Book review: The rules of poker, by Lou Krieger and Sheree Bykofsky

Author: Simon Dexter

Lou Krieger is a prolific author whose name is now closely associated with poker thanks to books such as Hold’em Excellence and its follow-up, More Hold’em Excellence. Here, he has joined (once again) with Sheree Bykofsky to create a definitive guide to poker’s rules.

Players would be foolish to assume they know every one of poker’s rules and the beauty of this particular tome is it’s small enough to fit inside a jacket pocket. This means it may be produced with a flourish just as arguments are becoming heated. It helps enormously that many of the book’s examples are based upon real situations recreated by experienced players and dealers.

Any serious poker player should familiarise himself with the game’s minutiae – and this includes a number of rather archaic rules and procedures. Conduct and etiquette are well covered by Krieger, together with general card-room rules, all of which are useful to understand, especially when competing in tournaments.

Many readers will be familiar with most of these rules, but clarification comes on matters such as handling side pots or dealing with exposed cards with action pending. Krieger also explains the ‘English-only’ rule (a new one to your reviewer), why chips must be kept visible and the range of penalties that can be imposed for a variety of infractions. As befits an occasionally controversial soul, Krieger includes a section in which he and his co-author would prefer to see changed.

Unusually for a book dealing with poker, the authors have ensured theirs is comprehensively indexed, making it a useful, convenient, tome which should be carried around by poker players at all times.

Tags: Book Review, poker book, Poker Strategy

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am and is filed under News & Promotions Blog.