Post Archives Tag: book review

The Thinking Poker Diaries, Volume 1

I’m excited to announce, to those who missed the news on Twitter and the podcast, that I’ve finally published a book! It’s based on my 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event, and it’s actually the first in a series of e-books compiling updated and revised versions of my most … Read full post

Beauprez Interview and Free Chapter of PLO QuickPro

Edit: I awarded John a bracelet in the wrong event.

John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez, winner of the 2013 $5000 pot-limit omaha $1500 no-limt hold ’em 6-max WSOP event, will be our guest on Episode 43 of the podcast. In addition to talking to him about his poker career and the excitement … Read full post

Book Review: Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume 2

I’ve just published a review of Jonathan Little’s Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume 2. Here’s the synopsis:

The book is subtitled “Stages of the Tournament”, but fewer than half of the book’s 270 pages are dedicated to this topic. Ironically, much of the book addresses topics on which Little

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Suggested Read: The Warmth of Other Suns

Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns ought to be required reading for all Americans, black or otherwise. It tells a story that most of us know tangentially but whose true scale and historical importance are appreciated by few. I should say that I haven’t quite finished it yet (it’s … Read full post

Book Review: Harrington on Online Cash Games

I’ve just finished reading and reviewing Harrington on Online Cash Games, certainly one of the most anticipated poker books of the year. Here’s the two-minute version:

HOCG is the single best resource I’ve seen for anyone just starting out online or still learning to beat the microstakes games (i.e. stakes

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Book Review: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, Volume 1

Winning-Poker-Tournaments-One-Hand-At-A-TimeMy Two Minute Recommendation: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time scores a 9/10. Three top players discuss nearly 200 real hands and address dozens of common mistakes that even experienced no-limit hold 'em tournament players make. Read Harrington on Hold 'Em first for a theoretical foundation, but read this book next to see the ideas in action.
I am one of those cash game players who likes to deride tournament specialists as uncreative "tourney donks" whose poker skill is limited to an encyclopedic knowledge of pre-flop shoving ranges. I half-expected that that would be my reaction to Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time by Jon "Pearljammer" Turner, Eric "Rizen" Lynch, and Jon "Apestyles" Van Fleet. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

These guys are among the best in the world at beating online tournaments full of weak players. There's a temptation to look down my nose and say they don't understand concepts like 3rd-level thinking or balancing, but honestly those just aren't particularly important skills in these events. I wouldn't stake these guys in a high rollers' event or hire them to teach me cash game poker, but they beat the snot out of large-field poker tournaments, and in this book they teach you how to do the same in remarkably clear fashion.

This isn't a beginner's book, and it won't do much for anyone with the postflop skills to beat 100NL, but for the tens of thousands of players in between, Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time is an invaluable resource. I would say that it's required reading as soon as you finish the Harrington on Hold 'Em series, and even if you consider yourself an advanced tournament player, do yourself a favor and read this book just in case. It addresses so many of the mistakes that I most commonly see among intermediate tournament players that you're very likely to learn a thing or two. Chief among these mistakes is an inability to read hands and make disciplined folds. Although these players' hand-reading skills are not uniformly fantastic, they provide a very solid introduction to the concept, and they are particularly adept at interpreting betting lines commonly employed by weak players. Granted beating weak players is easy, but there's a difference between beating them and maximizing your advantage against them. This book is full of examples that clearly and concisely illustrate the reasoning behind some seemingly tough folds and surprising bluffs. In fact, examples are all that there are. Although the authors discuss many important concepts in the context of the hand examples, the book is organized around 194 real hands. Most are discussed only by the author who played them, but 20 feature input from all 3 authors. This is a very effective format that provides insight into a variety of perspectives and styles and that mirrors that poker training videos of which all three authors are experienced producers.

Book Review: The Poker Blueprint by Tri Nguyen and Aaron Davis

My One Minute Recommendation- The Poker Blueprint gets an 8.5/10 for content but a 5/10 for presentation. It contains plenty of great material for players who need help beating smaller stakes online short-handed games, but I fear the often terse, jargon-laden explanations will be too confusing or overwhelming for many Read full post

Book Review: Cowboys Full by James McManus

When I first heard that James McManus was working on a book about the history of poker, I was surprised that such a book had not yet been written and glad that McManus was the one writing it. His first poker book, Positively Fifth Street, is a personal favorite … Read full post

The Babboon and the Grasshopper

Ever since reading Tommy Angelo’s excellent Elements of Poker, I’ve been working on keeping calm and focused while playing live poker. This is no mean feat: the pace is glacial and the company grating. There are a million reasons to zone out, wander around, or get annoyed with someone. … Read full post

My 2010 Poker Resolutions

fireworksHappy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves responsibly last night (and last year, for that matter), and that you are striding confidently forward into a new year.

