Every Hand Revealed

Every Hand Revealed,
by Gus Hansen
2008, Lyle Stuart Books

I vaguely recall a story about a general who the night before a huge battle was approached by his second-in-command. Since it was possible that the General might fall in battle, the Second wanted to know his battle strategy so that he could carry on in this case. The general asked his second if he knew what the enemy's plans were for the battle and when the second said that he had no idea the general replied that he could not say what his strategy was until he saw what the enemies strategy was. Or something like that.

During the 2007 Aussie Millions tournament, Gus Hansen used a small hand held recording device to record every single hand he was involved in, and then he later fleshed out the book by describing the thinking behind every decision he made. The result is an amazing glimpse into the thinking of one of the games most innovative and successful players.

I have read a few books about poker tournament strategy and while I have learned some valuable things, I knew that the generalities would only get me so far - that in specific situations I would be on my own. What I like about Every Hand Revealed is that it is entirely situational, giving the reader a real hand-by-hand example of how a great player navigates a tournament. While the reader will never be in exactly the same position against the same players as Hansen - it is a much more instructive book than most because it teaches a thought process rather than a specific strategy. This is, I think, revelatory. Up until now I thought that to be a great tournament player I needed to memorize a number of different strategies and know when to apply them - but Hansen has opened my eyes to the importance of understanding the reasoning behind the strategy - the proper thinking that lies behind the proper action.

Gus Hansen is by most standards an extremely aggressive player. I have always been a proponent of tight-conservative tournament play (at least in the early stages) and have dismissed play like Hansen's as too reckless. But Hansen has shown me that there is a method to his madness, that the aggression is not applied indiscriminately. Hansen more than most players has a great understanding of the mathematics of the game, and most of his aggressive moves make sense when he breaks down the math behind them. But what I like most is that Hansen is also a great reader of his opponents. He often makes statements such as "nobody seemed very interested in the flop" before he decides a continuation bet is in order.

And he is human. He makes a bone-headed move now and again. I particularly enjoy the occasions when he spends a page describing how he spent five minutes figuring out what the proper action is before doing the wrong thing. "Why did I do that?" he writes, "I have absolutely no idea."

I highly recommend Every Hand Revealed. It won't give you any magic formulas that will work every time but it might help you learn to think your way through a tournament.