Drive for Show, Putt for Dough
Drive for Show, Putt for Dough

Author: Leon Crump

Publisher: William Morrow

Published: 1997-04-03

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9780062701718

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1958, Leon Crump took a week off from his job to play golf, fell in with a group of gamblers and won $1,300. He hasn't gone back to work since. For almost 40 years now, he's been golfing his way around the South in a renegade career filled with rollercoaster highs and lows. On his best day, he's won a years salary; his worst set him back almost that much. Filled with high drama and deadpan humor, this compulsively readable book tells how Crump became America's preeminent golf hustler. Along the way, it also reveals some hard-earned truths to help readers battle their way through their own weekend wars. There are hints on how to psyche yourself up and "read" opponents; advice on when and how to bet; and ingenious tricks such as "doctoring" clubs or driving balls out of Dixie cups. Offering a fresh, offbeat approach to golf, Drive For Show, Putt for Dough is sure to be a hit with today's crop of take-no-prisoners players.

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything
Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything

Author: Kevin Cook

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2010-11-22

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 0393080595

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Capturing the spirit of a freewheeling era, this rollicking biography brings to life the gambler-hero who inspired Guys and Dolls. Born in a log cabin in the Ozarks, Alvin "Titanic" Thompson (1892-1974) traveled with his golf clubs, a .45 revolver, and a suitcase full of cash. He won and lost millions playing cards, dice, golf, pool, and dangerous games of his own invention. He killed five men and married five women, each one a teenager on her wedding day. He ruled New York's underground craps games in the 1920s and was Damon Runyon's model for slick-talking Sky Masterson. Dominating the links in the pre-PGA Tour years, Thompson may have been the greatest golfer of his time, teeing up with Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Lee Trevino, and Ray Floyd. He also traded card tricks with Houdini, conned Al Capone, lost a million to Minnesota Fats and then teamed up with Fats and won it all back. A terrific read for anyone who has ever laid a bet, Titanic Thompson recaptures the colorful times of a singular figure: America's original road gambler.

One of a Kind
One of a Kind

Author: Nolan Dalla

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2006-05-30

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 074347659X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First biography of the greatest card player of all time. Stuey Ungar was a true original, a mass of contradictions and a god among gamblers. As a high school dropout, Ungar soon developed a reputation for talent and raw nerve in playing gin. A nonstop gambler he was soon conquering Las Vegas. One of a Kind chronicles Stuey's spectacular rise as the most feared tournament player in poker history to his tragic fall. Compelling and riveting, this is the first ever look at the man behind the legend.

Fast Company
Fast Company

Author: Jon Bradshaw

Publisher: High Stakes

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781843440130

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Introduction by Nick Cohn. In this classic book, Jon Bradshaw follows six full-time gamblers who never lose, including three legendary poker players Johnny Moss, Pug Pearson and Titanic Thompson; tennis player Bobby Riggs; pool player Minnesota Fats and backgammon player Tim Holland. His evocation of ambience and his dramatic description of the games themselves are fascinating, but Bradshaw also deftly probes their minds and hearts as he attempts to define what makes some men winners and most men losers.

Through the Eyes of the Lizard
Through the Eyes of the Lizard

Author: Steven James Smith

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2012-01-24

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9781469745794

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Through The Eyes Of The Lizard, a book conceptionalized and written by Steve Smith is the Ralph Waldo Emerson of the pool and billiard world. Steve Smith, affectionaly known as sneaky Lizard explains and demonstrates the metaphysical-spiritual sense of competitive pool combat always knowing he will win and take down the money. Sneaky Lizard, writes from his heart, and soul and is completely truthful with respect to all the events and characterization throughout the book. Steve Smith is a genius, even as a pool hustler. As Emerson stated: Each of us has been born with a genius. There is something that each of us do very well. It has been assigned to us, and yet many of us every really pause in life to discover it deeply and then apply the other necessary ingredient. And that is drill. That is practice. That is taking that which is good and making it great. That is pursuing your niche. That is unveiling your uniqueness. That is finding your voice and learning how to vocalize -not like everybody else- but your way. that requires you to at times to swim upstream, to go against the flow, to stand out in the crowd declaring--Here I am, here is what I offer to create a much better world, -that is now better because I have not hidden my gift--and have risked rejection by bringing it forth in public. HARRY Platis Hall of fame inductee (action player)

