REVIEW
These
days Mike Sexton is best known as the
voice of poker on broadcasts of the World
Poker Tour. Before televised poker became
popular, Sexton was still well known within
poker circles as a professional player
and columnist for Card Player magazine.
His book, World Poker Tour: Shuffle
Up and Deal, is a combination of advice
to aspiring poker players and his insights
about the World Poker Tour.
The
book begins by easing the reader into
the game of No Limit Texas Hold'em, the
game of choice on the World Poker Tour.
The first five chapters provide general
encouragement, an introduction to the
game, some advice about how to approach
playing poker, some advice on how to play
certain situations, and tournament specific
advice.
The poker advice in this book is plainly
geared toward those who have watched the
WPT on television but have not played
extensively. This is a fairly gentle introduction
to the game, there exist other far more
comprehensive strategy guides. At the
same time, if the reader hasn't been watching
poker on TV, some of Sexton's discussions
may lack context. World Poker Tour:
Shuffle Up and Deal is aimed at a
fairly narrowly defined audience. There
are, though, quite a few people that fit
this demographic.
The
last half of the book discusses some key
hands that have appeared in World Poker
Tour events over the last few seasons,
includes brief biographies of famous tournament
players, and provides some advice on playing
poker tournaments online and hosting a
home poker tournament.
The key hands and bios are likely to interest
casual fans of the WPT. As with his general
poker advice, I believe Sexton's suggestions
regarding online poker are good, although
far from comprehensive. The chapter on
home tournaments provides some reasonably
good suggestions for those who want to
practice among friends. The limited information
the author provides regarding the legality
of poker disturbs me a little, however.
I believe Sexton leaves the impression
that some home poker games are legal in
jurisdictions where they may not be. Those
who wish to host a poker game would be
well advised to research it's legality
themselves.
The
book also includes a glossary, examples
of common poker slang, a good list of
recommended books, and more information
on WPT events. An introductory DVD, hosted
by well-known actor and poker aficionado,
Lou Diamond Phillips, is also provided.
World
Poker Tour: Shuffle Up and Deal is
squarely aimed at those who are fans of
the show but have little live poker experience
themselves. The book is far from comprehensive,
but those who inhabit its target audience
are likely to enjoy reading it. Experienced
poker players or those who have read extensively
on poker won't find much here that they
haven't heard before. For beginning players,
though, this is a respectable but very
gentle primer for the game they see on
TV.
Capsule:
World
Poker Tour: Shuffle Up and Deal is
a reasonable introduction to tournament
No Limit Texas Hold'em for inexperienced
fans of televised poker. The book splits
its time between poker advice and poker
entertainment. Experienced players won't
learn much, and the information in this
book is hardly comprehensive, but it works
as a gentle introduction to the game.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
|
