My Two Cents: Book Reviews
Sunday, July 31, 2005
My Two Cents: Book Reviews
Book: Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5mm at the WSoP
Date Reviewed: 07/29/05
Note: To buy this book cheap, click on the title above or the picture below.
My last review left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. After a string of prior good reads, Hellmuth forced me to clean my palette and try to move on. Fortunately, not all books are craptastic. Take Moneymakers book for instance...I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, so I'll be reviewing on the fly, but overall I'd say this one is worth a read. I'm guessing - if you're reading this blog in the first place - you've probably seen the 2003 WSoP coverage for the umpteenth(ish) time, so you figure there's not much more to take from the experience. Not so dear reader. In his book, Moneymaker manages to take you through his life, from childhood all the way through the 2004 WSoP. And just about every moment somehow involves gambling. It's pretty amazing how someone we all figured was a gambling novice, had actually been at it since early childhood.
One of the main thoughts I had throughout the book was, "Damn I'm glad I'm not this dude." How often can you say that about a millionaire? I mean this guy put himself - and his family - through some serious shit. We almost all have debt, and our own problems, but Moneymaker always seemed to find a way to make a bad situation worse. If you are looking for a book to make you feel great about yourself, this book is it. By the time you finish this book, even if you've been in the dumps, you'll find your life is pretty sweet compared to what Moneymaker put himself through. And if you think you have a gambling habit that may be getting out of control, just read this book and compare. If you are anywhere near Moneymaker, seek help.
The Good
Moneymaker takes you through the highlights of the $40 super satellite and the larger satellite that eventually paid his way to the big game. That's insight you can never get from the ESPN coverage. Also, he takes you through the emotions he felt during the week long event. It's one thing to see it play out on your T.V., but it's another to finally know what he was thinking in that moment. Very Cool.
Also, one of my favorite things about the book is it's an easy read. It reads like Moneymaker really did write it and he wanted to keep it simple. You never feel like he just wrote down notes and let someone else write it for him. That's a welcome change from some of the tripe I've read in the past. Moneymaker tells it like it is and then moves on.
The Bad
With the above duly noted, my one qualm about the book is he occasionally digs things into the ground. OK, you're a bad apple, we got it. OK, you don't deserve your wife, check. OK, it's your first live tournament...we get the idea. In trying to remind his readers of the focus points of his life, he over does it just a bit. But considering that's my only critique, I'd have to say we can let that one slide.
So that's it. If you're looking for something to take up some time and give you some insight into the tournament you've seen over and over on ESPN, this is your book. It's a quick read and overall it does the trick.
Next up in the review department- and what I'm currently reading - is Harrington On Hold'em Volume One. So far, thumbs way up. Going forward, you'll notice I will be using this same post for all my book reviews. That way I can keep them all in one place. I'll eventually put a Review tab up top to make it easy to get to...
posted by TripJax @ 3:27 PM,
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