Rating: 
Summary: Informative and Entertaining!
Review: Just finishing reading The Poker MBA. Found the book to be highly entertaining while presenting sound business principles that tie into the game of poker. First book of its kind - paralleling business with poker. Thought this might be just another business book but found it really fun to read. The authors know their stuff and present their ideas in a very readable format. The quotes, tips, and summeries are a real plus!
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Entertaining!
Review: Just finishing reading The Poker MBA. Found the book to be highly entertaining while presenting sound business principles that tie into the game of poker. First book of its kind - paralleling business with poker. Thought this might be just another business book but found it really fun to read. The authors know their stuff and present their ideas in a very readable format. The quotes, tips, and summeries are a real plus!
Rating:
Summary: I've learned to turn whatever hand I'm dealt into a winner!
Review: Like most salesman, I'm an optimist. I believe and trust most people I come in contact with. My outgoing personality is both my greatest strength, and my greatest weakness. The Poker MBA taught me how to get a better "read" on people, and what to do once I've made my read. Never before did I realize that "weak is strong, and strong is weak". Since reading The Poker MBA, I not only understand this concept, but I've used my new found knowledge to successfully influence business deals. Whether you're a poker player or not, the strategies taught in this book will help you win whatever hand you are dealt.
Rating:
Summary: Great compairson of poker to business
Review: One of the greatest so called business strategy books often cited is Sun-Tzu "The Art of War", a treatise on warfare which has been adapted to the business world given that the arena of business is muhc like warfare. It is not surprising at all that the game of Poker also can be used to draw lessons and strategies in the business world. I am a poker player, option trader and businessman and I found the book did an excellent job of showing the fun, intrigue and skill of poker and how it is played and how we can learn to use those same skills in negotiations, management and making investments. The book is written with great little stories and examples with special highlights of kep points and chapter summaries of diferent issues. If you love Poker, then you will love the details the book covers on what skills the pros use in bluffing, playing their hands, and reading their opponents. You will also enjoy how the authors show the use of those skills in business dealings and how relevant and useful those skills are. To the reviewer who criticized the book in its discussion of poker and business, I think the reviewer missed an excellent point of hte book. Business is NOT a chess game where two people with equal resources (same pieces on the baord) deal with each other and the individual's skill level determines the winner. In chess, everything is out there on the board and your emotion plays no role in affecting your other opponent. for example, one side cannot seem more desparate at the beginning of the game before the pieces have been moved. However this is not true in the real world. In business negotations, parties do not have the same resource to compete with. Parties are also coming from different emotional states. One side may be very desparate to get a deal doen while the other has enough money to wait out the deal and see if something better comes along. The individual skill in such settings is how you use your resources and emotions and play with the hand that has been dealt to you. This is poker at its finest. If you have a good hand, you still need to analyze what your opponent has and how he or she is betting. But what if they are bluffing? Don't we bluff in business deals as well. The same pshychology that goes into learning your opponent and determing if they are bluffing you based on teh card showing is the same skill we need to sit across from someone at a negotiation table and determine what they are offering and what we can offer. It is also true in managing people and handling investments. The skills of POKER are very transferable to the business world. THis book does a great job of showing how the wonderful skills of poker can be used in the business world and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. After just reading it once, it already got my mind thinking a different way when I consider future business proposals, negotiations or just dealing with co-workers on business issues.
Rating:
Summary: Great compairson of poker to business
Review: One of the greatest so called business strategy books often cited is Sun-Tzu "The Art of War", a treatise on warfare which has been adapted to the business world given that the arena of business is muhc like warfare. It is not surprising at all that the game of Poker also can be used to draw lessons and strategies in the business world. I am a poker player, option trader and businessman and I found the book did an excellent job of showing the fun, intrigue and skill of poker and how it is played and how we can learn to use those same skills in negotiations, management and making investments. The book is written with great little stories and examples with special highlights of kep points and chapter summaries of diferent issues. If you love Poker, then you will love the details the book covers on what skills the pros use in bluffing, playing their hands, and reading their opponents. You will also enjoy how the authors show the use of those skills in business dealings and how relevant and useful those skills are. To the reviewer who criticized the book in its discussion of poker and business, I think the reviewer missed an excellent point of hte book. Business is NOT a chess game where two people with equal resources (same pieces on the baord) deal with each other and the individual's skill level determines the winner. In chess, everything is out there on the board and your emotion plays no role in affecting your other opponent. for example, one side cannot seem more desparate at the beginning of the game before the pieces have been moved. However this is not true in the real world. In business negotations, parties do not have the same resource to compete with. Parties are also coming from different emotional states. One side may be very desparate to get a deal doen while the other has enough money to wait out the deal and see if something better comes along. The individual skill in such settings is how you use your resources and emotions and play with the hand that has been dealt to you. This is poker at its finest. If you have a good hand, you still need to analyze what your opponent has and how he or she is betting. But what if they are bluffing? Don't we bluff in business deals as well. The same pshychology that goes into learning your opponent and determing if they are bluffing you based on teh card showing is the same skill we need to sit across from someone at a negotiation table and determine what they are offering and what we can offer. It is also true in managing people and handling investments. The skills of POKER are very transferable to the business world. THis book does a great job of showing how the wonderful skills of poker can be used in the business world and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. After just reading it once, it already got my mind thinking a different way when I consider future business proposals, negotiations or just dealing with co-workers on business issues.
