The Poker Mindset

JimmytheHat19 · #1 06-30-2007, 06:58 AM

I'm sure this book has aready been brought up, but I just wanna say that, without question, this is THE greatest poker book every written. Matthew Hilgar and Ian Taylor discuss the concepts that have only been attempted to be described by other authors. The very fundamentals of being a succesful poker player are inside this book and w/o those fundamentals, all the other books in the world that teach strategy would be worthless.

Epsecially amazing are the chapters on downswings and the laws of probability. My eyes are open now to so much that I didnt understand before. They break down the bigger picture in poker and teach you to take a step back from what is going on.

Amazing, just amazing. No serious player should go w/o reading this book.

Erudito · #2 07-05-2007, 07:20 PM

Are you a shill?

McNeese72 · #3 07-05-2007, 08:39 PM

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Are you a shill?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read the book and it is a pretty good book. Especially for players who might be pretty new to the game.

Doc

Mason Malmuth · #4 07-05-2007, 10:36 PM

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Epsecially amazing are the chapters on downswings and the laws of probability.

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I agree completely. The laws of probability are truly amazing.

MM

Gonso · #5 07-06-2007, 01:52 AM

lol - took me a minute to get it

OP, can I ask what else you've read? I'm just curious as to whether you have a pretty good library or whether you just had your mind blown by the second poker book you ever read.

I have a pretty good collection of poker books here, ranging from horrible to excellent. I'm pretty sure Ive heard "best poker book ever" used to describe like 20 different books now.

dwf76 · #6 07-06-2007, 05:51 AM

I must admit I found the book useful although very repetative. It has helped my overall game, but I could also appreciate the more advanced players finding it a bit sarcastic or insulting.

I would recommend any newbie consider looking it up.

Jazzy3113 · #7 07-06-2007, 11:40 AM

I have not read the book, but my skeptical view is that the concepts discussed are well known but simply no one had take the time previously to write them down and organize them....i mean keep a positive outlook, understand that even if you are good player you only in like 55% of the time, dont go on tilt, take breaks, it all seems intuitive

BigAlK · #8 07-06-2007, 02:14 PM

Those who are saying there isn't anything here that is new are right (at least not new concepts). Those who are experienced players with absolutely no leaks in the mental aspect of their game will not benefit from the book.

Personally I feel that handling the mental and emotional side of my game is one of my stronger points. However I found the book valuable in spite of this. YMMV, but I found that the presentation and approach of this book helped me believe more deeply in some of the concepts that I understood, but didn't always follow.

7n7 · #9 07-06-2007, 02:42 PM

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but I found that the presentation and approach of this book helped me believe more deeply in some of the concepts that I understood, but didn't always follow.

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I'd agree with this.

I read this book with a fairly low expectation (got it using my FullTilt points), but was very pleasantly surprised after I read it.

There's a lot of great information in there that we all know to be true, but could certainly stand reinforcement from time to time.

I'd definitely recommend the book...even more so after a player has gained a lot of playing experience. Basically, you've then played long enough to run into the common frustrations (bad beats, downswings, etc.) that this book talks about.

I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend to a beginning player who I fear would just say, "umm, o.k., that will never happen to me" and never pick up the book again. If that player promised me to re-read once he's been at the tables for a while, then he'd have my permission. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

JimmytheHat19 · #10 07-06-2007, 04:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
lol - took me a minute to get it

OP, can I ask what else you've read? I'm just curious as to whether you have a pretty good library or whether you just had your mind blown by the second poker book you ever read.

I have a pretty good collection of poker books here, ranging from horrible to excellent. I'm pretty sure Ive heard "best poker book ever" used to describe like 20 different books now.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read HOH 1 and 2, Sklanksy's Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, Erik Lingren's WPT Tourney book, SS1 and SS2 (Only the chapters and Limit and NLHE), Barry Greanstein's "Ace On The River", and the first book I read was Phil Gordon's silly little "Poker: The Real Deal". That book got me hooked on poker. It was a good first book.

The point I was trying to get across about "The Poker Mindset" is that no other book really even begins to attempt to teach you how to deal with a major downswing or teach you how to cope w/ a bad beat (nor do they explain the reasons WHY these two things happen with complete detail). These are two things that you cant escape in this game and if you arent properly prepared to handle them then your results might suffer even worse than if you have leaks in your game. I saw a couple of you say that you read it and didn't really get much from it and w/o a doubt thats a load of crap. Even a seasoned veteran is gonna be able to take something away from this writing as it discusses EVERYTHING dealing with taking the game of poker seriously and being successful at it from a long-term perspective. No other author (IMO) has ever been able to explain with such clarity the fine lines that make up luck and skill in poker and bring them both together to give you a greater understanding and appreciation for the swings in the short run but the steady growth of profit in the long-run. These were concepts I thought I understood completely before I read the book and then after I finished it I couldn't believe how in the dark I was.

In what other book can you find the important topics discussed in "The Poker Mindset"? I dont know of any. And if there are, I seriously doubt that they go into anywhere near the depth that The PM does. Also, I am young and perhaps I lacked the ability to see things before that I picked up in that book that older players might have already known about. To me, it was everything I was missing in poker. IMO, for any serious player, this is the first book that should be read. Then you can go on and read strategy books until you are blue in the face.