10/14/2010
10/10/2010
Book Reviews UPDATED: 10/10/10
I've been asked by some of you
to recommend some poker books to read.
Below are my recommendations,
descriptions, and ratings for each book.
Feel free to post your comments about
what books helped you most.
Note: I recommend buying online from
AMAZON.ca as they have a great selection,
best service and are almost always cheaper
(often Significantly Cheaper) than bookstores
or Chapters. Using the links provided is even
better because I receive a percentage of your
purchase, which I donate 100% to local FoodBank.
WINNING LOW LIMIT HOLDEM - Lee Jones
While much of this book is based on
low stakes, limit holdem Ring games,
the information is relevant to all types
of holdem poker. I
This book is crammed full of easily
understandable fundamental knowledge
that every poker player needs (This book
teaches a tight style that can make you
a winning casino poker player).
Topics include starting hands, pot odds,
considerations for each round of betting,
position, deception, how to play various hands,
check-raise, free cards, and lots more.
New edition has been released since I read it.
Excellent choice for 1st poker book.
My rating: 9.5/10
POKER: THE REAL DEAL - Phil Gordon
One thing that makes this a decent first
book is that that it tries to be entertaining
and its not overloaded with strategy that
might discourage and overwhelm someone
fairly new to the game of holdem.
It describes the poker lifestyle with lots of
insight from Phil's WPT/WSOP experience.
Its written in a light-hearted, somewhat
comedic style which is in line with Phil's
real life pesona. It makes reference to
some of the best poker books written
(for those who want to continue their
education) and takes some of the most
important ideas from them and puts
them into simple terms. Covers all the
basics like starting hands, pot odds,
position, expected value, semi-bluffing,
etc. An easy and entertaining read.
My rating: 7/10
PHIL GORDON's LITTLE GREEN BOOK
A great starting place that covers
much of the fundamentals of NL Holdem
in a very easy to read, short paragraph style.
A mostly tournament, but some cash game
information. Covers all the bases like
position, pot odds, aggression, pre-flop and
post-flop play, playing from the blinds, tells,
& tournament strategy. Has more meat than,
Phil's The Real Deal. Excellent 1st book.
My rating: 9.0 /10
PHIL GORDON's LITTLE BLUE BOOK
The follow up to PGLGB is laid out
with problem quizes from 70+ of Phils
most memorable hands. Covers situations
from cash games, sit'n'go's, satelites and
tournaments. Thoroughly covers Early-Mid-Late
stages and Final Table play. Gives you the
thought process and analysis you need to
develop to make good decisions. If you read
the Green book, the Blue is a great follow up.
My rating: 8.75/10
WINNING AT POKER - Dave Scharf
Canadian Scharf's first book is a decent one. It's an easy to read book focused on limit poker and 7-card stud. It covers the rules, basic strategy, hand selection, player classification, bluffing, tells, etc. Get it before you hit the casino. Aimed at beginners, a good 1st book.
My rating: 8 / 10
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 1 - Dan Harrington
A tournament specific holdem book that has
become THE GOLD STANDARD against which all
future books will be judged. Chapters are divided
out into key concepts and real-table problems
that you must try to work out yourself.
Harrington does not confuse you with lots of
mathematical formulas but uses simple pot
odds calculations and playing the individual
opponent. No-Limit Hold'em is more of an art
which focuses on position and players rather
than rigid mathematical formulas and this book
teaches you how to develop that. Solid advice
on early tournament play. Maybe the Best book of tournament fundamentals Ever Written! Excellent choice for 1st book.
My rating: 9.5/10 Must Read
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 2 - Dan Harrington
Like Vol. 1, this is all meat-no filler.
Vol. 2 jumps right into solid information
on later stage tournament play including
making moves, inflection points,
calculating "M", shorthanded and
heads-up play. If you read Vol.1,
you will buy #2, trust me.
My rating: 10/10 Must Read Tournament Material
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 3 - Dan Harrington
This is a workbook to evaluate and
develop strategies learned in the 2 previous volumes.
My rating: 9/10
THE THEORY OF POKER - David Sklansky
Definitely not the first book you should read
(probably not the 2nd either). Much of
Sklanskys work is not easy to read and
must be studied and absorbed, rather than
just read for you to understand and obtain
maximum benefit from it.
Having said all that, this is considered by
most literati to be the single most important
book on poker ever published.
The Theory of Poker does not contain a lot
of information on how to play certain hands,
and where it does, it is only to illustrate a
bigger point. The methodology taught here
is to understand general situations, not specific
instances that you encounter in play, hence
the title The THEORY of Poker. Topics include:
pot odds, effective odds, implied odds,
reverse implied odds, the semi-bluff,
defending against the semi-bluff,
check-raising, slowplaying, advanced game
theory, hand reading, and psychology.
My Rating: 7 / 10
SMALL STAKES HOLDEM - Miller, Sklansky, Malmuth
If you have a very solid understanding of the game, this would be a good 1st or 2nd book. Focuses on LIMIT, but much of the ideas are applicable to NL. Unlike many other books about small stakes games that teach you to play VERY tight and play only premium hands, SSH teaches the aggressive and attacking style used by all professional players. However, it does not simply tell you to play aggressively; it shows you how to make expert decisions through numerous clear and detailed examples. SSH teaches you to think like a professional player. Topics include: implied odds, pot equity, speculative hands, position, the importance of being suited, hand categories, counting outs, evaluating the flop, large pots versus small pots, protecting your hand, betting for value on the river, and playing overcards.
My Rating: 9/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM THEORY & PRACTICE - Ed Miller
Like The Theory of Poker, this book must
be studied rather than read for the reader
to absorb and obtain maximum benefit
from it. It is not a recipe book that tells you
what to do if you have top pair and your
opponent bets. It will teach you what factors
you should consider when you make your
decisions and how excellent players think
about the game. Some sections include
bluff-sizing, bluffing on the turn and the river,
playing the nuts on the river, value betting
on the river, raising before the flop, sizing
your pre-flop raises with a deep or short stack,
calling bluffs, check-raising, adjusting to loose
games, weak tight games, and calling pre-flop
all-in raises. Definitely not a beginner book,
but highly recommended reading to take your
game to another level.
My rating: 9.5/10 Must Read for NL Cash players
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. Quite possibly my favourite book of all time. I found all the stories of gambling with other legends of poker fascinating. I'm certain that someone who had no interest in poker would still enjoy this book. If you dont know who Stu Ungar is, you should. He won over 350 tournaments including 3 WSOP main event championships and 3 Superbowl of Poker championships. He was unquestionably the best Gin player ever, and likely the best poker player ever. The book documents Stu Ungars life from growing up the son of a New York bookmaker to becoming the most dominant gin and poker player of his time to his drug addiction and his dieing broke in a cheap motel room. (His drug addiction actually caused him to sleep through the last two days of the 1990 WSOP. Even missing the last 2 days, he had such a huge chip lead, he finished 9th !!)
I think the best thing about the way this book is written is how the authors seemlessly weave first-person stories with information gathered from people who knew Stu. Stu actually tells you much of his own life story through the many quotes obtained by the author during several interviews. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud.
Here's an example:Stuey was playing a $100-$200 seven-card-stud game, talking a mile a minute and winning just about every pot. All of a sudden he got up and said "I need to take a piss". He turned around and saw Mike Sexton on the rail. "Sexton, get in here and pick up a hand for me". Sexton sits down and picks up 9-10 of diamonds, J of diamonds up card. By fifth street, Sexton had a straight to the Queen. Other players were jamming the pot, it was raised and reraised before it got to Sexton who made it 4 bets, cutting off at $800. As the dealer gathered the chips, Stuey ran up to the table and became ecstatic at the sight of the huge pot. "Alright !" he yelled. "Whatta we got, whatta we got?". He moved in behind Sexton, who obligingly peeled back the tips of his down cards, revealing the straight. Stuey managed to keep a poker face as the sixth card and then the seventh and final card were dealt, with more chips going into the pot each round. There was now a mammoth pile of black tiger-striped chips in the center of the table. Two players had started out with three of a kind and never improved. Sexton's straight held up. It took the dealer three hearty shoves to get all the chips over to Sextons corner of the table. Standing behind Sexton like a proud father, Stuey was only too happy to salt the wounds of his pissed-off adversaries. "You guys are so bad, i can beat you while I'm in the shit house," he cackled.
I wasnt involved in poker when Stu unger was alive, so i hadnt seen any footage or read any accounts of the man or his play. This book has plenty of examples that make it clear how he played. "Go back and look at all the World Series tournaments I played in. As soon as they reached the level where antes began, when the blinds first went to one and two hundred, within an hour I had just about every single twenty-five dollar chip on the table. I went after the antes so much, they had to go into my stack to make change".
His aggression was only half of his game the other half was an INCREDIBLE ability to read people. (In the movie "High Roller", he bets $10k that he knows all 10 of his opponents cards after only 4 discards in a gin game)
Quite possibly the best ever at it. A perfect example was the $100,000 winner takes all heads-up match to regain his lost pride..against Mansour Matloubi (the guy who won the WSOP that Stu slept through). Stuey opened for $1,600 in the small blind, and Mansour called with 4-5 off suit. After a flop of 3-3-7 rainbow, Stuey bet $6,000 - he started the hand with $60,000 to Mansour's $40,000 - and Mansour called the $6,000 bet. On fourth street, a K came off and both players checked. On the river a Q came off to make a board of 3-3-7-K-Q, and Mansour smelling weakness in Stuey, bet his last $32,000 or so. Stuey looked "right through" Mansour, and within ten seconds he said, "You have 4-5 or 5-6. I'm gonna call you with this". Stuey then flipped up 10-9, and called the $32,000 bet with ten-high. Wow, what an unbelievable call! Stuey can't even beat a jack-high bluff with his hand, never mind a pair. After Stuey called Mansour looked up at the ceiling and said " I feel so crushed, its almost like a bulldozer just ran over me."
