Tommy Angelo Has a New Book and is Jumping in the Well

I just got back from a week at the WSOP and I’m so full of poker joy right now I could just jump into a well. And I have a new book out. It’s available in print and ebook at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.de. Here’s the blurb that tells what’s in it:

A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales by Tommy Angelo collects the best articles, blogs, and stories from Tommy’s last 12 years of writing and showcases them with eighteen new introductions and afterwords. Here you'll find poker war stories from his years as a pro, poker fiction, ruminations on poker rules, and more – including a strong selection of articles on tilt, the author's signature topic. The new commentaries, found only in this volume, take you behind the curtain on Angelo's history and writing process. New readers will appreciate the humor and fresh perspective on poker, and existing fans will enjoy the exclusive commentaries as well as having a convenient collection of Angelo's most popular material.

In other news, my first book, Elements of Poker, is now available as an ebook, not only at the Amazons but also at iBooks, and Barnes and Noble. And my website, tommyangelo.com, has a whole new look. And I have started a mailing list, which you can join at my site or by just sending me an email at tommy@tommyangelo and saying "Please put me on the mailing list." And my blog is at tommyangelo.com/blog. And now that the announcements are finally over, let The Well conversations begin!

Thanks to the CardsChat for the invite,

Tommy

Just got the new book last week. Lots of stuff that I hadn't read before. I was a bit disappointed that you decided not to sell signed copies through your website with this one but the book itself has been a great read so far (I'm about 50% through it).

I do have a question or 2.

Do you ever stop and think (as opposed to stop and not think ) just how improbable the wild success of EoP is considering the pokery part of the book is primarily live, limit focused and the poker world these days (at least until a few months ago) is overwhelmingly about nl played mostly online?

How much do you get to play these days? How were the side games around the WS this year?

Look forward to reading it Tommy.EOP is by far my most prized book i have read it at least 10 times.Nice to welcome you to CC as well.

:-)

[quote] just how improbable the wild success of EoP is considering the pokery part of the book is primarily live, limit focused and the poker world these days (at least until a few months ago) is overwhelmingly about nl played mostly online?]

Well, I did try to arrange the "pokery part" concepts so that those in, say, the "hold'em" section would apply to all hold'em, whether it be online, live, tournaments, cash games, no-limit, or limit. The same is true for the other groupings of pokery topics. I've been told there are some handy, timeless bits in there, so that could account for a partial explanation of the "wild success" of EoP. But from what I've read, it's the rest of the book that is why people buy it. I've seen lots of comments in blogs and posts and such that say, "The pokery part is crap, but the rest of the book is still well worth the price of admission." So I think that's the answer to your question.


I hardly play at all anymore at Lucky Chances and Bay101 and Artichoke Joe's, where I used to grind every day for years. I could play if I wanted to, but apparently what I want to do is write and teach and publish since that's what I'm doing!

The only game I played was $5-10 NLHE. There's no max buy-in. The typical stacks are 2K to 5K. And there's an optional Mississippi straddle which escalates the stakes one hand and a time. So even though the stacks are very deep, they come into play fairly often.

I only came across a few flagrant donators. Most of the players play well enough that I need to pay close attention, and send lots of misdirection plays out there, in order to gain a significant edge. I was very impressed overall by the behavior and maturity of the young players. I think my biggest edge against them is that (and I realize I'm making outrageous generalizations here) is that when they lose a big bot, their blood boils, and mine doesn't. But many of them don't show it overtly. That's why I have to pay attention, to know where my next batch of tilt-reciprocality income may come from.

subscribing to thread. Thanks for coming to Cardschat again!

Well I don't think the pokery part is crap. Far from it. There is lots of GREAT stuff in there for a online nl player but it is the rest of the book that makes it a classic imo. I mean I learned a lot from the poker stuff but I use the rest all the time (mindful breathing is especially useful when dealing with my toddler age son). Anyway I'd like to thank you for writing it.

Any ideas on what you're going to write next?

Can you give us an idea about the crowd size/enthusiasm this year at the WSOP vs last year?

How much has the Black Friday bs affected the event...etc.etc..

Yes. My next book is well under way. The title is Painless Poker. It will be all new bla bla. I think of it as the prequel and sequel to Elements of Poker. Estimated completion is two years from now.

I haven't seen any data comparing numbers of tournament entrants this year to last year. As to the body count and the feel of things, I noticed no change becauseof Black Friday except that there was way more cash game actions, at all stakes, including high stakes.

Both tournament rooms had tons of tables going every day. One day I went to the live room to play and the list for $10-20 NLHE was 60 players long. That obviously meant there were no empty tables. Granted, it was the first day of the 6-max tournament, which uses up lots of tables. But still. This room is 120 yards long and 60 yards wide, and everyday it was full. And there's another room too, that's half as big, where the tournaments finish out, that was also well populated like last year.

Hi,

Welcome to CC,

Two things: First, are your ebooks available in a Sony Ebook reader friendly format?

Second, I wanted to commend you on the series you did on Deuces cracked. Not only was it great just from a poker stand point but I think it was genuinely good introduction to practical Buddhism. Being a sort of wanna be Buddhist I was really intrigued with how you did that.

Best of luck to you,

Bill

subscribing

Write faster.

Sounds awesome can't wait. Also wanted to echo Bill's sentiments on The Eightfold Path series on DC. I've watched the final episode at least 10 times. So good.

