I read a lot of poker books and for the past few months I have been writing little "mini reviews" on them. Hopefully these will give you a broad idea of what each book has to offer and can help you choose which book to buy.

I have also created a little ratings system to simplify things as between this site and others I have many many mini reviews floating around.

The level is the level of player I believe will get the most out of the book. The Reading Difficulty suggests wether a particular writing style was an easy read for me or if I felt that I was constantly reading thing 2 or more times to fully grasp the concept. Organization has to do with how the book is organized, mainly will the book be easy to reference or will you have to re-read it to find what you are looking for. Usefullness is pretty obvious but there are a few factors. Mainly: is the information right and can it be applied at the table or in simulation and make an impact on your game.
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Level: Total Beginner to the highest stakes pros.
Reading Difficulty: 1
Organization: 9
Usefullness: 8


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Ace On the River is not a nomal poker book by any means. It is more like one third autobiography, one third strategy, and one third coffee table book. The book is laid out very well with the first half being all about Barry G, his life, the life of a poker player and how he became who he is. The second half is some basic strategy. Nothing too intense but he does play out a few hands and many in games other than NL hold em which appeals to me a lot. The hands are all real hands he played along the years. The strategy section is not super involved, no real new ideas or concepts but just a few hands he has played and he asks you how you would play them. Through out the whole book there are full color pictures on every page, mostly of poker pros and poker rooms, which add a nice touch to the book. The whole production of the book was done very very niceley, way better than any other poker book I have read to date.

I think the key reason I like this book is that I could leave it on the coffee table and anyone who walks by can read it and a the same time I can pick it up and learn more about the game. The first half of the book could be enjoyed by the non-poker player and the dedicated pro all the same. I really liked this book from the full color pictures, to Barry's stories of playing college proffessors when he was younger, to the hands he describes in detail that he really played in real tourneys and cash games.

I reccommend this book to everyone. Wether you are a poker junkie or just interested in the gambling lifestyle this is a great read for all. Get this book, and enjoy it. I just hope that I can get an autographed copy some day