By
jmaltz |
Published
Feb 25 2006, 09:17 PM
The Education of a Poker Player
by Herbert O. Yardley
In 1957, there was no question whether or not poker was a sport, it was
gambling. Gambling, at the time, was looked upon as respectable when
done correctly. This meant playing in casinos and in your friendly
neighborhood game. Most of the time this did not include poker. The
casino's saw it as unpopular, and games like gin, pinochle, and bridge
were much more common in home games. In that year Herbert O. Yardley
published
The Education of a Poker Player.
The poker games held back then are things of legend today. People like
Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim Preston, Sailor Roberts, Titanic Thompson,
Johhny Moss, Jimmy the Greek, and countless others played in the
highest stakes games right under the law's nose. Mostly in the Texas
circuit, and in every odd place where they found people with money to
lose. Both five and seven card stud were popular in those circles, and
five card draw was played almost everywhere.
The Education of a Poker Playercontains
mostly anecdotes but it also goes into great detail on the technical
aspect of every major game popular at the time and quite a few
variations you wouldn't see in any casinos and still won't see today.
In between each of these technical chapters are the afforermentioned
anecdotes, some only dealing with poker in the least sense. Most stem
from Mr. Yardley's experiences in the armed forces during World War II,
and various home games he participated in over the years.
Compared to books like Harrington on Hold'em and the SuperSystems this
book pales in comparison if you are looking for poker strategy but it
is a must have in any poker players book collection, if nothing else
for the nostialga.
If you want to buy this book on Amazon.com click here :
The Education of a Poker Player