[quote=alaskabill;1754959]Two things: First, are your ebooks available in a Sony Ebook reader friendly format? [quote]

Yes to Elements of Poker for sure. It is available at the Sony Bookstore: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/tom...00000000268633

The Poker Tales ebook is not at the Sony Bookstore. It is however available in ePub format, which as I understand it is readable on a Sony Reader. Here's a link to the Poker Tales ePub: http://professionalpoker.com/IP.php?...r oductID=485

"Second, I wanted to commend you on the series you did on Deuces cracked."

Thank you!

I had no idea you were on CC.

My Kindle is about to take delivery of a new book

EoP is quite simply excellent. Thanks for writing it, and keep on writing!

Nice to see you here Tommy.

I'm thinking it's time I changed my signature as I've had it since EoP was released. Is there a quote in your new book you're particularly fond of?

Have never read a poker book maybe I should make this my first thanks for the info.

One of the stories in my new book is called "Kay Knows Poker." It's about my wife, who doesn't play poker, but nonetheless comes up with some excellent bits of wisdom. So here's an idea for your new signature...

It's never wrong to not play. -- Tommy Angelo's wife -- A Rubber Band Story

Cheers..will take it for a test drive

I'm surprised he didn't go with "Mucka hi".

Favourite TV show?

Which show does your wife love to watch that you hate?

Closest to the truth....the existence of homosapiens is best explained by

Darwin?

The Bible?

Alien intervention?

Hi and welcome to CC!
I've had your book for awhile now but truth be told haven't read it yet. Looks like I need to get busy reading.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Wire

Come Dine With Me

Darwin. Who was obviously an alien. And his wife Emma read the Bible every day, so maybe that fits in there too. :-)

I didn't know they allowed that kind of talk around here. :-)

What it's just "nice hand" in Chinese right?

Maybe I should have read the whole story?

Loved the bit about your wife telling you to charge $200 more for clients who play live with. She seems very clever. What does she do for a living if you don't mind me asking?

I just read your post to her and asked her what she does. She says she is a management consultant who does interim executive stints in software companies especially ones with a sustainability angle. I think you can translate that using Google somehow.

Google translate came up with "I live in the real world so shut your face!"

Hmmmm...sounds like she doesn't want either of us to know.

In one of the stories in A Rubber Band Story you talk about moving to CA to take your shot with a $100K bankroll that included $20K in potential CC advances and $10K that you thought your brother would lend you! If you told my father that he'd probably tell you that using a CC or borrowed money to fund your poker game sounds like a damned fool thing to do. So how far would you have really been willing to go if things had gone bad at the start?

I played for a living for a long time and along the way there were several times I nearly hit bottom before pulling out. The deepest I went in CC debt was 30K. Never had to borrow from my brother though!

I wonder if he would say the same thing about someone who borrows money to fund their business.

No he wouldn't. Good answer.

Your new book arrived several days ago and I'm savoring each page. Though generally a fast reader, I want to make this one last. Your writing seems effortless and flows so smoothly, which I know takes an extraordinary amount of skill. Kudos!.

I also received my second copy of Elements of Poker. Word to the wise: if you lend one of Tommy's books to someone, don't expect it to be returned.

Randomly...

After reading A Rubber Band Story I said outloud, "Tommy, you need to write a Poker novel!" So...any plans along those lines? The field is wide open. I have about 40 books in the genre and as far as quality goes, I have a feeling yours would be right up there among the best.

I suppose it's no accident that the acrononym for your publishing pursuits is the Tao. Very apt; wp.

When I heard you were jumping in the well I got so excited and told my guy Mike about it. While he loves poker, he's not much of a reader or a forum person. After I said your name he, being a first-gen ItalianAmerican, had only one question, "This Tommy, he paisan?" So--are you?!

All for now--I know I'll be back with more. Great to have you here!

Welcome to CC!

Just wanted to see if you had the same impression I did. I just got back from my first visit (non-playing) to the WSOP. When I walked into the pavilion room, I was astounded at how quiet it was. All you could hear was chips riffling.

Was it that quiet in years past? Or, do you sense an increased seriousness around the game(s) this year?

Do you think the ESPN final table looks like something straight out of Full Tilt?

Where do you like to stay in Vegas when at WSOP?

Are you playing any other events this year?

Thank you Marlow for all the kind words.

[quote=LarkMarlow;1756316]

After reading A Rubber Band Story I said outloud, "Tommy, you need to write a Poker novel!" So...any plans along those lines?[quote]

No plans to, though it could happen. I was thinking screenplay instead. I hardly read novels. But I watch a lot of movies. :-)

Oh my yes. Deeply rooted. Show your guy Mike this. It's a stanza I wrote to a parody of the Hallelujah song that will be sung by the hoards at our reunion next week.

It’s Tuesday night
Young versus old
Just one more point
For all the gold
I probe your mind to find a way to fool ya

We fling our fists
And both throw 3
You yell Ching Way
I shout SAY-EEEE
The young walk in shame while the old sing Hallelujah

Thank you!

By my recollection yes. The ceiling is very high and there are many big things hanging from it that break up the sound. And there's carpet, and clothing. It's a muffled place.

I didn't feel any change in that regard, if you're talking about Black Friday's influence. But I'm not tuned into that so much.

I was thinking Klingon High Council on shrooms. :-)

Wherever the events are being held.

The word "other" reveals a miscommunication. I have never played a WSOP event.