Customer Reviews:
Best Detailed Hold'Em Book Out There.......2007-09-21
We Bought all Three Harrington on Hold 'Em books and I'm still reading through the first one. There are real examples that you can read through and decide if the way you would play them matches how they should be played. He'll tell you precisely why the hands should be played that way. I can't wait to read the next two. There are excellent insights into starting hands, playing against aggressive players...well you just have to get the book to find out all the goodies inside. I have many other books on poker already (Super System I and II, etc.) but this book by far is the best one out there for No Limit Hold 'Em. Especially if you want to refine your play. I'm an advanced player but this is great for beginners too. It brings you back to basics. Enjoy!
Great book! Don't buy this if you are going to play against me........2007-09-17
This book has really helped me improve my game. It is very thourough, and gives you example hands with detailed explainations as to why you should play them a certain way. Don't read this if you want to stay mediocre in your Texas Hold-em game play.
Harrington on Hold'em Vol 1.......2007-09-16
Helpful, essential; valuable information. Not boring or hard to read, but delightful, enjoyable, easy to read, understand, and apply. One of the best books available.
Excellent Strategies.......2007-09-08
Few players rape the tables as brutally as Harrington. In this valuable book he 'tells em as they is'. Standard strategies like the 'San Andreas Meat-grinder' (perfect for unloading double buffers into an end-zone packed with natural flankers) and the 'Chicago Steamer' (a honey-trap that could leave your opponent fencing against a semi-Lazarus) are explained with great attention to detail. He also has plenty of cavaliar gambits for more experienced snipers to deploy. Although the 'Fibonacci Fallout Shelter' may be too complex to smoke out an amateur cave-jacker, he claims that you can use it against pros to rotate the step of a goose-dance. Just DON'T try to detonate a Dutch grenade with it- use the 'Tallahassee jail-break' instead! My favourite is probably his slant on playing the 'Kentucky Monkey' (the best racket to reverse the polarity of a south-bound pot). Although there is the danger of being drowned in a mud-slide before the penultimate flipper, it usually guarantees the chance to fire a clockwork shotgun into the flood.
PS. I haven't tried my hand in any tourneys yet, but I did beat the rest of the Redhart family once- after I decided to go all in before the flop (with an unsuited 4 7) and pulled a straight.
The best no limit tournament guide.......2007-09-01
Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie take you step by step to show you how to become a winning no limit tournatment player. Their secret lies in the problems at the end of every chapter to show you exactly how a no limit tournament is played. Their style is easy to read and understand (providing you have a basic knowledge of poker) and the attitude is open minded and thoughtful of the reader. You will learn a lot from these books. Books? Yes, you will need the entire set of three volumes to fully understand the concepts that Harrington and Robertie are trying to teach you. It will be well worth the investment. The final volume (III) gives very concrete examples of the playing styles of many of the pros you see on TV as Harrington tries to get into poker thoughts of the champions of this game. I am only getting better because of Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 1,2 and 3.
Product Description
Poker has taken America by storm. But its not just any form of poker that has people across the country so excited its no-limit hold em the main event game. And now thanks to televised tournaments tens of thousands of new players are eager to claim their share of poker glory. In the first volume of this series, Harrington on Hold em: Volume I: Strategic Play, Dan Harrington explained how to play in the early phases of tournaments, when most players at the table had plenty of chips, and the blinds and antes were small. This book, Harrington on Hold em: Volume II: The Endgame shows you how to play in the later phases of a tournament, when the field has been cut down, the blinds and antes are growing, and the big prize money is within sight. Harrington shows you how to make moves, handle tricky inflection point plays, and maneuver when the tournament is down to its last few players and the end is in sight. Hes also included a whole chapter on heads-up play, whose strategies up to now have been a closely-guarded secret of the games top masters. Dan Harrington won the gold bracelet and the World Champion title at the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold em Championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker. And he was the only player to make it to the final table in 2003 (field of 839) and 2004 (field of 2,576) considered by cognoscenti to be the greatest accomplishment in WSOP history. In Harrington on Hold em, Harrington and two-time World Backgammon Champion Bill Robertie have written the definitive book on no-limit hold em for players who want to win and win big.