My Rating: 10/10
MILLION DOLLAR HOLDEM: Limit Cash Games by Johnny Chan
While there is some decent info inside,
and its easy to read, MDH is not on my
rush out and read list. One thing that
bothered me a bit was how the game
scenarios played out. Kind of blew my
mind actually. 44 of 55 hands not decided
pre-flop end in victory for the hero.
It seems more like fantasy than any
Limit holdem game i've ever played in.
There was some good info on seat, table,
and limit selection, along with bankroll
and lifestyle management. Ultimately,
there is nothing ground breaking in MDH that you can't find elsewhere.
Buy Small Stakes Holdem by Ed Miller
or LLHE by Lee Jones instead. My Rating: 4/10
KILL PHIL - Blair Rodman, Lee Nelson
MONEYMAKER - Chris Moneymaker
If you've read this far down, i'm sure you know who Moneymaker is. This book tells story of the accountant from Tennessee who turned $40 into $2.5million at the 2003 WSOP .
The book seems to give a fairly honest account of his life leading up to and including his huge win. It tells how he won a seat in the World Series of Poker by putting up only $40 for a satellite at Pokerstars, how he overcame first-day jitters sitting with his heroes, learning from the pros, and the Main Event experience.
About the first third of the book cuts back and forth between background on Moneymaker, the events that lead to his arrival at the World Series, and his recollections of the event itself. Once the setup is done, the rest of the book goes into a surprising amount of detail about the events of that fateful week and provides some information on the aftermath.
The background material was surprisingly candid. Moneymaker makes the claim that his low-stakes online poker playing was in some measure a way for him to keep a big sports betting problem in check. He recounts both the good and bad aspects of his upbringing and history in a way that sheds a great deal of light on his character. He isn't looking for sympathy. Even though Moneymaker doesn't paint a terribly flattering picture of himself here, there is something admirable in this sort of honesty.
The book doesnt try to make Moneymaker a compelling character or a person who was destined for greatness or anything like that. He comes across as a guy who happened to stumble across a winning lottery ticket. I think it makes him someone most people could relate to.
The book isnt fine literature (Its written the way i would expect Chris Moneymaker to talk) and it wont teach you a thing about winning poker, but it is a fairly entertaining look at someone who accomplished the poker dream that many of us would love to duplicate.
My Rating: 7/10
KILL PHIL - Blair Rodman
First off, the title "Kill Phil" doesnt refer to Phil Helmuth even though he is on the cover. Its not Phil Gordon, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak or any other big time pro. Phil is any player that you come across in a tournament that is simply more experienced and better than you.
I'm sure a lot of you have watched enough poker on TV to have heard the term "AIS - All In Specialist", "MIS - Move In Specialist", or the "All In Artist". Doyle Brunson calls it 2-card Holdem. These terms refer to players who basically have 2 moves, all-in or fold. They are looked down upon by a lot of pro's, commentators, and poker purists. But still, these players seem to have decent success and make it deep into some major tournaments like the WSOP and WPT against the worlds best players. Kill Phil examines the ins and outs of the all-in philosophy.
Rodman and Nelson arent the first to come up with this general strategy. David Sklansky's "The System" from his book Tournament Poker for Advanced Players talked about a system that he devised for a complete novice who wanted to participate in the WSOP . The system was based on a rigid list of starting hands and the requirement to push all in when these hands came up. Rodman and Nelson acknowledge Sklansky's work and have added their own ideas to it. Why does this strategy work ? Basically, most experienced tournament players are just not willing to risk their tournament life preflop to call an all-in if they have less than Aces or Kings.
If you've watched as much TV poker as I have, i'm sure you've noticed that almost all great players (when they have good sized stacks) want to play small pot poker until they have the nuts. They play "small ball" by chopping away at small and medium pots without risking their stacks unless they have the nuts, which really means they aren't risking much at all. Most pro's try to get their chips in post flop after they know they have the best hand. Kill Phil offers you a way to counteract the experience of veteran players by using a hyper aggressive style that takes them out of their comfort zone and gives them few opportunities to play back at you.
A quote from Phil Helmuth in the book:
"Personally, I will go to great lengths to avoid putting all of my chips at risk in any hand,because when I'm all-in, then it's possible for me to be eliminated. For example, I folded pocket Queens in the main even of the WSOP even though I thought my opponent had a smaller pair. In that particular case, I was right. My opponent had pocket sevens giving me a 17% chance of being eliminated. If I'm going that far to avoid being all-in, then it's correct for you to move all-in on me almost every hand."
Sections 2-4 give progressively more advanced forms of the Kill Phil move-in strategy. Their strategy is more than just "go all-in with XX", it considers position, stack size, limpers, playing in the blinds, the number of opponents, etc, etc. As you progress from KP Rookie, KP Basic, KP Basic +, and KP Expert you are introduced to more concepts and playing options.
KP Rookie advocates (much as Sklansky originally did) pushing all-in preflop with only the very strongest hands. They do address post flop play, but only for those occasions that you are in an unraised big blind and see a flop for free. The authors admit that this most basic of systems is not really practical in today's environment due to the influx of unskilled and overly aggressive Internet players.
KP Basic introduces their concepts of CPR (cost per round), CSI (chip status index) also known as "M"...and the KP four levels of stack size.
KP Basic+ introduce more refinements related to potentially calling short stack all-ins with hands "outside the rules" and a few othervariations to KP Basic.
KP Expert describes "outside the box" plays that can be used once you are comfortable with Basic +.
If you have plans to play in, or win a seat in a big stakes tournament against player you know are more skilled than you, this book will offer you a way to compete.
My Rating: 8.5/10
IN THE MONEY, - Antonio Esfandiari
Overall pretty disappointing... mostly because a few years ago I heard him personally promoting the book on tv, touting it as "giving away about 20% of the top strategies that separate the big boys from the wannabe's", which prompted me to buy it.
Here's what I learned from this book:
"In no-limit play, knowing your opponent and using position can make you a lot of money"
"If you are playing no-limit, it is extremely important to know your opponents and their tendancies."
"Texas Holdem is a game of position... When you have position you have to exploit the advantage. You have to take control of the table. You can loosen up your starting requirements."
"Winning players make the necessary adjustments. Losing players do not."
"Remember that the best way to make money is to fold"
I guess i'm ready to turn pro now ! ! ! (Sarcasm)
The book is written with a similar style to Eric Lingrens WPT book. Big on generalities, short on specifics. It wont make you a better player unless you are totally new to the game, and only watched it on tv. If you are fans of either of these players, its probably worth the $16 to hear the stories of the big time poker lifestyle. Gambling on anything and everything, drinkin Dom, slammin women, and hangin with Phil Laak & other poker players.
The book included a dvd of "The Magician's" Chip Tricks. Also very disappointing. 3 chip tricks, one of which is chip shuffle/riffle.
My Rating: 3/10
MAKING THE FINAL TABLE - Erick Lindgren, Matt Matros
Overall, Making the Final Table is a semi-entertaining book that has a few key ideas about a successful approach to tournament poker.
The biggest of which can be summed up in my blog post here:
http://pictour.blogspot.com/2006/10/tournaments-survival-vs-accumulating.html
If you dream of playing in a WPT tournament, this book might fuel your dream. It really doesn't much get into specifics and seems to struggle to find meat to fill its meager 130 pages.
Oh, I know ! ! ! Lets put tables that list the WPT all-time money winners/ WPT players of the year in the book. That should fill 30+ pages.
My Rating: 3.5/10
THE POKER TOURNAMENT FORMULA - Arnold Snyder
TPTF offers to teach you how to analyze poker tournament structures and adapt your play for each tournament. It provides a fairly simple method for quantifying any tournament’s speed based on its blind structure.
Many fast tournaments are so fast they have little if any value for skillful players, regardless of the players’ understanding of poker or tournament strategies. Skilled players would be wise to pick tournaments based on their profit potential, (buy-in cost and prize pool are not always good indicators of value). The blind structure is the real key.
The Patience Factor formula basically is a way to quantify the speed of a tournament, and what I tend to call "how much tournament I get for my money". The faster the tournament, i.e. the quicker your stack would dwindle in comparison to blinds, the more likely luck takes over and skill becomes less important.
This book has caused more heated debates amongst the poker literati and followers of Harrington and Sklansky than any other in recent history.
Much of the hullaballoo has to do with the idea that fast tournaments require a different strategy from slow tournaments. (Fast and slow here refers to how quickly the blinds and antes go up.) As Harrington and others have shown, it's not speed that counts, but your overall chip position relative to the cost of playing each round. This is what they call "M" and when your M gets low, you have to begin making very aggressive plays. But when your M is fairly large, you have the option to play normally.
One of the unique concepts in the book is that Hold 'Em is a complex version of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Rock = chips. Paper = Cards. Scissors = Position.
Chips beat Position, Cards beat Chips, Position beats Cards.
The Rock/Paper/Scissors model tries to identify the power relationships of the tools you have available to you at the poker table..
One of the key lessons of The Poker Tournament Formula is using position as a weapon to to win money regardless of the cards in your hand. Th book is an advanced course in theft. It shows you how to exploit these tools to steal from your opponents.
Another great part of this book is the rebuy and add-on advice. If you're a player who avoids rebuy tourneys because you don't know if you should rebuy, add-on or when to do it, this book will give you great insight.
Overall, this is a very interesting and unique book. It displays a unique mix of theory, psychology and (most important of all) practical application which you can apply to low buy-in tournaments. While maybe not the perfect 'tournament system', players at all levels should be able to take away some great ideas.
