Customer Reviews

Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets (Great Champions of Poker)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed reading about Bobby Baldwin's rise to the WSOP Championship back in the 1970's. I don't want to tell you much because it defeats the purpose of getting the book other than this:

A. There is poker information in the book. Nowhere near as much detail as Super-System, Sklansky's books, or the Cloutier/McEvoy books. However, every bit of information from a World Champion who now runs the MGM Grand, The Mirage, Bellagio, etc. etc. etc. is useful.

B. Baldwin's life is pretty interesting, and you'll find that his road to becoming the WSOP Champion is quite surprising. I would never have suspected his life had so many twists and turns. It makes for a good read.

C. The book doesn't disclose much after he "retired" and went to work for Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget other than to say he rose up the ranks quickly, worked at the Mirage, then the Bellagio, and Kirk Kerkorian kept him on when MGM bought everything up. Nor does it say what his motivation was for getting a job.

I think that would have been an interesting subject to cover considering Baldwin didn't need a "regular" job unless he had lost all desire for the game at that time. What were the motivations of a professional poker player to leave the game? I know Baldwin is rumored to play in high stakes side games from time to time still - I'm sure that's probably been part of his job to entertain clients, but why he left the poker scene is a question I'd like to see answered from a professional/personal viewpoint. That kind of insight could literally be applied to every session of poker: Knowing when to quit.

I gave it four stars because I enjoyed Baldwin's story and I felt it had quite a few pieces of useful poker information. Whether it's about bankroll, game theory, starting hands, etc.

There's enough in here that if you pay attention to what Baldwin went through (I.E. Pay attention to when Baldwin gives up betting on sports.) that you'll figure out how to become a better professional poker player in the long run.

This is a slightly re-worked version of Mr. Baldwin's book of the same title published shortly after he won the wold series of poker main event in '78. The forward indicates there was a big demand for an updated reprint, although I wonder why (see below).

The book consists of a memoir of Bobby's gambling and playing days, starting as a schoolboy and working through winning the main event. At key points in the story, when he encounters a new poker game for the first time or runs into a common gambling problem, it waxes pedantic and gives the reader advice on that particular game or issue.

The problem with this book, and the reason I give it such a poor rating, is that it's not really any good as a memoir or poker manual. It flops on both fronts.

The memoir side isn't particularly interesting. Instead of recounting gambling tales that would be interesting to the reader (as Doyle does in his excellent Wisdom of a Poker Champion), it covers events from his personal life that were important to him (ie. wooing his various girlfriends) but that are just plain boring for the reader. This pattern is repeated throughout the memoir with one exception: the tale of how a group of kidnappers/killers almost ended his life (and did kill several others) over a gambling fortune they thought Baldwin had was engrossing. But most of the rest is banal - him driving somewhere and almost running out of gas, stuff like that. Unfortunately, the writing is not particularly good, so getting through the slow parts is even more of a chore.

As a poker manual, the book is likewise poor. It gives about 2 pages of very general information about each of the poker games popular at the time, many of which aren't commonly played today. The advice is OK as far as it goes, but isn't detailed enough to comfortably sit in even the lowest limit versions of those games. In that sense it is far inferior to what you could learn by reading the Supersystem chapters on the same games (all of which appear in the original Supersystem, not Supersystem II). This book probably once filled a niche for a low cost, low-content book covering a range of games, back when Supersystem cost $100 (in 1980's money). But now Supersystem costs a fraction of that, the standards for poker instruction manuals have risen 100-fold, and this book is at the back of the pack.

There is one section of this book that I do feel is worth your time: Bobby goes into some depth on the perils of extending credit to your gambling opponents, and provides some good advice how to make sure you get paid if/when you do. Everything he says on the topic is spot-on, and I think that one section may be worth the price of the book for some readers. If you've got a lending-related leak, then I would say this is a 5-star book for you since one bad loan prevented would easily pay the cover price.

Unfortunately, one good section doens't make for a good book. In retrospect I wish I had spent my money on something else and that I could get a "refund" for the time spend reading the 90% that was neither interesting nor informative.

Bobby Baldwin was a big-bet winner and was respected and feared by everyone we played, including all the "legends" like Doyle. The average or new fan to poker should note that this book went out of print for a long time and was very hard to get a hold of! There are no magic bullet secrets in this book (as it may imply) but the lessons taught about poker and life apply in Baldwin's time as it does now.

This is a fascinating account of former world poker champion Bobby Baldwin's meteoric rise to the championship. Covers everything from his early days playing poker in dangerous roadhouses to his high-stakes poker games against other poker legends.

Bobby Baldwin ranks among the top poker players of all time and his ascendency makes an interesting story. In his youth he was clearly a master player, especially of 7-card stud which was the preferred game at that time.

I can only rate a book based on what I get from it. Acknowledging all the (possible) negatives of other reviewers, I give it five stars for the following reasons.

1) Baldwin would easily be among the elite players today if he had continued with that as his major activity. For that reason his personal history is of interest to me, as I imagine it to be to anyone who plays poker whether professionally or casually.
2) Some of the stories raise the hair on the back of my neck as they bring back memories of my early experiences when poker players were all considered to be outcasts, the game was illegal in any form in many states, and a simple poker game sometimes led to a very interesting evening. Brunson's history in "The Godfather of Poker: The Doyle Brunson Story" and stories such as "Next to Dead Man's Hand" (Hand #2 in "My 50 Most Memorable Hands") illustrates some of the more "interesting" aspects of being a poker player at that time; but Baldwin clearly was operating in the same environment and his story gives another "insider" view.
3) In contrast with some reviewers, I did pick up a couple of important hints that can be used at the table - and they've paid off for me.

In summary, if you are looking for a "How TO" book this one's probably not the best one for you. If, however, you are interested in a third view (vs. Greenstein "Ace on the River", or Brunson "The Godfather of Poker") of "real poker" and how poker and poker players moved from the illegal game in the back room to the casinos of Vegas you'll enjoy this one.

Bobby Baldwin really helps you understand what the most common mistakes are from starting poker players. He tells you his own personal experiences/mistakes as a traveling Poker player to illustrate his points. Bankroll management is a big theme in his book. It's very fun to read, and you'd be an idiot if you choose not to read this. I bought one used for only $4 (shipping included too!) and it was in good condition. His tips on Stud made me money- this book was such a great investment.

Not only has Bobby Baldwin mastered the game of poker, but can also drive like a SOB in the desert! Trophy Trucks for life!