Customer Reviews:
Harrington continues.......2007-09-14
Excellent continuation of vloume 1. I know that reading these books will improve my game with time, it's a lot to learn and try to implement. Anyone can improve using the guidelines and tips given.
Great Book.......2007-09-08
Strategy illustrated in the book seems to work well. This is a definite need for any poker player. Highly recommend.
Terrific Book.......2007-07-25
I've now read both Harrington's Volumes I & II on Texas Hold em - terrific books. This volume (II - Endgame) is an essential follow up to Volume I. I've read Brunson's Super System. He's got some good insights, but alot of rambling too. Alot of these poker books are about the authors philosophy of poker and the great accomplishments they had - who cares? Just tell me how to make good bets! And that's just what Harrington does. Harrington's book really gives you the nuts and bolts of good poker. When I was at my first tournament, I remember most of the time not really knowing what decisions to make, whether it was pre-flop, post-flop etc. I was always going by my "instincts". Well guess what? My instincts suck - as do most people's. Yeah, you may get a good read once in a while, but that's it. I finally feel like I can make good decisions. I never had any idea the game was so complicated, but I have a much better appreciation for it now. One of the best things it taught me, and that I wasn't doing, was to try and figure out what the other players had based on their betting and their styles. If you do read this book, I hope I never have to play against you!
Please Don't Buy This Book - I Want to Beat You.......2007-07-20
My success has gone up dramatically since I have read and applied these concepts. I do not want the Harrington Way becoming well known or standard play because right now I have an advantage. Concepts like M, Q, Randomizing, and his concept review of late stages - all just brilliant.
a must read for serious players!.......2007-07-15
great follow up book to volume 1.
dives into the finer points of no limit holdem.
i'm looking forward to reading volume 3.
Customer Reviews:
Harrington's Great Works!.......2007-08-01
Another Super Harrington Work!
Great workbook format!!
Helps organize the way one approaches tournament no-limit hold-em poker!!!
Very well written........2007-07-09
It must be difficult to write a book to a market of poker players of greatly varying skills, but I feel Harrington has done it masterfully. It educates without pandering, and amuses enough while making the reader think and rethink moves that he might otherwise perform on auto-pilot. Pot odds (a now abused catch-phrase amateurs spit out at the table tautologically to compensate defensively for their bad play) are gone into in depth from both points of view (the player and his opponent...i.e. pot odds given and pot odds offered), and rationally shows that no-limit doesn't have to be all about mindless chip-shoving. Looking very forward to his other books. Do me a favor and don't read it.
Good Hold'em Workbook.......2007-07-03
This was a great book with real-life examples. Dan shows all points of views for each of the hands (not just what he would do). Talks about ramifications about different ways to play each of the hands. Good for the intermediate to advanced player.
Hold 'em.......2007-05-13
The workbook is beneficial if you have already read part I and II. The workbook has problems for a person to work, based on the knowledge gained from the first two books.
If you want to improve your game........2007-05-13
If you are tired of contradictory advice read this book.
The author gives an excellent tutorial with loads of real world examples.
Book Description
For today's poker players, Texas hold 'em is the game. Every day, tens of thousands of small stakes hold 'em games are played all over the world in homes, card rooms, and on the Internet. These games can be very profitable — if you play well. But most people don't play well and end up leaving their money on the table.
Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big with Expert Play explains everything you need to be a big winner. Unlike many other books about small stakes games, it teaches the aggressive and attacking style used by all professional players. However, it does not simply tell you to play aggressively; it shows you exactly how to make expert decisions through numerous clear and detailed examples.
Small Stakes Hold 'em 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. In addition, after you learn the winning concepts, test your skills with over fifty hand quizzes that present you with common and critical hold 'em decisions. Choose your action, then compare it to the authors' play and reasoning.
This text presents cutting-edge ideas in straightforward language. It is the most thorough and accurate discussion of small stakes hold 'em available. Your opponents will read this book; make sure you do, too!
