Rating: 
Summary: decent book if it stays together
Review: this is a good book that centers on why people play the style of poker they play and how to play against them. it provides short questionnaires that delve into why _you_ and other players have chosen a style and the motives for playing behind each style. it basically breaks down players into tight or loose and agggressive or passive and investigates their motives and repercussions of that style. it also contains some usable information for playing against each of the styles - mainly adjustments that you should make for playing in games with these kinds of players. overall it may not contain any earth-shattering info but it does effectively cover an area of poker that you dont see covered very often. this topic is especially applied to the low-limit player. basically, it tells you how to identify and make adjustments to the different styles of players you will find, mostly at low limits. it is an interesting read and very applicable to low limit games. the really annoying part is my copy started falling apart on the first reading. once it starts its like a thread unravelling - more and more pages just keep coming out. i'm probably going to have to pull all the pages out, punch holes in them and put them in a binder...extremely annoying and lame for $24.95.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn to understand your opponents
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful book that fills a huge gap in poker literature. While many poker books have discussed psychology, they rarely include more than a few paragraphs or a chapter. This is the first book to directly tackle one of the most fascinating elements of poker. The book divides poker players into four groups: loose aggressive, loose passive, tight passive, and tight aggressive. Each group has different psychological characteristics, and each has different motivations for playing poker. Each group also represents a very distinct playing style - with its own strengths and weaknesses. The bulk of the book is devoted to describing these differences and explaining how you can profitably exploit them. When playing against loose aggressive players, for example, Schoonmaker offers fourteen concrete adjustments that you can make to your play. Such recommendations include bluffing less frequently, check-raising more, and minimizing deception and "fancy" plays. For most home games, this section alone is worth the price of the book. Perhaps most helpful to beginning to intermediate players, however, is the guidance Schoonmaker provides in helping a player recognize his own style of play and how he can learn to toughen his game by moving into the tight-aggressive category (the most profitable style of play). He uses written exercises that force the reader to examine his own style of play and motives for playing. He concludes with a list of deadly sins for poker players and a refreshingly honest view on making money at poker - "don't quit your day job." While the book includes some discussion of tells (poker mannerisms such as a shaking hand that may reveal insights into the quality of a player's cards), it is limited in this respect. If your idea of poker psychology is trying to read the body language of your opponent then you would probably be better off with Mike Caro's "The Body Language of Poker : Mike Caro's Book of Tells." Schoonmaker's book also does not devote much text to specific hand situations. If you want to understand the psychological elements of third street play in high stakes heads-up seven card stud, for example, the book for you is "Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold 'em and General Poker" by John Feeney (although this is a fairly advanced book - definitely not for beginners). It should also be noted that the psychological advice provided by the book is more helpful for home games or low stakes casino games. High stakes players tend to consistently play tight aggressive poker and do not exhibit as many of the weaknesses described in the book (although I have played some high stakes myself and have seen more than a few pros who will slip up every now and then!). All in all, a great book that will have you thinking more about why your opponent plays the way he does AND why you play the way you do. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Get into the minds of your competition
Review: This was a very Enjoyable Book. It provided important and useful concepts about the game of Poker. I learned new concepts, which identified some leaks in my game. Leaks in your game can come from anywhere!!! Leaks can originate from lack of aggression, overcalling raises, misreading opponents and any other number of ways. So this book helps. Many people look at poker the wrong way. They think to win they need to do all of this super fancy plays and mindblowing stunts. Well folks...there are not that many options in poker...you fold, call or raise. So its really hard to do thinks that will just fool your opponents all the time. To win at poker it is mostly limiting your mistakes and getting all that you can from winning hands and minimizing losses on losing hands...that's it Ive been playing for about 5 years now and love the game. Ive read many poker books and found this one to be very good. So I would suggest you buy this book and maybe a couple others and get to playing. There's really no excuse anymore - since anyone can access the internet. (...)
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