Review: The Theory of Poker
The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky is probably the most comprehensive book ever written on poker strategy. Sklansky covers bluffing, slow playing, game theory, table selection, and every other topic you can think of. While the book was written several years ago, almost everything can still be applied to today’s styles of play.
I will say that this book should not be the first poker book you read. It shouldn’t even be the second or third. The concepts would easily confuse someone that is just learning the game. There were times while reading TOP that I was confused. The book is just loaded with information. I doubt I’ll ever understand it all, even if I read it 100 times in the next year. I’m not trying to scare anyone away from reading the book, because it’s a must read for any poker player serious about learning the game. I’m simply saying that there’s a lot to take in.
One of the most brilliant, yet simple, things I’ve ever read about poker is Sklanky’s Fundamental Theorem of Poker:
Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.
The age of the book can be seen by the number of examples relating to games such as Stud, Razz, and Draw poker, but the concepts can be applied to any game out there. It would be nice if Sklansky would come out with a revision that just related to hold’em, the most popular form of poker today.
Like I said before, if you’ve read a few other poker books, feel free to jump into TOP, otherwise wait until you have some more experience and reading under your belt. Once you do though, dive right in. I give the book an A.
The Real Dutch?
Dutch Boyd (or someone appearing to be Dutch) has left a message in my Poker Chip Tricks forums. By the way, have you seen Dutch’s Ebay auctions? He’s auctioning off stake in himself for the next WSOP tournament.
The Down
On November 26th, my bankroll was at an all-time high of nearly $2,400. I had just moved up to $2/4 limit hold’em and was doing well. A few days before, on the 20th, I had even set some goals. Oh how quickly it all changes.
Review: Tilt Episode 1
I’ve read other reviews of ESPN’s new poker show TILT and I have to disagree with them. I won’t even link them here because I’ve seen so many. I think they are all being a little to critical of the show. I mean, it’s a drama series on ESPN for Christ’s sake! Were you expecting a documentary filled with facts and figures and parts of poker that we don’t hear about?
I’ll start off with the preview show that aired on Wednesday night. When I read that Norman Chad was hosting I thought, “Great! Like I don’t get enough of him in the WSOP episodes.” Even though the preview was only a half hour long, I think they did an excellent job of setting up the show. Or maybe it was the fact that I only heard Chad’s voice for a couple of minutes. They gave a background of the story and talked with each of the main characters in the series. It was well done for the time allowed. Once the preview was overI remember thinking that I’d probably enjoy the series.
I was right. At least so far. Episode one starts off the action and sets up the rest of the series. We found out that Eddie, Miami, and Clark are teaming up to take down Don Everest, “The Matador.” The character of Lee Nickel will also be playing a large role in the show. He’s a sheriff on a mission to find out what happened to his brother and expose the Matador as a cheat.
ESPN created their own casino to film the show and as you watch it does look like a real casino. Other scenes such as a boxing club and the basement of a night club make you feel as if you’ve been introduced to the underground of poker. The poker hands that have been shown are more realistic than most movies, but there does seem to be a lot of bluffing so far. Reminds me of some of the hands I see online actually.
When I sat down to watch TILT, I was looking for entertainment, not a poker lesson. ESPN delivered. I’ll be tuning in each week to see what happens next and I suggest you do the same.
Loser
Over my last 13,000 hands, I’ve lost a total of $1.47. I’ve been playing horrible poker. It’s time for some heavy reading and a review of my play.
BIGGGG Bad Beat Jackpot
If you aren’t playing on Party Poker right now, what the hell are you thinking? The bad beat jackpot is almost at $700,000! Yes, that’s nearly 3/4 of a million!
No Pot
I just played a pot limit hold’em game for over 2 hours and thought it was no limit the whole time. I kept wondering why I’d try to raise it up to $2 and my bet would only come out $1.75. Just goes to show I should stay away from the tables with a word in front of limit. I’m a much much better limit player anyways.
Rollin’ Down the River
I hit my 3rd straight flush (one was royal) in the last month tonight. All of them have come in on the river.
Tilt
…in the high stakes game of TILT, the most costly bet will be on the future…
TILT
I saw a Google Ad on one of my sites today for ESPN’s new poker show and thought I’d check it out. It looks entertaining, so I’ll be tuning in to watch. I need a regular show to watch each week besides ER anyways. There is a preview special with Norman Chad (Couldn’t they have picked someone better!) airing Wednesday, January 12th at 7:30pm ET on ESPN2 and the first episode is Thursday, January 13th at 9:00pm ET on ESPN. From the looks of it, there will be 9 episodes in all, so it’ll be a short series. One of the characters, Eddie, reminds me of Ben Affleck a little. I wonder if he was chosen for that reason…probably not.
Updated Poker Chip Tricks
Poker Chip Tricks has gone through some updates over the past few days. Forums were also added today.
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