"Way of the Poker Warrior" by Paul Hoppe (GiantBuddha)

[WVHillbilly]

In terms of enjoying the read, this book is second only to Elements of Poker in the poker literature that I've come across. Well done.

Really? So it's a definite read even for NL players?

 

[OnyxPanther]

question

Do you really think reading a book or books is a better substitute than just playing and learning by trial and error?

 

[F Paulsson]

Really? So it's a definite read even for NL players?

If you're looking for pure strategy content, there's probably better material to spend your time on. Not that it's not there. And I think a lot of NL players can benefit from occasionally thinking about combinatorics and hands the way a limit player does. But if you're struggling with motivation and want some inspiration to work harder, this is definitely worthwhile.

The real inspiration for me, though, doesn't come so much from the book as from Paul himself and people like him. Some people just seem to get so much stuff done, and I used to feel a lot like I just didn't get a whole lot accomplished in a week. There's a guy like that in my office. He puts in more hours at work than most others, but somehow he also has time to rebuild parts of his house, exercise 3-4 times a week (including maintaining a very solid quality in his squash game - guy's 53 and still barely breaks a sweat when playing me. Bastard.), take care of his sailing boat and actually go on trips with it, has a wife and kid, a private little business on the side, a healthy social life, etc. And I used to feel like I barely had time to do my 40 hours of work and play some poker now and then on top of that.

See, a lot of time just get swallowed by nonsense, and the lion's share of that nonsense (for me) has to do with not feeling motivated enough to do something more productive with my time. So I end up watching TV or playing video games or whatever. Seeing what others manage to do with - presumably - the same length of week as I operate on is a good way for me to get cracking on stuff.

That said, my comment that you quoted was aimed more at the quality of the writing than of the content. It's actually a good read, in terms of writing quality, something that - sadly - most poker books aren't. In fact, most of them suck which makes my putting it at #2 sound facetious, but I really did enjoy it.

 

[F Paulsson]

Do you really think reading a book or books is a better substitute than just playing and learning by trial and error?

Two points:

1. Trial and error is a costly way to learn poker. It's also a really hard way to learn to play poker, because your "errors" are very often not going to show up in terms of making money. If you make a bad play and win a huge pot, what have you learned? Or if you make the correct play and lose a stack, have you learned the right lesson? In order to actually learn from trial and error you have to first learn how to learn from it.

2. This book isn't trying to teach you how to play poker, in my opinion. It's teaching you how to learn. See point #1.

 

[OnyxPanther]

well i say this in terms of yournament play poker.. and i am only a freeroll tournament player. i decided that if i cant make it into real money playing these then i wont make it anywhere depositing so this is what i do.

 

[GiantBuddha]

Congrats on the book Paul! You are now on my list...of poker authors to read (& thank you for clarifying the vegan s'mores...I was thinking along the
lines of some sort of nori/seaweed concoction but my mind has been wandering around Malfunction Junction all day ).

Thanks and lolz. The vegan smores were excellent.

I really enjoy limit poker and I'm looking forward to picking up this book after I get my books for coll......Wait, vegans can't eat honey?

Vegans do not eat or drink any animal products or anything produced by animals... like honey, being produced by bees.

Vegetarians on the other hand, just don't eat meat.

Honey is one of those things that's borderline and disputed amongst vegans, since it comes from insects. It's not like there's a society of vegans and you get kicked out for eating this or that. But something containing honey is unlikely to be labeled vegan on the box.

 

[GiantBuddha]

Do you really think reading a book or books is a better substitute than just playing and learning by trial and error?

I can't give a better answer than the one F Paulsson gave, so I'll just say that I completely agree with the following:

Two points:

1. Trial and error is a costly way to learn poker. It's also a really hard way to learn to play poker, because your "errors" are very often not going to show up in terms of making money. If you make a bad play and win a huge pot, what have you learned? Or if you make the correct play and lose a stack, have you learned the right lesson? In order to actually learn from trial and error you have to first learn how to learn from it.

2. This book isn't trying to teach you how to play poker, in my opinion. It's teaching you how to learn. See point #1.

well i say this in terms of yournament play poker.. and i am only a freeroll tournament player. i decided that if i cant make it into real money playing these then i wont make it anywhere depositing so this is what i do.

Learning by practicing is very important in poker. But regardless of what type of poker you're playing, developing a solid theoretical understanding of the game will allow you to learn the most from the hands you play.

Starting off with freerolls and play money is a decent way to start. I freerolled a $100 bonus into my entire bankroll, and I know many others have done the same.

 

[GiantBuddha]

By the way, my compliments on a very well written book. I must admit that I was skeptical initially because I was fearing it might turn cheezy in stretching the analogies between martial arts and poker, but that's not there at all. And after reading it, it's now clear that you're very talented in (at least) three fairly separate areas.

