The Poker Face of Wall Street
by Aaron Brown
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Book Reviews of The Poker Face of Wall Street
Book Review: A Lot of Game Theory & Poker Talk, Little Market Talk
Summary: 2 Stars
A review of a book is somewhat or mostly dependent on what you were looking for initially. With that said and with an introduction by Nassim Taleb, I was looking for discussions and insights about risk, the market, and human psychology. Though some of these topics were present in some sections of the book and discussed, I unfortunately mostly read of poker strategy and game theory. However, if my selection of this book came from a solely poker perspective vs. the title and the introduction teaser, my review would have been higher.
However, one would have to agree with Mr. Brown's thesis that without risk takers the market would not work systematically as it does. Without the street to add "risk additives" to a continual flow of financial products, this would not keep the interest of the risk takers.
Good points - The discussions of the Mississippi Valley's economic network was great and on any next edition, I would highly recommend further discussions on this topic (i.e. the Planters vs. the Adventurers). However, I assume this topic was somewhat limited due to other's published work as noted. Also, the chapter on Soft Banks and its impact on the settlement of the West was interesting. In addition, the many references to other books was highly appreciated.
All in -- A good book, but a little too much on the game theory. If you are a "Poker Affectionado", enjoy.
Book Review: Best Poker Book of 2006
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first book to bridge Wall Street and poker in an intelligent way. The message is clear: investors can learn a lot from poker players. It's not obvious that this would be true ---- after all, most poker players are idiots. Poker players tend to actively court risk and destruction in all aspects of their lives, not least financial. So what can we possibly learn from these action junkies?
Aaron Brown makes a strong case that risk is overcompensated for in business and financial markets (most people turn down to many profitable bets b/c they are overly averse to risk). He argues that playing poker makes you more comfortable with risk, and it teaches you to think about risk, under pressure, in an analytical way.
Some of the most fascinating parts of this book deal with the economics of the poker world. Aaron beat the poker room by twenty years --- he's seen a lot of comings and goings in the poker world. In these pages, he gives the most accurate overview of the poker economy that I've seen. After all, it's quite similar to the finance world. The poker world is mostly efficient. There are a handful of stars who can systematically beat the game and achieve huge rents. There are many more who are lucky but think they are good. Most are average but believe they are just a secret or two away from beating the game.
Brandon Adams
Book Review: If nothing else, an entertaining read
Summary: 4 Stars
Having read some of the more anecdotal 'Wall St' type books out there; "Fortune's Formula" and "Liars Poker", I wouldn't be hard pressed to lump this book into that genre, but what I will say is that I turned pages nearly as quickly as the aforementioned (a good thing). From a strictly literary standpoint, what this book succeeds in is creating 'touch points' between the smoky back rooms and the white collar front office. Being told from someone who has obviously lived/worked/played in both domains, it offers a unique perspective that can be appreciated by anyone who deals with calculated risk for a living.
While others may argue that many of the poker anecdotes are ill placed and offer nothing more than tangents to Aaron's insights into risk and economic development, I would argue that anyone with a decent poker background can see the obvious tie-ins between these stories and the foundation they help construct in some of the more concrete concepts/theories of finance he presents in this book.
Those looking for a front-to-back coherent story about how wall st and poker are one in the same should not look here. This book does take some liberties with conclusions that may leave the reader wondering how point b was arrived at from point a, but that shouldn't stop anyone from appreciating the presentation.
Simply put, entertaining. Worth a read.
Book Review: Must Read
Summary: 5 Stars
My name is Andrew Batkin. I have been trading options and playing poker seriously for over 5 years. I must say I am a tough critic and was very impressed by The Poker Face of Wall Street. I have read almost all books on poker published and this is the only one that seriously challenged my brain and literally changed the way I look at poker and wall street. This, is not an easy task. Furthermore, I take poker very seriously and I loved reading about the many lessons to be learned at the table and the many successfull people that have a poker background. I have been in many situations where people outside of the industry look down on poker players and it always irritated me. Poker players are often looked at as "gamblers" whereas traders are looked at as shrewd individuals contributing to society. I think this book does a fantastic job discussing the similarities between poker and wall street and will help shed some light on the situation. This book will not only help your game but it may open your eyes to what it takes to be a winning player. For the non player, I think this book will give you an appreciation and respect for poker players and will be very interesting and educational for you. A book of this calliber is long overdue and I give it a big thumbs up.Book Review: Just Fun for Math & Finance Geeks
Summary: 5 Stars
This book probably won't improve your trading, may improve your poker, but is a fun tour of math, finance, and games of risk. He provides a thought-provoking set of premises on "risk denial," "game theory mistakes," (he thinks game theory is over-applied to both poker and trading), and some fun history and background on it all.
A few editorial quirks inhabit the book. His understanding of the Cold War is based on spy novels and "Dr. Strangelove." He uses the same politically correct mangling of personal pronouns as his academic colleagues. Occasionally his math discussions can be hard to follow. For example, he discusses what a bet on the World Series "is worth" without discussing what he means by that. In his defense, he does an overall great job leading the popular reader through the arcane fields of financial and risk mathematics.
One of the things I like best about this book is his generous referral to other interesting books. I've read several of those books and can verify he makes good recommendations. (Maybe in a future edition he will recommend Bernstein's "Against the Gods.")
Though it's not an easy book, it is fun, and one of the few books I will re-read.