Poker book review: The Poker Mindset

Poker Web Watch / Matthew Pitt / 16 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

The first of many poker related books I ever read was "Internet Texas Hold'em" by Matthew Hilger, a book that covered strategy for full ring Fixed Limit Hold'em cash games.

I loved everything about the book, after all it was going to set me on the way to poker stardom (!!) but one thing that stood out the most was the style of writing and how easy it was to digest the theory and hand history examples.

When I heard that he was co-writing a book with Ian Taylor, a fixed limit professional player, that was going to delve into how you need to be thinking at and away from the tables in order to become successful, I could not wait to get my hands on it.

The 280 page book starts by highlighting seven key elements that you should keep referring back to in order to achieve a poker mindset. These are understanding and accepting the realities of poker, playing for the long term, emphasising correct decisions over money, desensitizing yourself from money, leaving your ego at the door, removing all emotion from decisions and dedicating yourself to a continuous cycle of analysis and improvement.

There are several subjects discussed in great detail throughout the book although none of the text is too intensive and it never feels like you are being rushed or forced to learn. At the end of each chapter / subject, Taylor and Hilger explain how to overcome that particular issue by applying the seven elements of the poker mindset to each situation.

The seven elements are basically common sense but the way they fit into each of the examples makes you start to apply them to your own game. I have recently suffered a spell of negative variance and in the past I would change sites, or change the games I play but since reading the book I have not let the bad beats get me down, I have not changed the games I am playing or the sites and I have actually started to try fix leaks in my game.

In my opinion, it will not only be recreational players who would benefit from reading this book, even professional players who battle it out at the highest stakes could and should benefit from at least one of the chapters. With that in mind I can honestly say that this book, The Poker Mindset, is a must own book for any poker player.