Aces and Kings: Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies from Poker's Greatest Players

by Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan

Click Here to find out how to get this book for Free

Reviewer: Wadofella

Michael Kaplan is a noted gambling author & contributor to CardPlayer magazine. Brad Reagan is a freelance author & contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Together they have produced an excellent book that anyone with an interest in poker would enjoy.

The book consists of approximately 300 pages divided into 15 chapters, each one of which is basically a mini life-story of one or more poker pros. These are arranged more or less chronologically, beginning with “Puggy Pearson”, then Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson, then progressing right up to the modern-day superstars such as Chris Ferguson & Phil Ivey.

In general I found the earlier chapters the most gripping, probably because the early poker superstars existed in a world frequented by mobsters & various other villains, meaning that their life stories have an added dimension of glamour/danger. This is in marked contrast to the later pros, who tend to be math geeks or stock market whiz kids! Nevertheless, there isn’t a dull chapter in this book and it gives great insights into the players it covers.

The opening chapter (on Puggy Pearson) is worth the cover price alone. Puggy was the original poker superstar, a country boy who took Vegas by storm with an aggressive poker style that hadn’t been seen before. His story is all the more interesting because of his undoubted flaws: He would happily exploit any chink in the rulebook if he thought he could get away with it and a favourite technique of his was to call large bets on the river – but without taking his hand from his chips – and then quickly grab them back if his hand wasn’t the best, claiming he hadn’t made an actual bet. Nevertheless, you’ll find yourself rooting for Puggy.

There are fascinating chapters on pros such as Erik Seidel (the unfortunate player who loses to Johnny Chan in “Rounders”), the late great Stu Unger & the still very great Chip Reese.

One of the most interesting sections is the chapter on Men “The Master” Nguyen (that chapter is subtitled “The Vietnamese Godfather”). I previously knew very little about this player & his cadre of followers & their (sometimes very questionable) approach to the game.

Also very illuminating is the section on Chris Ferguson whom I’d previously assumed (based purely on appearance) to be a big cowboy-like figure, whereas in fact Chris is revealed to be the definitive computer geek, running millions of simulations of poker hands in order to determine the best plays, then meticulously noting them down in reams of notes.

The chapter on Phil Hellmuth is also un-put-downable stuff. Phil is the kind of character most people either love or hate(I’m a big fan) but either way this book offers an insight into the man makes him hard not to like (or at least not to view more sympathetically).

A final note of caution: although this book is subtitled “Inside Stories And Million-Dollar Strategies From Poker’s Greatest Pros”, this is NOT (in my opinion) a book that is likely to help the average player’s game. However it is very enjoyable, full of ripping yarns, and undoubtedly worth reading.

Discuss this book in the VPP Poker Forum.