In terms of enjoying the read, this book is second only to Elements of Poker in the poker literature that I've come across. Well done.

If you're looking for pure strategy content, there's probably better material to spend your time on. Not that it's not there. And I think a lot of NL players can benefit from occasionally thinking about combinatorics and hands the way a limit player does. But if you're struggling with motivation and want some inspiration to work harder, this is definitely worthwhile.

The real inspiration for me, though, doesn't come so much from the book as from Paul himself and people like him. Some people just seem to get so much stuff done, and I used to feel a lot like I just didn't get a whole lot accomplished in a week. There's a guy like that in my office. He puts in more hours at work than most others, but somehow he also has time to rebuild parts of his house, exercise 3-4 times a week (including maintaining a very solid quality in his squash game - guy's 53 and still barely breaks a sweat when playing me. Bastard.), take care of his sailing boat and actually go on trips with it, has a wife and kid, a private little business on the side, a healthy social life, etc. And I used to feel like I barely had time to do my 40 hours of work and play some poker now and then on top of that.

See, a lot of time just get swallowed by nonsense, and the lion's share of that nonsense (for me) has to do with not feeling motivated enough to do something more productive with my time. So I end up watching TV or playing video games or whatever. Seeing what others manage to do with - presumably - the same length of week as I operate on is a good way for me to get cracking on stuff.

That said, my comment that you quoted was aimed more at the quality of the writing than of the content. It's actually a good read, in terms of writing quality, something that - sadly - most poker books aren't. In fact, most of them suck which makes my putting it at #2 sound facetious, but I really did enjoy it.

Thanks for the compliments, and I'm glad that you actually enjoyed reading the book. Of course I want the book to help the reader make more money playing poker, but I really want the people to enjoy reading the book. I believe learning should be fun, so I'm trying to do my part.

 

[LarkMarlow]

Today I received one of those cardboard USPS flat rate mailing envelopes and the return address was Brainerd, MN. Though I don't know anyone from Brainerd, I opened it anyway.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled out Way of the Poker Warrior--how exciting! Will start reading this evening...

 

[Hordling]

Cool and congrats.

Enjoy the read.

(Have to get me one of those now... LOL)

 

[pol_92121]

someone knows if that book have an italian translate?

 

[GiantBuddha]

someone knows if that book have an italian translate?

Unfortunately not yet. If there's a big enough demand, though, we'll get it done.

 

[Debi]

I finished this book and forgot to get back to this thread. It was really a good read and I highly recommend it.

 

[dmorris68]

Hey Paul, I noticed the special offer on your website today, where with a 3-month DTB sign-up you get the book for free. I tried to email the address on the page, but it bounced because the imagine-media.net domain does not exist.

My question was: I have another day left on my 7-day DTB free trial, and was planning to let it run into monthly billing when the trial expires. However I'm considering going ahead with the 3-month signup to get the 4th month free + your book. Can I do this? If my trial lapses tomorrow and I go monthly billing, then I'm officially a DTB member but the offer claims that existing members aren't eligible.

I'll PM you over at DTB in case you don't see this here today...

 

[Debi]

Wow - that is really a great deal for any of you who are not members there yet.

 

[GiantBuddha]

I finished this book and forgot to get back to this thread. It was really a good read and I highly recommend it.

Thanks D!

 

[GiantBuddha]

Hey Paul, I noticed the special offer on your website today, where with a 3-month DTB sign-up you get the book for free. I tried to email the address on the page, but it bounced because the imagine-media.net domain does not exist.

My question was: I have another day left on my 7-day DTB free trial, and was planning to let it run into monthly billing when the trial expires. However I'm considering going ahead with the 3-month signup to get the 4th month free + your book. Can I do this? If my trial lapses tomorrow and I go monthly billing, then I'm officially a DTB member but the offer claims that existing members aren't eligible.

I'll PM you over at DTB in case you don't see this here today...

I don't know whether it's available to members on the 7-day trial or not. Try emailing info@imagine-books.net and DragTheBar support as well. I hope someone can answer your question before your 7 days are up, and also that you can take advantage of the special offer.

 

[dmorris68]

Just to follow-up, I was able to get in touch with Scott Brown and Imagine Books, who contacted DTB and got the go-ahead for me to get in on this deal. I had to cancel my trial account before it converted to monthly, then signup for the 3-month membership which I just did.

I highly recommend this deal: for the price of 3-months, you get 4-months and GB's book for free. That's like $60 in extra value!

 

[onebourbon]

Hmmm....I'd like to see you challenge anyone of us Loyalers....lmao.

 

[GiantBuddha]

Hmmm....I'd like to see you challenge anyone of us Loyalers....lmao.

I'm not 100% sure what this means, but I do enjoy challenges.

 

[chipSMOKE]

Hmmm .... Looks interesting . Update us more on how it is so far !