The Poker Face of Wall Street
by Aaron Brown
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Book Reviews of The Poker Face of Wall Street
Book Review: Nothing to do with investing
Summary: 2 Stars
This book was interesting, and If I were as passionate about poker as I am about investing, I would have learned a lot.
Brown assumes a deep knowledge of the intricacies of poker in his reader. (which I do not have)
He also assumes that "wall street" means Trading futures and options.
He is insightful about both, trading and poker, though perhaps most insightful about Psychology and deception.
I never knew how deep of a game poker was.
Brown's Idea of a community poker game as an early frontier community bank and a venue for establishing trust in a community was eye opening for me.
As to whichever Financial Times journalist prompted me to buy this book based on a rave Review about its valuable insight into Wall Street and investing, Shame on you.
What I learned could have been put into a two page article, and what I could not learn could have been remedied with a glossary of obscure poker terms.
Traders and poker players, Enjoy.
If wall street to you is a place to look for value and cash flows, as opposed to poker games and technical charts, steer clear of this book.
Book Review: the last thing we needed
Summary: 3 Stars
I agree with the reviewer who called this book a grave disappointment. 10 years ago, when the concepts of poker were not very widely known, a book detailing their application and transferability on Wall Street would not have been a big deal. But now that there are possibly as many as 100,000 people who have reached a level of conceptual expertise that would have been called "expert" five years ago, the last thing we need is them all opening up a futures account. The pie is large, but not so large that it can stand being divided up by poker-player type numbers. These concepts would have been better left at the poker table. Beyond that, it's an okay book. Okay, it's a decent book, I'm just worried what it will mean for some of the established participants will probably have to compete with an influx of young talent, and this unique book doesn't help. Couldn't the author have just written another stock-pickers book? Those sell better, and no one gets harmed.Book Review: intriging beginning but disappointing waste of time at the end
Summary: 1 Stars
The book is : pages of poker hand values, pages of rather uninteresting tales of past poker hands played, a few interesting views of what is wrong with game theory for playing poker, why gambing is good and the fact that trading is gambling. Agree with one the reviewers "Also, some very confused ruminations on the value of poker and gambling to economic development. It feels like the author is just rambling on without a specific point or idea. It covers too many topics (off the top of my head: hand values, poker history, put-call parity, utility curves, psychology, horse races, society and wealth, then he adds some personal stories). All those topics may have been feasible if they were weaved together better. Unfortunately, he covers some topics superficially and some in painstaking detail." After you read this review, read the preview from amazon and concider that you've read the book. waste of timeBook Review: too much rambling
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a serious poker player and am well read in finance (CFA), so i assumed the book would be a natural fit for my interests. However, I have to agree with the other reviewers who said "the book is confused" and the author's "editor did not reign him in properly". It feels like the author is just rambling on without a specific point or idea. It covers too many topics (off the top of my head: hand values, poker history, put-call parity, utility curves, psychology, horse races, society and wealth, then he adds some personal stories). All those topics may have been feasible if they were weaved together better. Unfortunately, he covers some topics superficially and some in painstaking detail. Some areas are written for an audience unfamiliar with poker/finance, then other areas dive into advanced nuances. The book is just not edited well enough to be a satisfying read.Book Review: Beyond Game Theory
Summary: 4 Stars
In this book, Aaron Brown illustrates why the probabilistic and game theoretic considerations that are often touted as the foundation of poker theory, have in fact severe limitations when predicting or even explaining actual play.
Similar problems surface when applying game theory or utility theory to predict the decisions of economic agents, for example in the context of financial markets. This is exactly the link between poker and finance and it is also the reason why poker is very different from other casino games.
Brown illuminates the market microstructure of the poker table by analyzing table dynamics and player strategies and he demonstrates how to successfully find and exploit temporary inefficiencies in the micro economy of the poker table.
Overall, this is a valuable book for serious poker players.