Yesterday, I revisited my 2009 poker resolutions. Now, it’s time to make some new resolutions and set some new

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2009: My Poker Year in Review

Nearly a year ago, I set some poker goals and resolutions for myself for 2009. It’s time now to review those goals and my progress towards them:

Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games

This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve,

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The Old School: Oswald Jacoby on Poker

I like old poker books. It’s fun to see how people played, and talked about, the game decades ago. In “The Old School”, I share the best and worst from these antiquated tomes. Sometimes the strategy is laughable, sometimes it is surprisingly astute, but it always provides a unique insight Read full post

Nonzero:The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright (Book Review)

Robert Wright’s Nonzero is not a poker book. I picked it up because it claimed to apply game theory to human evolution, both biological and cultural, and to offer a sweeping and prophetic account of humanity’s history and future. Yes, that’s a pretty ambitious goal, and the author acknowledges as … Read full post

New Book Review: Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ‘Em

Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ’em
by Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn

Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em, Volume 1 (PNLHE) is one of my all-time favorite poker books and the one that I recommend to anyone looking to get started to the game. I eagerly awaited the … Read full post

Article Requests

I’ve recently received a few requests for old articles of mine that appeared in the 2+2 Magazine. First off, let me apologize that my archive is so out of date. The revamping of the website has proved far more complicated than anticipated, but it is nearly finished now. When it … Read full post

Book Review: Transitioning from NLHE to PLO by Tri Nguyen

My One Minute Recommendation: The Pot Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning from NLHE to PLO scores a 9/10. There are probably better books for all-around poker noobs, but experienced NLHE players looking to get better at “the other big bet game” would be hard-pressed to find a better resource.

The Good:Read full post

April

I won and lost a lot of money in April. I finished the month with a decent though not spectacular bottom line, but given what I spent on tournament buy-ins (thank you very much, SCOOP), I’m impressed that I was up at all.

Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games… Read full post

Get Your "The Wire" Fix

It’s been more than a year since the finale of The Wire, and I don’t know about you, but I’m missing the hell out of it. Consequently, I was very excited to see the Freakonomics Blog report that writer/creator David Simon is planning to shoot a pilot for HBO … Read full post

Book Review: Whale Hunt in the Desert

By most accounts, Steve Cyr revolutionized the ways in which casinos worldwide cater to the whims of “whales”, the highest rolling gamblers in the world. Flying in the face of received wisdom, his mass marketing and customer service approach to the business upset decades of tradition but ultimately set the … Read full post

2009 Poker Resolutions

Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games

This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve, just maintaining my current winrate and putting in hours will be very valuable to me. Of course I do want to get better, but my general focus … Read full post

Book Review: Poker Slam by Neal Gersony

Neal Gersony’s Poker Slam is a novel about an aspiring professional poker player trying to track down his legendary uncle, who won millions in the world’s biggest tournaments and then disappeared. Great fiction it isn’t, but once the book gathers steam, it’s a fast-paced and engaging mystery flavored by the … Read full post

Bryan Clark Owns

I don’t know how he did it, but Bryan Clark (AKA Dynasty, the editor of 2+2 Magazine) managed to defuse Mason Malmuth’s temper. In both our public and private communications, he gave no ground whatsoever and continued to insist that I deliberately misrepresented the Harrington on Cash series in … Read full post

Bill Vosti Responds

Been meaning to post this, it’s Bill’s response to my review of his e-book, How to Beat NLHE 6-Max Cash Games:

Thanks for reviewing the book.

I won’t comment on everything — you have some valid points although I do feel a beginner can use this book. It’s

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Book Review: How to Beat NLHE 6-Max Cash Games

My One Minute Recommendation: Smaller stakes players who want a big picture view of advanced concepts that they’ll need to understand to win at higher stakes will probably get their money’s worth. Beginners, however, should find another resource that’s written specifically for them and presented in a more tiered and Read full post

Book Review: Harrington on Cash Volume II

My One Minute Recommendation: Harrington on Cash Games Volume II covers turn and river play as well as playing loose and aggressive, dealing with others who play that way, bankroll management, and other topics. Harrington explains complex poker theory well, but when it comes to putting it into practice, his Read full post

Book Review: Harrington on Cash Games Volume I

My One Minute Recommendation: Harrington on Cash Games Volume One scores a 5/10. Players who are new to NLHE cash games will find it initially helpful, especially if they are interested in full ring play. Those who are already moderately successful at cash games will find little of use, especially Read full post

Review: The Poker World According to Cinch

Imagine that you are riding on the subway when a disheveled man wearing dirty clothes and a long, unkempt beard boards your car and begins to rant about how aliens got him and are coming for you too. He is crazy, you think to yourself, and probably you avoid … Read full post

Review: No Limit Hold ‘Em: Theory and Practice

I first read David Sklansky and Ed Miller’s No Limit Hold ‘Em: Theory and Practice over a year ago, when I was just starting to play cash games seriously. I recall thinking that it was good but not great and then reconciling it to my bookshelf as I spent the … Read full post

Book Review: Sklansky on Poker

Sklansky on Poker has not aged well. This isn’t to say that any of its content has been proven wrong, only that more recent publications and the resurgent popularity of big bet games have rendered much of the material irrelevant.

