Customer Reviews

Zen and the Art of Poker: Timeless Secrets to Transform Your Game

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ever wonder how people like Howard Lederer win so much cash over the long haul in poker? It isn't that line he and other pros like Phil Hellmuth always give ("I see into the soul of the other player"). Poker pros say that as a standard defense just in case they ever run into you at the table, so they can intimidate you (hey, these pros aren't stupid, they realize psychology is a huge factor to Texas Hold-em)... The real key is patience (a simple, yet very difficult concept in poker). It is pretty well known that Lederer has gotten into Zen over the last year or so (and his game has soared to even higher levels then before). Don't worry, there is no chanting or other mystical weirdness in this book, just 100+ quality concepts of fundamental, intermediate and advanced poker techniques and tactics. The key is being able to implement them into your game. I would guess only 20% or so of you reading this have what it takes to do that (just human nature)... If you can implement these techniques, there is no doubt you will win consistantly, whether you play on the internet or in traditional card rooms. I would imagine those who wrote bad reviews for this book are the aggresive type players who are unable to play a quality "thinking man's" or "woman's" game. The bottom line is, do you want to win cash or do you want to be a maverick who may hit a lucky big pot here and there, but ultimately give all their chips away to guys like Lederer, Dan Harrington, Erik Seidel and Andy Bloch. Yeah, I know, those are not the most flashy players around, but they are guys who probably have the most cash in their bank accounts. The truth is, grinders win. And this book should be part of any personal poker instructional library (the format of it is also great as it lends itself to not only cover-to-cover analysis, but quick reference as well).

This book sets out to achieve a clear and reasonable goal of applying Zen to help your poker game. It describes the limitations in doing this in a clear and reasonable manner.

Many of the concepts set out by the book are very useful. What really marrs the book is the occasionally mention of ways of detecting and leaving a cold table early and like issues. That part of the book is just incorrect.

I'd suggest this book for anybody (isn't that all of us) that occasionally or not so occasionally has troubles with emotions coming inbetween plan and execution. Read each section critically and I believe the sum output is well worth the cost.

Kudos to Larry Phillips! I am a person who is very technical in approach. I was frustrated with why I understood how to play poker, yet was not winning consistently. Then I read Zen and the Art of Poker. I realised that I had mastered the rules of the game, but not myself. Having watched the emotions of many poker players, I can tell you that what is missing in their game, can be found in this book. I was amazed at what a difference it made. This book teaches you how to make peace with poker. When it comes to a bad day at poker (and we all have them), this book will be the difference between going home angry and going home wiser. Usually when you buy a book, you take money out of your pocket; this book is responsible for much money going into mine. So buy this book and next time we meet at the poker table, just remember who you have to thank for pointing you in the right direction.

My regular poker game is a high-level no-limit hold-'em game much larger than the games that Phillips describes --- a big-winner in a session will take home $10-20k. After 5 years of playing in this game and learning the hard way how to be a consistent winner, I was struck by how on-target Phillips points were. Poker is technically not a very difficult game, but it requires profound self-discipline and attunement to the emotional states of other players and yourself. The detachment that Phillips advocates is precisely the state you need to be in to win over the long run.

The Zen theme is both overwrought and shallowly applied; the writing is amateur; the quotes from Zen masters and philosophers are gratuitous and too numerous --- but the concepts are dead on.

This along with David Apostolico's "Tournament Poker & the Art of War" is the Number 1 book that has totally transformed my game. I used to be a big Sklansky fan until I first found Apostolico's book. After reading that, I hit the delete button on 95% of the Sklansky material that I had memorized and I never looked back.

Now, after months of playing with an "Art of War" attitude, I have finally found the cherry to my Sundae. Zen and the Art of Poker has taken my game to heights that I never knew it could reach. If you want to play like the greats, than this book will show you how. Imagine having the skills of Phil Ivey and the patience of Chris Ferguson, if that's what your looking for, than this is the book that can help you get there.

