Poker as Life: 101 Lessons from the World's Greatest Game

The rules of poker are a lot like life--and who better to deal the winning hand than a dedicated player who has learned many of life's most important lessons at the poker table?

Poker's the rage, thanks to televised tournaments and Internet show-downs, but Esquire has always been a few steps ahead of the curve. And in Mr. Schreiber, Esquire has found the right guy--a major player in cutting-edge theory and real-world experience--to write the book on Poker As Life.

Where else but at the poker table can you discover all in one place the principles of finance (money management, risk and reward); mathematics (probability and odds); sociology (getting along with disparate , sometimes odious, personalities for the good of the game); literature (playing by the book); and, above all, psychology (in which the perceptive, intuitive, and observant student of human nature will usually be materially rewarded). Poker As Life is a primer for success. If you lie but never cheat, play the hand you're dealt, and make your own luck, then you'll never go bust.

As a bonus, there are dozens of entertaining and edifying life lessons provided by poker pros and other famous folk.

"Guessers are losers"--Amarillo Slim

"I stayed up all night playing poker with tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died."--Steven Wright

"In the long run there's no luck in poker, but the short run is longer than most people know."--Rick Bennet

"Nobody can forsee what will please the critics. Every artistic activity is, and always will be, a poker game."--Marlene Dietrich

Lee Scheiber supported himself through college via his poker wiles. He's played every variation extant (he even invented a few) at every stakes level, from penny-ante to no-limit. In his only tournament experience, he outlasted world champion Scotty Nguyen, an account he chronicled for Fortune Small Business, one of numerous publications in which he's shared his poker-related wit and wisdom.

 

"Poker as Life" is a valuable book, and not just for poker buffs. As those who live by its precepts could surely tell you, this little tome...is an even better handbook of practical philosophy--how to get somewhere in a world in which, whether you like it or not, many of life's winners approach each day as a new game."

--www.headbutler.com