Poker Wisdom of a Champion

This book is a collection of anecdotes told by Doyle Brunson. I really like his candid stories and the insight into Dolye's character. While not meant to teach you any specific poker strategies, this book will tell you about players' emotional characteristics and how they affect their games. I intend to re-read this book several times over the years.

Don't buy this book if you are looking for mysterious insights that will improve your Hold Em' game--but if you want to learn something about what makes Doyle Bruson tick it is a fascinating read. Brunson does impart some tips on play, but he then goes on to tell a "war story" to illustrate his point, and it is these glimpses into his life that are so entertaining. The book is short, just over 200 pages, and there is a lot of blank space in those pages. I read the book cover to cover in a couple of hours of frequently interruped reading, but with that said, it is well worth the price.

A clear, practical guide which helps the reader with many complex issues. My initial response was, "Oh, of course." because these truths seem obvious. But discovering them the hard way could prove expensive. A valuable acquisition to any library.

I've read at least a half dozen of the top poker theory books, and I learned more from this one book than from all of the others. The wisdom Brunson espouses in this book is simple, yet it is so profound that it will change the way you view yourself and your opponents at the poker table. The book is mainly a collection of articles Brunson has written over the years for various poker magazines. However, each one contains nuggest of poker genius (mostly related to No Limit Texas Hold 'Em)in plain simple English that authors like Sklansky and Malmuth have complicated with mathematical theories. Brunson is a simple man and he tells simple stories. The bottom line: poker is a game of people and if you understand the people you play with, then your decision making process is simplifed. The cards are secondary (although he does admit that with the influx of new players in the last few years, even he has to have good hands to make a move!). Even if you don't appreciate his wisdom, the stories he tells about the Texas roadgames of yesteryear are worth the purchase price. Somebody needs to make a movie of this guy's life!

Previously released as "According to Doyle," this book collects a number of Brunson's columns for some now-defunct gambling magazines.This is certainly not the book to teach anyone the basics of poker strategy, nor to introduce anyone to modern poker culture. It's not supposed to be. But Brunson's stories are a perfect introduction to the culture and ethos of poker as it was when Brunson was a young Texas road gambler. The columns are entertaining, basically popcorn reading (I suspect some or all of them were told rather than written). They aren't engineered for self-promotion, and although some could be taken as mildly moralizing, they're not designed to change anyone's life. They're just the stories that Doyle Brunson has to tell. I thought they were a lot of fun when I was starting out in poker, and I still pull the book off my shelf now and then. I'm very happy to see this new edition in print, because I would recommend it to new players as a useful book in shaping their attitudes towards the game.The only thing I found disappointing about this new edition is that it doesn't appear to contain any new material. I don't know that I can fault anyone for that, but it would have been nice to have either some truly new material or at least some newly recovered vintage Brunson to add. Maybe I've just gotten too used to DVD extras.