"If you live poker, you have to read Wallace."

[Anders]

Title taken from the Poker & Finance article this month.

After reading the article, I bought the book.

After reading the book, I would not recommend it [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[jfk]

You have to put that book in its time and place. Wallace predates 2+2 and poker to many players then was not a card room with universally known and posted rules. It was a mixed game in some hotel room with players you might have to cultivate a little.

Wallace writes about that world and offers a glipse as to how to thrive in it.

Brown's interest in the book as described in the article is the way in which poker is a vehicle that guides Wallace's John Finn in the way he lives. The poker he plays is predicated on the way in which he understands and manipulates people. His ability to do that is tied to every choice he makes, not just at the card table, but in his daily life.

I have a soft spot for Wallace as it was the first poker book I read. It opened my eyes to the game.

[Phat Mack]

Wallace's book used to be available free online here .

I'd recommend Wallace, but he's not talking about level I thinking. Brown is correct in saying that Wallace doesn't teach how to play poker so much as how to think about the game, but I would suggest that those who believe his world no longer exists aren't looking hard enough.

[Anders]

Yeah, I understand that it's not a book about how to play poker so much as it is about how to live your life with poker as a part of it. I just don't see anything that I haven't already read in Inside the Poker Mind or Poker, Gaming, and Life, or The Psychology of Poker and so on. Oh well, I got a nice hardcover copy and it looks good on the shelf, so I'm not really upset or anything. I just don't feel like I learned much. Maybe that means I should read it again.

[Dan Mezick]

Just to clarify, two points:

1. The Wallace book is free on the web. The link appears below.

2. The Wallace book THE ADVANCED CONCEPTS OF POKER (“TACOP”)was written almost FORTY years ago, in 1968. Most 2+2 members were not yet born when this book was published. While the book is dated, it is an essential part of poker history.





When it published, it was a groundbreaking work. It remains a timeless poker classic that serious students of game cannot ignore. I have spoken to several well-known professionals about this book and they all admit to an intimate knowledge of this book.

Most modern poker concepts made popular in recent books and considered essential are predated by Wallace. For example, the Wallace formula for Investment Odds incorporates EV, implied odds, reverse implied odds and even some aspects of Sharpe ratio, all in a single mathematical expression that quantifies rational play at each poker decision point.

TACOP by Wallace also defines Edge Odds, which expresses the % of all winnings that the player can expect to claim for himself, on average, on a per game basis. He points out that changes in players effect the edge odds of the good player in direct and significant ways.

The Wallace book differentiates between betting stakes and betting pace, and describes in detail the many advantages gained by direct influence over betting pace. Certainly pacing is an essential aspect of Limit poker. Very little has been written on pacing concepts in other poker books.

The book and the author have earned a definite place in poker history. The book has been updated to include detailed information on the corruption of tournament poker via player/dealer collusion, detailed information on how to recognize cheating, and more. The book always included an extensive poker history in Appendix A. For example, Wallace was aware of and drew attention to the 1925 poker research of Ethel Riddle. Wallace was a PhD and a real scholar. Aaron Brown in THE POKER FACE OF WALL STREET provides more detail (see page 285) TACOP by Wallace made a major contribution to poker-- and to the documentation of poker history.


Bibiography reference 36:
Riddle, Ethel Maris. Aggressive behavior in a small social group; bluffing, risking, and the desire to beat . . . studied by the use of a poker game as an experimental technique. New York, 1925. 19 pages (Also published as a Ph.D. thesis in psychology, Columbia University)

Appendix B is an extensive bibliography of all poker books in print as of the publication date of TACOP.

Certainly the writings of this man are not for everyone.

Wallace Ward (aka "Frank Wallace") wrote prolifically on philosophy later in life, developing his philosophical ideas from the base of Ayn Rand's Objectivism. Wallace's concept of "integrated honesty" is his most important contribution to philosophy. Here, he differentiates between truth and honesty, asserting that truth is subjective (and subject to interpretation), while honesty is not. To learn more about this concept and about Wallace Ward, see the Wikipedia link below. Wallace dies in January of 2006, hit by an auto while running. Earlier, he serves time for IRS-related matters. In his trial he swears to the traditionally worded oath, but legally fought for (and won) the right to replace the word "truth" with "integrated honesty".

