POKER NATION

An inveterate poker player madly devoted to the insidious card game presents tales from the world of scarred and victorious veterans wrapped up in a technical hornbook on some of the fine points of play and a primer of the philosophy and practice of gambling. Serious poker players will find the illustrative anecdotes apt and instructive. Dilettantes, however, should take the savvy lessons with a grain of salt, since they may not be easy to apply at the table. For the complete card doofus, Bellin still provides mild over-the-shoulder entertainment. Sketching the evolution of the game and its history in Vegas, he explicates the clues gleaned from players’ tics (“tells”) and the signs of panic playing (“tilts”). Don’t look at the deal, he advises, but watch the players who are watching the “flop.” Bellin writes of memory, of creating a “book” on regular opponents, of ways to bluff, of methods of cheating and (why not?) of sex. Probability and game theory, statistics, and other inexorable laws of poker and nature make obligatory appearances, along with helpful tables and charts and a glossary.

If you are in AC in a game of Texas Hold’em with someone who knows only half as much as Bellin, don’t play it all the way to the river. You’re drawing dead. He wins. Cash in your chips and go home with a good book about poker—like this one.