Dice Coach & Instructors / Newsletter / Contact / Home

Book Excerpts

The Way of The Warrior Trader

This book, as the title suggests, was intended for stock and commodity traders.   However, there are so many parallels between market trading and casino gaming, that applying Dr. McCall's Zen philosophies to what WE do at the tables is nearly seamless.   -IrishSetter

The Inner Game of Golf

Despite not being a golfer, there were several techniques in this book which were immediately useful to me and my shooting. -IrishSetter

The Way of the Warrior Trader: The Financial Risk-Taker's Guide To Samurai Courage, Confidence and Discipline. by Richard D. McCall

I was speaking with my pal Billy.  I mentioned to him that I was looking for some new reading material.  He told me that Dominator had recommended The Way of the Warrior Trader to him.  When I read the description of the book at amazon.com, I'll admit that the "samurai" reference in the title almost dissuaded me to purchase it.  Still, I thought, what the hell.

This book, as the title suggests, was intended for stock and commodity traders.   However, there are so many parallels between market trading and casino gaming, that applying Dr. McCall's Zen philosophies to what WE do at the tables is nearly seamless. 

Frequently we speak of getting into "the zone" when we're shooting the dice.  In doing so we've scratched the surface of the "Warrior Trader" approach.  Frankly, I could write a multi-page review of this book and still not do it justice.  I will however share The Way of Warrior, Samurai A.C.T.I.O.N plan.  A.C.T.I.O.N stands for:

The zen / samurai approach Dr. McCall embraces in this book, may not be everyone's cup of tea.  The "body, mind, spirit" approach may be too out there for some. Regardless, I believe there are techniques in this book that can help every precision shooter.

The A.C.T.I.O.N plan is but a small portion of the book, but it should give you a reasonable idea of the theories/principals within.

If you need further proof that the philosophies in this book can be transferred to casino gaming, ponder this.  After reading the book, I exchanged email with Dr. McCall, and discovered that he is a dice influencer as well.

For more information, click the picture of the book jacket or visit the author's website at http://www.zen-mind.com.

The Inner Game of Golf
by W. Timothy Gallwey

This book was not entirely unknown to me.  I had not previously read it because I'm not a golfer.   That doesn't mean I don't golf... I'm just not "into" golf.  If you know what I mean. 

It's a bit of a stretch, finding parallels between golf and precision shooting.  Even still, there was a great deal that I found useful in this book.  The Inner Game of Golf focuses on the mental aspect of becoming a better golfer.  The material was the perfect compliment to many of MY philosophies on precision shooting.  That being that the human body is inherently designed to learn new physical tasks like golf or precision shooting.  The failure to achieve results is generally caused by the manner in which the body is instructed.

"...learning is natural.   Even what might be called unnatural can be learned naturally.  Natural learning is easy, but being taught something unnaturally can make it very hard."

The author is a proponent of finding your own swing, versus attempting to imitate someone else's.  Similarly, I firmly believe that every dice influencer needs to find their own unique throwing style.   In other words, as my friend Dice Doc once said, "Adjust the throw to the shooter, not the shooter to the throw."

Despite not being a golfer, there were several techniques in this book which were immediately useful to me and my shooting. -IrishSetter