THE PROFESSOR, THE BANKER & THE SUICIDE KING - Michael Craig
Synopsis: Billionaire Andy Beal plays heads up against "The Corporation" , which is made up of Ted Forrest, Jenn Harman, Doyle & Todd Brunson, Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein, and a few select others. My Rating: 8 / 10
POSITIVELY FIFTH STREET - James McManus
Synopsis: In 2000, Jim McManus was sent to Las Vegas by Harper's magazine to cover the WSOP. Instead of reporting on it, McManus used the $4000 advance from Harper's to entertain himself with strippers, prescription drugs and enter satellite tournaments. He qualified and made it to the main event final table. A very wordy tale, get out your dictionary. My Rating: 7.25 / 10
NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM: A COMPLETE COURSE - Angel Largay
Synopsis: A primer for low buyin casino cash games. Spends time on the basics then gets to the meat. The object of low limit NL is to bust or double through your opponents and he shows how to go about that. Covers game selection, player stereotyping, adjusting to playing styles, playing preflop and postflop, plus a few gems of wisdom that have won/saved me money. Read this book before moving on to PNLH by Miller or Harrington On Cash. My Rating: 8.5 / 10
GETTING STARTED IN HOLDEM - Ed Miller
Synopsis: This is an easy to read beginner's book. It introduces many aspects like rules, limit vs. no-limit, tournaments, starting hands, pot odds, implied odds, pot equity, the importance of aggression, hand domination, hand protection, value betting, position, semi-bluffing, etc. The emphasis is on Limit, but does cover NL. This may become my new recommended First Poker Book for people to read. My Rating: 9.25 / 10
GAMBLING THEORY & OTHER TOPICS - Mason Malmuth
Synopsis: Like most of Malmuth (and Sklansky's) other books, this one is a bit out-dated and not that easy to read given its mostly a compilation of previous essays, but it's material worth go over to help understand not just the "how to", but more the "why to" of gambling.Not quite sure what to rate it. Its the kind of book that one person may get anything out of.... and for the next person it becomes a bible. 7/10 ?
CHAMPIONSHIP OMAHA - T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy
Synopsis: Until very recently, this was one of only a couple books ever written on Omaha strategy. This will give you a basic understanding of starting hands how to play them, along with some real gems of wisdom. Like the Cloutier/McEvoy books on holdem, the advice given is way to tight for how people play today, but still extremely valuable. My rating: 7 / 10
CHAMPIONSHIP NL & PL HOLD'EM - T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy
Synopsis: A thorough overview of how to play super tight tournament poker. This style worked well 10-20 years ago when TJ and Tom were winning tournaments, but its almost hopeless in all but the biggest tournies with the super slow structures. Today's aggressive players would run you over if you tried to play this way. Its still worth reading, plenty of insights into tournament strategy that can be adapted to today. My rating: 6 / 10
WEIGHING THE ODDS IN HOLD'EM - King Yao
Synopsis: I bought this book a couple years ago and I still haven't finished it. It just doesnt captivate me. While the first half of the book covers a lot of the basics, this text is aimed at Limit holdem players who are atleast at the intermediate and advanced levels. If you like Sklansky/Malmuth EV & math type equations, you found your next book. This text will require some serious study time to fully absorb what it has to offer.
AMARILLO SLIM In A World Full Of Fat People
THE (ALMOST) ENTIRELY TRUE STORY of the WSOP - J. Grotenstein & S. Reback
A well written, well researched history of the first 35 years of the WSOP. Each year they chronicle the key hands and players and walk you through the history of the event. Its a fascinating book if you enjoy the history of the game. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned some new facts. Rating: 8/10
ANNIE DUKE, How I blah blah blah - Annie Duke
Why do I always refer to her as "Annie Douche" ? Still havent read it. Anyone care to review this for me ?
POKER NATION - Andy Bellin
TELLING LIES & GETTING PAID; Gambling Stories - Michael Konik
BIG DEAL; A Year as as Professional Poker Player - Anthony Holden
BIGGER DEAL; A Year Inside The Poker Boom - Anthony Holden
POKER FACE; A Girlhood Among Gamblers - Katy Lederer
EVERY HAND REVEALED - Gus Hansen
Gus's account of his 2007 Aussie Millions victory, with descriptions of 329 hands from the beginning of Day 1 to the end of heads-up.
HEADS-UP NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM - Collin Moshman
Synopsis: Surprised that it took so long for someone to write a book on this topic since its a weakness of so many players. The book has 7 sections include the All-In decision; Value betting and Effective stack sizes; Exploiting Styles & Defeating tight-aggressive opponents; Pot size manipulation; Thinking multiple moves in advance & Price-setting the River. Also, Calling Button Raises; Attacking Button Limps; Checking the Turn when You are Strong; Finishing Off an Opponent. One section is devoted to cash and tournament formats including freeze-outs; and a final section discusses table selection; seizing online edges; tilt control; timing tells and reverse tells. Put on your MATH helmuts ! !
THE SMART MONEY; How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions - Michael Konik
This books gives a rare first hand glimpse into the world of high-stakes sports betting. It's well written, and I'm glad I read it, but I felt disappointed at the end. It kind of reminds me of a politicians speech. A lot was said and in the moment, it seemed substantive, but when its over you feel empty and realize they didnt really give you any meaty information. 7.25 /10
POWER HOLD'EM STRATEGY - Daniel Negreanu
Synopsis: Half of this 500-page textbook is occupied by contributions from Negreanu's five collaborators: Evelyn Ng, Todd Brunson, Erick Lindgren, Paul Wasicka, and David Williams. Much of Negreanu's 200-page contribution is about Small Ball poker and Post-flop play. Negreanu's section is well written and organized. Some of the other info is weak (E. Ng)
Rating: 7.75/10
KILL EVERYONE (Kill Phil - Advanced Strategies) - Lee Nelson
Synopsis: If you found Kill Phil improved your tournament play, get this book. Dont expect it to be a true KP Vol.2, but it does expand on some of the ideas from the original. Second section of this book gets into the "equilibrium move-in strategies". This is the meat of KE. Tough to digest, math intense, but worth the effort. Overall, the book doesnt flow as well as KillPhil.
Rating: 7.75 / 10
AMERICAN CASINO GUIDE - Steve Bourie
I buy a couple of these before I go to vegas. Just one of the 2 for 1 buffet coupons more than covers the cost of the book. Fantastic Value !! My Rating: 10/10
FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE: - Lederer, Ferguson, Juanda, et al.
The most anticipated Tournament Poker book since HOH. Written by the who's who of modern poker, Lederer, Juanda, Ferguson, Matusow, Seed, Forest, Bloch, and the list goes on. It has been touted as the Super System of tournament poker, in that it is a compilation by different authors rather than a flowing Point A-B-C book.
This book is GOLD baby ! If you're really serious about tournaments, this book would be the next natural step after reading Harrington 1-3. This isnt a beginners manual. There are a lot of advanced concepts and real meaty information throughout. Unlike the Johnny Chan book (for example), this book delves into how these players/authors really play and the strategies/concepts they use. Gavin Smith's chapter "No-Limit Hold'Em: Big Stack Play illustrates my point well. Section 1 - Steal Early, Steal Often. Section 2 - The First-In Steal. Section 3 - The Flat-Call Steal. Section 4 - Attack Weakness, Avoid Strength. Section 5 - Late in the Tournament. Now doesnt that sound Exactly like the Gavin Smith that you've watched on tv ?
I'm really looking forward to absorbing the chapters on 7-card stud and omaha tournaments, as those are two games i really want to improve in.
My Rating: 9.5 / 10
Definitely buy this book.
MACHIAVELLIAN POKER STRATEGY: How to Play Like a Prince and Rule the Poker Table - David Apostolico
Had this book given to me as a gift. I tend to go for pure strategy books, so i probably wouldnt have picked this book up, especially since i wasnt familiar with Machiavelli in the first place. This is a great book, that i really enjoyed.
I would call this a thinking man's strategy book that takes a philosophical approach to obtaining and keeping power and being a leader at the poker table.
Apostolico takes the writings of the noted 16th century Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli and applies these theories to working a poker table. Machiavelli is most noted for his treatise on governments and how rulers should lead their subjects, which he demonstrated in his groundbreaking work "The Prince."
Through his analysis of Machiavelli's writings on Virtu (a combination of strength, skill and other abilities), Fortune, Power and Free Will, Apostolico demonstrates how to utilize these and other segments of Machiavelli's thoughts to improve a poker player's game at the tables and how to implement them as well.
My Rating: 9 / 10
SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL POT LIMIT OMAHA (with DVD) - Rolf Slotboom
I love omaha, and this is probably the best book about it out there. Short stack cash game play, lots of detail and provocative ideas. I'll put up a more detailed review when Tony S. gives me my book back (Hint, hint).
My Rating: 9/10
Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games: Short-Handed & High-Stakes Concepts - Nick Grudzien, Geoff Herzog
This is newer book out from 2+2 (publishers of Sklansky,Malmuth,Harrington, etc). This book promises to be a classic. There has been a significant gap in the vintage of limit hold ‘em literature. Titles that may have served a player well 15-20 yrs ago, became less optimal in 2003 as new, inexperienced players were drawn to the game. Four years later those new inexperienced players generally either got very good, went broke or switched games. What’s left is NOT a game where players are “literally giving their money away” as Sklansky once described but games in which a player can assume the competition is quite tough and skilled.
A major focus of the book is hand ranges and equity. The conclusions drawn are heavily indebted to the playing environment created by tools such as Poker Tracker and PokerStove (both of which are credited in the book). As such the authors present less a mathematical approach but a purely statistical one. Hand reading is assigned to ranges and correct play is a response to those ranges. There are none of the equations that you'll find in “NLHET&P” or “Mathematics of Poker”.
A large portion of the book’s early pages is devoted to Poker Tracker type data from winning players and the advice derived is then fit into an equity model. The authors offer both hand ranges to steal and to defend and make suggestions as to the adjustments to be made against certain player profiles.
The book is written in a style where the authors give the reader a lot of credit for understanding concepts. Stox and Zobags treat the reader like a peer.
