Trials of a Poker Apprentice: Reading time

As I mentioned last week, I didn't get to play any cards during my recent trip to Louisville, but I did manage to get to a Borders to pick up a couple new books.

I've only managed to read one of the books so far, but it was a good one. Despite the fact that I've bought a virtual library of poker books over the past few years, I had never bought a book on tournaments until I picked up Erick Lindgren's Making the Final Table, and I'm glad I decided to get this one.

Lindgren has written a very good book describing his aggressive style of play. I find the book to be very good at explaining not only why aggressiveness works, but also when and how to do it. However, overdoing it certainly possible, and very dangerous. One thing to remember is that Lindgren's advice isn't going to show you a "safe" way to play. Instead, he shows you how to accumulate chips when things are going right for you. Following his advice won't get you in the money more often, but he says you will finish higher and make more in the long run by adopting his style.

However, I'm not certain that his approach will be quite as effective in the low buy-in events I generally play, where someone is always going to call you, no matter what. There is probably a very good argument to be made that some more caution is required in those instances. However, I can see the book being very applicable to the big buy-in events he typically plays.

The other book I picked up is Kill Phil, by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson. This book has received a lot of attention, as its premise is to teach you how to play a game that will take down the pros by taking advantage of their tendencies. I cannot comment much on it, since I haven't actually begun reading it yet. From what I gather, however, it involves moving all-in a lot.

Other than hitting Borders, I also found a bookstore that was having a going out of business sale, where every paperback was $1 and every hardcover was $2. Unfortunately, I could not find a single poker book in the place. However, I did pick up one book that, so far, has been an absolute delight to read.

Jennifer Government, by Max Barry, is a dark but absolutely hilarious satire of big business. I've only managed to read the first 50 pages so far, but it only took me four or five pages to laugh out loud the first time. It is set at some point in the future, when taxation has been abolished, government has been neutered and corporations pretty much run the show. It begins with a schlub named Hack Nike (people take their last names from the companies they work for) who is contracted to shoot customers who buy Nike's newest line, a marketing ploy to build "street cred" for the shoes. Things get a little more complicated from there, but the title character is the agent who is trying to solve the killings. This isn't highbrow literature, folks, but it's great mind candy, especially if you're a fan of "Dilbert"-type humor, and especially if you're sick to death of the corporate culture in your workplace.

Back to poker, but sticking with books, it's been a slow time for poker books lately, but that's about to change with the release of several noteworthy titles on the horizon. In March, we've seen a handful of books come out, including:

Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You About Winning Hold'em Poker, by Lou Krieger.
In the Money, by Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari.
Dirty Poker: The Poker Underworld Exposed, by Richard Marcus.

April is not much better, with only one new release planned, and May only brings a few more, but the floodgates really open in June. Here are some of the titles coming out, many of which are available for preorder:

Poker and Philosophy, by Eric Bronson, April 28.
1,000 Best Poker Strategies and Secrets, by Susie Isaacs, May 17.
Maran Illustrated Poker, by maranGraphics Development Group, May 18.
Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells: Devastate Opponents by Reading Body Language, Table Talk, Chip Moves and Much More, by Randy Burgess and Carl Baldassare, May 30.
Master Hold'em and Omaha Poker, by Mike Caro and Mike Capelletti, June 1.
Powerful Profits from Tournament Poker: Tournament Poker Strategy by Victor H. Royer, June 6.
Online King: A World Series Poker Champion's Guide to Mastering Internet Poker, by Scott Fischman, June 13.
The Penultimate Dictionary of Poker, by Michael Wiesenberg, June 25.
Get the Edge at Online Poker, by Ace Spaulding Jr., June 25.
The Only Poker Book You'll Ever Need: Bet, Play and Bluff Like a Pro -- From Five-Card Draw to Texas Hold'em, by John Wenzel, June 30.

Personally, I'm most looking forward to the books by Mike Caro and Scott Fischman. However, even later in the year, there are a couple other books coming that will bear checking out. One is Read 'em and Reap: The Killer Guide to Becoming a Poker Polygraph and Decoding Poker Tells, which could be described as Phil Hellmuth's "book of tells" and is expected Nov. 1, while the other is called Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players, due out in August. I don't even know why I want to read the second, except maybe to make sure I'm not in it.

Well, I'm not sure how I got started looking at upcoming poker books, but that should be enough reading for anybody. On the off-chance that it isn't however, (clever seque coming) you can always check out today's poker news: