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Doyle Brunson is the “Godfather of Poker”.  Even if you’re not a poker player the odds are pretty good that you’ve heard his name.  In the literary world, Doyle is probably best known for his poker-Bible Super System (and subsequent Super System 2).  Those are poker books through and through.  They include hand strategies, how to play against certain opponents, etc.  Poker Wisdom of a Champion while certainly about poker is devoid of those things… but don’t let that stop you from picking it up.

Originally titled According To Doyle this is actually not one story but rather 47 separate stories that started out as magazine articles.  They’re little anecdotes, stories and recollections that when read together tell the story that is Doyle Brunson.  It’s difficult not to get an image of Doyle in your mind sitting around the table telling these stories.  I’ve not ever had the pleasure of a gaming session with Doyle but I can only imagine that these are the kinds of stories he’d tell at the table – while taking all your money.

Brunson tells stories of his early days where poker wasn’t what it is now.  He talks of back-room games that were incredibly dangerous.  He talks about getting held up at gun and knife point.  He talks about big wins and he talks about big losses.  He talks about friends that he’s lost along the way and how they all have made him into the man he is today.

If you’re looking for a nice light read this is definitely a winner.  There’s plenty of poker in here to satisfy your urge but you won’t be blown away by tables upon tables of statistics on how to play this hand or that.  We as poker players and poker fans are blessed to have Doyle still among the poker community… Poker Wisdom of a Champion will give you some insight at to who this man is and why we’re so lucky.

I recently finished reading Gus Hansen’s Every Hand Revealed and I figured I’d do a quick review for the TalkFlop.com faithful.  For years I’ve loved watching Gus play cards.  He’s got a reputation of being a completely crazy player at the table who will play any two cards from any position.  This book won’t do anything except back up that reputation — however, it will show you that MOST of the time, Gus does indeed have a method to his madness.

If you’re not familiar with it Every Hand Revealed does just that – it reveals every single hand that Hansen played during the 2007 Aussie Millions tournament.  He describes with amazing detail the situation at the table, players he was seated with, cards that he played, relevant chip stacks and reasons for just about everything that he did.

The book is well written and is very easy to follow.  Gus does a great job explaining why he’s doing what he’s doing and describing specific situations.  As a amateur poker player myself I am constantly amazed at the amount of math that goes into the game.  Personally I know what the rough winning percentages are and how pot odds should factor into a specific play.  These guys LIVE by those numbers and act accordingly.  For example Gus would say stuff like, “I hadn’t raised in 8 hands so I planned on raising without even looking at my cards.”  It sounds simple but we all know that it’s much more difficult to put that type of thinking into action when you’re sitting at the table.

If we want to be technical it’s not actually EVERY hand revealed.  There’s a disclaimer at the beginning of the book that states that he doesn’t describe hands that he folded with no preflop action.  I can’t say that I blame him there cause anyone who’s ever watched a poker game can tell you, there’s a lot of folding and it isn’t all that interesting.  That said, there are still 329 hands worth of action that he describes in great detail.

The beauty of a book like this is it shows that even the pros make mistakes.  In Hansen’s case he made a few but as you can see after reading the book he made a hell of a lot more GOOD plays than bad.  Some of the analysis that I found particularly interesting was when he was having an internal struggle with himself on how to play a hand.  I find myself having those same internal discussions every single time I sit down to play.

The next time you sit down and catch Gus Hansen on TV you just may ask yourself, “What is he thinking?”  After reading this book, you’ll know.

See you after the flop!