Review of Poker Winners Are Different

Title:

Poker Winners Are Different

Author:

Alan N. Schoonmaker, PhD

Publisher:

Kensington Publishing

Date:

2009

ISBN:

0-8184-0728-X

Pages:

310

Price:

$15.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

April 6, 2009

Two poker players of equal talent pick up the game at the same time. One of them progresses quickly, becoming a winning player. The other improves for a while and then stagnates as a marginal loser. What is the difference between these two people? It's almost certainly the case that the successful player has put in the work necessary to improve, while the other player has not. Not only does one player fail to improve past a certain point, but this player probably could tell us why that is. So, if the poor player wants to win at poker and knows what it takes to do so, why doesn't he make it happen? Poker Winners Are Different by Alan Schoonmaker examines this question.

There is a big difference between what's typical human behavior and what is called for to play poker at a high level. There aren't a lot of people for whom maximizing their expectation in poker games comes naturally. Human beings are social animals who are naturally included to try to get along. Our instincts are to feed our basic and immediate needs. Playing winning poker, on the other hand, is about ruthlessly pushing our edges, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike, and taking full advantage of any weaknesses exhibited by our opponents. For all but the least skilled poker players, I believe one could argue that the primary difference between winning and losing is that the winners have the discipline to suppress their urges and make the plays that gain money, not those that feel good.

If a poker player wants to transition from a losing player to a winner the first two steps they need to take are: (1) admit that they're making bad decisions, and (2) understand why it is that they're not making the plays that winning players make. Poker Winners Are Different focuses on the issues involved in this second step in a no-nonsense, "tough love" style that has become almost a trademark for Schoonmaker. The book is an exhaustive catalogue of the things that poker players should know better than to do along with an explanation of the reasons we find it difficult to break out of our bad habits.

As far as I know, I have yet to meet the poker player who is not a victim of at least several of the faults that Schoonmaker describes. This includes people who are long term winners and some who are stars of the poker world. Does anyone spend as much time away from the table studying the game as they should? How many people really probe for as much information as they possibly can, even if it takes them outside of their comfort zone? Is there anyone playing the game that couldn't benefit from being more accepting of the pots and sessions they lose? Performing these sorts of self-examinations is as important to the winning poker player as is studying strategy, and I believe that Poker Winners Are Different is the best single book I've read on improving a player's mental approach to the game.

Despite the fact that I really like this book and recommend it to any poker player who wants to improve their results, it's not perfect. One danger with books on psychology is that the author has first hand experience with only one brain. Consequently, it's always possible for an author to believe that their experience can be applied more generally than it really should. There are a couple of cases in this book where I believe that Schoonmaker overgeneralizes poker player behavior, a criticism I've had of his previous two books as well. I should point out, though, that there are fewer instances of this in the second half of Poker Winners Are Different than in the first half, and I can point to far fewer cases of this in Schoonmaker's current book than in his previous two.

Another potential failing is that despite the excellent job Schoonmaker does in identifying the blocks we put up that prevent us from playing our best poker, he commits far fewer pages toward telling the readers how they could overcome these issues. While there are some suggestions scattered among the 23 chapters that set up the problem, there is only one chapter and one appendix (Appendix C, which should not be considered to be optional reading) on addressing player shortcomings. That's not to say that this book isn't valuable. As they say, admitting that one has problems (and identifying precisely those problems) is the most important step in addressing them.

I believe that in many ways Poker Winners Are Different is the full realization of what Schoonmaker was trying to accomplish in his previous two books, Your Worst Poker Enemy and Your Best Poker Friend. It seems to me that having already written those two volumes, he came to understand the subject of those two books in a more profound way, one that he has now communicated to us. I don't mean to imply that the previous two books aren't any good or are now not worth reading. I think they still are, but in light of Schoonmaker's latest work, I would now view them as supplemental reading expanding on some of the ideas in Poker Winners Are Different.

In any case, I believe there can be no doubt that Poker Winners Are Different represents Schoonmaker's best work on poker psychology to date, and in my opinion, the overall best book on the subject. If a poker player were to read this book and conclude that they didn't benefit from it, I think it would be far more likely that they're in denial about how they approach the game than that their approach to poker was so advanced that they couldn't benefit from its ideas. I strongly recommend that poker players who want to improve their results take a break from studying strategy long enough to read this book. I believe that if they approach this material honestly, they will be rewarded.

Capsule:

It's my opinion that not only is Poker Winners Are Different the best poker book Schoonmaker has written, but that overall it's the best book on poker psychology that has been written to date. In many ways, I think this is a full realization of what Schoonmaker was trying to accomplish with his previous two books, Your Worst Poker Enemy and Your Best Poker Friend. I can't think of a poker player who wouldn't benefit from understanding this book, and I strongly recommend it.

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.