Aces and Kings, by Michael Kaplan & Brad Reagan

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Aces and Kings Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies from Poker’s Greatest Players
Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan.
Copyright 2005
List Price: $14.95
272 pages

Despite the subtitle, this is not a strategy book in the 2+2 sense. Instead, most chapters are a biography of some of the biggest names in Poker including: Puggy Pearson, Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Stu Ungar, Erik Seidel, Phil Hellmuth, Men Nguyen, Howard Lederer, Devilfish, the “women of poker,” Chris Ferguson, the “web kids,” Barry Greenstein, and the “new superstars.” Each chapter details how the pro fell into poker and chronicles the evolution in their play. In discussing each player’s growth, some overall strategy comes to light, but not in the situational sense of a poker guide. Instead, the reader learns more about each player’s overall style and decision making.

Personally, I have not read many poker biographies so most of this was entirely new material for me. I found myself literally laughing out loud at anecdotes in the Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson chapters. I learned a lot about the history of poker and was surprised to see how common cheating was. It was a pleasure to see the personalities of Seidel, Lederer, and Ferguson – each gave me a little different perspective on how pros approach problems. I also enjoyed the gossip, including details on the dispute between Negreanu and Lederer as well as the collusion allegations surrounding Men Nguyen.

Many of the stories had fascinating links between early Holdem pros and notable figures like Richard Nixon, Al Gore, and Woody Harrelson. I also found the stories of each professional's learning process interesting, with some pros aggreeing to coach each other in certain games in return for a percentage of profits. In other cases, a group would work together to analyze past hands eerily similar to posts today on 2+2...


Criticisms:

I question the placement of some of the chapters. I’d often start a new chapter and feel like I was jumping forward a decade, only to go back 5 years in the following chapter.

There were times when a person previously detailed in the book would describe another player in a later chapter. Often, the professional making the quote would get re-introduced as if each chapter was intended to be its own biography as part of a magazine series, rather a consolidated book.

Some of the chapters felt pretty formulaic. Perhaps I just didn’t relate to the professional as much in those instances, but these chapters reinforced the notion that these biographies weren’t intended to be in one book…

There were also three chapters with multiple subjects: “women of poker,” “web kids,” and “new superstars.” Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivy, and Daniel Negreanu deserved their own chapters.

There were a few blatant errors including one where the author describes Moneymaker’s J8 as “the nuts” on a 9 10 Q board.


Overall:

An entertaining read definitely worth the time & money. While not a strategy book in the traditional sense, each player’s approach to the game is detailed giving the reader differential overall perspectives to consider. This book is perfect for those times you find yourself getting burnt out on pure strategy texts.

[uncleshady]

Im not buying this book, but I do love the review structure.

[Humble Pie]

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love the review structure.

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[giant panda]

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review structure.

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[dirty banana2007]

Is this the book which describes one guy playing online while drinking? That story had me in tears it was so funny!! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]