Prelim review of Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells

[maurile]

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He says Mason doesn't play big then gives an example from 1-5 stud, that told me plenty.

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Well, those two statements are not mutually inconstent.

Also, I don't see where he said Mason doesn't play big.

[maurile]

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The last game I played in was a $100-$200 hold 'em. Does that make me one of "the players in the business?"

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I'm not sure if you made a typo or a read-o, but it appears to be one or the other.

[steamboatin]

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Quote:
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The last game I played in was a $100-$200 hold 'em. Does that make me one of "the players in the business?"


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I'm not sure if you made a typo or a read-o, but it appears to be one or the other.


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In the authors reply to Mason

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I would not count you among "the best players in the business". Do you feel you are?


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The best players normally play in bigger games. Mason must have made a read error also because he replied with the size of his most recent game. I can read pretty good at a third grade level.

I am guessing you are friends with the author because you are being the homer.

The OP says it is a rehash of Caro, Binions spoke to the author about the book and left with a negative impression. I have forgotten the screen name of the other Sup Bro that didn't like it and apparently there was a previous thread, that I missed, that wasn't exactly a glowing review.

The jury has returned a verdict and it is obvious that the Author, knocked of a book with little original content to make a fast buck from the poker boom. I think that was a very good idea and I hope he makes a lot of money but coming into Mason's backyard and saying Mason isn't a good player is very bad manners.

If the book is so good, why can't the Author defend it on its own merits and not resort to attacking Mason?

When he says Mason isn't one of the best players in the business and then gives a hand example from a $1-5 Stud game, I was ROFLMAO and if I had been taking a drink at the time, dieat soda would have spewed all over my computer.

[MRBAA]

I don't know any of the posters in this thread personally, nor have I ever spoken, pm'd or emailed any.

To say a book is a "lazy rehash of Caro" when you have not read it, and none of the negative posters have either (one posted based on the first 80 pages, the other flipped through in a bookstore). The only poster who read the whole book, as far as I can tell, was jct. Now this book is not primarily aimed at experts or high stakes players -- it's a total guide to tells for lower stakes and new players, with some content/perspective more advanced players may also find new and interesting. As a low stakes player myself, I'd not presume to write an expert level book. Nor do I feel that tells is a topic that would lend itself to such a book. What I feel we have written is an excellent overview of tells, that looks at their general bases in human behavior, how they fit with strategy, betting patterns etc., and then some specific examples and anecdotes from well-known players.

If you haven't read the book, it's simply out of line to give it a negative review -- or to act like a definitive verdict has been rendered.

[jct]

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...but coming into Mason's backyard and saying Mason isn't a good player is very bad manners.

...

If the book is so good, why can't the Author defend it on its own merits and not resort to attacking Mason?

When he says Mason isn't one of the best players in the business and then gives a hand example from a $1-5 Stud game, I was ROFLMAO and if I had been taking a drink at the time, dieat soda would have spewed all over my computer.

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I don't think mrbaa was attacking mason or saying mason isn't a good player. He just replied that he doesn't feel that Mason is one of the best players in the game and asked if mason considers himself to be. I don't see anything wrong with that. And the stakes that mrbaa plays at should have no bearing on whether mason is or isn't one of the best players in the game. I guess it all depends on how you define the term, if you mean top 10, 100 or what.

Also, as far as defending the book based on its merits, the only real criticism of the book itself seems to be that it was a rehashing of caro's book, and the author responded to it. Another criticism was that tells don't have much value, and he responded to that as well. He also pasted a positive review of the book and pointed out that most of the negative feedback on this forum came from people who hadn't read the book. The 'attack' that you're talking about was only a response to something mason said, and he didn't even say it in a rude way.

I guess I'll be accused of being the author's friend now, but I just feel that the book was worthwhile to me, and feel the criticisms of this book are a bit unfair. I'm not saying that because of this book I've become a master at reading tells or even that I have even had a chance to use the information. I am mostly an online player who plans to start playing a little more live so I picked this book up.

By the way, I respect mason a lot, and his book reviews have influenced many of my purchases. In fact, I just ordered The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners soley based on his review, and I have never bought a book that I saw him give a bad review. But he hasn't even read this book.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Steam:

To be completely fair, I haven't read the book and will withhold my judgement until I do so. But the concensus of this forum is definitely negative so far.

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When he says Mason isn't one of the best players in the business and then gives a hand example from a $1-5 Stud game, I was ROFLMAO and if I had been taking a drink at the time, dieat soda would have spewed all over my computer.

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That was my reaction as well. I try to be careful about writing anything which might be interpreted as a put down of small limit players, and that's why I responded the way I did. However, since you "hit the nail on the head," I'm certainly going to agree.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Mason Malmuth]

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And the stakes that mrbaa plays at should have no bearing on whether mason is or isn't one of the best players in the game.

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But it certainly should have a bearing on what we can expect in terms of the author's expertise as David and I have pointed out before on many occasions. To really understand poker well, you need to be at the very least competent at the middle limits.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Mason Malmuth]

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Actually a "homer" refers to a sports fan who automatically roots for and struggles to find any fault with their home team - even though their deficiencies are glaringly obvious to the rest of the world.


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But at Two Plus Two it's our policy to state those books which are good are good, and to steer our readers away from questionable stuff. Your implication is that a "Two Plus Two homer" would be critical of all non-Two Plus Two books, and that's not what we do.

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Anyhow my point was only that you should take a look at the book yourself (or wait for more reviews to roll in) before defaulting to the 2+2 party line.

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This is highly insulting to the way we do business and the way we conduct these forums. There is no Two Plus Two party line.

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In this thread I read 2 negative (The OP and Texibus) and 2 fairly positive (Howard Schwartz of the Gambler's Bookstore and jct).


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If the reviews come from well known posters with good reputations (and a good understanding of poker) two reviews may be one too many. Also, Howard Schwartz doesn't review books in a critical manner. He generally gives an overview of what the book is about and presents virtually all gambling books in a positive manner.

MM

[shmoosh]

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I would not count you among "the best players in the business". Do you feel you are?

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The books Mason's written and published are among the best in the business, and have been for many years. Where do you see yourself compared to Mason in this area?

As far as playing, where do you see yourself as a player? Have the tell's you've written about made you many millions from playing, or are you winning money based on the mathematical and strategic concepts that Mason and David put in print for you to learn from many years ago?

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The books mason has written are excellent, but counting him as one of the best players in the business is a bit of a stretch.

[MRBAA]

Before you can state which books are "good" don't you think you should read them?

More than that, you know full well that the explosive growth of this site and your book sales is due not to an army of experts, but to a burst of new players entering the game. You've taken aim at this same marekt with Getting Started in Hold'em and, to some extent, Sklansky's tourney book.

That's who The Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells is primarily aimed at, as I've said repeatedly, new players, folks who've read a strategy book or two but nothing on tells, and more experienced players who'd like to add a bit to their knowledge. Is Mason, as a long-time, mid-high limit player going to pick up some useful new things to look for from this book? Probably not.

Can just about anyone who's playing below 20-40 live (or playing higher but not winning) learn from it? Quite possibly.

Can anyone who is getting into poker find this both a useful and entertaining read? That was our main goal, and I think we've achieved it.

btw, as for the limit in my example, the game I mentioned is the biggest (and only) game regularly spread on the 5:40 Hudson Line express.