The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King - Michael Craig

[dcollon]

[amazonsearch]The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time[/amazonsearch]

 

ScottHall mentioned this book in the thread about Andy Beal, so I bought it two days ago.  Needless to say I couldn't put it down.  Over the years I have tried to read anything I can find on Andy Beal and how he has run his bank.  There is very little that has been written about him, so I found it very interesting to read about his focus on poker.

 

The stories in the book are pretty amazing. Andy Beal became unbelievably focused on playing and competing against the best poker players in the world.  He worked incredibly hard over the course of about four years to try and get an edge. It was very interesting since the money did not seem to matter to him, it was more the process and the challenge.  I also enjoyed learning more about some of the poker legends like Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, etc...

 

For anyone interested in Andy Beal or large stakes poker, I think you will enjoy this book.

 

 

 

[ScottHall]

Loved loved loved this book.

 

Another good one, profiling a relatively unknown but highly successful in his industry character: Whale Hunting in the Desert.

 

It's about one of the top casino hosts of all time, and the tactics he used to become the best. How he lured players to the casinos, how he treated them in order to establish maximum credibility, etc. A worthy read for anyone interested in marketing.

[Tim Eriksen]

I would second the recommendation.

[yadayada]

Except for Ivey , those pro's are mostly mediocre at best compared to new breed of players. And lederer is stealing scum. No coincidence that Ivey had to clean him out at the end ;).

[Liberty]

Thanks for the recommendations, Scott and dcollon. I'm adding those to the list :)

 

Update: Just ordered the Beal book. Lots of very cheap used copies on amazon.

[yadayada]

If you enjoy poker stories, check out  this book from Doyle Brunson

http://www.amazon.com/Poker-Wisdom-Champion-Doyle-Brunson/dp/1580421199/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1420651972&sr=8-9&keywords=doyle+brunson

 

Stories about his adventures on the road as a poker pro. Might not learn much, but it is a short and entertaining read. Wish I could have lived that

[yadayada]

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21638088-machine-has-discovered-best-possible-strategy-one-version-poker?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fte%2Fpe%2Fed%2Ftheperfectcardsharp

 

Heh, HU limit holdem has been solved now. So the computer is now unbeatable, unless it plays against another computer, then they will break even against each other at best.

[Kraven]

This book was a good recommendation.  It's a quick and easy read and was enjoyable.

 

As an aside, it struck me that if I was a regulator I wouldn't have been too thrilled about how Beal was conducting himself at the bank.  He essentially seemed to dedicate most of his waking hours to working on his poker play and even turned a conference room into a poker room.  He was then flying in various people to play him and corralled his chief risk officer into playing with him as well (although it was "understood" his duties to the bank would have to be satisfied as well!).

[Peregrino]

The best article about Andy Beal is called "The Banker Who Said No" and it recounts how he basically shut his bank down before the '08 crisis and ended up being investigated by his regulators for holding "too much capital".

 

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/03/banking-andy-beal-business-wall-street-beal.html

 

I printed it out and read it every so often when I'm having trouble finding new ideas because it reminds me not to compromise my return thresholds.  I love the article because it talks about how tempted he was to put money to work during a terrible period for doing so, and used all sorts of distractions to keep himself from doing anything stupid.

 

Until I read the Michael Craig book however I never knew one of those was poker...

[Liberty]

I've had a chance to read this book while I was on vacation last week. It was quite enjoyable. Shows just how far Beal went to try to be competitive with the pros, and give an idea of just how smart and competitive he is. Those interested in poker trivia/history will particularly enjoy it.