Internet Poker<br>By Gabrielle Barth

Internet Poker tells you everything you always wanted to know about online poker and were afraid to ask – and then some. The authors, Lou Krieger and Kathleen Keller Watterson, have put together a step-by-step poker bible that guides the novice who can barely tell a flush from a straight, as well as the poker professional who thinks he already has all the answers (and then finds he doesn't), into poker cyberspace.

When all the basics have been covered, Internet Poker goes into the specifics of online poker. First-timers may be timid about taking the step from the familiar brick-and-mortar casino to the cyber version. We don't know what to expect, how to get started, how to find the right sites and the right games, the jargon, how to observe the online ethics, how to handle the money aspect, and much, much more that is online-specific.

Internet Poker addresses every question and every concern an online poker novice might have and that might stop him from even trying in the first place. This book – extremely well-researched and written in a highly accessible way: the authors don't talk at you, they talk to you – should dispel any notions of online doubt or bashfulness. After reading the book, we come away with the understanding that poker cyberspace isn't going to eat us alive, and isn't going to crash and burn when we make mistakes. We begin to realize that online poker can be a very entertaining, convenient, and, if you play your cards right (sorry, couldn't resist that), lucrative way to play poker. It's a new world for many of us, but this book guides us through potential pratfalls and removes the fear factor that accompanies the unknown.

Online poker is on the rise. It is not a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't fad. It's here to stay. So, we might as well get on with it and become part of the phenomenon. And as for incentives, who won $2.5 million at this year's World Series of Poker? Who was the guy who beat out 838 players? The aptly named Chris Moneymaker, an Internet player!

The CD that accompanies Internet Poker – all part of the $14.95 price tag – is a must-have for anybody serious about online poker. While the sample hands in the book are very helpful, the CD with Wilson Software demos is a priceless tool. You can download it in the privacy of your own home and follow the instructions. It gives you an unhurried, pressure-free look at the real thing. Let Krieger and Watterson take you by the virtual hand and help you make the online jump. Internet Poker really does make it easy.