Customer Reviews:
excellent for a specific situation.......2007-09-20
Two + Two consistently publishes outstanding poker books, and Small Stakes Hold Em is no exception, so long as one understands the basic premise. This book is not a general guide to hold em, it doesn't cover tournaments or beating top level players - it is specifically written to help the experienced player target the beating of weak, often passive, usually loose players at the smaller tables, and nothing else. Although the authors make this point several times, it bears reminding and keeping in mind. You will not beat good players using the starting hand, pre or postflop play, or betting guidelines presented in this book.
That said, you are looking at a pretty typical Sklansky book. Sklansky does not insult the intelligence of the reader; he assumes the reader is already a decent to good player, familiar with Hold Em play and general strategy, and is not entering his first live game, but wishes to maximize his profits at that game instead. His advice is detailed, well explained, and when counter-intuitive, backed up by some persuasive reasoning. There are charts and tables, all kinds of hand breakdowns - most likely these are best NOT memorized but used more as a way of organizing your approach to the game situation. Rigid play will lead to losses, even at games well stocked with fish. And there are lots and lots of such games available, both online and live.
Not all small-stakes games will fit the profile as here defined - the reader/player will need to use his own judgement about passive/aggressive and loose/tight every time he plays - but when the circumstances are right, Sklansky's book is all about calibrating your game to extract the maximum advantage. And as such it has value and belongs on a poker players bookshelf.
Loose against Loose.......2007-09-06
I'm a long time player and started playing online a little while ago. So to get the feeling for online Poker I thought I'd start with small stake tables until I know my way out and then play my usual higher stakes games.
After a short while I realized that small stakes table are just horrible to play and that I need to adapt my game to the new situation. I went out and buy the book of Sklansky about how to play small stakes... after reading the book carefully and trying to follow most of his strategies I must say that I'd better have lost my money at a table than for the book. My new table experiences would have been more valuable.
What Sklansky suggests is actually to play loose against loose players! I've been playing for many years now and my tracks show that I'm pretty tight, solid and aggresive but since this strategy doesn't seem to work very well at small stakes online tables, I thought being open minded and reading about new ways would pay out. I know now that playing my usual way doesn't pay out as much as I'm used to at tables like that, but I also know that the way they explain how to play doesn't pay out at all but makes you even loose more money...
Most Likely better for Casino play.......2007-08-30
This book is quite good but I think most of the advice is more applicable in brick and mortar rooms where the action is more loose. Many of the examples in the book are games in where the pot odds are favorable to chase all your draws but that isn't the case even in games as low as .25/.5 limit online today. If you can find loose games then this book would probably be a very good addition to your library
Best Book on Limit Hold 'Em.......2007-08-16
I own several poker books and this is the one that I reference most often. Sklansky might be the best poker author of all time and his Theory of Poker is a must read for any serious player. Limit, and particularly low limit poker, is an entirely different game from No-Limit and the techniques that work well in no-limit often fail miserably in Limit. Don't buy the claim that you'll ever be able to earn a substantial income playing low limit, but diligently applying the concepts presented should result in + play. Low limit is a chase game for many and you need to have a rather thick skin to endure the many bad beats that you'll endure by playing correctly. Many players seem to have no clue that a three-flush after the flop should usually be thrown away if the only plausible out is to connect suited runner-runner. You'll want to chew on the table when your flopped 2 pairs gets caught on the river by the runner-runner chaser, but you need to endure! If you think that you'll be a successful player in low limit by using the bluff as your principal technique, think again. Bluffing works on occasion, when timed correctly, but you can't depend on your opposition to make rational folds. A recent example from one of my hands that pays off for the opposition: I was playing 3-6 limit with a kill pot. I was dealt pocket aces and raised. There was a raise and re-raise capped making the bet $24 pre-flop. Incredibly, 5 players stayed in. The flop came Ace - 5 - 8 rainbow, giving me a monster set of aces. An early position player bet, there was a raise and I re-raised. 4 players were still in the bloody pot! The turn card was a 9. More raising and the field was now down to 3, the pot was huge, but I didn't see how my pocket aces could lose. The river comes up a 7. You guessed it, I lost to a straight. The bozo called pre-flop with J-6 offsuit all the way up to a $24 bet, calls raises to the river and hits runner-gutshot runner and he wins a $240 pot! There's no justice in low-limit hold 'em. You may as well learn to live with it!
