Book Review: Swimming With The Devilfish

When I first heard word of this book, I got a horrible sinking feeling. My gut reaction, based purely on the title, was 'poker boom cash-in'.

As it happens, I needn't have worried. A glowing back-page testimonial from friend-of-the-author Anthony Holden set my mind at rest, and within a few pages I was hooked.

The title in itself is slightly misleading. This book is not purely about The Devilfish, though he does merit several chapters to himself. Which effectively comprise a concise biography of his life from larcenous teenage years through to his current luxurious lifestyle as a poker personality, as well as player.

Instead what the reader is treated to is a series of mini-biographies of many of the old timers from the UK and Ireland scene - who blazed a trail on Late Night Poker, and who are collectively labelled The Usual Suspects by the author.

Players such as Dave Colclough, Simon Trumper, Lucy Rokach, and The Hendon Mob are covered in detail.

Newer arrivals on the scene, such as Andrew Black and Paul Jackson, are also given their due.

It is one of the strengths of the book that each story is told predominantly in the words of the subject. The author, Des Wilson, spent a lot of time with the players and clearly gained their confidence.

The narrative thread which brings these biographies together is a history of the UK poker scene covering casino venues such as The Vic in London; the underground 'spielers', where poker really was played behind reinforced doors in run down buildings; and more recently the quasi-legal poker rooms such as Gutshot and The Western; and the online exploits of both old and new generations.

Wilson also examines the dark side of life on the poker circuit. The strange hours, bad eating habits, financial strains, and destructive effect on family life which the lifestyle can impose on the full-time pros.

He investigates the way some spieler games were built around a solitary 'star'. Not a great player, but a weak one. Usually a rich amateur on whom the pros feasted.

The biggest strength of this book is the honesty of the players to whom Wilson has gained access.

While they clearly love the game, they do not shirk from their woes - be they going broke, a compulsion to gamble winnings away on craps, or in some cases, brushes with the law which have led to jail time.

The difference between cash and tournament poker is explained, and the author offers his own thoughts on the future of the game - which you may, or may not, agree with.

This book is a great behind-the-scenes insight into the life of the pros. Less glamorous than one might expect, and laden with pitfalls.

Personally, I was amazed by the diabolical bankroll management skills some pros exhibit, but in awe of their ability to bounce back, and envious of their freewheeling approach to life.

There is, however, a note of caution for those who idealise the poker pro lifestyle, as several of the older players confess to having no financial planning in place for their retirement, and instead foresee their playing career extending well into their elderly years.

My one criticism would be on the production side.

While the book is well written, it would have benefited from a more scrupulous proof reading by someone who knew the poker scene well.

Several irritating mistakes on things such as the spelling of player names, and sudden switches between $ and £ signs disrupted my concentration on the narrative.

Still these are relatively trivial complaints. On the whole this is a compelling read, and a worthy addition to any poker library.

Book Review: How Good Is Your Pot-Limit Omaha?

In his book How Good Is You Pot-Limit Omaha, Stewart Reuben guides the reader through over fifty hands played out in various casinos throughout his extensive poker career.

Each hand is discussed and evaluated, with a range of options presented at each decision point, and an overall rating awarded to the reader based on their points tally.

The focus is very much on cash games, and some hands will find very thin edges being pushed by the author.

As readers progress through the book, they will become familiar not only with Reuben's aggressive, and slightly hyperactive playing style, but also with that of several of his regular adversaries and their varied approaches to the game.

To understand the lessons proferred, it is important to recognise a few differences between the games Reuben plays, and those most 'normal' players will encounter online.

In general the stakes are much higher. Blinds of £10 or even £25 are not uncommon - roughly $17 or $43.

The stacks tend to be very deep too, with 500 or 600 big blinds often to be found in front of each participant in a hand. Combative play is often in evidence, with raising and reraising both pre and post-flop.

Such deep stacks offer big implied odds, and may make drawing hands more powerful than in smaller games.

By contrast, most online games are smaller stakes, generally the max buy-in is capped at 100BB and, at the lower stakes, players will be predominantly looser and more passive.

That said, Reuben is anything but tight, and is willing to see some very speculative flops.

Where the book excels is the detailed hand analysis, based not only on cards in hand, but on the board, the nature of opponents, and the relative stack sizes.

Some actual situations are varied for the purposes of comparison.

Relative stack sizes are changed, alternative turn or river cards are proposed, and Reuben explains how this would change his approach.

Almost every hand is played from inception to showdown, and points are awarded dependent not on actual result, but on quality of decision making at each stage of the hand.

Often the actual decisions made by Reuben are not those which he awards full points to in a theoretical sense. In the heat of the moment, everyone makes mistakes it seems.

In truth, the point scoring was almost an irrelevance to me. Of much more interest was the train of thought which guided Reuben to each decision. This is the most interesting aspect of the book.

On the negative side, I was somewhat concerned that the nature of the book meant a lot of fairly speculative starting hands were taken to showdown.

In another of Reuben's publications Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker(with Bob Ciaffone), he is described as 'attacking' and 'fierce' by no less an authority than Mr Ciaffone.

As might be expected, many of his starting hands are not those which would be recommended to a novice.

If a multitude of chapters started out with loose pre-flop calls, and insta-folds on unhelpful flops, there would hardly be a strong page turning imperative.

Therefore it follows that we tend to see only the successful calls, without a representative sample of whiffed flops.

This led me to be concerned that a novice might interpret the starting hand requirements to be recommendations, when Reuben himself would presumably agree it is the way the hand develops which should be instructive.

A degree of prior knowledge is assumed, and for someone entirely new to Omaha, this is perhaps not the ideal starting point.