The writing in the book is generally quite good. It is miles ahead of the choppy writing of older era poker books like TOP or HEFAP but it still isn’t up to the standards of the HOH series. There are spots where the reader may have to reread the occasional paragraph or section because the writing is not entirely clear.
This not a book for beginners, and intermediates will likely have to read it multiple times. The authors assume that the reader has a great deal of experience and some playing exposure to these tough games. There are starting hand outlines and a step by step discussion of play, but a beginner, or a player who plays at lower stakes will be challenged by the material.
If you play limit hold ‘em you should read this book. It may not be a revelation to the best of the higher stakes and shorthanded player base, but the majority of readers will find much in it that will help their games. Most importantly this book is the first to address the very different nature of current limit hold ‘em games and the authors have made a very worthy addition to the body of poker knowledge."
My Rating: 8.5/10
CARO'S FUNDAMENTAL SECRETS Of WINNING POKER - Mike Caro
This book is basically a condensed version of the material Mike Caro gives in most of his live seminars. Its hard to describe this book, its not typical. Its looks are a bit deceiving.
A lot of the information seems very general at first. For example, "Caro's Law of Least Tilt: Among similarly skilled opponents, the player with the most discipline is the favorite." Sounds pretty obvious that "for skilled players, the key to winning is simply playing your best game all the time".
Here's another example: "Many skilled players suffer from FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). They'd rather impress weak opponents with unexpected plays than beat them with the obvious winning strategy. Avoid FPS."
These simple points he makes really ARE the Fundamental Secrets of poker success.
The book is mostly about hold'em, but there is some tournament strategy in the book and Caro has a chapter on seven-card stud and seven-card H/L. His chapter on the subject of money management is excellent. Content might be a little over the head of a beginner, and too fundamental for experienced players, but overall its definitely worth your time to read.
My Rating: 7.75 / 10
Synopsis: One of the best texts for single-table SNG play. Differentiates correct play versus MTT's. Not the easiest to read, but its filled with must-know, top notch info. Covers stuff like steal/re-steal/ultra-aggression, EV, tournament equity, and Independant Chip Model (ICM).
My Rating: 8 / 10
PROFESSIONAL NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM - Ed Miller
Synopsis: Cash game strategies/concepts. If you play live cash games, get this book (unless you're playing against me, then definitely do not read this book). Subjects include Commitment Threshold, Stack to Pot Ratios, Putting Opponents on a Range of Hands, The Value of Your Hand compared to the range of hands your opponent has (Equity), Optimizing your actions to make the most money in the long run, + more. My Rating: 10 /10
Synopsis: A very thorough, well written text on playing the tight-aggressive style. Covers fundaments like pot commitment and bet sizing along with pre-flop and flop play.This book series will likely raise the level of cash game play everywhere like HOH did for tournaments. My rating: 8/10
HARRINGTON ON CASH GAMES, Vol. 2
Synopsis: Vol. 1 & 2 are meant to be read together, its basically one giant book in two volumes. Vol.2 covers proper play for the turn & river. My Rating: 8.5 / 10
POKER TOURNAMENT FORMULA #2 - Arnold Snyder
Synopsis: PTF2 changes focus from Fast Structure NLH tournys to big money Slow Structure tournament strategy. All Meat, no filler. This is a fantastic read ! If you're a "Harringbot", watch out, the PTF2 readers are out to crush you. My Rating: 9/10
HARRINGTON ON CASH GAMES, Vol. 1
SIT' N GO STRATEGY - Collin Moshman
My Rating: 9/10
ACE ON THE RIVER - Barry Greenstein
It was originally written as a chapter for Super System 2, but Doyle Brunson said it was too long and really should be its own book. Ace on the River is quite different other poker books. Its billed as an "advanced" guide (didnt really seem to advanced to me though) written in an easy-to-read, bare bones conversational style and designed to help anyone interested in increasing their understanding of the game. While most poker books focus on basic rules and strategies, Ace on the River's unique perspective addresses elements that effect both game play and the player. Focusing on a variety of subjects such as the psychology of poker, money management, & family issues, this book gives the reader a rare chance to look beyond the cards to see the poker world through someone who lives it. The last 25% of the book deals with more specific strategies. Barry preaches a style of poker that involves lots of thinking and analyzing of the entire situation at hand. The photography in the book is nothing less than spectacular. Every page is printed on glossy paper, and most pages contain at least one picture. Worth it just for the Photos.
My Rating: 8.75/10
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO POKER TELLS - Randy Burgess
It's really not the ULTIMATE Guide like the title suggests. It is not as thorough as Caro's Book of Poker Tells, but it written to be much easier to read than Caro. It does heavily references Caro's previous works and covers most of the more common and reliable tells you will encounter. The fact that it revolves mostly around holdem makes it more easy to understand than Caro's book which refers a lot to draw poker. UGtPT includes 10 photo quizes to test if you can spot the tells and what they mean. Covers great topics like avoiding giving tells yourself and developing your intuition.
My Rating: 8/10
THE BOOK OF BLUFFS: How to Bluff and Win at Poker - Matt Lessinger
Mike Caro wrote the first and most detailed book on what to look for in a player's movements, gestures, and facial expressions (tells) to determine if they were bluffing, and it remains one of the bestselling poker books of all time. But what Caro didn't do was teach players how to use this information to bluff. Matt's Book of Bluffs shows you how its possible to get your opponents to fold no matter how strong a hand they've been dealt. It reveals how, with the correct timing and artistry, bluffing will allow a player to win while holding an inferior hand, the very essence of poker. The book begins with two chapters of background material, one covers the basis for bluffing, the other is primarily about classifying opponents with an eye toward understanding when each type of opponent can and can't be successfully bluffed. The remaining nine chapters chronicle different bluffing situations, most of which are taken from actual hands the author has either played himself or witnessed. The examples in the final chapter come from key moments in the World Series of Poker, and the facts of these hands may already be familiar to many readers. For most of the bluffing examples Lessinger assigns a numerical value to the "degree of difficulty", and a qualitative description of the bluff's rate of success and the frequency with which that particular bluffing situation comes up.
My Rating: 7.75/10
SUPER SYSTEM 2 - Doyle Brunson
The second version is not exactly the same as the original, but much of it is copied word for word. The book is almost 700 pages, with each section of
Super System 2 being 50 to 60 pages long and written by a different author. It covers many different variations of poker and each section is written by an accomplished master at each game. There are contributions from Daniel Negreanu, Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, and others. This is the books greatest strength (and weakness). Many of topics are games many of you
will never play like Triple Draw,7-card stud hi-low, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8 or better. If you're new to these games and want to learn how to play them well, this book is an excellent value, you're basically getting 5 books for the price of one.
Doyle's chapter on No-Limit is almost verbatum from SS1, but when you write such a ground breaking work, why would you change it ? While his super aggressive style is no secret (like it was 30 years ago), it is still worth reading, if not for its insight, then because everyone else has read it. Just keep in mind it is written with high-stakes, high-buy-in games in mind
Jennifer Harman's new chapter on limit holdem is really quite well written. Not because it presents any ground-breaking concepts, but more that it is concise and easy to read in a way that Sklansky fails to do. Super System 2 does not contain Chip Reese's section on Seven Card Stud which is some of the best material in the original, so if you like Seven Card Stud go with SuperSystem 1. SS2 also has good section called Mike Caro's 43 Tips From Mike Caro University. Its basically a crash course on tells from Caro's book.
My Rating: 7.5/10
MIKE CARO'S BOOK OF POKER TELLS - Mike Caro
This book is the standard in books on poker tells. Its over 25 years old, but there really hasnt been a book released since that covers the topic as thoroughly. There are 58 tells (chapters) in this book and each tell is a page or two long There are hundreds of black & white photographs to help show the tells. (This is one of the places the book could really use some updating)
The tells are broken down into three broad categories - tells from those who are unaware of their tells, tells from those who are aware of their tells (actors), and general tells. There is a play-along photo quiz at the end of the book. This was the original book on poker tells and is still the most thorough. You can also use the information in the book to intentionally show false tells to your opponents. If this book ever gets updated, my rating will increase.
My Rating: 8.5/10
READ 'EM & REAP - Joe Navarro
A fairly well written study of body
language and tells. It's written by
Joe Navarro, a former FBI counter- intelligence officer specializing
in nonverbal communication (tells) and
behavior analysis. There are photo's in
the book to clearly demonstrate each
of the tells discussed.
I liked that the examples were related
to No Limit Tournaments, since so many
books focus on limit ring games or draw poker.
When it comes to tells, there isnt much that
hasnt already been written, but this books
info on tells of the hands and feet as well as
false tells, are noteworthy.
This book is like other books on tells in that
is significantly overstates the frequency and
value of the tells you will see at the table.
I think a lot of people who read tell books are
disappointed when they get to the table and rely
too heavily on tells and not enough on position
and betting patterns.
My rating: 8.75/10
- Amarillo Slim Preston
Loaded with road gambling stories. Some hillarious prop bets, stunts and adventures. The writing isnt great, but the tales are hugely entertaining. Rating: 7/10
POT-LIMIT OMAHA POKER - Jeff Hwang
An excellent book coving a lot of situations that come up in Omaha. Gives great advice on avoiding traps and trap hands. I'm not entirely through this book yet, and I'll probably have to go back over it a couple times to pick up all the info. There's a lot of meat in here. Rating: 9/10
WINNING STRATEGIES FOR NL HOLDEM - Nick Christenson & Russel Fox
I played $1/3 ($500max) NLH at Binions with authour Russ Fox a couple years ago. That's what prompted me to buy this book. It has a very clean 'technical writing' style to it, a little dry. Lots of meat for beginners and intermediates, very thorough, but nothing ground breaking inside. The kind of book I'd recommend to someone who isnt a beginner nor expert, but could use some advanced strategies, tactics and thought processes to bring their game to a higher level. Rating: 8.25 / 10
to recommend some poker books to read.
