Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets (Great Champions of Poker)

Rating:
Summary: Classic tales and lessons that are still applicable today
Review: Bobby Baldwin was a big-bet winner and was respected and feared by everyone we played, including all the "legends" like Doyle. The average or new fan to poker should note that this book went out of print for a long time and was very hard to get a hold of! There are no magic bullet secrets in this book (as it may imply) but the lessons taught about poker and life apply in Baldwin's time as it does now.

This is a fascinating account of former world poker champion Bobby Baldwin's meteoric rise to the championship. Covers everything from his early days playing poker in dangerous roadhouses to his high-stakes poker games against other poker legends.


Rating:
Summary: You Can Always Learn From A Champion
Review: I enjoyed reading about Bobby Baldwin's rise to the WSOP Championship back in the 1970's. I don't want to tell you much because it defeats the purpose of getting the book other than this:

A. There is poker information in the book. Nowhere near as much detail as Super-System, Sklansky's books, or the Cloutier/McEvoy books. However, every bit of information from a World Champion who now runs the MGM Grand, The Mirage, Bellagio, etc. etc. etc. is useful.

B. Baldwin's life is pretty interesting, and you'll find that his road to becoming the WSOP Champion is quite surprising. I would never have suspected his life had so many twists and turns. It makes for a good read.

C. The book doesn't disclose much after he "retired" and went to work for Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget other than to say he rose up the ranks quickly, worked at the Mirage, then the Bellagio, and Kirk Kerkorian kept him on when MGM bought everything up. Nor does it say what his motivation was for getting a job.

I think that would have been an interesting subject to cover considering Baldwin didn't need a "regular" job unless he had lost all desire for the game at that time. What were the motivations of a professional poker player to leave the game? I know Baldwin is rumored to play in high stakes side games from time to time still - I'm sure that's probably been part of his job to entertain clients, but why he left the poker scene is a question I'd like to see answered from a professional/personal viewpoint. That kind of insight could literally be applied to every session of poker: Knowing when to quit.

I gave it four stars because I enjoyed Baldwin's story and I felt it had quite a few pieces of useful poker information. Whether it's about bankroll, game theory, starting hands, etc.

There's enough in here that if you pay attention to what Baldwin went through (I.E. Pay attention to when Baldwin gives up betting on sports.) that you'll figure out how to become a better professional poker player in the long run.