Best poker books

Zen and the Art of Poker

Author: Larry W. Phillips

Since Robert Pirsig started the Zen and... craze in the mid-seventies, the public has been inundated with books relating eastern mysticism and everyday western life. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before someone wrote Zen and the Art of Poker, which applies the principles of this sect of Buddhism to the ultimate game of strategy and deception.

In this book there are five major sections, each of which contain from four to six essays on the application of Zen to the game of poker. There is also an introduction and two appendices, one on Zen and poker tournaments, and one that covers "Zen and Poker Computer Software" and a bibliography. The bibliography refers to a number of good poker books, but mostly contains references for the many Zen quotes that Phillips applies to poker throughout the book.

I'll give Phillips a great deal of credit. Early in the book he explains some of the inherent contradictions between Zen and poker, including the facts that the poker requires a great measure of aggression, and that the way one measures long term success in poker is by winning tournaments and accumulating money, both very un-Zen-like ideas. In general, these contradictions haven't stopped the rash of books that lead to even more ludicrous associations, such as, Zen and the Art of Street Fighting and Zenvesting: The Art of Abundance and Managing Money. In fact, Phillips sets these issues aside in an honest manner, and therefore I was willing to give him complete license on this matter throughout the rest of the book.
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For those poker players who appreciate Zen concepts, Zen and the Art of Poker may significantly help them improve their self-control at the poker table. Overall, this book is good at explaining how and why a player should work on this aspect of their game, although not all types of people will be receptive to this style of writing. However, the book does contain a small amount of very bad advice, that on playing streaks in poker, that, if followed, has the danger of undoing the positive effects of the rest of the book. Read this book if Zen principles can help improve one's self-control at the game, but follow Phillips' advice on "card bunching" at one's risk.

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Poker Essays Volume III

Author: Mason Malmuth

Mason Malmuth has been one of the most prolific poker writers over the last twenty years. Every few years, he collects the best articles he has written, revises them, and publishes them as the next installment in his Poker Essays series. Poker Essays Volume III represents what Malmuth thinks were his best essays to have appeared in the magazines Poker Digest and Card Player as well as on the Two Plus Two web site over the last five years.

The articles are divided into seven sections, more to break up the book I think than because the categories are all that important. The sections include General Concepts, Technical Ideas, Strategic Ideas, In the Cardrooms, Hands to Talk About, The Ciaffone Quiz, and Two More Quizzes. If these categories seem familiar, it's because five of them have appeared in all three volumes of the author's Poker Essays series.

As one would expect from Malmuth, most of these essays are quite good, although they tend to not be as fundamental as the authors work in Gambling Theory and Other Topics or even the earlier Poker Essays books. This shouldn't be too surprising, as the author has laid the groundwork for his ideas on poker in his previous works. The articles in Poker Essays Volume III are predominantly focusing on refining ideas Malmuth (sometimes with David Sklansky) has presented in earlier books, or they compare or evaluate key concepts or situations.

Because of this, the reader would probably be best served by reading a great deal of the Two Plus Two catalog before attacking this book. I would suggest that reading and studying Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players, Sklansky's Theory of Poker, and Gambling Theory and Other Topics before working on Malmuth's latest. However, this isn't strictly necessary. Also, while it would make some sense to read the first two volumes in the Poker Essays series first, this isn't critical for understanding his latest book.

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Poker Essays Volume III provides a collection of articles which are excellent examples about how to think about poker at an expert level. This book is geared toward advanced players and is a quality extension of the Two Plus Two core poker catalog. I recommend it.

to be continued ...