REVIEW
Since
Robert Pirsig started the Zen and... craze
in the mid-seventies, the public has been
inundated with books relating eastern
mysticism and everyday western life. Therefore,
it was only a matter of time before someone
wrote Zen and the Art of Poker, which
applies the principles of this sect of
Buddhism to the ultimate game of strategy
and deception.
In
this book there are five major sections,
each of which contain from four to six
essays on the application of Zen to the
game of poker. There is also an introduction
and two appendices, one on Zen and poker
tournaments, and one that covers "Zen
and Poker Computer Software" and a bibliography.
The bibliography refers to a number of
good poker books, but mostly contains
references for the many Zen quotes that
Phillips applies to poker throughout the
book.
I'll
give Phillips a great deal of credit.
Early in the book he explains some of
the inherent contradictions between Zen
and poker, including the facts that the
poker requires a great measure of aggression,
and that the way one measures long term
success in poker is by winning tournaments
and accumulating money, both very un-Zen-like
ideas. In general, these contradictions
haven't stopped the rash of books that
lead to even more ludicrous associations,
such as, Zen and the Art of Street Fighting
and Zenvesting: The Art of Abundance and
Managing Money. In fact, Phillips sets
these issues aside in an honest manner,
and therefore I was willing to give him
complete license on this matter throughout
the rest of the book.
The
author then goes on to explain where Zen
is useful in poker, including notions
of calmness, not associating result (winning
or losing pots) with right action (playing
well), and taking a long-term view of
the game. These lessons need to be learned
in order for players to play their best
game, and if Zen concepts help a player
on the path to this goal, then that makes
plenty of sense to me.
The
book is interspersed with quotes from
Zen literature and other sources. Most
of these are relevant to the points that
Phillips discusses. Some of them are quite
amusing and appropriate, but in a few
places they seem a bit forced, as if Phillips
had problems in spots finding other sources
that reinforce all of his points. This
is tough to do and these places are not
all that distracting. In general, the
author does a good job of making his citations
relevant, although overall the first half
of the book seems to flow a lot better
than that last half.
There
is one place where I think Phillips goes
way wrong, and it's glaring enough for
me to almost not recommend the book. In
essay number 11, "The Wall of Cards: Cyclical
Luck", Phillips discusses the streaky
nature of the cards, saying, "A mistake
in many areas of life, not just poker,
is to struggle against the trend." He
believes that players who have a run of
cards where they are missing draws and
having good hands beat should play more
cautiously because they're running bad.
"Don't just downscale your bets when you
get cold, downscale the actual way you
play the game," (emphasis by the original
author). Phillips is not saying that one
should play differently because players
perceptions change as one wins and loses,
a concept with which I would agree which
has been expressed most eloquently by
poker author Mike Caro. The author clearly
means that one should play differently
because the cards have been running well
or bad. "Longtime, experienced card players
believe in the bunching of luck. ... Ignore
this phenomenon at your peril." Certainly,
good and bad cards "bunch", but this is
well explained by statistical models of
random behavior. The problem with Phillips'
theory is that one can only tell when
a streak is staring, continuing, or ending
by looking backwards in time. It cannot
be done looking forward. Players who do
not truly believe this fact as I have
stated it will hurt their game because
of it. Phillips advice in this regard
must be ignored by the serious poker player.
Mason
Malmuth, renowned poker author and sometime
gambling book reviewer, believes that
poker books which give 90% good advice
and 10% bad advice are worse for players
than not reading that book at all. There
is considerable merit to this position,
but I think it would be a bit strong to
make this as a blanket statement. Despite
the fact that on the topic of streaky
cards Phillips is dead wrong, I believe
the book still has merit to the cautious
reader, but his advice on this topic seriously
mars this book.
Poker
players must learn to control their emotions
and accept the realities of the conditions
of the game in which they play. Poker
players who cannot do this will be long
term losers. Phillips' Zen approach is
a reasonably good method for a player
to gain control of their own game, although
the reader has to buy in to the Zen way
of thinking. If the reader can accept
Zen principles, and can ignore the parts
of the book that contain bad advice (essays
number 11 and 25, specifically), then
this book may be very useful in helping
a player maintain the involved yet detached
state of mind that is most appropriate
for winning play.
Capsule:
For those poker players who appreciate
Zen concepts, Zen and the Art of Poker
may significantly help them improve their
self-control at the poker table. Overall,
this book is good at explaining how and
why a player should work on this aspect
of their game, although not all types
of people will be receptive to this style
of writing. However, the book does contain
a small amount of very bad advice, that
on playing streaks in poker, that, if
followed, has the danger of undoing the
positive effects of the rest of the book.
Read this book if Zen principles can help
improve one's self-control at the game,
but follow Phillips' advice on "card bunching"
at one's risk.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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