Below are my recommendations,
descriptions, and ratings for each book.
Feel free to post your comments about
what books helped you most.
Note: I recommend buying online from
AMAZON.ca as they have a great selection,
best service and are almost always cheaper
(often Significantly Cheaper) than bookstores
or Chapters. Using the links provided is even
better because I receive a percentage of your
purchase, which I donate 100% to local FoodBank.
WINNING LOW LIMIT HOLDEM - Lee Jones
While much of this book is based on
low stakes, limit holdem Ring games,
the information is relevant to all types
of holdem poker. I
This book is crammed full of easily
understandable fundamental knowledge
that every poker player needs (This book
teaches a tight style that can make you
a winning casino poker player).
Topics include starting hands, pot odds,
considerations for each round of betting,
position, deception, how to play various hands,
check-raise, free cards, and lots more.
New edition has been released since I read it.
Excellent choice for 1st poker book.
My rating: 9.5/10
POKER: THE REAL DEAL - Phil Gordon
One thing that makes this a decent first
book is that that it tries to be entertaining
and its not overloaded with strategy that
might discourage and overwhelm someone
fairly new to the game of holdem.
It describes the poker lifestyle with lots of
insight from Phil's WPT/WSOP experience.
Its written in a light-hearted, somewhat
comedic style which is in line with Phil's
real life pesona. It makes reference to
some of the best poker books written
(for those who want to continue their
education) and takes some of the most
important ideas from them and puts
them into simple terms. Covers all the
basics like starting hands, pot odds,
position, expected value, semi-bluffing,
etc. An easy and entertaining read.
My rating: 7/10
PHIL GORDON's LITTLE GREEN BOOK
A great starting place that covers
much of the fundamentals of NL Holdem
in a very easy to read, short paragraph style.
A mostly tournament, but some cash game
information. Covers all the bases like
position, pot odds, aggression, pre-flop and
post-flop play, playing from the blinds, tells,
& tournament strategy. Has more meat than,
Phil's The Real Deal. Excellent 1st book.
My rating: 9.0 /10
PHIL GORDON's LITTLE BLUE BOOK
The follow up to PGLGB is laid out
with problem quizes from 70+ of Phils
most memorable hands. Covers situations
from cash games, sit'n'go's, satelites and
tournaments. Thoroughly covers Early-Mid-Late
stages and Final Table play. Gives you the
thought process and analysis you need to
develop to make good decisions. If you read
the Green book, the Blue is a great follow up.
My rating: 8.75/10
WINNING AT POKER - Dave Scharf
Canadian Scharf's first book is a decent one. It's an easy to read book focused on limit poker and 7-card stud. It covers the rules, basic strategy, hand selection, player classification, bluffing, tells, etc. Get it before you hit the casino. Aimed at beginners, a good 1st book.
My rating: 8 / 10
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 1 - Dan Harrington
A tournament specific holdem book that has
become THE GOLD STANDARD against which all
future books will be judged. Chapters are divided
out into key concepts and real-table problems
that you must try to work out yourself.
Harrington does not confuse you with lots of
mathematical formulas but uses simple pot
odds calculations and playing the individual
opponent. No-Limit Hold'em is more of an art
which focuses on position and players rather
than rigid mathematical formulas and this book
teaches you how to develop that. Solid advice
on early tournament play. Maybe the Best book of tournament fundamentals Ever Written! Excellent choice for 1st book.
My rating: 9.5/10 Must Read
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 2 - Dan Harrington
Like Vol. 1, this is all meat-no filler.
Vol. 2 jumps right into solid information
on later stage tournament play including
making moves, inflection points,
calculating "M", shorthanded and
heads-up play. If you read Vol.1,
you will buy #2, trust me.
My rating: 10/10 Must Read Tournament Material
HARRINGTON ON HOLDEM Vol. 3 - Dan Harrington
This is a workbook to evaluate and
develop strategies learned in the 2 previous volumes.
My rating: 9/10
THE THEORY OF POKER - David Sklansky
Definitely not the first book you should read
(probably not the 2nd either). Much of
Sklanskys work is not easy to read and
must be studied and absorbed, rather than
just read for you to understand and obtain
maximum benefit from it.
Having said all that, this is considered by
most literati to be the single most important
book on poker ever published.
The Theory of Poker does not contain a lot
of information on how to play certain hands,
and where it does, it is only to illustrate a
bigger point. The methodology taught here
is to understand general situations, not specific
instances that you encounter in play, hence
the title The THEORY of Poker. Topics include:
pot odds, effective odds, implied odds,
reverse implied odds, the semi-bluff,
defending against the semi-bluff,
check-raising, slowplaying, advanced game
theory, hand reading, and psychology.
My Rating: 7 / 10
SMALL STAKES HOLDEM - Miller, Sklansky, Malmuth
If you have a very solid understanding of the game, this would be a good 1st or 2nd book. Focuses on LIMIT, but much of the ideas are applicable to NL. Unlike many other books about small stakes games that teach you to play VERY tight and play only premium hands, SSH teaches the aggressive and attacking style used by all professional players. However, it does not simply tell you to play aggressively; it shows you how to make expert decisions through numerous clear and detailed examples. SSH teaches you to think like a professional player. Topics include: implied odds, pot equity, speculative hands, position, the importance of being suited, hand categories, counting outs, evaluating the flop, large pots versus small pots, protecting your hand, betting for value on the river, and playing overcards.
My Rating: 9/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM THEORY & PRACTICE - Ed Miller
Like The Theory of Poker, this book must
be studied rather than read for the reader
to absorb and obtain maximum benefit
from it. It is not a recipe book that tells you
what to do if you have top pair and your
opponent bets. It will teach you what factors
you should consider when you make your
decisions and how excellent players think
about the game. Some sections include
bluff-sizing, bluffing on the turn and the river,
playing the nuts on the river, value betting
on the river, raising before the flop, sizing
your pre-flop raises with a deep or short stack,
calling bluffs, check-raising, adjusting to loose
games, weak tight games, and calling pre-flop
all-in raises. Definitely not a beginner book,
but highly recommended reading to take your
game to another level.
My rating: 9.5/10 Must Read for NL Cash players
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. Quite possibly my favourite book of all time. I found all the stories of gambling with other legends of poker fascinating. I'm certain that someone who had no interest in poker would still enjoy this book. If you dont know who Stu Ungar is, you should. He won over 350 tournaments including 3 WSOP main event championships and 3 Superbowl of Poker championships. He was unquestionably the best Gin player ever, and likely the best poker player ever. The book documents Stu Ungars life from growing up the son of a New York bookmaker to becoming the most dominant gin and poker player of his time to his drug addiction and his dieing broke in a cheap motel room. (His drug addiction actually caused him to sleep through the last two days of the 1990 WSOP. Even missing the last 2 days, he had such a huge chip lead, he finished 9th !!)
I think the best thing about the way this book is written is how the authors seemlessly weave first-person stories with information gathered from people who knew Stu. Stu actually tells you much of his own life story through the many quotes obtained by the author during several interviews. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud.
Here's an example:Stuey was playing a $100-$200 seven-card-stud game, talking a mile a minute and winning just about every pot. All of a sudden he got up and said "I need to take a piss". He turned around and saw Mike Sexton on the rail. "Sexton, get in here and pick up a hand for me". Sexton sits down and picks up 9-10 of diamonds, J of diamonds up card. By fifth street, Sexton had a straight to the Queen. Other players were jamming the pot, it was raised and reraised before it got to Sexton who made it 4 bets, cutting off at $800. As the dealer gathered the chips, Stuey ran up to the table and became ecstatic at the sight of the huge pot. "Alright !" he yelled. "Whatta we got, whatta we got?". He moved in behind Sexton, who obligingly peeled back the tips of his down cards, revealing the straight. Stuey managed to keep a poker face as the sixth card and then the seventh and final card were dealt, with more chips going into the pot each round. There was now a mammoth pile of black tiger-striped chips in the center of the table. Two players had started out with three of a kind and never improved. Sexton's straight held up. It took the dealer three hearty shoves to get all the chips over to Sextons corner of the table. Standing behind Sexton like a proud father, Stuey was only too happy to salt the wounds of his pissed-off adversaries. "You guys are so bad, i can beat you while I'm in the shit house," he cackled.
I wasnt involved in poker when Stu unger was alive, so i hadnt seen any footage or read any accounts of the man or his play. This book has plenty of examples that make it clear how he played. "Go back and look at all the World Series tournaments I played in. As soon as they reached the level where antes began, when the blinds first went to one and two hundred, within an hour I had just about every single twenty-five dollar chip on the table. I went after the antes so much, they had to go into my stack to make change".
His aggression was only half of his game the other half was an INCREDIBLE ability to read people. (In the movie "High Roller", he bets $10k that he knows all 10 of his opponents cards after only 4 discards in a gin game)
Quite possibly the best ever at it. A perfect example was the $100,000 winner takes all heads-up match to regain his lost pride..against Mansour Matloubi (the guy who won the WSOP that Stu slept through). Stuey opened for $1,600 in the small blind, and Mansour called with 4-5 off suit. After a flop of 3-3-7 rainbow, Stuey bet $6,000 - he started the hand with $60,000 to Mansour's $40,000 - and Mansour called the $6,000 bet. On fourth street, a K came off and both players checked. On the river a Q came off to make a board of 3-3-7-K-Q, and Mansour smelling weakness in Stuey, bet his last $32,000 or so. Stuey looked "right through" Mansour, and within ten seconds he said, "You have 4-5 or 5-6. I'm gonna call you with this". Stuey then flipped up 10-9, and called the $32,000 bet with ten-high. Wow, what an unbelievable call! Stuey can't even beat a jack-high bluff with his hand, never mind a pair. After Stuey called Mansour looked up at the ceiling and said " I feel so crushed, its almost like a bulldozer just ran over me."