The section “Sklansky on Razz” is certainly the best material … Read full post

Book Review: High-Low Split Poker for Advanced Players

Ray Zee’s book is rightly called, “For Advanced Players.” Players new to Stud/8 or O/8 will need to find another resource, as Zee largely glosses over basic material in favor of advanced thinking and plays. Though occasionally scattershot and disorganized, his book contains a wealth of information for those who … Read full post

Book Review: The Mathematics of Poker

As the title suggests, Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman’s The Mathematics of Poker is by far the most mathematically rigorous poker book on the market. The mathematics to which the title refers is not the simple stuff, like calculating pot odds and counting outs; it’s the complex game theory that … Read full post

Book Review: Pot Limit Omaha: The Big Play Strategy

In his Closing Thoughts, Jeff Hwang comments on what motivated him to write Pot Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy:

“…nowhere in poker literature was truly useful instructions on where to start. Everybody says the same thing: Play four cards that work together, A-A-J-T and A-A-K-K are the

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Book Review: Elements of Poker

There are probably better poker books out there, but I have never enjoyed reading one as much as I enjoyed Tommy Angelo’s Elements of Poker. It’s a delightful read, alternately light and weighty, funny and stern, but a lot of my enjoyment came from the realization that I was … Read full post

Book Review: Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em

Writing a book about poker strategy that will be both correct and useful to inexperienced players is a big challenge. Beginners need straight-forward, practical, concrete advice that they can apply at the table. But poker, and especially no limit hold ’em, is a game of “sometimes”, “unless”, and “it depends”. … Read full post

Book Review: Savage Inequalities (Part 3)

Part 1

Part 2

One thing I admire about Kozol is that he is much more upfront about his agenda and the sacrifices required than are many other advocates of reform. He admits that, “Attorneys in school-equalization suits have done their best to understate the notion of ‘redistribution’ of resources. … Read full post

Book Review: Savage Inequalities (Part 2)

The argument can be made, sometimes convincingly, that many forms of inequality in the US result at least in part from poor choices on the part of those who hold the short end of the stick. That argument absolutely disintegrates in the context of education. Not only is it patently … Read full post

Book Review: Savage Inequalities (Part 1)

I’m a voracious reader, and it’s not my intention to write a review of every book I read. Having just completed Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools, however, I am moved to record some thoughts here. It turns out I have a lot of thoughts, so I’m … Read full post

Book Review: Tournament Poker for Advanced Players

Though many books have been published on the subject since, David Sklansky’s Tournament Poker for Advanced Players (TPFAP) has been the definitive text on tournament poker theory since its publication. Two Plus Two Publishing seems to have had two goals in mind for the new material included in the just-released … Read full post

Book Review: Play Before the Flop

From the outset, Andy Bloch’s chapter on pre-flop play for the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition suffers from a mistaken objective. Bloch proposes to study pre-flop strategy like chess openings, which I take to mean that he is going to develop a coherent set of balanced raising, re-raising, … Read full post

Book Review: Razz

The Razz chapter of the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition is presented in a unique way, with Michael Craig summarizing, narrating, and quoting a conversation between Ted Forrest and Huck Seed. Given my extensive involvement with competitive debate, it’s probably no surprise that I find this a very … Read full post

Book Review: Stud Eight-or-Better

Stud/8 is one of my favorite poker games, and Ted Forrest’s Stud Eight-or-Better chapter in the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition highlights many of the game’s most interesting, and potentially profitable, facets. Stud/8 is a complex game, with a huge variety of situations that can arise, which makes … Read full post

Book Review: Tournament Stud

To his credit, David Gray’s Seven Card Stud chapter in the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition is actually about tournament strategy. Even when introducing basic concepts such as starting hand selection, which he is wise to do given that most of his audience will likely come from a … Read full post

Book Review: Pot Limit Omaha

Chris Ferguson’s introduction to the game of Pot Limit Omaha is strongly grounded in mathematics and game theory, just what you’d expect from the computer science PhD. It’s a little light on tournament theory for a chapter in a tournament strategy guide, but it does a very good job of … Read full post

Book Review: Omaha Eight or Better

Unlike most of the other chapters that the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition dedicates to games other than No Limit Hold ‘Em, Mike Matusow’s “Omaha Eight or Better” really is dedicated to tournament strategy rather than to the fundamentals of the game. Unfortunately, I ultimately found his few … Read full post

Book Review: Limit Hold ‘Em

I might as well disclose up front that I am not very good at or knowledgeable about fixed limit hold ’em. In some ways, that makes me unqualified to review a text on the subject, but it also plants me squarely within the target audience of Howard Lederer’s contribution to … Read full post

Book Review: Read ‘Em and Reap

Although retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro is the primary author of this book, the largest name on the cover is that of Phil Hellmuth. This establishes the tone of the entire book, whose very valuable core content is surrounded by an equal amount of fluff, hero worship, and self-promotion.… Read full post

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