Book Review (Why you Lose at Poker)

[Govman6767]

Why you Lose at Poker
by Russell Fox and Scott T. Harker


Well this is a first for me.
This was the FIRST strategy book I read that did not focus on how to be a winning player it focuses on bad players and why they are donk's.
It focuses on plugging major leaks in your game and gives GREAT examples on the effects of those leaks long term.

The book idenifies 10 player types some of which have never been used in another book (IMO)

Chapters Include
1) The Money You Lose Playing Too Many Hands
2) The Money You lose By Not Taking the Initiative
3) The Money You lose By Not Recognizing You Are Beat
4) The Money You lose by not taking the other players into consideration
5) The money you lose making incorrect bets in big-bet poker
6)The money you lose with poor bluffing habits
7) The Money you lose making mechanical Errors
8) The money you lose playing for only half the pot
9) Losing because you don't have an adequate Bankroll
10) Losing because you should not be playing
11) Losing because you shouldn't be Playing
12)Losing becaue you're not properly educated
13)Losing because you don't understand the Math of Poker
14) Losing because your playing in Tournaments
15) Losing because of Bad Luck
16) Losing because you dont use game selection
17)Losing because you've forgotten the Goal of Poker
18) Twenty hands in the cardroom (REALLY REALLY GOOD USES THE 10 PLAYERS GIVES THEM REAL CHIP STACKS AND SHOWS RESULTS HAND TO HAND AND ANALYZES IT AT THE END

To me this book is fresh because it takes a 180 and goes against most other poker books. Instead of showing you the right thing to do it goes further and shows you just how most people get themselves all screwed up.

This is a book wholly designed to plug leaks and I don't think it's a beginner book You have to have been playing a while and making these mistakes for a while to read this book and say holy shit have I been making that donkey play for the last 2 years I could have saved a fortune or doubled what I won if I was not so stupid.

I guarentee if you have been losing for a while reading this book may not help you because you are stone cold set in your ways but after reading this book it sure will Identify what you have been doing wrong.
A lot of it clicked for me small small stuff that was really a big leak that I never noticed until this read.

This is not the save all bible of poker in the least there are some things I disagree with but.. on a whole I think this book will help a losing player at least become a break even player even if he can plug 50% of his leaks.

Review by Joe Z