Book review: Beyond Traps: The Anatomy of Poker Success, by James McKenna

Author: Simon Dexter

At some point in our poker careers, most of us will have been labelled a ‘fish’ by our opponents, even though most of them will have been delighted to see us at the table! It’s a derogatory label slapped onto the greenhorn which we seek to divest ourselves of as rapidly as possible, usually by playing more poker in order that we learn about the game.

With luck and a modicum of application, in time, we graduate from fish to fishermen. We develop into players who, according to author James McKenna, have an innate ability to closely watch the fish, understand how they swim and then leave baited hooks and cast nets to catch them.
This is an interesting theory in what is the final piece of McKenna’s poker trilogy for it suggests that players need to learn about how they play as well as interpreting how their opponents are playing. Only by identifying the advantages and disadvantages of our own table persona can we establish an effective smokescreen which enables us to catch the fish.

Once a player appreciates his own shortcomings, he can become a fisherman, although naturally, there are many different types of fish around in poker’s murky waters which means the bait appropriate for one might not bag another.

In his chapter entitled “Different Bait for Different Prey”, McKenna discusses all manner of bait and the traps essential to snare your prey. These range from fish-baited traps and speed traps to net traps and dirty traps among others.

It’s another thought-provoking, well-written book and one hopes that although McKenna’s trilogy is now complete, he will continue to produce further quality material for the poker enthusiast.

Tags: Book Review, poker book, Poker Strategy

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am and is filed under News & Promotions Blog.