Poker Book.......2007-06-28
This is a very good book. I have added th book to my poker libary.
Customer Reviews:
this is a beginner's book.......2007-08-01
See Wookborm's review for a more complete discussion of what is wrong here. I don't mind beginner's books, but they should be marketed as such. I think you'll be hard pressed to find anything new in this book, if you have spent any time reading up on no-limit on any of the popular online forums. Mastery of the material in this book does not look sufficient to beat the 25 cent big blind game online. I could only recommend it if you have no other no-limit book at all; but then, why not buy Harrington volume 1 or something else? This book is superfluous. I felt ripped off.
Book needs more practice and less theory.......2007-05-31
This book gets a three star rating because it does some things very well whilst omitting some critical details. The first portion of the book talks about bet sizing. It gives some very practical advice about how much to bet to encourage your opponents to make mistakes, how much to bet when bluffing, how to size your "blocking bets", how much to bet preflop and so forth. This section is excellent.
Some of the other topics are covered in a rather haphazard manner. In the check raising chapter, he covers the very specific case of check raising heads up on the river. For other situations, the book says "Only expert players recognize the best opportunities for the play...A book really can't do the subject justice". Sometimes the calculations are based on figures that in real life are simply prohibitively difficult to obtain. One example begins "So if you have one chance in three of stacking your opponent if you catch a straight...". How exactly one deduces the probability of stacking an opponent when you river your straight is never quite explained, perhaps because it falls into the "A book can't really do the subject justice" category. The second section of the book is titled "Concepts and Weapons" and it does provide useful and practical tips that should improve anyone's game.
The main shortcomings of the book revolve around the topics it doesn't cover. The book does not mention concepts such as pot equity and hand ranges, two ingredients that I believe are critical to today's game. Sure it's important to know how to price your opponent out of a flush draw if you're sure that is his exact holding. However, real life scenarios are rarely that simple. What happens if there is a flush draw on the board and an opponent bets into you and you suspect he's holding a flush draw half the time but will be holding top pair top kicker the other half of the time? This book does not provide the tools for dealing with this type of problem and others like it that no limit players face repeatedly on a daily basis.
To wrap up my review I will use a medieval analogy. If you're already well equipped to deal with the battle that is no limit hold em, this book will certain give you some extra weapons and patch up some holes in your defence. However, if you're looking for your sword, shield, helmet and body armour I would recommend starting with other resources.
Good theory poker book.......2007-05-13
A very good book on poker. Be prepared to learn!
Great Read for Serious Players Only.......2007-05-02
Read this book only if you are serious about improving your game. Sklansky did a good job in capturing into words the intuitive nuances that I have come to recognize after so many hands of playings, and take them even further to horizons I have yet to explore (and can't wait to try). It is not a book for beginner and you are expected to be somewhat a good player already to even start reading this. A "fish" would most certainly get lost within a few pages. A lot of the math in the book is probably not going to be too applicable while you're at the table, but rather just as his way of showing that the decisions are mathematically correct. There is a list of tips at the end of the book that sums up everything quite nicely. To me, the Sklansky-Chubukov rating is unheard of before and it will take me a while to digest its significance and importance in improving my play.
pick one up.......2007-04-14
i've bought plenty of poker books and by far this is my favorite one. Beginners can read it and develope their game, while intermediate to advance players can learn these concepts and apply them to their game. If you read this book over and over and fully realize the concepts and the insight sklansky has on no limit play, you should be able to sit down at a poker table whether it be at the casino or at home game and become a confident solid player.
