My cable modem was not working last night (or this morning for that matter) so I missed donating in the DADI event. My only contact with poker was finishing Matt Matros’s book _The Making Of A Poker Player: How An Ivy League Math Geek Learned To Play Championship Poker_ which is a hell of a long title, but it was not a hugely long book. Here is my review:
Matt is, by most measures, a successful person. His poker winnings are substantial so he has a lot to say. The book really doesn’t know what target audience it is supposed to have. Early in the book, it is very entry level- like every book dealing with poker now it seems to take too long to explain the rules of the game. I say “too long” because later, he goes into game theory, expected value, pot odds, cash strategy vs. tournament strategy, and several other fairly advanced topics.
What I liked: It was a pleasant read, the words flowed easy, and Matt does not put himself on a pedestal. He lets you know what worked for him, and why he thinks it worked, but never claims it is the best way.
What I didn’t like: Repeating what I said above, there does not seem to be a consistent target audience. Either make it a story of a kid who does really well, or a story of how a player takes playing quarter poker into crushing a 10/20 limit game. Parts of this book seemed to wind around a lot. It flowed, just in a meander sort of way. There is a prolog explaining his 3rd place cash in a WPT event which does not have that problem- so his writing is improving just as his poker is.
Overall: I give it a solid 7 of 10.