[Matt Ruff]

[ QUOTE ]
Then there are several sections that do not concern poker strategy or tactics, but should make you a better poker player if you take them seriously. Barry describes certain characteristics that are helpful for a poker player -- stuff like not pounding your fists or yelling while watching a sporting event, not getting mad when someone cuts you off in traffic...

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a commercial that used to run, I think during the WPT broadcasts on the Travel Channel, where the CEO of Harrah's would come on and offer many of the same platitudes that you are citing as "next level" advice: e.g., don't play when you're upset, don't play when you're tired or drunk, don't gamble the rent money...

All that stuff's true, and good advice, but it's also common sense, and if that's all Barry's book had to offer, I for one would have felt cheated.

As for the material on play strategy, there were some interesting nuggets there, but it was too scattered and disorganized to be very useful. I liked the hand examples but wanted more of them.

I think the real selling point of the book is that it's a chance to hear a high-stakes player dishing about the poker culture. And it's very pretty.

-- M. Ruff