Beyond Tells, Poker Poker Psychology by James A. McKenna

John Darr : November 6th, 2007

Overview
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James A. McKenna, Ph.D, attempts to dig deeper in to the poker psyche and sharpen the reader’s perception and increase their perspective on card room opponents. His shovel, so to speak, is his bag of professions – a psychotherapist and a poker columnist.

Book Structure
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In about 250 pages McKenna uses tightly organized sections, charts, graphs, photos and some fun examples to educate the reader. The book contains 11 chapters and each is broken down in to sections that are further broken down in to subsections.

Unique Advantages
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I really have not seen a book come at poker from this direction and that’s a breath of fresh air. McKenna’s simplistic grouping of players in to three categories – winners, losers and non winners, rings true with poker players. He further identifies a handful of personality types that are easy to remember and not comical personifications of animals (as one author poorly attempted in a different book). It’s clear that McKenna did a lot of work on this subject and his advice is not his opinion, it is more or less scientific analysis. And this book is generally more affordable than most poker books of this caliber.

Disadvantages
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The charts help the reader visualize the point McKenna’s making but are useless away from the book. The photo illustrations are of poor quality and reminiscent of Caro’s Book of Tells (ugh!). This is NOT a beginner’s book.

Conclusion
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My review up to this point has not done the book justice. Read below for my true reaction.

Focus: 10/10
McKenna does an amazing job blending a lot of psychology theory with poker application in a way that any player can understand (you don’t need to be Freud to get it!).

Quality of advice: 10/10
I can’t tell you how important it is to read the section on the things certain players say that reveal their style. It is eye-opening.

Examples: 10/10
Even with crappy photos, something in the bulk of supporting materials will click with you.

Readability: 10/10
Surprisingly easy to read considering it was coming from someone with a Ph.D. McKenna’s journalistic experience comes through.

Overall (not an average): 10/10
There’s no other book I’ve read about poker that is so fresh, intelligent and unique as this one. It won’t be a rehash of anything else you’ve read.

VERDICT: A must must must buy, but don’t get this as your first poker book or even second or third. This book is best suited for players who have some serious poker education under their belt. I suggest reading it twice.