Product Description
The recent boom of Texas hold em has forever changed the way the game is played. Many more people know how to play this game well. Even the loose players who come to gamble have become far more aggressive, making them more difficult to play against. So a basic tight and patient strategy will no longer guarantee that you can make a significant amount of money in games at the higher stakes. This is especially true short-handed, which have become increasingly popular in the online poker rooms. This text is the first to tackle the complex issues presented when playing short-handed and high-stakes limit hold em. But even if you happen to only play in softer games, many of the key concepts presented will still help you against the other good players in your game. Winning in Tough Hold em Games includes an examination of pre-flop play, covering issues at a depth of sophistication which have never appeared in print before including discussions of blind stealing, re-stealing, isolating a loose player, big blind and small blind defense, and blind versus blind play. Also covered are thorough sections on playing heads up and semi-bluffing. In addition, over 50 hands, taken from high stakes online games which were played by Stoxtrader, are presented along with appropriate discussion of the strategy involved. This book is a must read for anyone hoping to make a meaningful income from playing limit hold em. It is a serious text and should be beneficial for those of you willing to make the effort to master this material.
Customer Reviews:
Great! .......2007-08-14
Fascinating read. Not sure why these guys would want to share their secret, but I'm glad they did.
Good, but..........2007-08-05
Pretty good book overall. This is narrowly targeted at higher-stakes, short-handed, limit holdem players. It has general guidelines for types of hands, and then specific guidance for particular hands. I found the general guidance and principles to be extremely good. But the particular hands to be not so relevant for the games i play. It also has lots of math in there that is only marginally useful.
This book is a goldmine.......2007-07-06
I'm not one for writing reviews, but when I saw this book only had one to it's name, I had to say a few words.
I can honestly say this is the best book out there when it comes to beating tough 6 max online games. And I've read a lot of them!!
Stox is a genius. I've based my entire style of play on his "teachings" and I have been a successful online pro for 18 months. I hesitate to praise him too much because I don't want my opponents to get their hands on this book!!
I wont go into much detail other than to say there is a large and clearly explained section on Blinds play/defense which is a must read for any serious player. It has helped my game no end.
Flintoff 2+2
Good, Heavy reading.......2007-05-21
This is a book by a couple of respected 2+2 er's (If you dont know what a 2+2er is then this book is not for you (yet) )
It specifically addresses tough 6 max limit games, tough, being with the explosion of internet games and the recent US gaming laws it is getting harder and harder to find what we call loose, profitable tables.
It is concise and to the point and includes alot of PT stats (if you dont know what PT is again this book is not for you) to back up their reasoning.
In conclusion the book adopts an aggressive (as you should be when playing short handed anyway) style and deep thinking analysis of every play including actual hands.
However this is not a beginner book and you should be a winning player at full ring/6 max games limit medium stakes $2/4 and above to find this book useful. it is also good for those players who have plateued and are looking to improve.
Book Description
Phil Gordon plays poker with the best players in the world. He has won -- and lost -- in tournaments and cash games around the globe, all the while studying the game and learning from every hand dealt. As the resident expert and cohost of Celebrity Poker Showdown, Phil has quickly become one of the most sought-after teachers of No Limit Texas Hold'em. It's a tough game. But anyone can become a winning player with the right amount of courage, patience, aggression, observation, and, perhaps most important, dedication to becoming a better player.
After fifteen years of keeping notes on the things he's learned, the greats he's played with, and the celebrities he's taught, Phil Gordon has poured every single thing he knows about No Limit Texas Hold'em into this little green book. Taking a page from Harvey Penick's bestselling book of golf wisdom, Phil plays the role of both teacher and student, offering up insightful tips on how to think about poker and how to develop a singular style of play. Through philosophy, psychology, strategy, math, and the knowledge gleaned from playing poker with everyone from T. J. Cloutier and Phil Ivey to Hank Azaria and Ben Affleck, Phil breaks down the game into enlightening instructional tidbits and illustrative anecdotes that inspire the kind of persistence and motivation necessary to improve your game.
A book to rank with Doyle Brunson's Super System and David Sklansky's The Theory of Poker, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book deserves a spot on the shelf of every serious student of the game.
