortune and they are not, to really, really rub their noses in it. Starting with the elementary principles of the game every beginner will need to know before swimming with the sharks - betting, bluffing, and the hierarchy of hand values - Dealer's Choice also includes invaluable tips on how to host the perfect poker evening (the relative merits of chips versus coins, what food to serve) as well as fascinating sidebars (great poker hands in cinema, trivia, unspoken laws of the game) and hilarious profiles of archetypal poker characters - the kinds of oddball one is bound to encounter sooner or later across the green felt. Every conceivable variety of poker is discussed in each of its variants, from established favourites like Baseball and Follow the Queen to truly esoteric mutations of the authors' own invention such as Frankenstein, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Hamlet (i.e., Jacks are low, Queens are wild, Kings dead). Renowned illustrator Phil Foglio has enlivened the text with spectacular line drawings. With worldwide interest in poker at unprecedented peak, Dealer's Choice gives casual players the chance to re-create, right in their living rooms, the excitement of the World Series of Poker...except without the five million dollar jackpot - but pizza and beer aren't bad either!

Dealer's Choice

Humor & Entertainment

Phil Foglio

Mike Selinker

James Ernest

Puzzles & Games

Gerald Duckworth

A Beautiful Game is a new 2-player abstract strategy game invented by James Ernest of Cheapass Games and Patrick Rothfuss. It was introduced in Pat's book The Wise Man's Fear.The companion book, tentatively titled A Beautiful Game, is written by James and Pat, and illustrated by Nate Taylor. This book will touch on the game's origins, and will explain the ancestry and meaning of various types of pieces. It will also contain an expanded rules section describing regional game variations, as well as strategy hints and terms for various plays and combinations, plus a lot of extra goodies.The book is available in hardcover and e-book formats.The hardcover format is 8.5" square and will feature a 5x5 hybrid game board (diamonds and squares) on the back cover, designed by Pete Venters. It's a great addition to the Tavern Set, making it easy to take Tak wherever you go!

Tak Companion Book

Games

Contact Juggling is an unusual and beautiful juggling technique. It involves rolling one or more balls on the hands, arms, and body. It combines the visual grace of dance with the technical demands of juggling. It is a joy to watch and a satisfying challenge to perform. This is James Ernest's original instruction book on contact juggling, first released in 1990, and now in its third edition. It contains instructions for all the basic moves, including hand rolls, isolations, multi-ball palm spinning, and more. It also contains updated sections describing a wealth of new and unusual contact juggling tricks. Juggler's World Magazine called Contact Juggling "one of the best-designed juggling instruction books available." The text and illustrations are clear and thorough. Grab your copy today!

Contact Juggling

Sports & Outdoors

Butterfingers

In Family Games: The 100 Best, the top designers and publishers write about the most enjoyable, most cleverly designed titles of the last one hundred years. Their essays cover the spectrum from board games to card games, wargames to miniatures games to role-playing games, including old favorites and little known gems. These are the games that the designers themselves play, the ones that have inspired their most popular inventions. Essayists include such legendary creators as Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride), Matthew Kirby (Apples to Apples), Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering), Tom Wham (Great Khan Game), James Ernest (Kill Dr. Lucky), Kevin Wilson (Descent), Emiliano Sciarra (Bang!), Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (co-founders of Games Workshop), and dozens of other noteworthy and award-winning designers.

Family Games: The 100 Best

Alan R. Moon

Richard Garfield

Susan McKinley Ross

Michael Schacht

Peter Olotka

Matthew Kirby

Tom Wham

Green Ronin Publishing

A collection of games and retrospectives from James Ernest, the President and creator of Cheapass Games.

Cheapass Games in black and white

Greater Than Games, LLC

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by James Ernest. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by James Ernest