Review of Ace on the river: an advanced poker guide, by Barry Greenstein

Barry greenstein, also known as The bear, and The Robin Hood of Poker, was born in 1954, in Chicago Illinois. He got his first explanation about how to play poker from his father when he was 4 years old, and played for quarters in his first organised poker game by the age of 12. In highschool, he played poker for dollars on the weekends, and usually quit the game a winner. by the time he graduated from collige, he could win $ 1000 on a good night, a pretty impressive amount over 30 years ago. He earned a b.a in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and studied for a PHD in Mathematics, but never defended his completed dissertation. Today he has 3 bracelet(s), and 44 money finishes to show for the World Series of poker, along with 19 cashes in the World Poker Tour, and 2 WPT titles. He's also got 1 money finish to show for the European Poker Tour. Barry Greenstein donates his tournament winnings to charity, Primarily Children incorporated, thus earning his nickname, The Robin Hood of Poker. As of 2009, his tournament winnings exceeded $6900000.

"I seem to win whenever I read it." -- Ted Forrest, winning high-stakes player
"It's the necessary complement to instructional poker books." -- John Hennigan, winning high-stakes player
"Other players don't think about poker like Barry does." -- Phil Ivey, winning high-stakes player
"This book contains a lot of stuff I knew but had never seen written, and some things I didn't know." -- Doyle Brunson, poker legend

I'm not exactly in a position to arbue with these players, and more over, I don't want to. With "Ace on the river", Barry Greenstein provides you with the rare opportunity to see the poker-world through the eyes of someone that lives it, as well as the chance to actively analyse the play of cirtain hands on every street. It's almost like sitting in a classroom, with your favorite teacher. For me at least, the best teachers always tried to teach the students for life, not for school, and with this book, The author provides the necessary teachings to live a life as a poker pro, in the poker world.
The book is broken up into chapters, some no more than a few pages, in which Barry introduces a general topic and then offers an interesting, often fascinating discussion of the subject. He opens Every chapter with a famous quotation, which doesn't exactly ad to your poker skills, but being the incurable bookworm that I am, I had to mention it just the same. This is well written!
While not giving away too much, Barry interjects a number of personal stories, many which are very insightful as well as humorous, as he takes you a long on his journey as a poker professional. Included are chapters on the poker society, money management, family matters and even sex. Greenstein also describes the types of qualities that he believes make a great poker player. The type of attitude they should have, the personality traits, analytical skills and the like.
When it comes to the game it self, greenstein goes over game theory and how it applies to bluffing, as well as how you can give your self an edge by being aware of the use, and misuse of mathematics. The chapter on play lessons how ever is one of the more useful ones out there. Forget about charts and the like, you won't find them here. You should however already have the general idea of which hands that are playable and such. This is hand by hand, play by play, street by street, and you're making the decitions. He gives you the information of your position at the table, information about what kind of players your up against, and their positions, your stacksizes, and of course your own wholecards. Then he describes a scenario, and asks you what would be the correct cors of action: Should you raise, fold, check, or call? How much should you bet? Etc. Then he gives you his view of the matter, and explains why he would recommend that particular play. The examples are taken from real-table-scenarios, and after telling you what would be the correct play, he moves on to telling you what actually happened at the table, admitting that he didn't always make the right play himself. You understand, that Advice from a source as known and respected as Greenstein could never be worthless, but his humble attitude, and with that I mean his willingness to show how he learned from his own mistakes, makes it all the more valuable. The Only problem with this unique play-by-play section, is that it ends way too soon.
The audio version is read by the author, and he does a good job as a narrator. It's not so much that his voice is plesent to listen to, though I don't have any complaints there either, but he's got that cirtain way of keeping your attention, just like any favorite teacher should.
By now I'm sure you know what the verdict will be, and yes, you're right, I really think you need to read this book!