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How to Be a Poker Player: The Philosophy of Poker
What does it take to be a great poker player?
It's no secret that masters of poker think differently than ordinary people. In this truly groundbreaking book, Haseeb Qureshi, retired world-class high stakes poker pro and instructor, takes you on a journey of rediscovering the game of poker from the inside out. He explores the depths of strategy, psychology, and philosophy within poker, and teaches you his uniquely scientific perspective on approaching the game.
Whether you've read all the books and want to take your game to the next level, or whether you're an amateur wanting to learn what it's all about, this game-changing book is a must-read. In the words of WPT World Champion David Williams, "Haseeb has written an amazing and ground-breaking book. There's truly nothing else like it. An absolute requirement for anyone serious about poker."
It's no secret that masters of poker think differently than ordinary people. In this truly groundbreaking book, Haseeb Qureshi, retired world-class high stakes poker pro and instructor, takes you on a journey of rediscovering the game of poker from the inside out. He explores the depths of strategy, psychology, and philosophy within poker, and teaches you his uniquely scientific perspective on approaching the game.
Whether you've read all the books and want to take your game to the next level, or whether you're an amateur wanting to learn what it's all about, this game-changing book is a must-read. In the words of WPT World Champion David Williams, "Haseeb has written an amazing and ground-breaking book. There's truly nothing else like it. An absolute requirement for anyone serious about poker."
340 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 1, 2014
The sub-title describes this book perfectly, "The Philosophy of Poker." If you're looking for strategy, then you should likely look elsewhere. With that said, however, you can tweak your strategy based on things that Haseeb talks about in this book. For instance, he discusses several key cognitive biases and how they relate to poker. I've already started incorporating that psychological aspect into my game "villain just stacked two players a hand ago and is now raising in early position, how will his mind state influence my play here?" (and I could answer this question and altered my strategy as a result)
I have a lot of affinity for Haseeb. Way back when he was still playing, I made it a point to watch every video he ever produced on DC and CR. I felt like I learned quite a lot. He was always rock solid at giving extensive "narrative" theory. This book is no different. There were some concepts he discussed that I hadn't thought about before, and therefore the book has value to me. I have felt somewhat saddened by his retirement, but after reading his book, I can understand why he needed to move on. There's something to be said about quality of life that perhaps wasn't there for him, and those important "qualities" are discussed at length in this book.
I have a lot of affinity for Haseeb. Way back when he was still playing, I made it a point to watch every video he ever produced on DC and CR. I felt like I learned quite a lot. He was always rock solid at giving extensive "narrative" theory. This book is no different. There were some concepts he discussed that I hadn't thought about before, and therefore the book has value to me. I have felt somewhat saddened by his retirement, but after reading his book, I can understand why he needed to move on. There's something to be said about quality of life that perhaps wasn't there for him, and those important "qualities" are discussed at length in this book.
February 14, 2016
4-
Presents poker a psychological game more than a mathematical one. Useful perspectives are presented to sharpen one's game, but there are also lots of interesting extensions to the many vagaries and nuances of other fields of life, although those are gracefully left for the reader to ponder / not extensions the author explicitly makes. There are plenty of cases of being "on tilt" away from the poker table in addition to at it, and this book is provocative for either of those scenarios. Reminiscent for me of The Art Of War. One aspect that struck me strongly is the concept of unconscious-competence, which is vividly described along with the rest of that 2x2 matrix and seems to pretty much be a succinct definition of the popular but often vague concept of being in flow. Also, this book is written eloquently and with care, above the expectations I had based on the little I gleaned about the author before starting it.
Presents poker a psychological game more than a mathematical one. Useful perspectives are presented to sharpen one's game, but there are also lots of interesting extensions to the many vagaries and nuances of other fields of life, although those are gracefully left for the reader to ponder / not extensions the author explicitly makes. There are plenty of cases of being "on tilt" away from the poker table in addition to at it, and this book is provocative for either of those scenarios. Reminiscent for me of The Art Of War. One aspect that struck me strongly is the concept of unconscious-competence, which is vividly described along with the rest of that 2x2 matrix and seems to pretty much be a succinct definition of the popular but often vague concept of being in flow. Also, this book is written eloquently and with care, above the expectations I had based on the little I gleaned about the author before starting it.
April 30, 2020
This book infamously have a very high rating review. What's this all about? I am curious to read the poker. It started with "not to make the reader better with poker, but to be better poker player." The game behave mystically, call poker as chess matches. Beneath all the chips, poker is a mathematical equations that we can apply shall we finding it.
Our limited experiences, schema limits our perspective. Our formulation will never be the same and it will always wrong every time. Our schema changes with each games of poker. Your view will always changing at it never be the same. Your castle must collapse again and again. The building of poker schema always be wrong but keep going on your wrongness if you want to keep playing poker.
In order to attack, you must create hole in your defense. In order to maximally exploiting him, you must be totally exploitable as well.
There is three level of players. Level 1 player exploited by level 2 player. Level 3 player able to value situation and changes his play according to the level of another player. High level matches is competition among Level 3 players.
There is two mistakes. Mistakes in evaluation and mistakes in psychology or getting leveled. The three types of bluffs are fundamental bluff, game flow bluff and comfort zone bluff.
Note taking functions for four :
a. significant event
b. psychological read
c. bet-sizing
d. note on how to adjust on him
The narrative theory. Learn someone to talk better about poker and they become better player.
Do your elaborative rehearsal. Instead of repeating a few words, create a story to create a connection in the learning. This book is a gold mine of improvement either in poker and other aspect of life.
Our limited experiences, schema limits our perspective. Our formulation will never be the same and it will always wrong every time. Our schema changes with each games of poker. Your view will always changing at it never be the same. Your castle must collapse again and again. The building of poker schema always be wrong but keep going on your wrongness if you want to keep playing poker.
In order to attack, you must create hole in your defense. In order to maximally exploiting him, you must be totally exploitable as well.
There is three level of players. Level 1 player exploited by level 2 player. Level 3 player able to value situation and changes his play according to the level of another player. High level matches is competition among Level 3 players.
There is two mistakes. Mistakes in evaluation and mistakes in psychology or getting leveled. The three types of bluffs are fundamental bluff, game flow bluff and comfort zone bluff.
Note taking functions for four :
a. significant event
b. psychological read
c. bet-sizing
d. note on how to adjust on him
The narrative theory. Learn someone to talk better about poker and they become better player.
Do your elaborative rehearsal. Instead of repeating a few words, create a story to create a connection in the learning. This book is a gold mine of improvement either in poker and other aspect of life.
September 5, 2017
This book is on another level. Haseeb brings a fresh perspective to the game and thinks deeply about first principles, cognitive biases, etc. There's not a lot of tactical hand analysis in here, it's more for players who understand intermediate-to-advanced concepts but can't pull it all together at the tables.
July 10, 2018
This book is really informative, yet it is such easy reading... I'm glad I read it, twice!
October 11, 2019
Great book to improve your mental game for poker players.
November 10, 2019
One of the best and very different to all other books in poker.
November 15, 2024
Some parts quite clearly dated and offer a view that now appears lacking in nuance or depth. Most other parts, however, are clearly timeless.
February 29, 2016
one of the best since black Friday . worth every penny
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews