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Old March 22nd, 2008, 09:53 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Default Zen and the Art of Poker - Phillips (Review)

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: medium to advanced players (you must have experienced some loss or other time at the table to grasp this one fully)
Reading Difficulty: 1
Organization: 4
Usefullness: 8

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A decent book. Do not buy it if you are looking for strategy because you will find ZERO in this book.
Phillips go's into great detail into a part of poker we all deal with. How to handle the big wins and how to handle the big losses, from the inside out. This book has 100 small chapters, each devoted to a certain aspect of situations that occur within ourselves and how to deal with them emotionally. The twist is that all of these situations tend to occur at the poker table, and we have all felt them or dealt with them at some point while playing or thinking about the game. His overall goal is to help you reach "Zen." An inner peace, perfectness, in yourself and how you apply this to poker. How to lose a pot and be just as content as if you had just won he same amount or if nothing happened at all. I interpreted the book as a way to seperate myself emotionally from the game, and from your money, which can be a good attribute in a poker player.

This book is different but I think any player could take something from this book. He covers topics from how to handle winning and how to handle losses and everything in between. I highly reccomend this book for the player who berates others, gets upset, or is on a bad run. There are many concepts that you hear about here and there discussed in this book but Phillips goes into more detail and compiled everything in one, easy to read book.

Get this book, especially if you are down on your luck or whine a lot, and read it. I enjoyed it a lot.

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