Hey party people, I read and really enjoy poker strategy books but have fallen into a few nonfiction books centered around poker, I'll review them below. Just one man's thoughts.
The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King
I had heard people mention this one, its a book written about the highest stakes cash games in Vegas, ranging from $10k-20k all the way to $100k-200k limit games between Andy Beal, a billionaire banker laser focused on breaking the pros, and a group of professionals led by the Godfather Doyle Brunson. Harmen, Lederer, Forrest, Greenfield, Reece, Chan, just a murderers row of players, they all pool their money to take on this whale with teeth. The back and forth is great.
Its an incredible story that's badly written. The characters are amazing, love thinking about limit poker with bets bigger than some houses, but he repeats whole sentences and jumps around constantly. He clearly did lots of research and knew his stuff. I enjoyed it because it was a short read, but the next two I'll mention were significantly better.
The Biggest Bluff
This book, on the other hand, is beautifully written! It is autobiographical, written by a woman who has a PhD in Psychology focused on how people make decisions under stress; she decides she wants to learn poker starting at absolute ground 0, never played, and gets Erik Seidel to coach her. Begins slow with playing baby stakes online and learning the basics, but her goal is to play in the WSOP 10k Main Event the next year. Spoiler alert she doesn't win, but the book is fantastic and she enjoys an impressive resume.
Advised this to my Dad whos probably played 10 hours of poker in his life and he loved it. This is what Im talking about, book won several awards for good reason. This book flew by, if I had to pick one of these 4 this would be it.
Positively Fifth Street
Another book about someone taking a shot at the WSOP Main Event, no wonder so many mooks punt thousands every year, the American Dream! He's a journalist covering both the Tedd Binion murder Trial and his run at the WSOP in the early 2000s. He talks about the history of the strip, WSOP, and the Horseshoe; I didn't have much interest in that coming into this but he made it interesting and its a good foundation. His writeups of poker hands were surprisingly good, he keeps drama in it without embellishing and plays against the likes of Harrington and Cloutier while also reporting about the horrible murder.
Very well done on all accounts, Im not a history buff but hes put the work in and his journey is fascinating. Advise this one as well.
Amarillo Slim: In a World Full of Fat People
What a fun book, all about Slim's crazy life and prop bets. You're not going to learn the ins and outs of modern Vegas or poker theory but he has lived an incredible life and talks all about it. From riding camels through casinos to playing ping pong with a frying pan, his side bets were legenday.
Good fun read from a great but unreliable narrator. His myth is so built up its hard to believe all of it, but him discussing the early days of WSOP and Vegas poker is really well done. Biggest Bluff and Fifth Street are more factual and more into the poker while this is just an easy ride through a crazy life.
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I enjoyed all four books and look forward to lending them out, but if I was only picking one to lend it would be The Biggest Bluff. She goes from relatable newbie to explaining the basics of blockers and bet timing, and I think that's approachable to normal readers. Didnt mean to be too harsh on the first book, I still enjoyed it but it definitely stood out in contrast to the others I had recently read.
Good luck and enjoy!
The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King
I had heard people mention this one, its a book written about the highest stakes cash games in Vegas, ranging from $10k-20k all the way to $100k-200k limit games between Andy Beal, a billionaire banker laser focused on breaking the pros, and a group of professionals led by the Godfather Doyle Brunson. Harmen, Lederer, Forrest, Greenfield, Reece, Chan, just a murderers row of players, they all pool their money to take on this whale with teeth. The back and forth is great.
Its an incredible story that's badly written. The characters are amazing, love thinking about limit poker with bets bigger than some houses, but he repeats whole sentences and jumps around constantly. He clearly did lots of research and knew his stuff. I enjoyed it because it was a short read, but the next two I'll mention were significantly better.
The Biggest Bluff
This book, on the other hand, is beautifully written! It is autobiographical, written by a woman who has a PhD in Psychology focused on how people make decisions under stress; she decides she wants to learn poker starting at absolute ground 0, never played, and gets Erik Seidel to coach her. Begins slow with playing baby stakes online and learning the basics, but her goal is to play in the WSOP 10k Main Event the next year. Spoiler alert she doesn't win, but the book is fantastic and she enjoys an impressive resume.
Advised this to my Dad whos probably played 10 hours of poker in his life and he loved it. This is what Im talking about, book won several awards for good reason. This book flew by, if I had to pick one of these 4 this would be it.
Positively Fifth Street
Another book about someone taking a shot at the WSOP Main Event, no wonder so many mooks punt thousands every year, the American Dream! He's a journalist covering both the Tedd Binion murder Trial and his run at the WSOP in the early 2000s. He talks about the history of the strip, WSOP, and the Horseshoe; I didn't have much interest in that coming into this but he made it interesting and its a good foundation. His writeups of poker hands were surprisingly good, he keeps drama in it without embellishing and plays against the likes of Harrington and Cloutier while also reporting about the horrible murder.
Very well done on all accounts, Im not a history buff but hes put the work in and his journey is fascinating. Advise this one as well.
Amarillo Slim: In a World Full of Fat People
What a fun book, all about Slim's crazy life and prop bets. You're not going to learn the ins and outs of modern Vegas or poker theory but he has lived an incredible life and talks all about it. From riding camels through casinos to playing ping pong with a frying pan, his side bets were legenday.
Good fun read from a great but unreliable narrator. His myth is so built up its hard to believe all of it, but him discussing the early days of WSOP and Vegas poker is really well done. Biggest Bluff and Fifth Street are more factual and more into the poker while this is just an easy ride through a crazy life.
---------
I enjoyed all four books and look forward to lending them out, but if I was only picking one to lend it would be The Biggest Bluff. She goes from relatable newbie to explaining the basics of blockers and bet timing, and I think that's approachable to normal readers. Didnt mean to be too harsh on the first book, I still enjoyed it but it definitely stood out in contrast to the others I had recently read.
Good luck and enjoy!
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