By
MikeTJ23 |
Published
Feb 25 2006, 09:15 PM
The Making of a Poker Player
by Matt Matros
Most of the poker books I have read remind me of college textbooks. Although still a strategy book,
The Making of a Poker Player
is a welcome change from this typical “textbook” instructional style.
While teaching both the basics and finer points of Texas Hold’em Matros
shares the story of how he became the great player he is today .
Matros proves to be quite the storyteller as he tells of his early
poker days playing dealer’s choice kitchen games and of his journeys to
Foxwoods to play in small buy-in tournaments. Throughout his story, he
helps the beginning player understand “poker-ese,” as he calls it, or
the terms commonly used in poker. We can relate to these stories from
the early days since we all had those “chase the ace” and “deuces wild”
home games while growing up.
The story continues as the book
gets into increasingly advanced concepts of poker, including game
theory and heads up strategy. Some of the more interesting anecdotes
Matros includes are that of tilting Phil Hellmuth at the Tournament of
Champions and of when he went on a long losing streak and had to
reconstruct his game. Matros includes a section on tournament strategy,
including specific tactics for satellites.
The book
appropriately ends with Matros’ recount of his 3rd place finish in the
World Poker Tour championship. Many of you reading this may have
already watched Mr. Matros playing at that final table with the likes
of Hasan Habib and Martin DeKniff. Included in this Postscript (Matros’
3rd place finish happened after he wrote the book) are interesting hand
analyses. He goes through in detail each of the most critical hands he
played in the tournament, as well as the super satellite where he won
his seat.
I would recommend
The Making of a Poker Player
to any poker player, whether you are a beginner or an expert. Well
written, inspirational, and extremely entertaining, this story
illustrates how you can become a world class player.
If you want to buy this book on Amazon.com click here :
The Making of a Poker Player