Review of The Psychology of Poker
- Title:
- The Psychology of Poker
- Author:
- Alan N. Schoonmaker
- Publisher:
- Two Plus Two Publishing
- Date:
- 2000
- ISBN:
- 1-880685-25-6
- Pages:
- 330
- Price:
- $24.95
August 16, 2000
"What in the world were they thinking?" I'm sure I'm not the only poker
player who has asked this questions literally hundreds of times at the
poker table. What drives players to play the way they do, especially
if they play badly? What drives each of us to do things at the table
that we know are costing us money? In The Psychology of
Poker, Alan N. Schoonmaker, who holds a PhD in psychology,
attempts to understand what motivates poker players and to understand
how they think and why.
After an introduction, Schoonmaker asks the reader to examine their
own game, looking at one's own motivations and skills critically
and honestly. Of course, if one isn't truly honest, much of the rest
of the book won't help, but the author does a good job of guiding
the reader toward understanding their true motivations.
Poker skills are covered next, including reading hands
and game selection, with a discussion about how one's personal
tendencies influence these skills. Next, Schoonmaker introduces a
grid system on which players can be rated. Tightness vs. looseness
and passiveness vs. aggressiveness are discussed, and the reader is
guided through the process of rating oneself and other players on
this scale.
The problem is that this doesn't cover the whole picture. As one
example, a player can
be tight and aggressive, playing few hands but playing those strong,
but if these hands are garbage, they won't go very far. There's at
least a third axis (and probably several more) that includes good
and bad decision making. Counting the number of hands and the proportion
of raises to calls can be useful, but it still gives an incomplete
picture, and this may lead to an improper strategy. The author
does mention the possibility that a player may be of a mixed type,
for example, tight and aggressive before the flop, but a calling
station from then on. However, the book doesn't give us a lot of
information about why these people might play the way they do.
The next four sections cover various types of players focusing on
the corners of the grid. We are told what the characteristics of players
in each of the zones are likely to be, and some suggestions are made
as to what motivates them. This is done from the perspective of analyzing
the play of other players in each of these categories, as well as coming
to terms with our own game if we fall into any given classification.
After this, the book presents some analysis of ways in which players
self-destruct in their games, and what can be done to avoid it. Then
we have the conclusion, and finally there are three appendices: A
quiz covering whether the reader has the "right stuff" to play poker
well, an article on why an aspiring poker player should think again
if they're considering turning pro, and quick summaries of the previous
chapters.
Schoonmaker claims that he's not a poker professional by any means,
that he is a moderate winner in low limit games. He says that the
purpose of his book is to analyze players, not give strategic advice,
and that's fine by me.
However, I see a great deal of strategic advice in this book. Some
of it is quite good, for example, I don't recall seeing the concept
of "buying outs" explained better. Some of it I have some minor
disagreement with. The fact that David Sklansky reviewed the book
from a strategic angle probably explains the generally good quality
of this information. However, there isn't nearly as
much information about examining the motivations and methods of other
poker players as I would have hoped, which is the author's field
of expertise, although what's there is fairly decent.
Another deficiency is that almost nothing is said about the less
extreme, "average" players that don't have tendencies near the edge
of the author's grid, which is where we would probably locate the
majority of players. While
it may not seem interesting to cover the average case, I honestly don't
know what a "5,5" player in a local 3-6 Hold'em game might be
thinking about, but I'd like to. I was hoping this book would tell me,
but it doesn't.
Overall, we probably get a better grounding of the psychology of the
people who play poker, both our opponents and ourselves, than we do
in any other book. However, the book has more advice on how to play
against these people and how to alter our play than it has information
on why people play the way they do. I was hoping for more of the latter
than I got. However, it is a good book, one that I found worth reading,
although the true masterpiece on poker psychology has yet to be written.
Capsule:
While The Psychology of Poker is probably the best book
written on the mind of the poker player, there is more strategic advice
and less psychology than I would have expected or liked. The book
is certainly worth reading, not just to understand our opponents, but
also to understand ourselves. However, the ultimate book on poker
psychology has yet to be written. I do recommend it, however.
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.
Click here to return to the index of reviews.
|