I've Read Barry's Book

Mason Malmuth · #1 07-03-2005, 01:17 AM

Hi Everyone:

I've read Barry Greenstein's book, Ace on the River. It's terrific and it will get my highest rating of 10. While this won't be my formal review, I'm not writing any of those for a while, I will say that much of the book deals with those things that will not only allow you to play the best you can, but also allow you to play at the best you'll ever be able to play. Notice that these are two different things. Also, the hand examples at the end of this text are quite good.

We at Two Plus Two Publishing LLC welcome Ace on the River to the small family of very good poker books. We also hope, and suspect, that Barry now has the writing bug and will produce another book or two over the next few years.

Best wishes,
Mason

PS: A funny story. Barry gave me a copy ot the book today at The Rio. (I already had a review copy to read which isn't printed quite as well as the official version.) Someone walked up to us perhaps 60 seconds after Barry handed me the book and I don't believe he knew who either of us were. "Hey, where can I buy that book?" he asked (with Barry standing right next to me). "You can buy this one," was my quick reply. (Of course I was just joking and wouldn't sell it to him.)

Stork · #2 07-03-2005, 01:25 AM

I can't wait to get my hands on this book.

Does anyone know when it will be in Barnes n Nobles on the east coast?

And Mason, do you give all 2+2 books a rating of 10? Or most?

ononimo · #3 07-03-2005, 03:09 AM

[ QUOTE ]
PS: A funny story. Barry gave me a copy ot the book today at The Rio. (I already had a review copy to read which isn't printed quite as well as the official version.) Someone walked up to us perhaps 60 seconds after Barry handed me the book and I don't believe he knew who either of us were. "Hey, where can I buy that book?" he asked (with Barry standing right next to me). "You can buy this one," was my quick reply. (Of course I was just joking and wouldn't sell it to him.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Given that Barry's mug is right on the cover, that's a very funny story indeed.

Can't wait for Amazon to deliver my pre-order ... thanks, Mason.

grapes · #4 07-03-2005, 04:02 AM

[ QUOTE ]
And Mason, do you give all 2+2 books a rating of 10? Or most?

[/ QUOTE ]

Barry's book is not published by 2+2. For some reason, Barry went with a company called Last Knight Publishing, which as far as I can tell is very small and does mostly (only?) fiction, besides this book. I had to read Mason's comment twice, "We at Two Plus Two Publishing LLC welcome Ace on the River to the small family of very good poker books." I also thought he was welcoming it to the Two Plus Two "family."

IIRC, Mason does not give any numerical rating to 2+2 books.

Nfinity · #5 07-03-2005, 04:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]

And Mason, do you give all 2+2 books a rating of 10? Or most?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not all of them.

Poker, Gaming, and Life, Psych. Of Poker, and Inside the Poker Mind are notables that didn't get the 10. (he rated them a 9 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

And of course he doesn't rate books he wrote or co-authored.

Thanks for the Heads Up on the book Mason, I'll make sure to pick it up now that it has your seal of approval.

vulturesrow · #6 07-03-2005, 04:09 AM

I wouldve bought this book , but a strong seal of approval from you just makes it that much better. Thanks for the headsup Mason.

Mason Malmuth · #7 07-03-2005, 04:13 AM

Hi Grapes:

Just to make it clear, Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein is not a Two Plus Two publication.

Best wishes,
Mason

Mason Malmuth · #8 07-03-2005, 04:25 AM

Hi Nfinity:

In the current edition (2004) of Gambling Theory and Other Topics two of our books, PokerFarce and Poker Truth and Poker Tournament Strategies have ratings of 7 and 6 respectively.

Best wishes,
Mason

oreogod · #9 07-03-2005, 06:24 AM

Wow. That is a huge huge reccomendation. You should tell his publisher to actually release the book. Its past the release date and still no word if its going out or not.

Shandrax · #10 07-03-2005, 06:35 AM

What are the criteria to get a perfect 10?

The problem I see in poker is that if you share too many trade secrets with the crowd, you basically risk going broke sooner or later. Even worse is weak-tight-advice to turn the reader into a future victim. The true professional does have something to protect, doesn't he?

In chess authors usually write positive reviews for each other in order to get a positive review on their own book. That's something like an unspoken agreement.

How is it in poker and once again, what criteria have to be met to receive a perfect 10?

Actually my own criteria are like this: If a book makes me understand poker decisions on TV better than before, it is a good book. In that case HoH deserves a 10.

Will Barry's book significantly change the way I look at the game? Actually the answer doesn't matter since I have pre-ordered it anyways [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]