Re: Poker Unchecked - Book Review


"Irish Mike" <mjostar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Araak.30858$ZE5.20073@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Susan" <sdbratt48@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7N9ak.5$Vx2.4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm sure JackKing and his many identities are firing up right now.


"DELETETHIS" <"minus200(DELETETHIS)"@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Br9ak.14375$LL4.8977@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
they will be all over you now

Robert Ladd wrote:
When it comes to poker books, there are no shortage on the shelves at
your local bookstore or from online sites such as Barnes and Noble or
Amazon. I've read a good deal of them in the last 10 years and some
have small nuggets of gold in them, but most of the time you have to
wade through pages of fluff to find them.

I just finished reading Poker Unchecked by Russ Georgiev and found it
quite informative and surprisingly readable. I want to be honest and
make it clear that Russ sent me the book for free, but he didn't ask me
to write this review or give it any kind of praise here on RGP. After
reading it I just thought it was a good book from a knowledgeable
source and so I wrote this post.

Over the past few years, here on RGP, Russ, besides dredging up quite a
bit of controversy, has written quite a few posts concerning how to
play poker. His RGP posts concerning poker play have been quite varied
across the range of casino poker games.

Often times, especially early on, the posts were difficult to
understand and contained a lot of grammatical errors, which not only
detracted from our desire to read the post, but also often obscured or
even changed the point he was trying to make. I've noticed over the
years, that Russ' ability for written communication has improved
tremendously. I was wary that a book by him would be partially
unreadable. But I was quite pleasantly surprised as I started reading
Poker Unchecked. The front cover gave credit to Vic Grey as editor,
and obviously that had a lot to do with the readability of the book.

Russ is, by all accounts, arrogant and quite opinionated, and is a
poker predator, but when he is honestly giving his knowledge about how
to play poker, in just about any form and forum, I try to absorb as
much as I can. His opinions have softened some over the years, and this
book seems to explain much more than any of his RGP posts how much of
poker is affected by the luck factor. Many of his posts were written
to answer specific situations and his opinions there were very cut and
dried. In the book, however, he points out, over and over, that every
situation has it's own solution and if you can grasp and have the
patience to apply the basic information that he is giving you that your
results will improve dramatically.

Obviously this book is written from Russ' perspective as a top player
(he uses the term "World Class Player" - WCP) but he still addresses
many of the issues that face the weekend, non-professional player as
well. He gives great advice on how to play both ring games and
tournaments and I was especially impressed on how he tried to keep the
randomness of the cards in perspective. Most books seem to gloss over
the fact that poker tournaments are basically a crapshoot with many
skilled players getting bounced early because the cards don't often
give them the opportunity to use their skills. Russ points out the best
ways to maximize your "few" good hands and he keeps reiterating how and
where to throw away those "tempting" mediocre hands and situations that
constantly short-stack you and create decisions that you are forced to
make in less than favorable spots when you are short-stacked. Most
poker authors point out what they think is the best play as if it will
be sure to work. Russ points out the randomness of the cards and that
tournaments, if played correctly, are just a series of mostly 50/50
decisions, and any one of those decisions could put you out or render
your stack almost worthless. His explanation makes clear that if a
player has patience and limits their play to good spots then they
should have just as much chance, maybe even more, of winning a
tournament than some of the so-called professionals.

His book is geared for taking your game to the next level and as such
he makes an effort to get the reader to drop a lot of the
misconceptions such as "tells" and to concentrate on reading the
players and the situations.

Many specific examples are given and there are quite a few interesting
side stories, as well as Russ' well covered perspective on the Poker
Industry in general. All in all a surprisingly good and candid book
from a knowledgeable player. Whether you're a weekend warrior, or an
experienced ring game or tournament player I think this book gives a
lot of suggestions that will improve your play.

Robert Ladd

"I want to be honest and make it clear that Russ sent me the book for
free"

I'm sure he included the postage since it only had to travel inside his
house trailer.

"Obviously this book is written from Russ' perspective as a top player (he
uses the term "World Class Player" - WCP)"

Obviosuly if I find a free copy I'll read it from my perspective as a guy
who has banged Jessica Simpson, Britany Spears, Madonna and Shana Hiatt.
(I use the term "World Class Stud - WCS)".

LOL! Seriously Russ, you've got more sock puppets than Poppinjay.

Irish Mike

Right Mike - just like I'd start a thread under a different name saying
Susan is wonderful, but she did send me a book.



.

Relevant Pages

  • A Message to a Friend (Tunica Trip Report)
    ... It was a hell of a golf tournament. ... My latest poker trip was interesting – ... Early on in that tournament I pulled off a spectacular play when I ... against a good player” – meaning that a donkey ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Poker Unchecked - Book Review
    ... I want to be honest and make it clear that Russ sent me the book for free, but he didn't ask me to write this review or give it any kind of praise here on RGP. ... Over the past few years, here on RGP, Russ, besides dredging up quite a bit of controversy, has written quite a few posts concerning how to play poker. ... Obviously this book is written from Russ' perspective as a top player but he still addresses many of the issues that face the weekend, ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Poker Unchecked - Book Review
    ... I just finished reading Poker Unchecked by Russ Georgiev and found it ... His RGP posts concerning poker play have been quite varied across ... Obviously this book is written from Russ' perspective as a top player (he ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Mo does Vegas and the WSOP ME
    ... tournament at the venetian that night (the ceo poker tour, ... executive player plays!). ... last longer paid to third - we play for a long, ... all sitting on about 17k in chips and in need of a pot or two, ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Irish Mikes Poker Tip #3 of 4
    ... When you sit down in a poker game it doesn't matter how well you can play. ... In the long run I agree, but the good player has the advantage in the ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)