Customer Reviews:
Great Little Green.......2007-09-22
I have read quite a few books by the pros. However, this one is clearly the best so far. He speaks in terms that are understandable and he explains things well. I recommend this book for anyone in their early years of competing.
Gives you good advice.......2007-09-01
When you start playing Texas Hold'em, this is a good book to read now and then.
If you never read a poker book, this is a great first read........2007-08-29
If you've never read a poker book, this is one of the first books you should read. It will tell the novice how to start thinking about the game. If you ar fairly new to the game, then you will find this book a wealth of information. An intermediate player will find alot in this book as well, although it may never be 'cool' to quote Phil Gordon. Unfortunately, I think Mr. Gordon explains Pot Odds poorly. SUMMARY: For the player who wants to improve but doesn't want to get too deep into poker theory, there is no beating Phil Gordon. The Audiobook version is great for long car rides or subway commutes.
Thumbs up for Gordon's green book.......2007-07-04
Found this to be very educational and easy to follow. Actually listened to it typically driving out to a poker tournament and was able to apply some of the topics immediately.
good mix of theory and play.......2007-05-23
If you like the scenario type reading this book will help you. I get bored with just calculations so knowing the though process was helpful.
Book Description
Texas Hold 'em is not an easy game to play well. To become an expert you must balance many concepts, some of which occasionally contradict each other. In 1988, the first edition appeared. Many ideas, which were only known to a small, select group of players, were made available to anyone who was striving to become an expert, and the hold 'em explosion had begun. It is now a new century, and the authors have again moved the state of the art forward by adding over 100 pages of new material, including extensive sections on "loose games," and "short-handed games." Anyone who studies this text, is well disciplined, and gets the proper experience should become a significant winner. Some of the other ideas discussed include play on the first two cards, semi-bluffing, the free card, inducing bluffs, staying with a draw, playing when a pair flops, playing trash hands, desperation bets, playing in wild games, reading hands, and psychology.
Customer Reviews:
You'll get a big edge.......2007-09-29
I really am not a fan of the reviews, but I feel that I have the obligation to recommend this book because if you read it, you will understand better the others players' game, and the best of it you'll get a big edge over them.
Excellent.......2007-08-23
I was constantly breaking even before getting this book on online poker sites. After reading it, I took nearly all of the guesswork out of my playstyle and recently just bought a new guitar entirely with winnings.
I recommend this book to anyone who already considers themselves decent at poker and already has good intuition as to spotting how others play to determine what they have... or don't have. This book will not probably help you with those things. This book is best for those who are already good at poker but either have their game strategy wrong or off a little.
The best part of this book is it makes it much more easy to spot poor play from other people at your table and thus allows you to profit hugely from that.
Overrated .......2007-08-14
Sure, there are tips in the book - but there isn't any supporting...anything. You are expected to just take things on face value. Also, it is TERRIBLY written. I think I read the word "finally" 4 times in a chapter. It's terribly nonsensical at many times. It needs a complete re-write and edit.
The thoughts are chaotic and presented sloppily. It takes 3 reads to understand paragraphs most of the time...
TERRIBLE READ.
LIMIT HOLD EM ONLY!!!.......2007-06-02
Buy this book only if you play fixed-limit hold em, not the pot limit and no limit games that most people play, all the strategy in this book relates to fixed limit and DOES NOT carry over to no limit. I don't remember this being mentioned on the sleeve, and it would be easy for a NL player to add this to their library only to read it and find out too late that it does not apply to NL.
Just so you know!!!
Perfecting your game.......2007-05-21
This is a great book by the original expert in Texas Holdem, David Sklansky. After learning the basics this book is great for teaching the finer details and less obvious nuances of the game. It's a must for anyone who's serious about learning Texas Holdem.
