On and off, I've tended to read quite a bit. So, I thought I'd put up some reviews of books as I read them. In time, I may go back and add reviews of some of the books I read in the past. Not massively exciting, but I suppose it may be of interest to someone, somewhere (perhaps).
The Theory of Poker - David Sklansky
Having read an introductory book on poker, it seemed time to read something with a bit more of an in-depth look at the theory (although I haven't actually played the game properly yet!). I wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps big tables of probabilities, or detailed guides of what to do in particular situations?
As it turns out, it's not what I expected. There is very little devoted to any particular game, and I think I saw one small table of probabilities, only meant as an example. In fact, this book is really a toolkit of concepts to apply to the analysis of variations of poker. It seems to assume a certain amount of poker experience and the ability to work out basic probabilities for yourself, and then adds a neato arsenal of techniques on top.
What I found quite interesting is that the whole book is about probability and game theory, but presented in a non-mathematical form. I had to take a few of the rules of thumb away, and convert them into algebra before I believed them, but they seem to hold true. Strict game theory in the simple cases give way to rules of thumb with a logical argument in the complex cases. Bayes theorem is mentioned in passing. While I can't vouch for the practicality of it, it's solid theory.
Permalink. Posted 22:32, Thu, 01 May 2008.
There is also a complete index of the books.
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