BOOKS ABOUT POKER

"It is a common belief that poker is a game of chance, therefore based above all on luck. But this is very wrong! The fact that it is played mostly with money doesn't mean that it belongs to the kind of games like roulette or the  lottery. There is actually a part of luck, but finally the better player wins, at least as much as in backgammon or bridge. Believe me, don't jump into the game just because you have learned the rules: your pockets will be emptied and you would have to blame yourself and not your bad luck. In the world of poker you should enter step by step, with humility. You should study gradually how it works, and once you feel ready you can take your first small risks. The right balance between luck and ability are the ingridients that make poker very similar to backgammon and bridge. Poker goes  actually further, it is the only game that includes all the four ludic "pulses"  beautifully described by Roger Caillois in his 'Les Jeux et les hommes': Agon (ability, competitiveness), Alea (luck), Mimicry (the mask, wich in poker is the art of bluffing) and finally Ilinx (vertigo and adrenalin that the players feel during the gambling)."