My Rating: 10/10
MILLION DOLLAR HOLDEM: Limit Cash Games by Johnny Chan
While there is some decent info inside,
and its easy to read, MDH is not on my
rush out and read list. One thing that
bothered me a bit was how the game
scenarios played out. Kind of blew my
mind actually. 44 of 55 hands not decided
pre-flop end in victory for the hero.
It seems more like fantasy than any
Limit holdem game i've ever played in.
There was some good info on seat, table,
and limit selection, along with bankroll
and lifestyle management. Ultimately,
there is nothing ground breaking in MDH that you can't find elsewhere.
Buy Small Stakes Holdem by Ed Miller
or LLHE by Lee Jones instead. My Rating: 4/10
KILL PHIL - Blair Rodman, Lee Nelson
MONEYMAKER - Chris Moneymaker
If you've read this far down, i'm sure you know who Moneymaker is. This book tells story of the accountant from Tennessee who turned $40 into $2.5million at the 2003 WSOP .
The book seems to give a fairly honest account of his life leading up to and including his huge win. It tells how he won a seat in the World Series of Poker by putting up only $40 for a satellite at Pokerstars, how he overcame first-day jitters sitting with his heroes, learning from the pros, and the Main Event experience.
About the first third of the book cuts back and forth between background on Moneymaker, the events that lead to his arrival at the World Series, and his recollections of the event itself. Once the setup is done, the rest of the book goes into a surprising amount of detail about the events of that fateful week and provides some information on the aftermath.
The background material was surprisingly candid. Moneymaker makes the claim that his low-stakes online poker playing was in some measure a way for him to keep a big sports betting problem in check. He recounts both the good and bad aspects of his upbringing and history in a way that sheds a great deal of light on his character. He isn't looking for sympathy. Even though Moneymaker doesn't paint a terribly flattering picture of himself here, there is something admirable in this sort of honesty.
The book doesnt try to make Moneymaker a compelling character or a person who was destined for greatness or anything like that. He comes across as a guy who happened to stumble across a winning lottery ticket. I think it makes him someone most people could relate to.
The book isnt fine literature (Its written the way i would expect Chris Moneymaker to talk) and it wont teach you a thing about winning poker, but it is a fairly entertaining look at someone who accomplished the poker dream that many of us would love to duplicate.
My Rating: 7/10
KILL PHIL - Blair Rodman
First off, the title "Kill Phil" doesnt refer to Phil Helmuth even though he is on the cover. Its not Phil Gordon, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak or any other big time pro. Phil is any player that you come across in a tournament that is simply more experienced and better than you.
I'm sure a lot of you have watched enough poker on TV to have heard the term "AIS - All In Specialist", "MIS - Move In Specialist", or the "All In Artist". Doyle Brunson calls it 2-card Holdem. These terms refer to players who basically have 2 moves, all-in or fold. They are looked down upon by a lot of pro's, commentators, and poker purists. But still, these players seem to have decent success and make it deep into some major tournaments like the WSOP and WPT against the worlds best players. Kill Phil examines the ins and outs of the all-in philosophy.
Rodman and Nelson arent the first to come up with this general strategy. David Sklansky's "The System" from his book Tournament Poker for Advanced Players talked about a system that he devised for a complete novice who wanted to participate in the WSOP . The system was based on a rigid list of starting hands and the requirement to push all in when these hands came up. Rodman and Nelson acknowledge Sklansky's work and have added their own ideas to it. Why does this strategy work ? Basically, most experienced tournament players are just not willing to risk their tournament life preflop to call an all-in if they have less than Aces or Kings.
If you've watched as much TV poker as I have, i'm sure you've noticed that almost all great players (when they have good sized stacks) want to play small pot poker until they have the nuts. They play "small ball" by chopping away at small and medium pots without risking their stacks unless they have the nuts, which really means they aren't risking much at all. Most pro's try to get their chips in post flop after they know they have the best hand. Kill Phil offers you a way to counteract the experience of veteran players by using a hyper aggressive style that takes them out of their comfort zone and gives them few opportunities to play back at you.
A quote from Phil Helmuth in the book:
"Personally, I will go to great lengths to avoid putting all of my chips at risk in any hand,because when I'm all-in, then it's possible for me to be eliminated. For example, I folded pocket Queens in the main even of the WSOP even though I thought my opponent had a smaller pair. In that particular case, I was right. My opponent had pocket sevens giving me a 17% chance of being eliminated. If I'm going that far to avoid being all-in, then it's correct for you to move all-in on me almost every hand."
Sections 2-4 give progressively more advanced forms of the Kill Phil move-in strategy. Their strategy is more than just "go all-in with XX", it considers position, stack size, limpers, playing in the blinds, the number of opponents, etc, etc. As you progress from KP Rookie, KP Basic, KP Basic +, and KP Expert you are introduced to more concepts and playing options.
KP Rookie advocates (much as Sklansky originally did) pushing all-in preflop with only the very strongest hands. They do address post flop play, but only for those occasions that you are in an unraised big blind and see a flop for free. The authors admit that this most basic of systems is not really practical in today's environment due to the influx of unskilled and overly aggressive Internet players.
KP Basic introduces their concepts of CPR (cost per round), CSI (chip status index) also known as "M"...and the KP four levels of stack size.
KP Basic+ introduce more refinements related to potentially calling short stack all-ins with hands "outside the rules" and a few othervariations to KP Basic.
KP Expert describes "outside the box" plays that can be used once you are comfortable with Basic +.
If you have plans to play in, or win a seat in a big stakes tournament against player you know are more skilled than you, this book will offer you a way to compete.
My Rating: 8.5/10
IN THE MONEY, - Antonio Esfandiari
Overall pretty disappointing... mostly because a few years ago I heard him personally promoting the book on tv, touting it as "giving away about 20% of the top strategies that separate the big boys from the wannabe's", which prompted me to buy it.
Here's what I learned from this book:
"In no-limit play, knowing your opponent and using position can make you a lot of money"
"If you are playing no-limit, it is extremely important to know your opponents and their tendancies."
"Texas Holdem is a game of position... When you have position you have to exploit the advantage. You have to take control of the table. You can loosen up your starting requirements."
"Winning players make the necessary adjustments. Losing players do not."
"Remember that the best way to make money is to fold"
I guess i'm ready to turn pro now ! ! ! (Sarcasm)
The book is written with a similar style to Eric Lingrens WPT book. Big on generalities, short on specifics. It wont make you a better player unless you are totally new to the game, and only watched it on tv. If you are fans of either of these players, its probably worth the $16 to hear the stories of the big time poker lifestyle. Gambling on anything and everything, drinkin Dom, slammin women, and hangin with Phil Laak & other poker players.
The book included a dvd of "The Magician's" Chip Tricks. Also very disappointing. 3 chip tricks, one of which is chip shuffle/riffle.
My Rating: 3/10
MAKING THE FINAL TABLE - Erick Lindgren, Matt Matros
Overall, Making the Final Table is a semi-entertaining book that has a few key ideas about a successful approach to tournament poker.
The biggest of which can be summed up in my blog post here:
http://pictour.blogspot.com/2006/10/tournaments-survival-vs-accumulating.html
If you dream of playing in a WPT tournament, this book might fuel your dream. It really doesn't much get into specifics and seems to struggle to find meat to fill its meager 130 pages.
Oh, I know ! ! ! Lets put tables that list the WPT all-time money winners/ WPT players of the year in the book. That should fill 30+ pages.
My Rating: 3.5/10
THE POKER TOURNAMENT FORMULA - Arnold Snyder
TPTF offers to teach you how to analyze poker tournament structures and adapt your play for each tournament. It provides a fairly simple method for quantifying any tournament’s speed based on its blind structure.
Many fast tournaments are so fast they have little if any value for skillful players, regardless of the players’ understanding of poker or tournament strategies. Skilled players would be wise to pick tournaments based on their profit potential, (buy-in cost and prize pool are not always good indicators of value). The blind structure is the real key.
The Patience Factor formula basically is a way to quantify the speed of a tournament, and what I tend to call "how much tournament I get for my money". The faster the tournament, i.e. the quicker your stack would dwindle in comparison to blinds, the more likely luck takes over and skill becomes less important.
This book has caused more heated debates amongst the poker literati and followers of Harrington and Sklansky than any other in recent history.
Much of the hullaballoo has to do with the idea that fast tournaments require a different strategy from slow tournaments. (Fast and slow here refers to how quickly the blinds and antes go up.) As Harrington and others have shown, it's not speed that counts, but your overall chip position relative to the cost of playing each round. This is what they call "M" and when your M gets low, you have to begin making very aggressive plays. But when your M is fairly large, you have the option to play normally.
One of the unique concepts in the book is that Hold 'Em is a complex version of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Rock = chips. Paper = Cards. Scissors = Position.
Chips beat Position, Cards beat Chips, Position beats Cards.
The Rock/Paper/Scissors model tries to identify the power relationships of the tools you have available to you at the poker table..
One of the key lessons of The Poker Tournament Formula is using position as a weapon to to win money regardless of the cards in your hand. Th book is an advanced course in theft. It shows you how to exploit these tools to steal from your opponents.
Another great part of this book is the rebuy and add-on advice. If you're a player who avoids rebuy tourneys because you don't know if you should rebuy, add-on or when to do it, this book will give you great insight.
Overall, this is a very interesting and unique book. It displays a unique mix of theory, psychology and (most important of all) practical application which you can apply to low buy-in tournaments. While maybe not the perfect 'tournament system', players at all levels should be able to take away some great ideas.
