Published in 2011, Jared Tendler and Barry Carter’s book The Mental Game of Poker is one of the few poker books that can lay genuine claim to having changed the poker landscape.

While the enemy of ‘Tilt’ and controlling that inner menace that can put any player off their game has always been a part of poker forever, never has it been better analysed than in this literary phenomenon.

The combination of a deeply intelligent author and a co-author with an innate understanding of how to appeal to poker players of all levels is something very familiar to regular readers of this series, with our recent interview with Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter about their Poker Satellite Strategy book.

Tendler and Carter’s collaboration is just as satisfying as Carter’s work with O’Kearney, and the book is just as priceless to poker players. Controlling that inner beast that can affect your poker game in a negative manner is something every professional player has had to contend with, but very few players succeed wholly in doing so. The best players in the world, however, have a real handle on their emotions, and such was the feedback after the release of The Mental Game of Poker that players of elite levels were clamouring for a copy.