What is the definition of a ‘good poker book’? It’s a question we often ponder over here at Littlewoods Poker Towers for there are two distinct schools of thought. One says it must be informative and help players expand their knowledge of the game; the other says, provided it’s well written, it can simply tell a good poker tale.
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Given events in Vegas this week, it seemed appropriate to review a book which put the WSOP* at its heart. Ever since Tony Holden wrote Big Deal, the tale of an established writer setting off to Vegas with the intention of becoming world champion, he has spawned a plethora of copycat titles to the point where it has become an established literary genre, almost akin to a Michael Palin travelogue.
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There’s enough evidence to suggest that more than one author believes there is a direct link between winning at the poker table and achieving success in business.
For example, Greg Dinkin and Jeff Gitomer’s The Poker MBA is compulsory reading at several UK Business Schools, while Aaron Brown’s acclaimed The Poker Face of Wall Street is known to occupy the library shelves of at least two FTSE 100 chief executives. Meanwhile, John McDonald’s 1950 classic, Strategy in Poker, Business & War, is a must-read for those who appreciate an unequivocal connection constantly referred to in David Apostolico’s latest book, Poker Strategies for a Winning Edge in Business.
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Pat Dittmar might not be a household name, but as a journeyman poker pro, he’s seen most things over the twenty years he’s been involved with the game. During the same period, it’s evident that he has absorbed everything you need to know about poker’s mathematics.
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In many respects, Mike Caro’s classic “Caro’s Book of Poker Tells” remains the definitive work on the subject, yet it’s interesting to note that despite the incredible number of poker-related books published since it was first published, few have sought to develop Caro’s themes. Now Burgess and Baldassarre (B&B) endeavour to do so in their enjoyable, informative text.
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Such is the relentless, production line-nature of new poker-related titles that you might by now expect to see two-year-old books as giveaways on the front of corn flakes boxes. This rule does not apply to Million Dollar Hold ‘Em, published in 2006 and written by Johnny Chan and Mark Karowe. The reasons for this are simple: the content is excellent, the book is well written and its advice remains relevant.
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It was Country & Western singer Kenny Rogers who once sang the famous lines: “You got to know when to hold them / Know when to fold them” and as every successful poker player appreciates, this is fantastic advice whatever level of the game you play at. But how do you know what to fold?
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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.
Looking like a cross between the Addams Family’s Uncle Fester and former Italian football referee Pierluigi Collina, the brooding photograph of Gus Hansen adorning the cover of his latest literary offering might have some readers believe he’s off on some Banksy-related art project or has compiled a book of poker poetry. [That’s surely not a million miles off: Ed]
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According to James McKenna’s third book dealing with the vagaries of poker, the game actually consists of two separate entities: fish and fishermen. As we know, the fish are generally newcomers whose knowledge of the game could hardly be described as extensive, or else they’re older hands who never bothered to learn the game’s techniques. By contrast, fishermen are players who watch the fish, learn how they swim before baiting hooks and casting their nets to catch them one by one.
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