Poker Authors Analyzed

Editor's note: Former Card Player Europe Bureau Chief Rolf Slotboom has read just about every poker book available, and in this series of columns, he analyzes one poker strategist at a time. He looks at the strengths and weaknesses of both the person and his products - whether it's books, DVDs, or just articles. Extensive reviews and ratings of individual books and DVDs can be found on Rolf's site, www.rolfslotboom.com.

When I started playing poker for a living and spent serious time analyzing poker literature, John Vorhaus was one of the leading authors - at least that was my perception of him at the time. He had a regular magazine column, and I was an avid reader of his "Killer Poker" articles - a great concept, and a name that sounds cool. I liked his columns a lot, and there was no question that he was able to capture, and keep, the attention of his readers. Just like Mike Caro (and, for instance, Bob Ross when it came to painting), Vorhaus could build the not-so-great player's confidence by handing him a few quick pointers that he could then (successfully) incorporate into his game.

However, as my playing experience and poker knowledge grew, I slowly but surely realized that his columns were not good at all. Yes, they were often nice stories that were a pleasure to read - but on an analytical level, there was hardly ever any worthwhile advice. Even worse, some of the advice was flat-out wrong, yet handed over to the reader in a manner that suggested it was the absolute truth.

When I started doing my book reviews, I had the goal of reading and rating every book available - good and bad alike. So, I purchased three John Vorhaus books: the Pro Poker Playbook, Killer Poker, and Killer Poker Online. The truth is that I have not gotten myself to finish any of these books, and, in fact, I have given up on rating any of his new books altogether. The reason is quite simple. Every John Vorhaus book suffers from the exact same problem: It contains nice stories, and a whole bunch of tricks and ploys that are presented as solid advice. However, good analytical thinking can almost never be found; it is just a lot of mantras and rules of thumb that are not very helpful and sometimes even flat-out wrong. (His analysis of short money in Killer Poker Online, or some silly recommendation in Killer Poker to make five open-raises in a row and not worry about the outcome, but note the effect of your aggressive play on your opponents, is the kind of advice that can actually do harm to the people who follow it.)

All in all, I have nothing against poker authors who write just nice and enjoyable stories, even when their level of poker knowledge may not be very high. The main problem I have with Vorhaus is that he actually presents himself as a strategy writer - when in fact his advice is at best mediocre, and at times just plain bad.

Next issue: Mason Malmuth

Rolf has been a professional cash-game player since 1998. He is the author of the successful Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha, and the co-author of Hold'em on the Come. He is the creator and presenter of the hold'em four-DVD set Rolf Slotboom's Winning Plays. He is the first-ever Dutch Champion, and maintains his own site at www.rolfslotboom.com.