There is a little bit of fluff (just a tiny bit), which is at the end of the book, but everything else is top notch. The information could have been condensed a little bit further from what it was, but the extra details do clear up any questions that might come up. Plus I loved the quotes from Zen Practitioners, Sports Player's, and the like. It reminds me of the Aposotolico books where all of them are extremely relevant to the topics at hand.

Overall: **** 4 1/2 Stars!!! Definatley a Must Have in any Successful Poker Player's Library!

The focus of this book is keeping your cool while playing poker using a zen buddhist mindset. As a poker player who dabbles in buddhism I found this approach fascinating, as well as very, very useful. This is book is clearly on my top 10 list of poker books. No advice on play, rather, it tells you how to keep from getting emotional over inevitable bad runs of cards. A must buy (and I hope all my opponants don't buy it).

You wont learn funky plays with this books, which is more focused on keeping your emotions under control, and avoiding the costly "steaming" sessions. As mentioned by another reviewer, the principles in this book are also interesting for traders.
Two main criticisms:
1. Poker players know they must keep their cool, avoid steaming, manage their expectations... Still, anger is a human thing, and I think the book does not give good tricks in terms of implementing the methods advised (which is the difficult part rreally...)
2. Poker is a game of agression: trying to implement "Zen Poker" puts your usual poker at risk, as playing Zen/agressive really is tough.
Overall this book is interesting because it takes a different view to poker, but all in all it wont revolutionize your play.

Well, this certainly is not the first book you should buy concerning poker, but it is definitely an illuminating read. The concepts will be appreciated by the intermediate to advanced player but their clarity is so pronounced that practically anyone can get something out of its pages. Phillips has an original and creative approach to the game which can best be compared to David Apostolico's poker tributes to The Art of War and The Prince. However, Zen and the Art of Poker is superior to both of these works due to its directness and focus. Some of the observations made by Apostolico I found contrived and their effect was that he was "trying too hard." Here, you find that the connection between the practices of Zen and those of an outstanding poker player are fairly obvious. Phillips' advice regarding folding and the need for patience is very practical and of great benefit. Without patience, one is on the road to living in the gutter. His take on the need to avoiding feeling like a martyr when you don't get good cards for an entire night was valuable along with the notion that losing is a part of everyone's game. Yes, unlike Michael Jordan's habit of finding the zone, in poker, you lack a great deal of control regarding outcome. One's will and the discrepancy between talent levels only goes so far as the randomicity of the cards has much to do with how successful you'll be. His "two steps forward one back" for the pros is great, but is undoubtedly an understatement of how much even they lose. Barry Greenstein, in his book, stated that he wins only 58 percent of the time in ring games which means that one of our most affluent and skilled practitioners appears quite human 42 percent of the time. Phillips explanation for the importance of being aggressive, deceptive, and betting out your best hands I found to be inspirational. A pleasant side effect of reading this book is that, while learning more about poker you also get to learn plenty about Zen, which, for me at least, made the purchase well worth it.

If you want to become a great poker player or a zen master, don't expect that this book alone will do it for you. However, I believe the author is an experienced player who has great advice for dealing with losing streaks and being mentally prepared for a game. With an open mind you will benefit from this book. As with all books, they can't give you the experience and the discipline you need, but it probably will help point out leaks in your game you can correct over time.

Once you've memorized the starting hands chart in a Sklansky book and learned how to calculate odds, you still have a long way to go to be a great poker player.
In this book, the author stresses letting go of ego, not letting emotions rule your game, and not allowing yourself to go on tilt.
Let's face it: your aces get cracked, and the next hand, you hold some piece of cheese that you normally would muck, but because you just got a bad beat, you're looking to put a beat on someone else. This usually leads to you losing another stack of chips.
Once you've learned more about tapping into the Zen of poker, you're one step closer to playing winning poker.