Customer Reviews

Thursday Night Poker: How to Understand, Enjoy and Win

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been playing "Thursday Night Poker" for 20 years, and I've read a lot of poker books--and won a lot of money as the result--but none of those books have been especially good, and most have been downright terrible. This is the first all round excellent book on the subject I've found.

The author avoids those problems I have with the majority of poker books on the market.

First, he writes exceedingly well, a rarity among poker writers. The book is intelligent, readable and interesting. There are no wide page margins and large print. There is a lot of material. He sticks to the point. He's not a windbag, off the subject, boasting about his individual accomplishments, another common poker writer problem.

Second, he writes with the Thursday night game or the low-to-medium-level casino game in mind, understanding that you want to stay in longer than you should because you are playing to have fun and dropping every hand, sitting around waiting for the nuts, isn't how you want to spend Thursday night. He writes about playing with sophisticated players, tight games and when bluffing can be effective.

Third--he covers the games you're likely to encounter, emphasizing 7-Card Stud, High-Low, Holdem and Omaha and covering, but de-emphasizing Draw and Five Card Stud. He covers, for example, how to play High-Low declare and "cards speak." He covers the differences between no-limit and limit. He offers practice examples to be sure you understand his points.

Fourth--He's a mathematician who writes clearly and provides the corrrect amount of text covering odds, pot odds and making seat of the pants calculations while at the table. He provides clear tables, and explains what you should expect to have in each game to win.

Fifth--and this is huge--He tells you exactly what to stay with to see the flop and 4th street in Holdem or 4th and 5th street in 7-Card Stud (given seven players at the table). He provides easy to remember general rules such as not chasing a higher pair, the dangers of coming in second best, not chasing a flush to the River.

My one small complaint is that he uses seven stereotypical poker players as examples from tight to "a calling station" to make his points. Game situations are more complex that that. I would have preferred instead discussion on how to play the tight game, how to play the loose game with more emphasis on position. Even the tightest players sometimes bluff or go on "tilt." Or how to mislead with your betting pattern over the course of twenty hands. He also might have discussed wild cards, which many players encounter, even if only to state that they dumb down the game--you get out if you don't have any, and stay (and raise) if you do.

This is not a book for an advanced player, and it is not the book for large stakes for he assumes that you play to have fun. For most of us, this is the book.

This book is not written from the standpoint of 99% of the other books on poker. Those books assume you are a full-time player grinding out a living at some poker table in Vegas. This book does not fit that mold! This book is for those of us who play once a week with our pals, and we want to BEAT THOSE PALS ON A REGULAR BASIS! Yeah! It tells you how to do the quick, simple math to take your game to the next level. It also gives you tips to "read" your mates at the weekly game. Since players like those at your weekly poker game are not professionals, they tend to exhibit certain habits which can expose their hand. This is not watching for a twitch or Oreo cookies like you see in "Rounders!" What this means is watching someone's betting patterns. They don't realize they do it, but now you will!!!

The author of this work was a former professor at the University of Michigan in law and economics, and this book is a product of his background. It features far fewer "war stories" than the usual work in this field. It does offer a much more analytical, nuanced guide to the various types of poker games, backed by solid computer analysis. Potential purchasers should be warned that this work is much more intensive and difficult to truly understand than the "Thursday Night Poker" title may suggest. It contains very deep explorations of probability, player psychology, pot management, and tactics. It wasn't an easy read for me. Like the Bible, I can go back and reread it over and over again, and I see new truths in it every time. In fact, such rereading will almost be mandatory to really grasp everything the author is communicating. However, no one ever said that studying such a complex topic would be easy. The author writes like the high-level academician he is, and expects his "students" to put in the effort necessary to learn the lessons. However, I think this is a seminal work in the area, and a must for any serious poker player. I have read and reread my copy so much that the cover is falling off. I literally refer to it after every session. I can't recommend it highly enough.

As a casual poker player (small stakes once or twice a month with friends) I win as often as I lose, most often ending within 10% of my initial buy-in. I wanted a book to give me a better perspective on my betting habits and on the the odds of pulling my flush/straight/full-house to try and improve my overall winning percentage. This book offered me real advice on these topics this as well as added bonus: a lot of information on how to read my opponents hand strength by understanding their betting habits based on their position around the table. Strategies and example hands are discussed in depth for 5 card, 7 card, Hold em and Omaha. Will I be a better player as a result of this book ? Sure, if I pay attention a lot more than I do now to my opponents behavior and my early cards. Will I be a smarter player when it comes to my possible hand and my bets ? Absolutely.

