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Book Could Ultimately Be Better
Product
Poker: The Ultimate Book by Francois Montmirel
Hits
- Filled with lots of small bits of interesting trivia
- Lots of graphics and photos
Misses
- Not a strategy book despite a small strategy section
- Information is very thin and superficial
Review
Like A-K, Poker: The Ultimate Book looks like a winning hand at first glance. It may even be a hard one to lay down at times, but more times than not, it's going to end up a losing proposition.
With topics that start at the origins of poker and playing cards and move on through the growth of the game, and even sections on some of today's most prominent players, Poker: The Ultimate Book seems to have everything a poker player could want in a book. It even talks about hand rankings and supplies some basic strategy advice for the beginning player.
However, once readers start delving further into the book, they'll see most of what the book has to offer is style, not substance. It's packed with interesting photos and graphics but at its best, the book just gives brief facts and tidbits of trivia here and there rather than really fleshing out the topics it covers.
For example, Benny Binion is given a two-page spread in the book, but most of it is dominated by a flashy header and some photos and graphics, while the actual biographical info about the man is about four paragraphs long.
Four paragraphs aren't nearly enough to talk about the life of the man who once owned the biggest casino in Las Vegas, where the World Series of Poker was born. Not to mention that his family continued to be a staple of the Vegas scene for years after he had died.
The same goes for the Portraits of Champions section of the book where prominent players such as Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu and more are featured. They are currently some of the most successful players in the game, but only a paragraph or two of information is given about each of them.
If you're truly looking for the "ultimate" book that will have tons of in-depth information about poker, its various games, people, etc., this book won't be as helpful as you might think.
The best thing about it is its visual appeal and the cardboard box that looks the box for a deck of cards that it comes in. It will at least make for a great conversation piece as a coffee-table book and furnish you with lots of interesting trivia to regale your poker buddies with.
Details:
- $34.95
Paperback
Assouline Publishing
280 pages