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming
The Little Way of Ruthie Leming

Author: Rod Dreher

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2013-04-09

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1455521906

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming follows Rod Dreher, a Philadelphia journalist, back to his hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana (pop. 1,700) in the wake of his younger sister Ruthie's death. When she was diagnosed at age 40 with a virulent form of cancer in 2010, Dreher was moved by the way the community he had left behind rallied around his dying sister, a schoolteacher. He was also struck by the grace and courage with which his sister dealt with the disease that eventually took her life. In Louisiana for Ruthie's funeral in the fall of 2011, Dreher began to wonder whether the ordinary life Ruthie led in their country town was in fact a path of hidden grandeur, even spiritual greatness, concealed within the modest life of a mother and teacher. In order to explore this revelation, Dreher and his wife decided to leave Philadelphia, move home to help with family responsibilities and have their three children grow up amidst the rituals that had defined his family for five generations-Mardi Gras, L.S.U. football games, and deer hunting. As David Brooks poignantly described Dreher's journey homeward in a recent New York Times column, Dreher and his wife Julie "decided to accept the limitations of small-town life in exchange for the privilege of being part of a community."

Unplayable Lies
Unplayable Lies

Author: Dan Jenkins

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 0385539762

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Unplayable Lies, Dan Jenkins takes us on a tour of the links as only he can do it. Here, Dan delves into the greatest rounds of golf he's ever seen, the funniest things said on a golf course, the rivalries on tour and in the press box, the game's most magical moments--and its most absurd. Filled with well-known characters like Tiger Woods, to others like Titanic Thompson--gambler, golf hustler, accused murderer, legendary storyteller--Unplayable Lies is an ode to the game of golf and the people who play it. But it is Dan Jenkins, so nothing--even the game itself--can escape his wrath, his critical eye, or his acerbic pen. This is Dan Jenkins at his best, writing about the sport he loves the most.

The Mysterious Montague
The Mysterious Montague

Author: Leigh Montville

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2009-05-05

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0767926501

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

John Montague was a boisterous enigma. In the 1930s, he was called “the world's greatest golfer” by famed sportswriter Grantland Rice. He could drive the ball 300 yards and more, or he could chip it across a room into a highball glass. He played golf with everyone from Howard Hughes and W. C. Fields to Babe Ruth and Bing Crosby. Yet strangely, he never entered a professional tournament or allowed himself to be photographed. Then, a Time magazine photographer snapped his picture with a telephoto lens and police quickly recognized Montague as a fugitive with a dark secret. From the glamour of 1930s Hollywood, to John Montague's extraordinary skill and triumphs on the golf course, to the shady world of Adirondack rumrunners and the most controversial, star-studded court trial of its day, The Mysterious Montague captures a man and an era with extraordinary color, verve, and energy.

A Night to Remember
A Night to Remember

Author: Walter Lord

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2005-01-07

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780805077643

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A cloth bag containing eight copies of the title.

Blood Aces
Blood Aces

Author: Doug J. Swanson

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0143127586

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A rip-roaring saga of murder, money, and the making of Las Vegas They say in Vegas you can’t understand the town unless you understand Benny Binion—mob boss, casino owner, and creator of the World Series of Poker. Beginning as a Texas horse trader, Binion built a gambling empire in Depression-era Dallas. When the law chased him out of town, he loaded up suitcases with cash and headed for Vegas. The place would never be the same. Dramatic as any gangster movie, Blood Aces draws readers into the colorful world of notorious mobsters like Clyde Barrow and Bugsy Siegel. Given access to previously classified government documents, biographer Doug J. Swanson provides the definitive account of a great American antihero, a man whose rise from thugdom to prominence and power is unmatched in the history of American criminal justice.