Review of Sklansky on Poker
- Title:
- Sklansky on Poker
- Author:
- David Sklansky
- Publisher:
- Two Plus Two Publishing
- Date:
- 1994
- ISBN:
- 1-880685-X
- Pages:
- 215
- Price:
- $29.95
May 11, 1998
David Sklansky is one of the most well respected poker authors in
the world. In my opinion, Sklansky on Poker has been unfairly
one of his less popular books, as it contains some of his best writing.
This book is well worth study by the aspiring poker student and deserves
a wider audience than it has received.
The book is divided into four sections. The first is called "General
Concepts". This is a collection of various essays, most of which were
previously published elsewhere. None of these are bad, although one
or two are mediocre, but some of them are quite good. For example,
the essay entitled "Have a Plan" is the first essay I know of that deals
with the question of not betting into a player who will always fold unless
they have one beat. Another good essay is "All Errors Are
Not Created Equal", which improved my play considerably all by itself.
The second section is called "Points of Play". This section deals with
specific hands, while the first section covers more
universal concepts. "The Protected Pot" and "Saving the Last Bet" are
two essays I found especially useful from this section. Of course not
all of them are this good, but the quality is generally quite high.
The third section is on tournament play. There is a lot more decent
information on tournament play in print today when there was at the time
the book
as published. Still, the information in this book coupled with those
essays found in Mason Malmuth's Gambling Theory and Other
Topics is better than all but a few books. The essay titled "Should
You Wait" is the only place I know of where someone has tacked the
often asked question about what quality hand one should take a stand
with when very short stacked.
The fourth section covers just over half the book, and it's a mini-book
in itself, entitled "Sklansky on Razz". This is simply the
definitive work on Razz, which is seven card stud played for low. With
HORSE (one round each of Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, and stud Eight
or better dealt in succession) becoming more popular, one can often make
some money in
these games off those who do not know how to play some of the less common
rounds, and I have encountered very few low and mid-limit players who know
how to play Razz competently.
Even if one doesn't anticipate playing Razz, and it still shows up from
time to time, it's very useful to read this work because Razz provides an
excellent setting for many important poker lessons that are obvious in
this game, but less obvious in others. Razz is an ideal context in which
to learn some principles that apply to all poker, and reading this section
can only improve one's game. Plus, after reading "Sklansky on Razz", and
thinking about the lessons, this game will be a formidable weapon to call at
home style dealer's choice games.
Like most of Sklansky's books, there may not be a lot of words between
these covers, but there are a lot of ideas. One cannot skim through the
book and expect to immediately dominate one's game of choice. The
information here
requires some study, rereading, and consideration away from the tables.
The industrious student will be amply rewarded by this fine work.
Capsule:
In my opinion, this is one of the better poker books available and
deserves a wider audience. The book is divided into a section of essays,
many of which are extremely good, and a section that does a superb
job of describing the game of Razz. This book is well worth studying
by all poker players.
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