Shuffle Up and Deal

Poker Wisdom of a Champion, by Doyle Brunson: This book, an anthology of poker stories, was published in a new edition some twenty years after its first publication under the far better name, According to Doyle. Brunson's tales are short (a few pages each) and sweet, being variously humorous and bland. He groups them into five thematically-similar sections. Most are interesting and amusing tales of the old-school poker players, cowboy-like roamers who drifted from town to town on "the circuit" in Texas, playing in any back-room games they could find. Games were illegal, and could often get hijacked - a far cry from the insulated world of the $2-$4 table at Foxwoods. Some of Doyle's stories are trite, however, feeling more like filler than anything else. But it's a quick read and worth checking out if you have an interest in the game or in Doyle himself, one of the true legends of no-limit Texas Hold'em poker.