Product Description

Like a secret society, poker has its own language and customs -- its own governing logic and rules of etiquette that the uninitiated may find intimidating. It's a game of skill, and playing well depends on more than just a good hand or the ability to hide emotion. The first step toward developing a style of play worthy of the greats is learning to think like a poker player. In a game where there are no absolutes, mastering the basics is only the beginning -- being able to pull off the strategy and theatrics is the difference between legendary wins and epic failure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56334 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Seizing on poker's explosion in popular culture, Gordon (cohost of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and two-time World Poker Tour champion) and Grotenstein offer an instructive overview of the game, lifestyle and culture that reaches beyond dry technicalities. A rigorous defense of poker as a game of skill—not chicanery—the book frames it as an all-American exercise in individual shrewdness. In jaunty prose broken up with diagrams of sample hands, the authors explain terminology, strategy and etiquette, weaving in quotes from poker movies and books, pearls of poker history and tales of colorful poker characters (like Phil Laak, whose habit of wearing hooded sweatshirts and dark glasses in order to conceal his features from scrutiny has earned him the nickname "Unabomber"). Statistics and probability figure prominently, and though the authors' explanations are never overly technical, the sheer detail of their analysis renders this book more intriguing for the card hound than the casual player. But the book does make an effort to appeal to the latter group, touching on everything from home games and tournaments to casino etiquette and low- and high-stakes play. The authors distill methods from different books, pay tribute to famed venues, supply the addresses of Web sites that specialize in online poker and include a detailed glossary. All in all, this is an excellent primer for those who are serious about studying the game and sitting next to the high rollers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From Chapter 8

...doesn't mean that someone isn't watching you. At the middle-limit tables, assume that you are always being studied. Your opponents' observations will fall into two basic categories.

It's hard to know when you've got them, and keeping them out of your game requires dedicated effort. Always remain observant of what you are doing. Do you look down at your chips before you are ready to make a bet? Or lean back in your seat while waiting for someone to decide whether or not to call your made hand? Do you bet quickly when you're bluffing and slowly when you've got the goods?

Experience is probably your best ally against physical tells, as your hand probably won't be trembling -- generally a sure sign of a monster hand -- after the fourth or fifth thousandth time you've bet into the river. You might also want to get into the habit of not looking at your cards before the flop until the action gets to you. Not only will it be impossible to reveal any clues to the nature of your hand, but you can use the time to scrutinize all of your opponents for their own tells. Same goes for the flop -- watch your opponents instead of the cards. You'll have plenty of time later to see if you connected with the board, but you won't get a second chance to see your opponents' immediate reactions.

Chris Ferguson, the World Champion in 2000, suggests that self-examination is the best way to discover tells in other people. "By observing my own behavior, the way I react in certain situations, I'm able to recognize those behaviors in other people."

Here are some tells for you to look for, both in yourself and your opponents:

Leaning Back

Some players have a tendency to lean back in their chairs after making a bet, waiting for you to decide what to do. They usually have made hands.

The Tremble

Shaky hands mean strong hands. If a player's hands tremble as he makes a bet, proceed with caution.

The Strong Move to the Pot

Players who are loud or physically aggressive in their betting are often bluffing, while those who bet as if they were afraid to wake up the person sleeping next to them are generally looking for you to call. As is the case with many tells, strong means weak; weak means strong.

Looking Away

Another example of a strong/weak tell: When a player, after making a bet or raise, looks away from you, she usually has a strong hand. A player who looks directly at you after a bet is likely on a bluff.

Reaching for the Chips

When a player starts to reach for his chips before you've had a chance to act, he's usually trying to scare you into checking your hand. Fire away.Looking Down at the Chips

Many players unconsciously glance at their chips when they're planning to bet or raise.

Beware of the Speech

Someone who goes out of their way to make a long, prepared speech after raising you or betting into you on the river probably has the nuts. "Wow, I can't believe it. I'm just really lucky today," or "If I raise you, will you call?" are typical examples.

Silence Is Golden

A chatty player who suddenly shuts up usually intends to play the hand she's been dealt. This is especially true of players in the blinds, making it a good idea to engage them in conversation whenever possible.

Your opponents will constantly be trying to assess what kind of player you are. Are you loose and wild, susceptible to dominant hands? Or are you a rock, easily bluffed out of the pot when you're not holding the nuts?

The type of table image you should be striving for is something that is still hotly debated among poker's more prominent thinkers. Some believe that it's best to seem like a tight, thoughtful player, garnering more respect for your raises (thus increasing the odds that your better hands will hold up) while allowing you to slip a few bluffs into the mix. Others argue that you should play the part of the maniac, forcing your opponents to call you all the way to the river to pay off your winning hands.

One thing everyone can agree on is that you don't want to appear weak. Weak players are bloody chum for the sharks of the poker world.

The best approach is probably to vary your image. This applies both to the types of hands that you play -- sometimes it's okay to limp with aces and raise before the flop with your suited 5-3 -- as well as the way that you play them. Don't fall into obvious betting patterns that reveal too much about the strength of your hand.

Text copyright © 2004 by Phil Gordon and Jonathan Grotenstein

Customer Reviews

Excellent book for the novice!
I bought Phil Gordon's Real Deal because, as a beginner to the game, I am overwhelmed by the amount of information out there on my new favorite passtime, and, watching Celebrity Poker Showdown, I have come to really appreciate Phil's explaination of hands and the game in general.

