Читать книгу Lessons From The Felt: Advanced Strategies And Tactics For No-limit Hold'em Tournaments - David Apostolico - Страница 7

It’s 2006, and poker is everywhere. Everywhere! It’s staggering! I can barely turn on the television, turn on the radio, or open a magazine without getting a dose of Texas Hold’em. And everyone is playing it. Whether it’s wealthy businessmen in the glitzy Las Vegas casinos, old-timers in their local card clubs, or college kids in front of their computers, everyone has a poker story to tell. Hell, you can’t swing a dead cat nowadays without hitting some poor schmuck who just took a bad beat and wants you to know all about it.

For those players who need to improve (i.e., all of us), there’s tons of poker advice out there, and sometimes it’s tough to sift through it all. In my opinion, if you’re going to read a book about poker, you should choose an author who has experienced the game from a wide range of perspectives. You need someone who has been where you’ve been and has felt your pain. You need someone like David Apostolico.

What I like best about David’s writing is how easily the pages turn. He does not throw a lot of dry theory at you. Instead, much like my Book of Bluffs, he asks you to learn by example, and the broad scope of his examples is quite impressive.

As you’ll see from the wide variety of hands he describes, he has played in all sorts of venues, for all levels of stakes. He’s played in home games, in bars, on his computer, and, of course, in casinos. He’s played everything from a freeroll for $100 to World Series of Poker events with $1 million prize pools.

Regardless of the location or the amount of money at stake, he has managed to turn every game into a personal learning experience. And now in writing Lessons from the Felt, he has done an excellent job of passing his knowledge on to you. No matter where you play, or for what stakes, you will find in his experiences something you can identify with.

This book is chock full of lessons, just as the title promises. But if you’re going to take one thing away from this book, I hope it comes from the "Two Questions" chapter. Namely, never forget that poker is a game of luck in the short run but skill in the long run. Only losers blame their cards. Winners create opportunities with the cards they’re dealt. And by the time you’re done reading this book, he’ll have you thinking about the many ways to create those opportunities. Do yourself a favor, and pay attention.

Matt Lessinger, a longtime professional poker player, is the author of The Book of Bluffs: How to Bluff and Win at Poker. He has written for Poker Digest and currently writes for Card Player magazine and the Online Poker News. You can visit him at www.mattlessinger.com to learn more about him.