In Part One of this story, we discussed the decade-long existence of D&B Publishing and how, even though others have fallen away from the field, they continue to provide outstanding poker strategy books for a voracious audience. While they have an excellent slate of tomes set for 2014, their last three efforts are worthy of mention.
Jonathan Little – Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 3: The Complete Workout
As D&B founder Dan Addelman stated in the first part of this story, this is by far one of the most popular series of books that they have published. Penned by two-time World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Little, the first two portions of this trilogy walked players through the high-level thinking that is necessary in today’s tournament poker world. Although I personally thought that Little advocated a little too much floating for my taste, he was able to explain why his processes are the correct methodology and why, with today’s players, it can often be successful.
Volume 3 of this series allows players to test their knowledge by essentially taking a test of what they should do in certain situations in three different tournaments: the $25,000 WPT World Championship and two tournaments at the World Series of Poker, a $1000 buy in and a $2500 buy in. There is a great deal of thought that Little put into the myriad of questions and situations he presents here and, for the most part, there isn’t a right or a wrong answer. Little grades each question on a sliding scale (10 points for best answer with the scale sliding down to zero for the least successful option) and offers his critique on WHY the answer he thinks is the best is right. You can learn a great deal about the game through simply a few questions but, after reading through the entire book, your understanding of the game will vastly improve.
Little’s Tournament series is much like the benchmark for such books, the trilogy of tomes written by former World Champion and Poker Hall of Famer Dan Harrington. Perhaps in a homage to Harrington, Little chose to end his series the way Harrington ended his “Harrington on Hold’em” series, with a workbook to exercise what you’ve learned in the previous two tomes. If you can gather the knowledge from both Harrington and Little and implement what they teach, then there isn’t a poker tournament that you can’t play. Even if you have read the Harrington series, the Little trio of books will allow you to expand your game to a more current level.
Dr. Patricia Cardner & Jonathan Little – Positive Poker
Little came back again last year in teaming up with psychology professor Dr. Patricia Cardner for this effort which overlooks a key part to a winning poker player. Sometimes all the card knowledge isn’t going to help you out; sometimes it is the time away from the tables that requires work to improve your game. With Positive Poker, Cardner and Little have detailed out an outstanding program that will get poker players to think about more than just what happens at the tables.
Interviewing several top professional poker players (including Little) that have all won more than $1 million in the game, Cardner looked at what they did that makes them tick a bit differently than everyone else. Through her thorough research, Cardner has given poker players of all ranges of ability the tools that will improve their game, no matter what the level.
Some of the suggestions the good Doctor makes are ones that will help in everyday life also. Tips on proper sleep, diet, meditation and the ability to adjust to the variance of poker are offered through her research and should be taken to heart. I was particularly intrigued by her usage of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice’s “deliberate practice” psychology. In that section, Cardner discusses how Rice would not just practice, but deliberately set his workouts to maximize his opportunities at excellence in his field. The usage of Rice’s methodology works well for poker, too…if you aren’t challenging yourself in practicing, then you’re not maximizing your potential skills.
Some may dismiss Dr. Cardner’s book as psychological babble, but they will be the ones that miss out on something that can completely change your approach at the tables and, potentially, at life.
John Billingham, Emanuel Cinca & Thomas Tiroch – The Education of a Modern Poker Player
What happens when you take a college professor who becomes entranced with poker enough that he wants to improve his game? That is the question that is answered in this book. Professor John Billingham, wishing to advance beyond his ABC state of play, was able to draw two young online pros, Thomas ‘TwiceT’ Tiroch and Emanuel ‘EmanuelC16’ Cinca, into teaching him the ins and outs of the game and increase his ability to play at higher levels.
This book was a bit difficult to understand in the beginning simply because all three men described the journey that Billingham was undertaking. I will admit to actually having a scorecard on my bookmark so that I could identify who was making a strong point. This is a middling argument, however, as the information provided between its covers was well worth the price of admission.
Through usage of actual hands that Billingham played, Tiroch and Cinca demonstrate why certain circumstances work online. The book was written before the collapse of the “old” Full Tilt Poker, so there is a particular emphasis on several derivations that were created by them (Rush Poker in particular, which Billingham became especially adept at). The entirety of the book works well, however, if a player is looking to improve their online game. Did Tiroch and Cinca accomplish the goal? You’ll have to read to find out!
With these and other works, D&B Publishing has put together an outstanding lineup of poker strategy books that encompass virtually every format of poker. With the releases scheduled for 2014, they should be able to draw more attention from the poker community.
