New poker book tastes good, is good for you

By Mark Lasser

Some poker books are like Fruit Loops. They taste good, they’re sweet, easy to digest, and make claims of nutrition but you know you’re eating candy for breakfast. Other poker books are like All Bran. Lots of nutrition, fiber and vitamins. Tasty? Not so much. These books are a grind to get through and although they are good for you, the process of consuming them feels more like an obligation and work than fun.

And then there’s the new book “Decide to Play Great Poker” by Annie Duke and John Vorhaus, which is like a Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfast with a side of fruit and ham. It tastes good. It’s filling and packs protein and carbs to get you started and keep you moving. And the ham? That’s where Vorhaus comes in.

If you’ve ever read John’s fiction, you already know he has a pleasantly twisted sense of humor and he’s a well-paired complement to Annie’s poker skill and knowledge. The authors describe the book as a version of Annie’s poker boot camp translated to the page through her common-sense insight and poker acumen and filtered through John’s entertaining sensibility and natural storytelling capabilities.

Unlike many poker books that start and end with rules, Annie and John dispense with such rigidity in favor of explaining why a player should be taking a certain action. Their approach is to develop thinking and discerning poker players, not automatons trying to plug in to dogma or emulate the edit plays of the poker celebs on TV. So where others start with “what,” then go to “how” and maybe discuss “why,” this book approached things in the opposite order using why as a foundation for how and what.

I’m not going to get too granular in describing the book because not doing so is sort of their point, and also because I want you to read it yourself. Now a small caveat. This is not a beginners’ book or “An Idiot’s Guide to Texas Hold’em” title. If you’ve been playing ultra low limit or if you’re still getting your head around the basic game, this may be a little out of reach and 1-2-100 players in Colorado may find the guidelines don’t apply so well to the loose games.

But if you play higher level, or if you want to understand how people are playing and thinking at higher levels of play, well, this is an indispensible read.

So without giving away all the points in the book, it is generally structured into three sections: Pre-game and pre-flop, play on the flop, and a section on bluffing, river play and money management. The authors focus again and again on knowing why you’re taking an action. Why are you bluffing in a certain situation? Why are you shoving? Why float? Why check raise? Once you know the answers to these questions when you’re playing, then knowing what to do gets simpler. As they often point out in the book, it’s about getting into situations where you have easy decisions to make and your opponents have difficult decisions to make.

The book is available on Amazon.com and Annie has excerpts on her website. www.annieduke.com.

Mark B. Lasser is Denver writer and international poker player. He regularly plays in Colorado, Arizona, California, Missouri and Nevada. You can hear him talk about gambling and casinos every Friday at 5 PM on KEZW AM 1430. Readers can send questions and comments to him at ColoradoPokerMark@comcast.net.