Customer Reviews

Poker, Gaming, and Life

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Among serious amateurs, semi-professional and professional players, David Sklansky is THE author to read.

"Poker, Gaming and Life" is collection of articles that have appeared in "Card Player" and similar specialist magazines during the 1990s. The bulk of them are on poker, and reading them one is reminded that Sklansky almost invented the serious, logical, and carefully reasoned approach to the game based on statistics and probablity. An entire generation of winning players has been the result, changing poker forever.

Sklansky isn't a great writer, and his style suffers from too much passive voice. But every essay is well thought out, and his conclusions hard to dispute. Since the pieces are almost all short, this book is somewhat easier to read than his full length treatments of specific games.

The last section finds the author in a more relaxed mood, as he tries to apply some of the mathematical and statistical principles of poker to more general "life" topics.

One small criticism - some of the articles and examples apply to games that were once common in public cardrooms, but for one reason or another have all but disappeared now. For a younger player unfamiliar with Jacks or better draw poker, or Razz, this can be a little confusing.

Its hard to imagine any David Sklansky book that won't improve your poker - this one, although not essential, should provide some thoughtful and informative reading.

This book is good ... and if you're familiar with Sklansky, you know that he is THE authority in poker writing ... hands down. The book is made up of around 50 essays, each a page or two in length; the first 3/4 of the essays cover different poker/gambling tips & points of interest. This section of the book sheds light on different theories and how to logically handle certain senarios ... it's not totally essential to a poker players arsenal, but his ideas presented should intrigue an already experienced and well read player - (examples include : 'Comparing AK to AQ', 'Odds for a backdoor flush', 'last round strategies', 'Why I don't like 7 card stud').

I especially enjoyed the last chunck of the book ("Life")- Sklansky's essays on using logic and rational thinking in our world. Might be a good idea for a few political leaders to ponder a few of his ideas - Examples include 'Crime and Punishment', 'Risking your life', 'Diversity', & 'Will Power'.

While I've learned more poker strategy from Sklansky's other (textbook-like) writings, this one was the most interesting and pleasurable read ... you won't be disappointed.

One of the most enjoyable poker-related books I've ever read. The comments of the previous two reviewers are right on the money

This book is an exercise in logical thinking. Not for everyone, though, and maybe a little outdated. Use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature to read a few pages and judge for yourself.