Review of Inside the Poker Mind
- Title:
- Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold'em and General Poker Concepts
- Author:
- John Feeney
- Publisher:
- Two Plus Two Publishing
- Date:
- 2000
- ISBN:
- 1-880685-26-4
- Pages:
- 275
- Price:
- $24.95
July 1, 2000
John Feeney is a poker columnist for Poker Digest magazine who
also holds a PhD in clinical psychology. Besides being a skilled poker
player, this also gives him valuable insight into his own mind as a poker
player, as well as the minds of his opponents. In Inside the Poker
Mind we have a collection of essays which relate Feeney's thoughts
about poker and the folks who play it.
This book is divided into five sections. After some introductory
material, Part One begins covering what Feeney calls "Technical Points".
These essays cover a variety of subjects, and I don't really know
what the section title refers to. Some of the topics covered are
why people play too many hands and what that costs them, playing Ace-Queen
in Hold'em, and some thoughts on tells. Most of the advice here seems
pretty good to me, but occasionally, Feeney states some things in more
of a straightforward manner than I believe is warranted. For example, in his
essay titled "Do You Pass the Ace-Queen Test?", he states, "Do you always
play it, usually by calling the two bets cold? Then get into my game
please." While I agree that in many games, especially tougher games,
that always cold-calling with AQoff is unwise, there are some games, such
as the nearly ubiquitous loose low-limit games where nearly everyone plays
poorly, where
always playing AQoff for two bets probably isn't very wrong. it's
true that Feeney says, "Of course it depends on the situation...," but
this dispenses with what sort of game one is in far too quickly for
my tastes.
Part Two is titled "General Poker Concepts", and it covers luck, short
handed play, and learning the game of poker. I really like most of these
essays, and I think this section is the strongest one in the book.
The third section, "Strategic Thinking in Hold'em", covers what Feeney
calls "The Strategic Moment", how to play against maniacs, playing against
a good card reader, and other strategies. Overall, most of the essays here
are good, but less inspired in my opinion than those in Part Two.
The next section, "Poker and Emotion", is the one where we expect the
author to really shine, as he mixes his poker knowledge with his background
in psychology. He discusses having a professional attitude, tilt, and
the benefits of therapy for poker players. I was a bit disappointed here,
but I'm not sure I'm being fair. I have been doing a lot of thinking
myself about what the "professional attitude" looks like and how it should
affect one's game, so it's not surprising that I found Feeney's general
remarks on the subject to be simpler than what I was hoping for, and
the details of some of his discussions sometimes emphasize different
issues than what I think is most important. However, for the poker player
that hasn't given this much thought, the author's analysis is almost
certainly useful. Similarly, Feeney's definition of "tilt" is different
than what I tend to use, and I believe that most of the benefit a
serious player could derive from psychotherapy can be gained much less
expensively from discussing their experiences with other thoughtful
players, especially if one can't find a therapist who can beat the
local 15-30 game.
The fifth section covers miscellaneous topics, including Feeney's thoughts
on tournaments, general risk/reward ratios in life, and his thoughts on
the effects of poker literature on the quality of games. I found his
essays on tournaments
to be interesting, but they won't help one's game. His consideration of
risk/reward in life is well thought out and should be considered by
everyone on the planet, but several books, like True Odds: How Risk
Affects Your Everyday Life by James Walsh, already cover this
topic more thoroughly. I do, though, think he's right on the money
when it comes to the effect of poker literature on the quality of games.
The book ends with a conclusion and a welcome addition to recently
published Two Plus Two books, a comprehensive index.
While I think the book has its downsides, overall, I think it is pretty
good, although not great. Instead of picking a true focus, strategy
or psychology, Feeney dabbles in each, and consequently no great advances
are made in either direction. However, I think most of the strategy
is quite good and will help most poker players, especially those with
intermediate skills, improve their game. Also, most serious players will
probably also benefit from it, but they needn't rush the book to the
top of their "must read" list.
Capsule:
Inside the Poker Mind is a good but not great book covering
a little bit of strategy and a little bit of psychology in playing poker.
Best suited to improving the game of the studious, but intermediate player,
Feeney's book will likely be useful as well to the advanced player, even
though its depth is limited and, in my opinion, some of its points
debatable. It's recommended, but not a classic.
Note: I received a free review copy of this book from Two Plus Two
Publishing. I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in
the success of this book.
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