Why You Lose At Poker by Russell Fox and Scott Harker, a review

Players don't seek out negativity when looking for good poker books, thus a book entitled Why You Lose At Poker may not draw beginning poker readers that, say, Winning Low Limit Hold'Em will.

But Russell Fox and Scott Harker's book falls into that Mark Blade school of blunt honesty that many players struggling with their game really need to read and drill into their heads if they want to improve.  Facing facts, most poker players are losing players, and most lose because they fall into common bad habits, all of which Fox and Harker address at length over 200+ pleasantly written and readable pages in an attempt to bluntly tell readers, "Look, these are the reasons you can't seem to get ahead."

Sixteen chapters each focus on a common leak in both limit and no limit poker.  They hammer:

• bad bluffs in Limit Hold'Em
• bad bets in No Limit Hold’Em
• mechanical errors like mucking winning hands due to a misread. 

Then Fox and Harker move on to Hi/Lo Omaha and Stud in criticizing players who play for half the pot.  They typically elaborate with written accounts of fictional characters playing a hand at the game in question, followed by an explanation of the error acted out.
Fox and Harker also cover typical subjects like:

• playing without a solid bankroll
• playing scared
• not being well-read and informed on correct play
• not selecting the right game
• playing when you don't feel well.

It's counterintuitive for a player aspiring to win to pick up a book called Why You Lose At Poker, but the title shouldn't necessarily scare you away.A lot of the advice is common rhetoric in most poker materials... just not put in as bluntly a prevailing tone as Fox and Harker use in their aptly titled book.