Rating:
Summary: Dinkin does it again!
Review: The author of "The Finance Doctor" has once again penned a simple-to-use guide to improving your stake in business and in life (and in poker, in this case.) You don't have to know anything about poker to read, understand, and apply the principles set forth in this book. The concepts are time-tested, thought-provoking, and executable for anyone wanting to get ahead in the board room. I found the chapters on starting your own business especially poignant. I will put my Poker MBA to good use!
Rating:
Summary: never set it down
Review: These guys get it. Dinkin & Gitomer lay out a thoroughly readable set of stories, anecdotes and ideas about taking risks, knowing your competition and when to take action. The insights are presented with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but not so much as to detract from the key messages... a good read.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!
Review: This book is well written and fun to read. The analogies between poker & business are undeniable and insightful. 1) Know your opponent. Don't assume that they think like you, often they don't. "Bad players play their own hand. Good ones play their opponent's hand first, then worry about their own cards." (pg 15) 2) In negotiation (and poker), remember three rules:
a) don't give up something without getting something in return
b) keep a poker face (e.g. Boxers are trained to smile after being hit - to show their fortitude)
c) let your opponent feel like they are winning (so they will do business with you again) 3) The answer is rarely black/white. The answer is IT DEPENDS. Advanced poker players think on many different levels. 4) Don't gamble. Do your homework and know the odds. Take calculated risks. If possible, be the house (not the player) by creating the system that other people use and pay for. 5) "Information has value. Just as you wouldn't give away cash, don't give away ideas - unless they contribute to you or your organization." "It's who you know and who knows you. Find out the people of influence that you need to know, and earn the right to meet them." (pg 89) 6) ". . .the minute you achieve success, people will be coming after you. The best way to guard against it is to keep your success to yourself. (pg 92) 7) Don't put yourself in the situation where you HAVE TO win. The urgency of the situation puts you at a disadvantage. 8) Poker is a zero-sum game, but life and business are not. 9) Pump it, or dump it. In poker ". . you typically should either raise the pot (pump it) and take control of the hand or fold (dump it) and get out entirely. Just calling is an option, but rarely the right one." (pg 107) The same applies to business, stick to your strengths. 80/20 principle. 10) Be tight and aggressive. For poker, play only a few hands, but play them hard. For business, focus your investments.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating read on the strategy of business & poker
Review: This book is well written and fun to read. The analogies between poker & business are undeniable and insightful. 1) Know your opponent. Don't assume that they think like you, often they don't. "Bad players play their own hand. Good ones play their opponent's hand first, then worry about their own cards." (pg 15) 2) In negotiation (and poker), remember three rules:
a) don't give up something without getting something in return
b) keep a poker face (e.g. Boxers are trained to smile after being hit - to show their fortitude)
c) let your opponent feel like they are winning (so they will do business with you again) 3) The answer is rarely black/white. The answer is IT DEPENDS. Advanced poker players think on many different levels. 4) Don't gamble. Do your homework and know the odds. Take calculated risks. If possible, be the house (not the player) by creating the system that other people use and pay for. 5) "Information has value. Just as you wouldn't give away cash, don't give away ideas - unless they contribute to you or your organization." "It's who you know and who knows you. Find out the people of influence that you need to know, and earn the right to meet them." (pg 89) 6) ". . .the minute you achieve success, people will be coming after you. The best way to guard against it is to keep your success to yourself. (pg 92) 7) Don't put yourself in the situation where you HAVE TO win. The urgency of the situation puts you at a disadvantage. 8) Poker is a zero-sum game, but life and business are not. 9) Pump it, or dump it. In poker ". . you typically should either raise the pot (pump it) and take control of the hand or fold (dump it) and get out entirely. Just calling is an option, but rarely the right one." (pg 107) The same applies to business, stick to your strengths. 80/20 principle. 10) Be tight and aggressive. For poker, play only a few hands, but play them hard. For business, focus your investments.
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