I echo what other reviewers have written: This book is better for the average home game where the stakes are low and play is loose. At the same time, the average home player may find the mathematical detail and the discussions of expected values difficult to follow. That doesn't negate their value, however, and I find that the academic approach Steiner uses is great (what other poker book has footnotes?). In particular, his discussions of the more popular games -- draw, 7-card stud, 7-card hi-lo, hold 'em (texas and omaha), etc. -- are valuable. Even if you have to reread some of the sections to fully comprehend them, it's an excellent foundational treatise on poker.

Thursday Night Poker is a well written and easy to read book that can help players of all levels improve their home game as well as prepare you for some basic strategy to use in the casino. Since reading the book I have become much more aware of many previously ignored, yet important aspects of the game of Poker. The section dealing with seven card stud beginning holdings was worth the price of the book all by itself and has definitely paid for itself many times in game play situations. I recommend this to all poker players, especially those who are new to the game.

Let me begin by saying that I regard myself as a decent amateur player. I also have different feelings about different aspects of this book. Overall, it heightened my awareness of what's going on at the poker table. It made me think more about "what players think I'm doing" vs. what I'm actually trying to achieve. Seems rather self-evident to a poker player, but often times chasing a hand, looking at probabilities or presuming that one is in a postion of power take center stage in one's mind, while manipulation, careful observation and table/pot management can sometimes lack. Making this mindset paramount is where I give this book its best marks.

Perhaps I am too conservative at times, but for me, the author seems a bit hung up on what I'll call scare tactics. Not necessarily excessive bluffing, but the notion of making big bets on marginal hands in order to drive out competition. This seems to generally work or make sense in games where players are equally skilled and somewhat "tight." However, throw a loose player or two in the mix and these kind of tactics can cost you. (The kinds of guys that wait to catch the last card to boat in 7-card. These guys don't get scared because they don't know any better.) Granted, the author always points out that knowing your opponent and being willing to fold are important keys.

I was especially annoyed at the author's use of "typical" players in his game. Each of about 6 players he describes are given attributes regarding their risk aversion, playing style, etc. In the example hands later in the book, you are expected to remember their individual characteristics and "play" accordingly. Somewhat annoying, considering that these players were characterized about 150 pages prior.

Anyway, good book for getting you in the poker mindset and the psychology of the game, without too much emphasis on math, etc. I also appreciate that it's written from a regular joe's perspective and not a high roller, pro or casino player.

This book is wonderful - Kinda long but divided into chapters that you can clearly jump to/from. The author was actually a statistics professor, but he doesn't get too much into the mathmatics - actually only grazes the surface but it's enough to keep a non-Rain Man person busy. The Steiner only covers a couple of games - 7 card stud, 5 card draw, Hold 'em, and Omaha. I was a little sad to see that there wasn't more on wacky types of games like Follow the Queen and Baseball that you usually find on Thursday nights...

This book is decidedly different from the many poker books that I've read. While most books of this genre focus on rules of tight, tighter, and tightest play, this one takes a much more realistic approach to the loose play that is more the norm for recreational poker. I'm no professional, but I've been a consistently successful poker player over my lifetime and this is the first book I've read that didn't make me feel guilty about how loose I actually play (and I'm one of the tightest in my group.) I think you will find the literary style quite palatable. Even though it is a substantial book, I was compelled to read it straight through in a matter of a few day's spare time. Highly recommended.

This book is a great way to play winning poker while still enjoying yourself and getting involved in several hands. It is a nice thick tome (over 400 pages) that introduces basically everything you need to know about the game in general, and specific variants.

Because this book is thicker than other introductory poker books I have read, it has plenty of advice for the new player. Each topic is covered in depth.

My favourite sections are about pot odds, and seven-card stud. I haven't seen pot odds tackled so well in a beginning level book before. This cleared up a lot of questions I had about them. And the seven-card stud section ensured I was a winner last Friday night (see - it doesn't just work for Thursday night games!).

Overall, I'd thoroughly reccommend this work, at least for the target audience. Others may enjoy it too, but the looser style of play is definitely best suited to the casual game.