Zen and the Art of Poker
January 17th, 2005 | Published in Books, Online Poker
I’ve been interested in zen philosophy for a few years now and I could see how some of the ideas could be applied to playing poker. Then I came across this book by Larry W. Phillips.
My copy arrived from Amazon a couple of days ago and since then I’ve been spending my lunch breaks sitting somewhere quiet and reading it. The author is quite realistic about how zen principles and poker are incompatible in many ways, then gives a hundred rules to play by. There is a lot of good advice in this book. There’s nothing about which starting hands you should play or discussion about odds and probabilities – it’s more about controlling your play and your emotions. Lots of emphasis is placed in concentration and being “in the moment” and aware of what is happening at every stage. One of my favourite sections states how you should go to the table expecting nothing. Others talk about the need to take your ego out of the game and not take things personally.
