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

Anyone else read this book yet? Comments and Opinions?

I've heard its a good book,just haven't had the chance to read it yet.

Jason

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I'm Not Lucky, I Have Good Karma !

Exellent product - agree with PoWda's coffee table thoughts on this one, the whole package is execellent and Greinstein's story and interesting one too... great addition to anyones collection, even if not a 'hardcore-strategy' book.

Cheers, Mark

I have read over 20 different poker books and this one was probably the most enjoyable to read for the sake of reading, rather than for the specific poker strategies. I would agree that just about anyone, player or not, would enjoy this book.

Barry is obviously not a professional writer as his thoughts sometimes seem a little disorganized and he drifts off to tangents while telling his stories. However, his stories are so entertaining that I didn't mind.

Additionally, as I read this book I found myself thinking that this may be the genuinely nicest guy in the game and I would love to play at the same table with him sometime.

I enjoyed this book just from an entertainment value. It had good stories in it the pictures were very good quality.

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Kickboyswoop

I really enjoyed the book. It is a great break from the normal, painful to read strategy book.

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"You will succeed far more by capitalizing on your opponents mistakes than you will by the greatness of your own play." --- I am not sure who said this but it is a great quote and piece of advice.


Colorado Players Click Here

PoWda, don't you think you could add a category like "readable when you're lying in bed" or so?

Ace on the River is a wonderful book, an open-minded talk about playing poker, about aspects of what gambling means to society, about hands and maths (and about the moments when maths is less important) ...

But ALAS! as much as I love it and enjoy reading it at the end of the day - it's next to impossible to read it in bed, when I'm lying turned to the left or the right.

The book is too heavy, you have to keep it in both hands or lay it down flat in front of you, what means you can't make yourself comfortable while your occupied with it. Or at least you have to stay in the same position for a way too long time.

I don't think Barry Greenstein is a confused writer, on the contrary - it's really amusing to watch such an intelligent spirit at work ... But he or at least the guys from Last Knight Publishing ought to have thought of what they were doing to all the readers-in-bed when they produced such a bulky monster of a book - and even more: sadistically they inserted really great fotos.

Readability in bed: ZERO, 1 POINT AT MOST.

Highest ranges in every single further respect.

lol. SS2 might go down a peg as well if I were going to rate a book on physical size. lol

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"You will succeed far more by capitalizing on your opponents mistakes than you will by the greatness of your own play." --- I am not sure who said this but it is a great quote and piece of advice.


Colorado Players Click Here

You're right - I remember having a hard time when I tried to read the NLHE chapter of SS1 in bed ... so there'd be aleady 2 (3) titles on the black list, right?

Yeah but the NL section is blacklisted for reasons other than the fact that the book weighs 20 lbs...

__________________
"You will succeed far more by capitalizing on your opponents mistakes than you will by the greatness of your own play." --- I am not sure who said this but it is a great quote and piece of advice.


Colorado Players Click Here