Cephalopod Coffeehouse: February 2018

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: The Theory of Poker
Author: David Sklansky

via Amazon

I first learned to play poker on an airplane.  I was flying home from my grandmother's in Cleveland.  The kid next to me was also an unaccompanied minor so the airline sat us together.  He was quite friendly.  He was from Las Vegas so, naturally, he taught me how to play poker.

It wasn't until much later that I learned to play properly with the subtleties of betting, bluffing and so forth.  In recent years, I've been playing with relative frequency.  We have an annual game in our neighborhood.  My teacher friends - mostly the old broomball crowd (see here) - also used to play a lot, though less so as small children have entered many of their lives.  While I have enjoyed occasional success with both groups, I am eager to improve my game.

David Sklansky is a professional poker player and the author or co-author of 13 books on gambling.  The Theory of Poker was first published in 1987. It is now in its fourth edition, eleventh printing.  It is chock full of sound advice - in fact, way more than I could possibly absorb in a single reading.  Long term, though, I think it will serve as a strong reference.  In the meantime, the book has helped me to look at the game in a different light.  I have, quite deliberately, established a certain persona at the table and now I need to learn how best to take advantage of it.

No, I'm not going to share any specifics about how I might alter my strategy.  There is, after all, the remote possibility that one of my real world friends might actually read my blog!  I can't go carelessly divulging such sensitive material.

I do, in fact, have games coming up with both groups.  The neighborhood gathering comes first: $20 buy in, second place wins back his money, first place takes the rest.  I've never won but I've come in second three times.  It reminds me of that old joke: when they voted for Most Likely to Be Runner-Up, I came in second.

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post March's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is March 30th.