This is an EXCELLENT book for those unfamilliar with the game or new to playing but with superficial knowledge. Phil doesn't go into alot of nitty gritty about hand percentages, tells, etc. He gives you a very good, concise overview of poker playing, how to improve your game by understanding percentages, online poker, how to plan for a potential career as a poker player (it's not a ringing endorement, however. But might discourage those who assume it's an easy living from quitting their day jobs.), and he gives you tons of advice and resources as to where to look for more information. In short, Phil doesn't pretend to be the be all/end all for information. It's a refreshing change of pace from those who represent themselves as the all too often guru's of a popular trend.

I have to also commend Gordon for writing in a very easy-to-read style that doesn't get bogged down in poker lingo or condescending tone. And he writes with an amount of wit one might not expect. It's a very easy read that doesn't require a level of knowledge on par with Doyle Brunson to understand.

I can highly recommend this book for the beginning poker player. If you are very familliar with the game, it might bore you to a degree or you simply would find nothing new to the advice Gordon dispenses.

The Perfect Place to Start Your Poker Education
There's no debating that poker is a hot topic these days, and because of it, there's a lot of interest in learning about it. In this quest, lots of people will head straight for the "... For Dummies" series because it's familiar - they'll be making a bigger mistake than going all-in on a 2-7 offsuit.

"Poker: The Real Deal" is a well-rounded, very informative, easy-to-read and immensely entertaining book for the poker newbie. It covers a wide range of topics on poker, from the development of its variations throughout history, to the basics of strategy, to the lingo and customs needed to not look foolish at a casino or home game. This breadth of topics make it worth reading even if you're a moderately experienced player, but the true value is held for the novice.

Strategy is what most people will be looking for, and the strategy section is a definite strength, discussing the calculation of pot odds, the importance of position and the basics of valuing your hand strength vs. your read on that of others at the table. Does it cover strategy as in-depth as Sklansky and Malmuth's books or the classic "Super/System"? Of course not - that wouldn't be appropriate for the book's core audience. But the great thing about this book is that it contains very helpful passages from those books and points you to them if you'd like to get more information. Let's face it - most of us are just looking to keep up with our home games and occasional casino vacations, and this book works as a single-volume bookshelf that more than fits the needs of such a player. But again, if you envision yourself flipping the boss the bird and staking your claim as the next Greg Raymer, then "Poker: The Real Deal" will help you find all of the additional information necessary to start.

Online play is also covered, and while it's a good chapter, it's also (understandably) rather biased toward's Phil's affiliated website.

Many will buy or give this book based on Phil Gordon's recognition from Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown", and that's fine. His personal anecdotes add a lot to the readability of the book. Finally, it's even a physically attractive book printed on quality paper, even if it is a screwy size (very tall and narrow, making it more difficult than usual to hold open at the very beginning and end). Do you really want to host your first home game and have someone spot that atrocious yellow-and-black "Dummies" book on your shelf? Of course not.

If you're among the many who recently discovered poker via TV or the Internet but are buffaloed by the numerous books on taking your game to the next level, then your search is over - this is THE one book for you.

An enjoyable read and a good book for beginners
This is not a highly technical guide for advanced players. If you think that's what the statement "Insider Tips" on the cover means you'll be disappointed. I can count the number of good advanced poker books on my fingers, and most of them are by David Sklansky or Doyle Brunson.

As far as good novice books are concerned this is among the best. I've seen beginner books that just plain give bad advice, and this isn't one of them. As far as semi-amateurish books by pro players are concerned, this book and Barry Greenstein's book are both good reads. Greenstein's book is more advanced but also mostly deals with meta-game aspects. Gordon's book is a good amateur book and also a fun read. It's certainly better than Phil Helmuth's book which tells you to only play the 10 best hands (AA-77, AK & AQ suited or unsuited) and then spends the rest of the book mindlessly promoting Hellmuth and his online site UltimateBet.

I find Dennis Littrell's "leader of the Tiltboys" review rather arrogant and ... well ... wrong. If you're going to point out "slips" in the book, make sure you're right.

First, I've never seen any solid explanation for why Q-7 offsuit is the Computer Hand, but it's not because it's the "median" hand. At least Gordon's explanation is plausible. Some people say that in a flawed simulation Q-7 was dealt more than any other hand. Some say it was incorrectly listed as the median hand in a flawed simulation. If you list the 169 starting Hold'em hands by heads-up strength vs. a random hand, J-4 suited is the one in the middle. If you're looking for the hand that is closest to even money heads-up the answer is J-5 suited with 49.99% equity (Q-7 offsuit is 51.77%). The hand that wins closest to its share in a random 10-handed showdown is is 6-3 suited (Q-7 offsuit is near the bottom with 8.015% win share).

Gordon can't really be faulted for saying Chris Moneymaker hadn't set foot in a real cardroom before. Moneymaker has made a point of saying essentially that several times, and ESPN certainly tried to make him look like a guy who hadn't seen a deck of cards till he showed up at the WSOP. In truth, the 2003 WSOP was his first live tournament, but he had been in a cardroom before, and he was a long-time blackjack player and sports bettor.

Gordon's stories about crooked games in Vegas in the 70's, factual or not, are something that many people have talked about. Barry Greenstein talks about staying in California to play because the middle-stakes games in Vegas were so full of cheats.