Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Tao Of Poker: 285 Rules to Transform Your Game and Your Life

Rate this book
Poker is more than just a card game - it can also help you become a winner away from the gaming tables! By blending the life lessons of a time-honored spiritual practice with the strategy of this popular card game, you can create a powerful approach to successful play - and successful living. In The Tao of Poker , prize-winning poker player Larry Phillips offers more than 280 rules to bring you to new levels of personal achievement, just when and where you need them most.
Here are some of The Tao of Poker ’s rules for
Try out these rules and watch your game, and your life, improve. Now you can be a winner at home, at work, and at the casino - wherever the stakes for success are high!

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

31 people are currently reading
104 people want to read

About the author

Larry W. Phillips

27 books21 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
27 (20%)
4 stars
47 (34%)
3 stars
44 (32%)
2 stars
16 (11%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Alex Alapatt.
25 reviews
August 10, 2018
I read this book to learn about poker, but it had many life lessons as well.
Profile Image for Sean Goh.
1,532 reviews91 followers
March 16, 2015
The bit about online poker tells was quite edifying.

It is never a bad idea at the first sign of trouble, to get out of a hand.

The process must always be kept uppermost, because it is what will win you money over the long run. give yourself a pat on the back every time you make the right play, regardless of how it turns out.

Without an adequate bankroll, we tend to inject emotion into these fluctuations that occur. Having our heart and soul riding on each hand magnifies them and makes them larger than they should be.

If there is a lot of betting going on from many directions, there's a good chance you're beat.

Have control. This is why expert poker players can bet, raise and fold all in the same round.

Selectively aggressive, not blindly aggressive.

Most will willingly call, but won't put in one more bet to raise, which is often a much better use of that betting unit. Look at the things a raise does: It makes everyone stop and reevaluate their hand, sets players back on their heels, causes some players to back off or even fold, instils fear, and gets more money into the pot, perhaps induces someone to make a mistake, and changes the whole dynamic of the hand.

Some losses are inevitably incurred when proving you can't be pushed around.

Confine bluffing to intelligent players. Bad players don't fold.

Are your defences set up for curiosity? Curiosity, such a small thing, so ordinary and innocent that we hardly notice it - can sometimes slip underneath our radar. But it can be deadly, keeping us in too long, staying till the end to see what the other player has.

Learn to be looked at, like an actor.

Beware the kind of expertise that leads to inattention.
Because non-humble is finished learning.

An important skill in poker (and life) is the ability to watch yourself.

Nurse the win, walk it off. Don't let it make you start playing looser and giving it all back.

Keep the inevitable downs as shallow as possible.

Have fun! In almost all endeavours, playfulness is part of creativity. There's some bit of casualness and indifference; some twinkle in the eye.

One of the most important aspects of poker is the ability to get away from a bad hand.

Make peace with bad players winning from sheer good runs of luck. Let jealousy go.

If people are betting a little more forcefully than usual, they may be on trips.

Good players let you win smaller pots.

There is a difference between wanting to win and wanting to get better as a player.

To be patient is to have the capacity for calm endurance. To give yourself time is to actively work toward a goal without setting a limit on how long you're going to take.
Profile Image for Kinch.
150 reviews3 followers
March 4, 2013
Not a huge amount of poker theory, but very good for people who already basically understand the game but are looking for an over-arching view of it and the right mind-set to deal with the swings. Also just a very entertaining read. Thought of this book today when I went all in with QQ against AK off suit and went into a nice meditative state to prepare for an Ace or King on the flop (they didn't come, phew!).
Profile Image for Jacqui Schischka .
192 reviews18 followers
February 24, 2015
I read this book for some guidance with another risky endeavour so I knew nothing at all about poker which I think was the reason I didn't get a lot out of it. But, I will keep it and re-read it later - perhaps with some poker knowledge.
210 reviews
November 23, 2014
Mostly about tilt control and general poker playing attitude. A bit about live tells. Definitely aimed at live play, but useful information in general. A quick read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews