The Psychology of Poker

I saw this book at Borders today and was debating if I should take a chance of buying this. I was wondering if there is any other psychology book out in the market that is better then this one or is this the definite guide to psychology of poker. Hope anyone who have read this book can give me some insight on it. Thanks

[greatwhite]

There is also Inside the Poker Mind.

[Piper Tim]

I found this book to be most helpful after I had played a while and kept notes on some players. Good book.

[Moonsugar]

Very useful book, IMO. I read it for first time after playing for 3 years and it has helped my play a lot.

[Chamonyx]

I found these 2 books very different:

PoP is well structured and has focussed information relating to understanding the psychological basis of different players and what to do about it. It is most applicable to HE, but will give most beginner/intermediate players something new to think about and help jog you onto the next level.

ItPM is a collection of poker-related essays that are very readable in a general sort of way, but that have neither the Psych focus of PoP nor the applicability. It may be worth adding to a comprehensive poker library, but only after many other books.

[speirs]

Both books are good and should be bought by every serious poker player.

[GreywolfNYC]

I haven't yet read PoP, but I intend to. ITPM is terrific and should be read by every serious player.

[poboy]

Excellent book, just finished reading it. If you are one of those people who asks "how could he make that call" after witnessing someone call down with crap, this book will explain it.

[CarlNiclas]

I really like PoP as well. However, I can agree with Carson's critique (from his Complete Book of Casino Poker) of PoP that it simplifies your opponents a bit too much. Ie classifying a player as loose-passive or tight-aggressive isn't enough. The important thing, though, is that PoP gives you good, solid information about *starting* to quantify your opponents. When you feel more secure in IDing different kinds of opponents, then you can add Carson-esque tags like "tricky" and so forth.

[stigmata]

I didnt like POP at all. It seemed really self-evident. It struck me as being a repackagement of commercial psychology ideas. It was also terribly repetitive, and I didn't feel like I learned anything.

Perhaps I am being unfare, and Alan Schoonmaker's ideas have now been so widely disseminated that I was fully aware of them by the time I read them. I also enjoy his posts and he comes across very well, so I feel somewhat bad slating his book.

Oh well, plenty of intillegent people love POP so it must just be a personal thing. I don't think he will too bothered by my negative review, LOL /images/graemlins/cool.gif

On the other hand, I loved ITPM and it really helped me gain a professional attitude and insight.

[jrz1972]

I agree with Stigmata on all counts. I read PoP and enjoyed it, but I already knew 95% of the material in there. If Schoonmaker was the first person to come up with LAG, LPP, TAG, etc. designations then he deserves a lot of credit, but the ideas presented in PoP are so ubiquitous on this board that reading the book didn't really add much to my knowledge base.

Also, PoP is different from other 2+2 books in that it doesn't stand up to multiple readings well. I've read TOP, SSHE, HEPAP, ITPM etc at least half a dozen times each, and I learn something new on every reading. There really aren't any extra little details or subtleties in PoP that you pick up later; on the second reading, I was struck by how "thin" the material was compared to the usual 2+2 fare. Again, this is probably unfair to Schoonmaker since his subject matter doesn't lend itself to rigor in the same way a "poker theory" does, but still.

ITPM, on the other hand, is exactly the sort of book I needed to read to reorient my own thinking about the game. If you already have tilt well-controlled, then perhaps this book won't be as helpful for you as it was for me, though there are still little nuggets of strategy in there as well.

PoP and ITPM are both "psych" books (although not exclusively in the case of ITPM), but they focus on different things. PoP focuses on why you and others play poker in the first place and why you adopt the style you do. ITPM takes it for granted that you're a serious TAG and gives you some things to think about to reduce tilt and anxiety. At least for me, the later is much more helpful.