Review of The Poker MBA

Title:

The Poker MBA

Author:

Greg Dinkin and Jeffrey Gitomer

Publisher:

Crown Business

Date:

2002

ISBN:

0-609-60986-6

Pages:

288

Price:

$23.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

March 3, 2002

As many poker books as have been written in recent years, they pale by comparison to the number of business management books that have been unleashed on the market. Searching for a piece of this lucrative market, authors have used metaphors of athletic competition, eastern mysticism, coaching, and medicine among many others to drive home their lessons. Now Greg Dinkin and Jeffrey Gitomer add poker to this list of metaphors to teach the lessons of successful business practices.

The book is divided into several sections concerning general strategy, executing in business, and starting a business. A brief quiz to reinforce the lessons in the book and an appendix which briefly describes how poker is played and the rank of poker hands are also included.

The Poker MBA is filled with examples from both business and poker that illustrate the principles the authors consider to be important. These examples are pretty well-considered. The reader is instructed to make good decisions and not be concerned with just outcomes. Lessons about selective investment are reinforced by comparing them to the poker principle of being "tight" but "aggressive". Questions about when it is better to acquire financing through debt or by giving up equity are illustrated by discussing the various ways that some professional poker players cut deals with their backers.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it is pretty simplistic when it discusses its strategies. The authors tell us the differences between debt and equity financing, but only at a very high level. This isn't enough information on which to base such a decision, and this is true about just about every topic the book discusses. Of course, it is my opinion that this is a failing of this genre in general. The Poker MBA is certainly no more guilty of this than any other similar book.

Because of the lack of specificity, I find these sorts of books to be mostly filled with information that should be common sense. Once someone has read one book on this subject, the rest serve as little more than a set of affirmations. Some people find this valuable, and to those people who also find the poker metaphor intriguing, I would recommend this book.

In terms of its content, I think the recommendations given in The Poker MBA are pretty good overall. I'm a little uncomfortable with some of what is said in the chapter on business ethics. It's not so much what is said, but I fear that some of the authors' words of could be misinterpreted. To me, the comparison between business and poker seems to be pretty well considered, although there are a few places where it gets a bit thin. The only real downside I can find is that some of the poker situations are more subtle than they might first appear. The nuances of these situations are likely to be lost on readers that aren't intimately familiar with the game, which is too bad.

As a book on business management I found The Poker MBA to be pretty good, although I'm not terribly impressed by the genre in general. I think this book is likely to be of more benefit to those who are already very familiar with the poker situations that it discusses. The book is easy to read and it's main points are made clearly. It's probably worthwhile as a first book on business management or as an affirmative refresher for business people who are very familiar with the game of poker. Note that the book is about applying poker principles to business, it would not serve readers looking for information about applying business principles to poker.

Capsule:

It may not be terribly deep, but The Poker MBA is a pretty good book within the business management genre. It's likely to be of more use to those who are already fairly serious poker players than those who are not. There's not a lot new here for those who have read one or more similar books, but for those who haven't or those who need a refresher course, The Poker MBA is likely to be satisfactory.

Note: I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher. I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in the success of this book.