[ARETE] A Girl's Guide to Poker

Wed Feb 17 14:14:54 CST 2021

All,
Please find below and attached Jeremy Larance's review of Amanda Botfeld, *A
Girl's Guide to Poker*.
Thanks
Duncan

Amanda Botfeld, *A Girl’s Guide to Poker *(D &B Publishing, 2020)

Reviewed by Jeremy Larance, West Liberty University

“Seeing a woman at poker tables is like flopping a set or making a flush—it

happens, but don’t count on it.”

                        ---Amanda Botfeld

Given the sheer number of how-to-play-poker books published every year, one
might reasonably ask if there is a compelling reason to read Amanda
Botfeld’s *A Girl’s Guide to Poker *(2019), especially—one might also
reasonably ask—if one is not a girl. A lot probably depends on what one
thinks “A Girl’s Guide to…” means. Search for that phrase and you’ll easily
find dozens of titles like

●       *A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing*

●       *A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance*

●       *A Woman's Guide to Cannabis: Using Marijuana to Feel Better, Look
Better, Sleep Better-and Get High Like a Lady*

●       *A Woman's Guide to Spiritual Warfare: How to Protect Your Home,
Family and Friends from Spiritual Darkness*

●       *A Woman's Guide to the Wild: Your Complete Outdoor Handbook*

●       *The Woman's Guide to Running for Office and Changing the World*

Most of these books are obviously published under the assumption that women
want guides that will help then navigate topics stereotypically reserved
for, or typically only enjoyed by, men. And, not surprisingly, *A Girl’s
Guide to Poker* is not the first guide for women who are interested in
participating in the male-dominated culture of poker.

In 2002, Laura A. Van Vleet and G. L. Norris published *Playing with the
Big Boys: A Woman’s Guide to Poker* in which they write, “We have taken
these games, demystified them, and redefined them in an easy-to-follow
manner, all with a decidedly feminine twist.” Over three quarters of the
book, however, is little more than a collection of rules for various forms
of poker, mostly wild-card games that the “Big Boys” would probably not
even consider authentic poker. There is very little strategy and not much
of a “feminine twist” beyond referring to the players as “Goddesses” and
expounding on trivial aspects of poker like good luck charms and pre-game
rituals. “These are the mysterious and magical, the winsome and slightly
absurd elements of Poker,” they write, “They are felt and seen with the
inner eye, and though not tangible as other facets of the game, they should
never be fully discounted.” In other words, the authors openly reason that
“A Woman’s Guide to Poker” does not mean actually playing “*with* the big
boys” as much as it means to embrace trifling aspects of the game.

This is where Botfeld’s *A Girl’s Guide to Poker* differs. Her guide
*is *written
for women, but it could just as easily be a valuable guide to any gender.
“I never set out to write a ‘women’s’ poker book,” she writes, “I simply
wrote it in my own voice.”

   When I first spoke to a female poker pro about writing *A Girl’s Guide
to Poker,* she liked the idea but wanted to make sure it
wasn’t…well…stupid. (I believe her word was “diminutive.”)

   “Like pink razors?” I replied.

   “Exactly”, she said.

   Feminine, but also sharp.

Her “Girl’s Guide to...” does not hinge on the idea that one needs to
trivialize a subject to give it a “feminine twist.” She is, instead,
attempting to help women find their voices at the poker table, rejecting
decades of chauvinism and exclusion while, at the same time, embracing more
feminine characteristics like intuition and receptiveness. Women, she
suggests, are simply more confident in their ability to use their “social
and/or emotional intelligence” than men, making it easier for them to
“learn people” before they “learn poker.” She stresses the point that
although poker “is very math-oriented and utilizes skills that are
traditionally ‘guyish,’ creative, connected, right-brain thinking is a
major asset.” The best way to utilize that asset, she argues, is to turn
the game into a story: “Whenever you’re playing poker, ask yourself what
story you’re telling.”

Section titles throughout *A Girl’s Guide to Poker* emphasize story-telling
aspects of the game: “Tell Me a Story,” “Continue the Story,” “A Tale of
Two Stories,” “A Story…,” “Plot Twist,” “Alternate Ending,” “The Sequel,”
“What makes a good poker story?,” and--in a nod to her profession as a
journalist--“Author’s Choice.” Botfeld is certainly not the first poker
author to make this connection to learning how to play poker and learning
how to read (people, cards, etc.), but her emphasis on a woman’s
perspective to storytelling

is unique and convincing.

Unfortunately, it is worth noting that the visuals in *A Girl’s Guide to
Poker* do, at times, detract from her premise. While this might seem
nitpicky, there are literally photos on every other page, making it clear
that someone, either the publisher or Botfeld herself, felt this was
necessary. This would not be so problematic if it weren’t for the fact that
the grand majority of these images are clearly cheap stock photos that
often have little to nothing to do with the text. In a section about
checking, for example, the accompanying photo is of a woman (clearly a
model) working on a laptop and drinking coffee in her pristine office. To
be fair, she *might *be checking while playing online poker, but the next
image of a stoic woman (also clearly a model) sitting in a dark alleyway
with a pistol in her hand is even more disconcerting. Again, if not for the
overwhelming number of these stock photos, it would be easy to dismiss such
things as trivial, but they do make the book look more amateurish than the
quality of the writing deserves.

But the question remains, why read* A Girl’s Guide to Poker* when so many
guides are already available? Is it as comprehensive as Doyle Brunson’s
magnum opus, *Super/System*? Certainly not. But as a poker primer, you
could do a lot worse, especially in relation to the fundamentals of Texas
Hold’em. Little is said about other forms of poker, but, as Botfeld notes,
Texas Hold’em is what most people think of today when they think of poker,
and, thanks to the popularity of televised Texas Hold’em tournaments, most
casual fans will likely cut their poker teeth playing in a low-stakes
tournament.

In the end, reading Botfeld’s guide purely for strategy would be a mistake.
What truly sets this guide apart, and what makes it an interesting read, is
the style and the quality of the writing itself: “Told with a female flair
and girlish glam” while “teaching the ins and outs of the game with style,
sophistication, and moxie.” Like many of the best poker writers (James
McManus, Maria Konnikova, et al.), Botfield is a journalist whose skills as
a writer make her an exceptionally effective professor of poker, regardless
of her student’s gender. Her emphasis on style is what makes Botfeld’s
manual an unique and entertaining read, even for someone not all that
interested in learning how to play poker. “The key to good poker,” she
reminds us, “is storytelling.”

Remember to smell the roses as you recumber past

Duncan R. Jamieson, Ph. D.
Professor of History
Book Review Editor
*AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature*
Ashland University
Ashland, OH  44805
USA
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ku.edu/pipermail/sport_literature_association/attachments/20210217/5a462cff/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Botfeld, Girl's Guide to Poker.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 17715 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ku.edu/pipermail/sport_literature_association/attachments/20210217/5a462cff/attachment-0001.docx>