Rating: 
Summary: If you like the World Poker Tour on TV, this book is for you
Review: Bellin takes you into the excited world of Texas Hold'em through his own learning of poker and playing in underground New York card rooms. The book give a powerful shot of the poker world, good and bad. Infused within Bellin's wonderful stories is an insight into the strategies of hold'em. You learn about outs, pot odds, and of course; the nuts. The book won't teach you when to fold Seigfried and Roy (a pair of queens) or bet after the flop with big slick (Ace-King), but it will make you want to learn and play like the pros.
Rating: 
Summary: A little bit of everything
Review: A good book for the unintiated in the world of high-stakes poker. The author doesn't give too much information on hard strategy or odds calculation, but just enough to entice. Likewise he adds his own anecdotes from personal playing plus stories from the history of poker to the legends of modern day.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: "Poker Nation" is entertaining, informative, and easy to read. It has just the right mix of factual stuff, such as poker strategy and probability theory, combined with the author's humorous stories and profiles of various poker players. There are so many interesting parts of this book, from tells to "tilting" to methods of cheating, it would be impossible to detail them all. The book may be a little longwinded and, in my opinion, have some "weird" sections that don't seem to fit in with the rest of the story, but overall it is still excellent. It's not like reading a classic, when sometimes you force yourself to read it for your own good. Instead, you read this book because it's easy and entertaining, but you come away with a lot of new knowledge. Maybe all books should be like that.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Educational
Review: Andy Bellin seems to accomplish two things in his book, Poker Nation. While it is presented as entertaining poker memoir, it's also a lesson on how to be a better player. As I was reading and laughing at his stories and characters, I noticed he would slip in situations that asked the reader to consider strategy. It's the same strategy you might find in a Sklansky book, but Bellin gives you a better feel for actually being at the table and trying to make the decision. For example. . . He talks about Rich who had a good job and a good wife, but lost everything, because he couldn't fold a hand. He had to play everything to the river. Who hasn't been tempted to play anything to end a losing streak? That's the genius of his book. It was an interesting story and a cautionary tale about foolish play. Between anecdotes he slips in the advice that it's tough to get back to even after you've lost half your money. Life is really just one big poker game. Forget whether this one session is successful. It's better to leave a game that isn't working and make your money in a future game that suits your style of play. He also advises that having a cap on winnings is foolish for the same reasons. Why can't you win a ton in one session? Bellin talks about check raising and pot odds and position and all the things that the instructional books talk about, but he offers these things in the format of situations he has encountered. Also he shares many great stories of famous and not famous players and how different people come to play poker for fun or for a living. The book is not only quick and fun to read, but it offers some great advice between the lines.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, Big book material in a little package.
Review: 12 of the best dollars I ever spent on poker. Being my first book on poker, thats not saying too much. But given the fact I read it cover to cover the day I bought it, and twice more in the next 5 days, It was a excellent pruchase. Bellin shares his own experiences along with others'. He delves into the history of poker. The story about his greatest hand is well done. His background in math enables him to easily explain the odds on a layman's level. Don't skip over this one.
Rating:
Summary: I Loved This Book
Review: Only two or three chapters cover the actual fundamentals of poker which, if you're reading this book, you likely know. The other chapters go into other parts of the game like history, tells, reading players, playing in clubs and casinos, etc... I don't know why but I am a better poker player having read this book.
| 
