Like an exciting,
electric light show, the parade of fascinating, illuminating poker
books continues as the most exciting time of the year arrives for
players and fans -- World Series of Poker action. Among best of the
newest arrivals are Des Wilson's colorful, smoothly-written Swimming
With the Devilfish: Under the Surface of Professional Poker (330 pages,
paperbound, $19.95) and Matthew Hilger's Texas Hold 'Em Odds and Probabilities:
Limit, No-Limit and Tournament Strategies (249 pages, paperbound,
$24.95).
Wilson's book,
with the main focus on Dave The Devilfish Ulliott, whom the book cover
quickly identifies as "...a former safe-cracker who spent his
21st birthday in prison, became a pawnbroker in Hull, and then conquered
the poker world, winning the first Late-Night Poker final and a World
Series gold bracelet in Las Vegas..." has all the makings of
a fine British movie script. Colorful, instructive, switching quickly
from personalities to gambling issues in the UK, then quickly to the
action at the tables, this book has a slick balance to it. It appears
Wilson has been influenced by British writers like Tony Holden, A.
Alvarez ands the late David Spanier -- which is good because these
guys can write and they don't waste words getting to the point. Short
snappy sentences have power.
"Ask anyone
in British poker about Devilfish and one particular word will always
come up. Ego. Some of them say it's his one major flaw ... that he'll
act recklessly because his ego can't tolerate anyone, especially anyone
he perceives as a weaker player, to prevail ..."
Wilson gets into
the mindset of British players, who in many cases came from tough
hard-life environments and pulled themselves up to respectable world-class
players. He lets the players speak, and we understand what brings
them to the tables, win or lose, again and again.
Well-indexed and
illustrated, this is a world class tour of players throughout the
UK, their venture into the U.S. and Las Vegas and elsewhere. Despite
a few miscues on spelling of players' names (Sklansky is correct,
Slanksy is not; Erik Seidel is correct, Eric is not), Wilson scores
a nine on a scale of one to ten.
About a quarter
of the book is focused on how-to or how a big hand or big tournament
went down -- it's more about people, attitudes, opinions, what their
views are of the game -- luck vs. Skill, daring, analysis, losing
and gaining control, and above all, what makes a world class player
and what makes Ulliott such a devilfish at the tables.
Matthew Hilger,
a Georgia native, wrote Internet Texas Hold'em three years ago and
it became an immediate hit. His newest work is timed perfectly to
fit the needs of the new high-flying generation of players searching
for the answers to the question of when to call, raise, fold and figure
their "outs."
In 2004 Hilger
finished 33 out of more than 2500 entrance in the World Series of
Poker main event. He's proven himself as a writer and player -- a
rare combination.
In the past year,
there have been more questions about how to calculate odds and probabilities
in limit and no-limit hold'em than ever.
In a work packed
with charts and statistics, Hilger even tells you about his own poker
odds calculator at his web site which you can access with the CD which
comes with each book. Besides running common heads-up scenarios, he
says you can run scenarios against random hands or a large range of
hands, which should make this one of the most sought-after books of
the year for the price.
Hilger says "Understanding
how often events will occur can help you effectively evaluate a given
situation." This is what a high percentage of players want. The
book answers question like: What the odds are of your opponent is
holding a pocket pair when he raises first in? How often does each
starting hand win compared to every other hand in a heads-up situation?
How often will a player's starting hand win against a random hand?
How do you determine if a drawing hand is profitable or not?
Sections of the
book explore implied pot odds and outs vs. Douts (a new word he's
invented which is short for discounted outs. Further, a dout is simply
a value used to represent a card that is discounted based on how likely
that card would improve you to the best hand. The discounted out or
dout can range from 0 to 1).
Further, sections
discuss drawing on the Internet vs. Live Games and backdoor draws.
He continues with a vital look at drawing in a variety of all-in situations,
including all-in on the flop and on the turn.
There is key material
on the impact of stack sizes: pre-flop considerations and when exactly
are you pot-committed? There are Test Your Skills follow-ups to each
section, allowing you to relax and summarize what Hilger has presented.
This is a book
which has to be read and re-read, with salient points underlined or
highlighted. It is a true, hone-your-skills stuff, for every level
player and even some of the know-it-alls who need to fill in the mathematical
gaps they too often ignore. Excellent stuff to help you save money,
make money and sharpen your game at every level.
All books reviewed
in this article are available from Gambler's Book Shop (Gambler's
Book Club), located at 630 South 11th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101.
Order using a MasterCard, VISA or Discover card (no American Express
or CODs please) via the store's toll-free number 1-800-522-1777 any
day except Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. You may order
from the store's web site at gamblersbookclub.com
anytime, using the credit cards indicated. Books usually shipped the
next working day. The store has an 80-page catalog listing 1,000 other
books, videos and computer software in 30 other areas of gambling.
You may receive a free copy by requesting one by phone or from the
web site or by writing, or view it in its entirety at the web site.
When in Las Vegas, visit the store, which also has thousands of used
books. The store is a mile from downtown, a block west of Maryland
Parkway, just off Charleston Boulevard at South 11th Street. This
is the store's 39th year of operation.
Howard Schwartz, the "librarian for gamblers," is the marketing
director for 
