Review of The Education of a Poker Player
- Title:
- The Education of a Poker Player
- Author:
- Herbert Yardley
- Publisher:
- Orloff Press
- Date:
- 1957
- ISBN:
- 0964294915
- Pages:
- 160
- Price:
- $12.95
May 14, 2001
Herbert Yardley was a fascinating character. The author was best known
as the United State's premier cryptanalyst (code breaker) during
and after World War I. He was the key member of the "Black Chamber",
America's code breaking group of the time, which was a predecessor to
today's National Security Agency. Yardley was also an avid poker player,
and was considered quite an expert in his day. In The Education of
a Poker Player Yardley tells us how he learned to play,
and he teaches us some of the most profound lessons he learned, many of
them learned the hard way.
Yardley is a very capable story teller. He does a great job of putting
us in the moment as he learns to play as a kid, becomes a winning player,
plays in almost mystical games in exotic locations throughout his
professional career and after, and finally, as he passes on this information
to aspiring students. It's not much of an exaggeration to
say that Yardley's life was both that of a spy and of a road gambler,
and he paints a detailed picture of some of these remarkable pieces of
his life. Frankly, I find many of his stories more than a bit hard
to swallow in every detail, but ultimately, I don't think it matters
whether they're
entirely factual or not. They're the entertaining product of a truly
remarkable character, and I'm glad I got a chance to read them.
For its time, this was probably one of the better books on poker strategy,
if, for no other reason, than the author rams the advice to "play tight"
down the reader's throat. However, Theory of Poker it's
not. These days there are a great number of poker books on the market
that are better as strategy guides. Further, it's hard to find a good
five card stud or five card draw game these days, so strategies for these
specific games probably won't add a lot of notches in the "win" column
for the reader. Much of the advice is good, but don't read this book
for practical advice. Read it for its entertainment value. The table
of contents appears to list games, and one might assume that each chapter
contains a new game and strategy. This is true, but largely the game
in question is a backdrop to one of Yardley's tales.
While I'd probably rate books like The Big Deal and The
Biggest Game in Town to be more entertaining, this book is a good
one. Although it's short, I believe it belongs in every serious poker
player's library. Note, though, that this book tends to drift in and
out of print. The version I have was published by Oldcastle Press in
the U.K., which I got as an import several years ago. Better gambling
book stores should have The Education of a Poker Player in
stock, and I think it's worth getting.
Capsule:
This entertaining yarn is interesting for its poker stories and for
information about its colorful author, Herbert Yardley. For its time,
it was not at all bad as a strategy guide to poker, although these days
it should primarily be read for its entertainment value. I believe this
book belongs in every serious poker player's library.
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