The Education Of A Poker Player
Herbert O. Yardley
This book was a great inspiration. The book is broken down into a few stories from Herbert’s own life, and he uses each as an example to outline his methods and strategies for various forms of poker. The book was first published in 1957, and Herbert himself was born in 1889. There are just as many amazing anecdotes in the book as there are amazing strategies for games like 5 and 7 card stud.
Starting out in the very beginning of the 20th century, he tells of a local saloon owner named Monty who became his first poker coach. From an amazing account of a man who actually suffered a heart attack and died at the table, holding 4 aces in his hand and having died just moments before he won what would have been the biggest pot in his life, to helping capture a german spy in the early days just before the US got involved in WWI by analyzing the money he’d won from the man in a large poker pot at a club in China.
The book is only 120 pages, so it’s a quick read, but really is entertaining, and interesting as a glimpse back to life at the beginning of the last century. Many of the strategies in the book can be translated and will help with the modern games of Hold ‘Em and Omaha, but these games didn’t exist at the time of the writing. If you’re big on 5 or 7 card stud though, you’ll find great tips and charts that will instantly improve anyone’s game.
It’s filled with descriptions for about 25 variations of poker (And tips for all of them). If you play home games with your buddies and like to fool around with different types of games, you’ll find plenty of ideas here.
