Book Review Post

Well, I've not been playing very well lately. I've also not been very lucky lately. And I've not been winning lately. There's probably some correlation involved here. So, I don't have much to say about that.

And, much as I love the Indians, their offseason has been pretty boring thus far. So I don't have much to say about that, either.

So, I'll go ahead and write up my thoughts on books recently borrowed from the library.


Nolan Dalla - One of a Kind. Tremendous insight into the mind of Stuey Ungar, and it really does go into Ungar's mind more than anything else I've read. Dalla had been helping Ungar with his autobiography at the time of his death, quite a bit had been started on it. After a period of time, Dalla decided to go ahead and finish it as a biography, but it has a much more personalized slant than most biographies do. The one thing I took from this book more than any other is a reinforcement that many times our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness. Stuey's love for action, his reckless abandon and his aggression were his greatest strength on the table, but off it, it killed him.

Barry Greenstein - Ace on the River. The best LOOKING poker book I've ever read. It has tremendous pictures throughout the book. It's also different from any other poker book in that it focuses on a lot of stuff psychologically. Not in the sense of psychological battles at the table, but what Greenstein feels makes a winning player. Most of that stuff did not interest me, instead, what I found the most substantive part of the book was Greenstein talking about the perfect play according to the FTOP, and the correct play according to what limited information was available.

Erick Lindgren - Making the Final Table. Another book in what seems to be a series from the WPT. Mike Sexton's Shuffle Up and Deal was the first, and I believe this followed. SUaD is, from what I've read, an introductory book, and Lindgren's book seems a step up. For lack of a better term, it's an introduction to deeper strategic analysis for beginning players. For experienced players it is a light read. There are probably a couple of helpful tidbits in here, but this is definitely not one for the bookshelf of an advanced player.

Phil Gordon - Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. I'll admit, I was surprised by the quality of this one. Excellent book. It's basically a lot of random thoughts written down and then organized. It's not as in depth as Harrington on Holdem, but it is more expansive. It is definitely worth a read, and would not be a silly way to use 4300 Full Tilt Points.

John Feinstein - Open. Great read, like every Feinstein book. This one's about the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black. Good stuff, as always.

Alan Schwarz - The Numbers Game. Alan Schwarz writes for Baseball America, as well as a few other places. This book is really all about statistics. It's not a numbers book, but rather it investigates the men who were involved in the history of statistics, from Henry Chadwick to Bill James and now. It too is an excellent read. I am nearly done with it.

Waiting for me the next time I go to the library is Bill Simmons' Now I Can Die in Peace. I'm sure I've read some other stuff recently, but that's really all that comes to mind. Before long, baseball books will be out, like Baseball Prospectus 2006 and Baseball America's prospect book.

Holla at me with some recommendations. As you can tell, I like poker. I like sports. I also like books that make me laugh. So, lemme know.