More Poker Books
The Education of a Poker Player: Listen and Learn
In the classic book The Education of a Poker Player (Herbert O. Yardley, Simon and Schuster 1957) the author takes the reader into the world of poker before that world exploded into the billion-dollar industry it is today. While the book is about a young man who learns the game in smoky backrooms and private games the lessons can still be applied in the 21st century poker scene.
This book may appear to be a non-fiction story or history of one young man’s journey through the world of poker, rather than an educational tool for poker players. But don’t be fooled by the easy reading and the characters that appear on nearly every page. For instance, the chapter headings are: Five-Card Draw, Jacks or Better; Five-Card Stud; Five-Card Draw, Deuces Wild with the Joker; Five-Card Draw, Low Ball; Seven-Card Stud; Seven-Card Stud, Hi-Lo; Five-Card Stud with the Joker and so on.
Applying the Lessons
Some of the information in the book won’t be useful today because the popularity of poker varieties has changed considerably in the past 50 years. It’s almost impossible to find a five-card draw game now. In fact, seven-card stud is considered a “dinosaur” among poker games. You won’t find Omaha anywhere in between the covers of Yardley’s book.
He devotes a lot of time to some home-game and picnic varieties, such as baseball and spit-in-the-ocean, which don’t get any attention in the casinos and poker rooms of this century. But his methods for seven-card stud are still very good. In addition, the general lessons about poker are quite valuable.
Some readers will be pleased with some of the poker-room rules outlined here, such as: “Please Don’t Frig with the Discards – Penalty $20. He remembers a sign that was meant to keep the poker-room atmosphere clean: Monty’s Club – Vulgar Language Forbidden.
Choose Your Table Carefully
In the first chapter of the book, Yardley brushes across the surface of some poker advice that too many young players dismiss easily or ignore altogether. He mentions that when he was first invited to the game at Monty’s Club he played but was scared and nervous. He “watched the game to get over my fear, then I tried it again. I lost.” Young players would do well to follow Yardley’s example in two ways: Watch the table and see if the players and the atmosphere are right for you; keep trying until you win. Many players don’t observe and choose carefully. Others play a few times and give up because they lose. There’s a lot of good advice in this book.
Open the covers and learn, my friend.
