John Vorhaus brings us an unusual poker book. It contains absolutely nothing in it about the game itself. Instead, Vorhaus assumes you already know the game and play regularly in “b&m” poker rooms (and he probably hopes you learned by reading his Killer Poker: Strategy and Tactics for Winning Poker Play).

So instead of what hands to play and what hands to fold, we get a solid course on internet poker. Everything from picking the right poker site and online handle, to managing your bankroll, online tells, and how to get the other players riled up via the chat function.

On top of all that, its a pleasant read. Vorhaus’ tone is conversational and sometimes witty. If you’re going to play internet poker, then its well worth your time to read this book.

Ken Warren’s book was my introduction to Texas Hold’em and I have to say it did the job. I learned the basics from it and was amused for much of it.

Of course, Warren didn’t intend to be amusing, no more than Archie Bunker did (had he been a real person). I’m way too much a neophyte to tell Mr. Warren his advice is wrong, but I can say it lacks tact. We get advice like “Sit at a table with beautiful women because they usually don’t know what they’re doing, and besides, they’re a distraction to the other players.” and “A player using a walker or a wheelchair generally intends to stay at the table for a long time, so they’ll play a very conservative game.”

I’ll have to revisit the book some time to see how good the rest of his advice was. I have to admit I enjoyed the book from the point of view of it being a “PC Trainwreck” of sorts, and as I said, I did learn the game, so it wasn’t a waste of my time anyway…