This is very much the Porsche of poker books. Great fun when you have the skill and environment to exercise it to the max, but unsuited to learners navigating the slower poker lanes.

For those with prior experience, wishing to move their game onto a higher plane, this is a worthwhile read, but not an essential buy.

Book Review: Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker

When I first got involved in online poker, my game of choice was No Limit Hold Em SitNGo games - also known as Single Table Tourneys.

They were fun to play, and had the crucial advantage for a beginner of capping my liabilities at the entry fee. Which might be as low as five dollars.

After a while, I discovered the merits of bonus whoring to boost my meagre bankroll.

This propelled me into the world of Limit Hold Em cash games, where the liabilities were not capped, but were certainly bearable. Especially given the dire nature of many opponents at the lower levels.

Once I had the hang of Limit Hold Em, I began to yearn for the livelier No Limit games I used to play. So I began to dabble in cash No Limit.

Fairly quickly I realised that while not exactly being out-of-my-depth, I wasn't entirely comfortable with how I was playing. My SitNGo style wasn't wholly compatible with cash games.

At this point I recognised learning at the tables could be an expensive experience, and decided to do some reading in the specific area of No Limit cash games. Having asked around for advice, I was recommended Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker by Stewart Reuben and Bob Ciaffone.

The original issue of this book predates the internet poker boom, but has been updated and reissued over the past few years.

This is not a Hold Em specific book. Indeed I was pleased to see it takes in Pot Limit Omaha, which is another of my recently discovered pleasures. It also uses some more obscure poker variants such as Lowball Draw to illustrate the author's ideas.

At times this can make it hard work to understand the key principles which are being enunciated, as one has to understand the rules of the game before understanding the lesson being taught.

In the short term this can be frustrating, but whether by accident or design, I think it works well. The reader is forced to think deeply about the problem, which in the long term should encourage a better understanding of the lesson.

Key big bet concepts such as relative stack sizes, stacks in relation to the blinds, bet sizes, position, and when to take the initiative are all covered.

The book has substantially altered my strategy on playing big drawing hands, and my perception on when an all-in bet is justified. The all-in as a means of negating positional advantage is not something I was inclined to consider, prior to reading this book.

This is very different to limit strategy.

For someone new to live games, the General section contains some very useful information, which has already improved my live play.

Chapters on such esoteric issues as making deals, dealing big-bet poker, ethics, and a very instructive chapter on the specifics of pot limit rules, all give a useful grounding in expected standards of behaviour if entering a live card room for the first time.

This chapter has already helped me to identify an 'angle shooter' in my local cardroom, by describing exactly a situation which they will try to manipulate. That information alone more than justified the cover price!

This book works well for someone who already has a fair understanding of the rules and mechanics of poker, but not a complete grasp of all areas of the game. It would certainly sit in the intermediate skill range.

It will not teach you basic Hold Em or Omaha strategy, but it will improve your ability to manipulate the big bet games.

The slightly dated tone may be off-putting to some, but personally it appeals to me.

While I am a comparative newbie to the poker scene, I enjoy learning the history of the game. The internet revived poker; it did not give birth to the game.

Recognising the heritage of the game should improve ones appreciation of the game, and, I believe, ultimately improve ones results.

Book Review: High-Low-Split Poker

Over the last month or so, I've been expanding my horizons beyond Hold Em into Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo.

After a few exploratory sessions on the low stakes tables of Full Tilt and PokerStars it became apparent to me that a fair percentage of the players were not very good. Equally, it was obvious that while I had some idea what I was doing, I was far from expert.

With this in mind, I posted on a few forums asking for advice on Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo reading material.

One author was recommended unanimously - Ray Zee.

Whilst Zee's book focuses primarily on limit betting, and covers both Omaha and Stud Hi/Lo, it seems to be universally recognised as the definitive work on split pot poker.

Interestingly, it was written pre-Internet boom, so has more focus on live play, and is intended for advanced players. Indeed the full, rather unwieldy, title is High-Low-Split Poker,Seven-card Stud and Omaha Eight-or-better for Advanced Players.

As a consequence of this focus, Zee's definition of a comparatively cheap game is something like $10/20 limit. Not quite the $25 buy-in pot limit PokerStars tables!

Despite being aimed at advanced players, the book is concise and well written. The advice is easy to follow, and backed up by comprehensive question/answer sections to test the readers assimilation of the concepts Zee espouses.

For a novice such as myself, there are good explanations of starting hand strength, the value of position, buying the button in Omaha, the risk of being quartered, forcing out competing hands, the risk of being trapped in a jammed pot, etc.

Beyond this, Zee puts a lot of emphasis on adapting the standard plays to match the texture of the table.

Are the opponents weak or aggressive, tight or loose? Are they good enough to recognise an advanced play, or is a subtle bluff wasted on them?

The advice is descriptive and loosely framed, rather than prescriptive and rigid. The clear assumption being that the reader has sufficient intelligence to adapt their play to match the situation.

This marks the book as targeting a more advanced audience, and is perhaps it's greatest strength. The reader is encouraged to learn to think, not spoon fed a mechanistic gaming strategy.

Never having played Stud Hi/Lo, I found this section slightly more challenging, without being confusing or offputting. Being encouraged to think about the game whetted my appetite to get involved.

After completing this section, I was compelled to venture into the micro limits on PokerStars, to get a taste of the Stud Hi/Lo action. Zee's enthusiasm for the game permeates the pages.

Overall this is a well written, informative and concise book, which covers a wide range of topics without ever overloading the reader. It has certainly helped to improve my play, and I will return to the more advanced sections in the future, as I move to higher buy-in games.