Book Review: "How I Made My First Million From Poker"-Tri Nguyen

Tri “Slowhabit” Nguyen’s latest book, “How I Made My First Million From Poker,” is centered around the topic of finding success in poker by emphasizing a balance between many different aspects of one’s life. The aim of the text is to show aspiring poker players that through living a balanced lifestyle and by working hard, one can gain the mental edge that is required for success and longevity in the poker world (as well as any future endeavours that one may have down the road). Whether one is just beginning their journey as a professional poker player or contemplating retirement, Tri offers valuable insight into how to approach poker throughout one’s career by drawing upon and referencing his own experiences.

The text itself is 253 pages long and is broken into 24 short chapters, each covering a different topic that helps contribute to the main theme of the book (the processes that allowed Tri to find success in poker). The book is very well written and easy to read if you’re accustomed to simple poker lingo. If words like “ranges,” “3-bet,” and “EV” are not part of your vocabulary, you may want to read some of the chapters with Google open on your laptop. Each chapter is very concise and it doesn’t feel like there is very much filler at all. Even when Tri is sharing a story about his personal experiences he always makes sure to make his point efficiently and without rushing. At the end of each chapter, Tri offers a couple of exercises for the reader to do in order to put the theories that were just talked about into practice. Even if you don’t bother doing the exercises, the presence of the workbook acts as reminder that Tri’s book is all about putting in your own work and that poker is not a game that can simply been spoon fed to someone.

I think that Tri does a great job of covering a vast array of topics that are all important to being successful in poker (from technical poker strategy to how to increase your overall happiness away from the tables). One thing to note though is that poker players that are already able to find some success in the profession may find some parts of the book to be a little redundant. That said, what I really found interesting about the book was that through sharing his poker career from the very start to where he is today, Tri makes it possible for almost everyone to learn something new-regardless of how seasoned a player may already be. For example, while I may already practice a balanced lifestyle and know how to avoid tilting, I may not know the best way to brand myself or how to approach coaching. Along the same lines, it’s nice to have the importance of things that I might already be aware of reinstated…such as setting up passive income to get my money working for me.

Overall, “How I Made My First Million From Poker” offers an interesting read and valuable insight into what it takes to succeed through poker. I really agreed with what Tri had to say in his book and it’s clearly no coincidence that he’s managed to find success in poker and life. I would recommend this book to anyone that is struggling with how to think about the game and how they should approach poker, or to those who simply have an interest in how the mind of a poker player often functions.

If you'd like to pick up a copy or read a couple of other reviews first, here's the link: http://www.dailyvariance.com/poker-books/my-first-million-from-poker/

fwiw, I'm not friends with Tri nor do I know the guy so this is a completely unbiased review. I simply got an email a few weeks ago asking me if I'd review the book and it looked interesting to me so I agreed.

gl at the tables.