THE PROFESSOR, THE BANKER & THE SUICIDE KING - Michael Craig
Synopsis: Billionaire Andy Beal plays heads up against "The Corporation" , which is made up of Ted Forrest, Jenn Harman, Doyle & Todd Brunson, Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein, and a few select others. My Rating: 8 / 10
POSITIVELY FIFTH STREET - James McManus
Synopsis: In 2000, Jim McManus was sent to Las Vegas by Harper's magazine to cover the WSOP. Instead of reporting on it, McManus used the $4000 advance from Harper's to entertain himself with strippers, prescription drugs and enter satellite tournaments. He qualified and made it to the main event final table. A very wordy tale, get out your dictionary. My Rating: 7.25 / 10
NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM: A COMPLETE COURSE - Angel Largay
Synopsis: A primer for low buyin casino cash games. Spends time on the basics then gets to the meat. The object of low limit NL is to bust or double through your opponents and he shows how to go about that. Covers game selection, player stereotyping, adjusting to playing styles, playing preflop and postflop, plus a few gems of wisdom that have won/saved me money. Read this book before moving on to PNLH by Miller or Harrington On Cash. My Rating: 8.5 / 10
GETTING STARTED IN HOLDEM - Ed Miller
Synopsis: This is an easy to read beginner's book. It introduces many aspects like rules, limit vs. no-limit, tournaments, starting hands, pot odds, implied odds, pot equity, the importance of aggression, hand domination, hand protection, value betting, position, semi-bluffing, etc. The emphasis is on Limit, but does cover NL. This may become my new recommended First Poker Book for people to read. My Rating: 9.25 / 10
GAMBLING THEORY & OTHER TOPICS - Mason Malmuth
Synopsis: Like most of Malmuth (and Sklansky's) other books, this one is a bit out-dated and not that easy to read given its mostly a compilation of previous essays, but it's material worth go over to help understand not just the "how to", but more the "why to" of gambling.Not quite sure what to rate it. Its the kind of book that one person may get anything out of.... and for the next person it becomes a bible. 7/10 ?
CHAMPIONSHIP OMAHA - T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy
Synopsis: Until very recently, this was one of only a couple books ever written on Omaha strategy. This will give you a basic understanding of starting hands how to play them, along with some real gems of wisdom. Like the Cloutier/McEvoy books on holdem, the advice given is way to tight for how people play today, but still extremely valuable. My rating: 7 / 10
CHAMPIONSHIP NL & PL HOLD'EM - T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy
Synopsis: A thorough overview of how to play super tight tournament poker. This style worked well 10-20 years ago when TJ and Tom were winning tournaments, but its almost hopeless in all but the biggest tournies with the super slow structures. Today's aggressive players would run you over if you tried to play this way. Its still worth reading, plenty of insights into tournament strategy that can be adapted to today. My rating: 6 / 10
WEIGHING THE ODDS IN HOLD'EM - King Yao
Synopsis: I bought this book a couple years ago and I still haven't finished it. It just doesnt captivate me. While the first half of the book covers a lot of the basics, this text is aimed at Limit holdem players who are atleast at the intermediate and advanced levels. If you like Sklansky/Malmuth EV & math type equations, you found your next book. This text will require some serious study time to fully absorb what it has to offer.
AMARILLO SLIM In A World Full Of Fat People
THE (ALMOST) ENTIRELY TRUE STORY of the WSOP - J. Grotenstein & S. Reback
A well written, well researched history of the first 35 years of the WSOP. Each year they chronicle the key hands and players and walk you through the history of the event. Its a fascinating book if you enjoy the history of the game. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned some new facts. Rating: 8/10
ANNIE DUKE, How I blah blah blah - Annie Duke
Why do I always refer to her as "Annie Douche" ? Still havent read it. Anyone care to review this for me ?
POKER NATION - Andy Bellin
TELLING LIES & GETTING PAID; Gambling Stories - Michael Konik
BIG DEAL; A Year as as Professional Poker Player - Anthony Holden
BIGGER DEAL; A Year Inside The Poker Boom - Anthony Holden
POKER FACE; A Girlhood Among Gamblers - Katy Lederer
EVERY HAND REVEALED - Gus Hansen
Gus's account of his 2007 Aussie Millions victory, with descriptions of 329 hands from the beginning of Day 1 to the end of heads-up.
HEADS-UP NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM - Collin Moshman
Synopsis: Surprised that it took so long for someone to write a book on this topic since its a weakness of so many players. The book has 7 sections include the All-In decision; Value betting and Effective stack sizes; Exploiting Styles & Defeating tight-aggressive opponents; Pot size manipulation; Thinking multiple moves in advance & Price-setting the River. Also, Calling Button Raises; Attacking Button Limps; Checking the Turn when You are Strong; Finishing Off an Opponent. One section is devoted to cash and tournament formats including freeze-outs; and a final section discusses table selection; seizing online edges; tilt control; timing tells and reverse tells. Put on your MATH helmuts ! !
THE SMART MONEY; How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions - Michael Konik
This books gives a rare first hand glimpse into the world of high-stakes sports betting. It's well written, and I'm glad I read it, but I felt disappointed at the end. It kind of reminds me of a politicians speech. A lot was said and in the moment, it seemed substantive, but when its over you feel empty and realize they didnt really give you any meaty information. 7.25 /10
POWER HOLD'EM STRATEGY - Daniel Negreanu
Synopsis: Half of this 500-page textbook is occupied by contributions from Negreanu's five collaborators: Evelyn Ng, Todd Brunson, Erick Lindgren, Paul Wasicka, and David Williams. Much of Negreanu's 200-page contribution is about Small Ball poker and Post-flop play. Negreanu's section is well written and organized. Some of the other info is weak (E. Ng)
Rating: 7.75/10
KILL EVERYONE (Kill Phil - Advanced Strategies) - Lee Nelson
Synopsis: If you found Kill Phil improved your tournament play, get this book. Dont expect it to be a true KP Vol.2, but it does expand on some of the ideas from the original. Second section of this book gets into the "equilibrium move-in strategies". This is the meat of KE. Tough to digest, math intense, but worth the effort. Overall, the book doesnt flow as well as KillPhil.
Rating: 7.75 / 10
AMERICAN CASINO GUIDE - Steve Bourie
I buy a couple of these before I go to vegas. Just one of the 2 for 1 buffet coupons more than covers the cost of the book. Fantastic Value !! My Rating: 10/10
FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE: - Lederer, Ferguson, Juanda, et al.
The most anticipated Tournament Poker book since HOH. Written by the who's who of modern poker, Lederer, Juanda, Ferguson, Matusow, Seed, Forest, Bloch, and the list goes on. It has been touted as the Super System of tournament poker, in that it is a compilation by different authors rather than a flowing Point A-B-C book.
This book is GOLD baby ! If you're really serious about tournaments, this book would be the next natural step after reading Harrington 1-3. This isnt a beginners manual. There are a lot of advanced concepts and real meaty information throughout. Unlike the Johnny Chan book (for example), this book delves into how these players/authors really play and the strategies/concepts they use. Gavin Smith's chapter "No-Limit Hold'Em: Big Stack Play illustrates my point well. Section 1 - Steal Early, Steal Often. Section 2 - The First-In Steal. Section 3 - The Flat-Call Steal. Section 4 - Attack Weakness, Avoid Strength. Section 5 - Late in the Tournament. Now doesnt that sound Exactly like the Gavin Smith that you've watched on tv ?
I'm really looking forward to absorbing the chapters on 7-card stud and omaha tournaments, as those are two games i really want to improve in.
My Rating: 9.5 / 10
Definitely buy this book.
MACHIAVELLIAN POKER STRATEGY: How to Play Like a Prince and Rule the Poker Table - David Apostolico
Had this book given to me as a gift. I tend to go for pure strategy books, so i probably wouldnt have picked this book up, especially since i wasnt familiar with Machiavelli in the first place. This is a great book, that i really enjoyed.
I would call this a thinking man's strategy book that takes a philosophical approach to obtaining and keeping power and being a leader at the poker table.
Apostolico takes the writings of the noted 16th century Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli and applies these theories to working a poker table. Machiavelli is most noted for his treatise on governments and how rulers should lead their subjects, which he demonstrated in his groundbreaking work "The Prince."
Through his analysis of Machiavelli's writings on Virtu (a combination of strength, skill and other abilities), Fortune, Power and Free Will, Apostolico demonstrates how to utilize these and other segments of Machiavelli's thoughts to improve a poker player's game at the tables and how to implement them as well.
My Rating: 9 / 10
SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL POT LIMIT OMAHA (with DVD) - Rolf Slotboom
I love omaha, and this is probably the best book about it out there. Short stack cash game play, lots of detail and provocative ideas. I'll put up a more detailed review when Tony S. gives me my book back (Hint, hint).
My Rating: 9/10
Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games: Short-Handed & High-Stakes Concepts - Nick Grudzien, Geoff Herzog
This is newer book out from 2+2 (publishers of Sklansky,Malmuth,Harrington, etc). This book promises to be a classic. There has been a significant gap in the vintage of limit hold ‘em literature. Titles that may have served a player well 15-20 yrs ago, became less optimal in 2003 as new, inexperienced players were drawn to the game. Four years later those new inexperienced players generally either got very good, went broke or switched games. What’s left is NOT a game where players are “literally giving their money away” as Sklansky once described but games in which a player can assume the competition is quite tough and skilled.
A major focus of the book is hand ranges and equity. The conclusions drawn are heavily indebted to the playing environment created by tools such as Poker Tracker and PokerStove (both of which are credited in the book). As such the authors present less a mathematical approach but a purely statistical one. Hand reading is assigned to ranges and correct play is a response to those ranges. There are none of the equations that you'll find in “NLHET&P” or “Mathematics of Poker”.
A large portion of the book’s early pages is devoted to Poker Tracker type data from winning players and the advice derived is then fit into an equity model. The authors offer both hand ranges to steal and to defend and make suggestions as to the adjustments to be made against certain player profiles.
The book is written in a style where the authors give the reader a lot of credit for understanding concepts. Stox and Zobags treat the reader like a peer.
