This is a poker strategy book of a different kind. You won’t find much advice on how to play any particular hand, or strategies to crush the TAGs, the LAGs and everyone in between. I think the best way to sum it up is with a line from the first few pages of the book. A quote included from one of Tommy’s first students, “This was not at all what I expected, but it was exactly what I needed.”

The book consists of Tommy’s 144 elements of poker. Some are simple, one sentence, ideas while others take up several pages in the 250 page book. All of them though, will inspire new ways of thinking about the way you play, and how it effects you, your game, your opponents, and your environment. The author explains everything with a bit of humor and a unique outlook. He covers everything from common ideas like positional play, bankroll and tilt, to more abstract ideas such as getting “gobsmacked”, finger tilt and poker funk.

For anyone who’s putting in more than a few hours a week playing poker, the advice and ideas will undoubtedly improve the way you play your game. If you’re doing well, but you feel like there’s some block somewhere in your mind slowing you down, or holding you back, this should be the next book on your list. I guarantee you that at least one of Tommy’s elements of poker will show you a way around that block.

You can also check out Tommy’s site for excerpts from his book and lots of worthwhile articles on different aspects of poker at TommyAngelo.com.

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.