Book Description
SUPER STARS OF HOLD'EM does for hold'em what Doyle Brunson's Super System 2 did for poker. Negreanu gathers together the greatest young players, theorists, and world champions of hold'em, to present insider professional secrets and winning strategies for the only poker game that counts nowadays-hold'em. Ten powerful chapters cover every aspect of the major hold'em games-limit, no-limit, and pot-limit for cash games and tournaments-with in-depth coverage on all aspects of play. This weighty volume will be an instant classic-poker players cannot ignore the professional advice from the greatest stars of the game.
Book Description
In Poker: The Real Deal and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, Phil Gordon -- a world-class player and teacher -- shared the strategies, tips, and expertise he's gleaned during his phenomenally successful career. Now he shows players how to apply those theories to actual hands in order to make smart, confident decisions with every move.
Gordon walks readers through hands that he's encountered in cash games; early, middle, and late tournament play; Sit & Gos; satellites and supersatellites; and the final table of the World Series of Poker, revealing not only what plays he made but also why he made them. He relates what goes through a pro's mind in every situation, whether it's a timely bluff or a questionable call, and helps players calculate their own best moves in the most pressure-fueled of situations. In analyzing specific hands, Gordon also imparts important lessons in key poker skills such as calculating odds, shorthanded play, and discovering tells. And he discusses memorable plays -- the good and the oh-so-bad -- explaining why certain moves were made and, in many cases, how the hands should have been played differently.
Insightful, witty, and filled with real-life pro secrets, Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book is required reading for every player looking to make a profit and raise his game to the next level.
Customer Reviews:
Basic, but good. Short and Informative.......2007-08-29
If you have basic poker knowledge (read the Phil Gordon's Green book) then this is a great follow-up. Even if you didn't read the Green book, you'll learn something reading this book. It's an easy read, entertaining, and has some good info. For a casual player who wants to get better but doesn't want to get too involved in poker theory, there's no beating Phil Gordon's Green and Blue book. For a serious player, it's still a good read if not a bit fluffy, like Phil Gordon himself. READ IT!
Occasional gems but few and far between.......2007-05-15
Phil Gordon claims that "The Little Blue Book" will teach you how to think about poker. I do not think his work lives up to that claim. The book is dedicated primarily to tournament analysis, with the first quarter of the book dedicated to cash game play.
If a book claims to teach you how to think about poker, then it firstly must provide a generic framework for thinking about poker problems and then it should use specific hand examples to show you how to apply that framework to make profitable decisions.
Gordon's book is a haphazardly assembled collection of hands along with his analysis, some of which is insightful and some of which is not. Some of his advice includes:
"Be careful when playing hands that are easily dominated - even drunks can play top two pair effectively"
"Do not underestimate the power of implied tilt odds. You can at times take the worst of it if a monster suckout will open a fire hose of angry tilting money"
"It's usually correct to slowplay when you flop an absolute monster"
"When a player who never bluffs makes a bet or a raise, you have to put him on a big hand"
To be fair to the book there are some good points inside but nothing that a solid intermediate poker player would not understand already. For a more comprehensive treatment of tournament poker, I would definitely recommend Harrington's three part poker series. I can't really recommend Gordon's book to any type of poker audience.
Phil Gordon.......2007-05-13
I have all of MR. Gordons books (3)....I enjoyed all of them...anyone who plays poker....should add them to their poker library...shari
Real Poker Stories.......2007-05-07
This is a great book for someone who knows the basics of Texas Hold 'Em, who has read some books on poker but found it hard to put their general rules of advice into effective play. Phil has found a form for combining real situations with the advice -- his stories around particular hands. Thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories and suspect you will as well.
Good Pleasure Reading.......2007-04-11
I am a little over half way through this book. I think it is similar to Harrington's (Harrington on Hold'em) style of writing about holdem in that it presents situations and takes you through the thought process of Gordon as he negotiates the hand. Campared to Harrington, Gordon's work is a little more to the point, a little less technical, and good pleasure reading. Each story has a little tip ("Key Analysis") at the end. I recommend it for anyone who loves the game and already has a lot of experience in playing and understands the fundamentals.
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Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame
Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook (Harrington on Hold'em)
Caro's Book of Poker Tells
The Theory of Poker
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em
