Poker Book Review: 'A Rubber Band Story and other Poker Tales' by Tommy Angelo

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 29 July 2011 / Leave a Comment

"Always with a pen in my pocket and an eye on the outrageous." That's how poker player, writer, and coach Tommy Angelo refers to himself in his newest offering, A Rubber Band Story and other Poker Tales. The book follows Angelo's highly-regarded debut, Elements of Poker (2007), building upon many of the ideas presented there while further presenting one of poker's most interesting, clever, and even at times outrageous minds.

In our interview last December, Angelo described his forthcoming book to me as a kind of "greatest hits" of articles and blog posts that he'd composed over the last decade. In addition to coaching many top pros, Angelo has written for numerous outlets, including Poker Digest, Poker Pages, Bluff Magazine, and Two Plus Two Magazine, as well as his own blog.

Indeed, A Rubber Band Story comes as advertised, neatly collecting many of Angelo's most passed around and commented upon articles while adding a few new pieces as well. The result is a satisfying, enjoyable collection that any fan of poker and/or good writing will likely want to pick up.

The collection begins with a series of "Musings" which introduce Angelo as perhaps different from your typical poker player in his predilection for stepping back and looking at the game and his relationship to it in larger contexts.

For example, "Broken Down English" wittily examines the unique vocabulary of poker, including showing an awareness of how "violent and confusing" it must sound to the non-players. Angelo here even occasionally passes over close discussion of poker altogether to delve into the abstract or even philosophical -- e.g., the pieces titled "Time is on My Side" and "The Blue Marble" which focus on how we humans tend to experience time and space, respectively.

Next come five "Alex Stories" relating entertaining anecdotes involving Angelo's friend and fellow player, Alex Roberts, a highlight being a piece called "That Bastard!" illustrating the endless mind games between the two. From there Angelo shares what he calls "The 'Worst Play Ever' Saga," two pieces detailing the circumstances surrounding his having managed to fold pocket aces in hold'em, including once before the flop. (No shinola!)

Angelo's account of having once folded aces preflop in a $20/$40 LHE game (originally composed in 2003) is perhaps the most famous -- or infamous -- of the pieces collected here. The story is both a fascinating study of the psychology of poker and a slice of real-life theater of the absurd. "I am like the moonwalker who returns to say the earth is indeed round," writes Angelo of himself after having actually performed the unthinkable.

From that truth-can-be-stranger-than-fiction section Angelo then presents some actual "Fiction," sharing three entertaining poker tales (including the uproarious title story), followed by three allegorical episodes from "The Poker Zoo." The latter group presents stories with characters whose names and personalities represent types likely familiar to anyone who has spent time at a poker table, including the Yammering Yak, the Logical Llama, and the Bumbling Bee.

A lengthy series of true life "Table Stories" follow, all again demonstrating Angelo's characteristic wit and insight. As was the case with Elements of Poker -- a book that more overtly distills Angelo's poker coaching though also incorporates a lot of humor, too -- one is not only entertained by these stories but also gathers some nourishing food for thought along the way.

Examples of the latter include Angelo's profession that "I don't stack and yack at the same time," referring to his policy of keeping quiet after winning a pot. Or his list of major life milestones (that includes "Led Zeppelin happened") in which Angelo shares his realization that "the best seat in the house is the one to the right of a tight player who reliably telegraphs his pre-flop action." Or his explanation of an occasional preference for betting the minimum in NLHE (e.g., tossing out a $5 bet into a $150 pot) and how doing so helps him establish "my preferred image, which is WET (weird-tight)."

In other words, like those teachers we tended to like the most in school, Angelo keeps us grinning and nodding our heads, our attention fully engaged by the jokes, wordplay, and other fun stuff. But after each piece we realize we've probably picked up something of use for our own poker playing, too -- in other words, while we're laughing, we're learning.

A short section of "WSOP Reports" (from 2001 and 2003) comes next, followed by two pieces about "Rules" -- one that Angelo feels is bad for poker (the one allowing players to demand to see called hands at showdown) and one he thinks is very good for poker (the "buy the button" rule).

Then comes the final section of essays (aside from an afterword), titled "Tilt." The subject is one Angelo covers in detail in Elements of Poker, and indeed as far as his coaching goes his ability to help students avoid the destructive effects of various forms of tilt is perhaps the area of expertise for which he's best known.

Here Angelo again shares anecdotes that suggest still more ways to achieve "tiltlessness," my favorite probably being the first one, a Jonathan Swift-like "Modest Proposal" that purports to teach readers "How to Tilt." By humorously presenting not tilting as a problem in need of a cure, Angelo ably highlights the silliness and irrationality that tilt necessarily involves.

Moving through the short pieces one after another, most readers will probably experience a kind of rhythm when reading Angelo's book, accentuated by the punch-lines and/or parting shots that conclude each piece, nearly always laugh-out-loud funny and/or genuinely illuminating. As a result, A Rubber Band Story and other Poker Tales reads like a lengthy, enjoyable poker session, with each entry taking roughly the same amount of time to read as does a hand to be dealt. It's a good game, too, one from which you probably won't want to leave or to see end.

However, unlike in poker, here you're guaranteed to come out ahead.

A Rubber Band Story and other Poker Tales is available both in print and ebook versions at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.de.