The writing in the book is generally quite good. It is miles ahead of the choppy writing of older era poker books like TOP or HEFAP but it still isn’t up to the standards of the HOH series. There are spots where the reader may have to reread the occasional paragraph or section because the writing is not entirely clear.
This not a book for beginners, and intermediates will likely have to read it multiple times. The authors assume that the reader has a great deal of experience and some playing exposure to these tough games. There are starting hand outlines and a step by step discussion of play, but a beginner, or a player who plays at lower stakes will be challenged by the material.
If you play limit hold ‘em you should read this book. It may not be a revelation to the best of the higher stakes and shorthanded player base, but the majority of readers will find much in it that will help their games. Most importantly this book is the first to address the very different nature of current limit hold ‘em games and the authors have made a very worthy addition to the body of poker knowledge."
My Rating: 8.5/10
CARO'S FUNDAMENTAL SECRETS Of WINNING POKER - Mike Caro
This book is basically a condensed version of the material Mike Caro gives in most of his live seminars. Its hard to describe this book, its not typical. Its looks are a bit deceiving.
A lot of the information seems very general at first. For example, "Caro's Law of Least Tilt: Among similarly skilled opponents, the player with the most discipline is the favorite." Sounds pretty obvious that "for skilled players, the key to winning is simply playing your best game all the time".
Here's another example: "Many skilled players suffer from FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). They'd rather impress weak opponents with unexpected plays than beat them with the obvious winning strategy. Avoid FPS."
These simple points he makes really ARE the Fundamental Secrets of poker success.
The book is mostly about hold'em, but there is some tournament strategy in the book and Caro has a chapter on seven-card stud and seven-card H/L. His chapter on the subject of money management is excellent. Content might be a little over the head of a beginner, and too fundamental for experienced players, but overall its definitely worth your time to read.
My Rating: 7.75 / 10
Synopsis: One of the best texts for single-table SNG play. Differentiates correct play versus MTT's. Not the easiest to read, but its filled with must-know, top notch info. Covers stuff like steal/re-steal/ultra-aggression, EV, tournament equity, and Independant Chip Model (ICM).
My Rating: 8 / 10
PROFESSIONAL NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM - Ed Miller
Synopsis: Cash game strategies/concepts. If you play live cash games, get this book (unless you're playing against me, then definitely do not read this book). Subjects include Commitment Threshold, Stack to Pot Ratios, Putting Opponents on a Range of Hands, The Value of Your Hand compared to the range of hands your opponent has (Equity), Optimizing your actions to make the most money in the long run, + more. My Rating: 10 /10
Synopsis: A very thorough, well written text on playing the tight-aggressive style. Covers fundaments like pot commitment and bet sizing along with pre-flop and flop play.This book series will likely raise the level of cash game play everywhere like HOH did for tournaments. My rating: 8/10
HARRINGTON ON CASH GAMES, Vol. 2
Synopsis: Vol. 1 & 2 are meant to be read together, its basically one giant book in two volumes. Vol.2 covers proper play for the turn & river. My Rating: 8.5 / 10
POKER TOURNAMENT FORMULA #2 - Arnold Snyder
Synopsis: PTF2 changes focus from Fast Structure NLH tournys to big money Slow Structure tournament strategy. All Meat, no filler. This is a fantastic read ! If you're a "Harringbot", watch out, the PTF2 readers are out to crush you. My Rating: 9/10
HARRINGTON ON CASH GAMES, Vol. 1
SIT' N GO STRATEGY - Collin Moshman
My Rating: 9/10
ACE ON THE RIVER - Barry Greenstein
It was originally written as a chapter for Super System 2, but Doyle Brunson said it was too long and really should be its own book. Ace on the River is quite different other poker books. Its billed as an "advanced" guide (didnt really seem to advanced to me though) written in an easy-to-read, bare bones conversational style and designed to help anyone interested in increasing their understanding of the game. While most poker books focus on basic rules and strategies, Ace on the River's unique perspective addresses elements that effect both game play and the player. Focusing on a variety of subjects such as the psychology of poker, money management, & family issues, this book gives the reader a rare chance to look beyond the cards to see the poker world through someone who lives it. The last 25% of the book deals with more specific strategies. Barry preaches a style of poker that involves lots of thinking and analyzing of the entire situation at hand. The photography in the book is nothing less than spectacular. Every page is printed on glossy paper, and most pages contain at least one picture. Worth it just for the Photos.
My Rating: 8.75/10
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO POKER TELLS - Randy Burgess
It's really not the ULTIMATE Guide like the title suggests. It is not as thorough as Caro's Book of Poker Tells, but it written to be much easier to read than Caro. It does heavily references Caro's previous works and covers most of the more common and reliable tells you will encounter. The fact that it revolves mostly around holdem makes it more easy to understand than Caro's book which refers a lot to draw poker. UGtPT includes 10 photo quizes to test if you can spot the tells and what they mean. Covers great topics like avoiding giving tells yourself and developing your intuition.
My Rating: 8/10
THE BOOK OF BLUFFS: How to Bluff and Win at Poker - Matt Lessinger
Mike Caro wrote the first and most detailed book on what to look for in a player's movements, gestures, and facial expressions (tells) to determine if they were bluffing, and it remains one of the bestselling poker books of all time. But what Caro didn't do was teach players how to use this information to bluff. Matt's Book of Bluffs shows you how its possible to get your opponents to fold no matter how strong a hand they've been dealt. It reveals how, with the correct timing and artistry, bluffing will allow a player to win while holding an inferior hand, the very essence of poker. The book begins with two chapters of background material, one covers the basis for bluffing, the other is primarily about classifying opponents with an eye toward understanding when each type of opponent can and can't be successfully bluffed. The remaining nine chapters chronicle different bluffing situations, most of which are taken from actual hands the author has either played himself or witnessed. The examples in the final chapter come from key moments in the World Series of Poker, and the facts of these hands may already be familiar to many readers. For most of the bluffing examples Lessinger assigns a numerical value to the "degree of difficulty", and a qualitative description of the bluff's rate of success and the frequency with which that particular bluffing situation comes up.
My Rating: 7.75/10
SUPER SYSTEM 2 - Doyle Brunson
The second version is not exactly the same as the original, but much of it is copied word for word. The book is almost 700 pages, with each section of
Super System 2 being 50 to 60 pages long and written by a different author. It covers many different variations of poker and each section is written by an accomplished master at each game. There are contributions from Daniel Negreanu, Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, and others. This is the books greatest strength (and weakness). Many of topics are games many of you
will never play like Triple Draw,7-card stud hi-low, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8 or better. If you're new to these games and want to learn how to play them well, this book is an excellent value, you're basically getting 5 books for the price of one.
Doyle's chapter on No-Limit is almost verbatum from SS1, but when you write such a ground breaking work, why would you change it ? While his super aggressive style is no secret (like it was 30 years ago), it is still worth reading, if not for its insight, then because everyone else has read it. Just keep in mind it is written with high-stakes, high-buy-in games in mind
Jennifer Harman's new chapter on limit holdem is really quite well written. Not because it presents any ground-breaking concepts, but more that it is concise and easy to read in a way that Sklansky fails to do. Super System 2 does not contain Chip Reese's section on Seven Card Stud which is some of the best material in the original, so if you like Seven Card Stud go with SuperSystem 1. SS2 also has good section called Mike Caro's 43 Tips From Mike Caro University. Its basically a crash course on tells from Caro's book.
My Rating: 7.5/10
MIKE CARO'S BOOK OF POKER TELLS - Mike Caro
This book is the standard in books on poker tells. Its over 25 years old, but there really hasnt been a book released since that covers the topic as thoroughly. There are 58 tells (chapters) in this book and each tell is a page or two long There are hundreds of black & white photographs to help show the tells. (This is one of the places the book could really use some updating)
The tells are broken down into three broad categories - tells from those who are unaware of their tells, tells from those who are aware of their tells (actors), and general tells. There is a play-along photo quiz at the end of the book. This was the original book on poker tells and is still the most thorough. You can also use the information in the book to intentionally show false tells to your opponents. If this book ever gets updated, my rating will increase.
My Rating: 8.5/10
READ 'EM & REAP - Joe Navarro
A fairly well written study of body
language and tells. It's written by
Joe Navarro, a former FBI counter- intelligence officer specializing
in nonverbal communication (tells) and
behavior analysis. There are photo's in
the book to clearly demonstrate each
of the tells discussed.
I liked that the examples were related
to No Limit Tournaments, since so many
books focus on limit ring games or draw poker.
When it comes to tells, there isnt much that
hasnt already been written, but this books
info on tells of the hands and feet as well as
false tells, are noteworthy.
This book is like other books on tells in that
is significantly overstates the frequency and
value of the tells you will see at the table.
I think a lot of people who read tell books are
disappointed when they get to the table and rely
too heavily on tells and not enough on position
and betting patterns.
My rating: 8.75/10
- Amarillo Slim Preston
Loaded with road gambling stories. Some hillarious prop bets, stunts and adventures. The writing isnt great, but the tales are hugely entertaining. Rating: 7/10
POT-LIMIT OMAHA POKER - Jeff Hwang
An excellent book coving a lot of situations that come up in Omaha. Gives great advice on avoiding traps and trap hands. I'm not entirely through this book yet, and I'll probably have to go back over it a couple times to pick up all the info. There's a lot of meat in here. Rating: 9/10
WINNING STRATEGIES FOR NL HOLDEM - Nick Christenson & Russel Fox
I played $1/3 ($500max) NLH at Binions with authour Russ Fox a couple years ago. That's what prompted me to buy this book. It has a very clean 'technical writing' style to it, a little dry. Lots of meat for beginners and intermediates, very thorough, but nothing ground breaking inside. The kind of book I'd recommend to someone who isnt a beginner nor expert, but could use some advanced strategies, tactics and thought processes to bring their game to a higher level. Rating: 8.25 / 10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
