The Evolution of Poker-Training Resources

Your text to link here… own and manage the poker-book publishing company Dimat Enterprises. Between 2003 and December 2009, Dimat published a total of five titles, of which the first three were authored or co-authored by me. Now, one year later, we have published 11 titles and have 12 different authors under the Dimat label. We have at least six more titles planned for 2011. Dimat is just one of many growing companies in the poker-training industry that have grown and evolved over the years to meet the demands of poker players.

My interest in poker books really goes back to when I first got the poker bug in 1998 in Costa Rica. I loved the game and wanted to learn more. But back then, there really weren’t many resources to help you learn the game. Most players basically taught themselves, which, of course, made the learning curve much longer. There were a few poker books in the market back then. When I first read The Theory of Poker, I read it as if it were the latest John Grisham novel. I couldn’t wait to read what was waiting for me in the next chapter. That book basically gave me a vocabulary for all of the things I was learning on my own. I was semibluffing without even knowing what a semibluff was. I was slow-playing without knowing that there was a word for it. Players today take these sorts of things for granted, as they can learn so much faster now by reading poker forums, Card Player magazine, and poker books, and by watching videos.

In 2003, the poker boom was born, and the poker-training industry exploded with it. First, it was the growth of Internet poker forums, where players could discuss poker with each other. My own website, www.InternetTexasHoldem.com, had more than 100,000 monthly visitors in 2004, all driven by the release of a single poker book by the same name.

Next came the extraordinary growth of the poker-book publishing business. Publishers and authors developed new resources for the information-hungry players around the world. By late 2004, the best-selling poker book of all time was released, Harrington on Hold’em. It was so popular because it was such a high-quality poker book on tournament play. No-limit hold’em cash games were tackled next. Then, books such as The Poker Mindset and The Elements of Poker started addressing new topics. Eventually, we had limit books for novices, beginners, and intermediate players, and even a book titled Winning in Tough Hold’em Games. And the list goes on and on.

Poker-book publishing also has exploded overseas, with international publishers now buying foreign translation rights for many titles. Recently, I signed a deal to have The Poker Mindset translated into Estonian!

But learning about poker didn’t stop with just online forums and poker books. An entire new industry arose with the introduction of online poker-video instruction. PokerXFactor, CardRunners, PokerSavvy, PokerVT, and many others exploded. When I was in college, it was apparent to me that some people learn better by reading books, while others learn better by sitting in lectures. Poker videos appeal to those who prefer to watch and learn from top players who explain hands played right in front of them.

This entrepreneurial spirit continues today in regard to how people learn the game. The poker e-book has become an important segment of the poker-book publishing industry. Kindle sales now account for around 15 percent of total book sales at Amazon. The advances in e-book technology also enabled a few companies to create a niche for high-end poker e-books that are sold for hundreds of dollars. This niche market appeals to high-end players who crave information that’s not available to the general public.

I have been working with a new company, Nspired Pursuits, which is taking the poker e-book to the next level. It has released a new app for the iPad, Poker Coach Pro, based on the content of Dimat’s Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series. Poker Coach Pro is basically an automated e-book of all of the hands from Volume I and Volume II (Volume III will be coming in the spring). The app is similar to an online poker site, where you will see the hands being dealt. As you walk yourself through the hand, you can read the commentary of each of the authors, explaining every nuance of the hand. The app is free to try out a few hands, and then customers can buy each volume, sets of hands from specific authors, or just a small sample of hands. It truly is revolutionary, and could be the birth of an entire new way that players learn the game.

The game of poker continues to evolve, and with it, how we learn the game. In a little less than a decade, poker has grown from a couple dozen books in the market to more than a couple hundred. We have seen new technologies give rise to new ways that players learn the game. If you feel like you’ve reached a plateau with your own game, try learning from a resource that you haven’t tried before, or tackle a book on a completely new topic you’ve never read about. ♠

Matthew is the owner of Dimat Enterprises, “Publishing Today’s Best Poker Books.” Recent releases include Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha, Volume II and Volume III, by Jeff Hwang, and Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em, by Ed Miller, Matt Flynn, and Sunny Mehta. Upcoming is The Math of Hold’em, by Collin Moshman and Doug Zare. Dimat books and e-books are available at Amazon and pokerbooks.InternetTexasHoldem.com.