Wallace shows how reason and rational thought can be applied in the great game of poker and in the greater game of life. Wallace himself states that most losing players (in denial about losing) would denounce his book as total BS, because it invalidates lazy thinking and lays bare the cold and reasoned reality of winning poker. According to Wallace, poker is shear justice. The loser makes himself a loser. The winner makes himself a winner.

Aaron Brown is a genius, a quant and the author of THE POKER FACE OF WALL STREET. Aaron correctly tips his hat to Wallace in his own book. I thank Aaron very, very much for doing this. Wallace Ward’s work TACOP is a great poker book that stands the test of time. The rest of the writing of Wallace Ward are edgy, offbeat and hard to accept. The same was said of the works of Copernicus, Newton and others who developed groundbreaking theories of math, science, and philosophy.

Links:

Poker According to Wallace:
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/conclude.html

The Advanced Concepts of Poker
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/index.html

Investment Odds:

(potential size of pot, $) (probability of winning pot) = Investment Odds
----------------
potential loss, $

When the investment odds are greater than 1.0, the play is favorable and should be made.
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/part1b.html

Edge Odds

average winnings (or losses) of player, $ x 100% = Edge Odds %
--------------
average winnings of the biggest winner, $

http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/part1b.html

Wallace’s Work on the History of Poker- Appendix A
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/appendixa.html

The TACOP Bibiography page (see entry 36)
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/appendixb.html

Wikipedia Entry on Wallace Ward
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Tech_(philosophy)


In Memoriam

http://www.frankrwallace.com/

[jfk]

Thank you for that additional contribution. I've long been familiar with Wallace the poker writer but had no idea that Wallace the philosopher existed.

I came upon TACOP (thank you, Chris Roulier) at least ten years before TOP. Investment odds was the mechanism by which my play was guided.

I'll be sure to pour over the links provided. This post is a major addition to what was already an outstanding magazine submission and series.

[Phat Mack]

Nice post. I'd like to add a few comments.

Edge odds are worth examining. They discuss the ratio of money won by the biggest winner at the table to the best player at the table. I still meet young session-game players who feel they should have the biggest stacks at the end of the night. They would do well to read his remarks on this. When this book came out, his concept of Edge Odds provoked a lot of discussion among players.

Wallace's chapters on tracking player's behavior is probably the best in the field, and should be read by live ring game players who play against a relatively static pool of opponents. I still make player notes in much the same way as when I started in 1968.

Wallace is fully aware of the predatory nature of poker, and warns against the effect that such behavior can have on its practitioners. Those who are considering poker as a career might profit from a close reading of Wallace's book.

My one regret: After almost 40 years, I still haven't found the opportunity to throw a submarine sandwhich in the pot. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[AaronBrown]

While I agree with all the good things said about Wallace in this thread, I also understand why a modern player might not find the book useful. Yes, he was pathbreaking, but other people have developed his ideas more fully and brought them up to date. His style is not for everyone.

Regardless of whether younger players find him relevant, he will always loom large for a couple generations of thinking poker players. Books like TACOP and Ed Thorp's Beat the Dealer and Hebert Yardley's The Education of a Poker Player talked intelligently about things that really mattered, that most people couldn't see or wouldn't admit existed.

And I wouldn't be quick to write him off for younger players either. There are some aspects to his book that you won't find anywhere else. It's not the first poker book to read today, but maybe it should be one of your first dozen.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Dan:

[ QUOTE ]
When it published, it was a groundbreaking work. It remains a timeless poker classic that serious students of game cannot ignore.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree. In my opinion it was pure garbage published by a con man.

It's not worth reading, even for free on the Internet, and is little more than how to take advantage of friends without giving much in the way of specifics.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Aaron:

[ QUOTE ]
Books like TACOP and Ed Thorp's Beat the Dealer and Hebert Yardley's The Education of a Poker Player talked intelligently about things that really mattered, that most people couldn't see or wouldn't admit existed.


[/ QUOTE ]

I strongly disagree. Wallace's book is about conning your friends out of their money. It has virtually nothing to do with how to play poker well and what proper stategy is about. The other two books you mention, are about playing with an edge and how to achieve that. Comparing TACOP to them is not at all realistic.

Best wishes,
Mason