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 | | Poker Forums |  Reccomended Poker Books from Texas Holdem Forums | | | Winning Low-Limit Hold'em | | | Book : Winning Low-Limit Hold'em
Author : Lee Jones
Opinion by Fonzerelli_79 : This was the first poker book i bought...ahh the memories! This isnt the most advanced poker book but it's a fantastic book for people who know the rules of poker and have played a few games but arent up on strategies etc. It also gives an introduction to odds. Whilst it is a limit book, you can take a lot of the advice it gives you and apply it in no limit games. Reccomended for newbies :)
| | The Theory of Poker | | | Book : The Theory of Poker
Author : David Sklansky
Opinion by Fonzerelli_79 : In my opinion, this is the most significant book on poker i've ever read. It totally changed the way i played the game...for the better. Ive read a lot of people saying that if you can take just one thing from a poker book that helps your game then it was worth the purchase - The Theory of Poker added so much to my game that i dont know where to begin.
First of all, this isnt the easiest book to read. When you've played the game a while and consider yourself an ok player but dont know the science behind the game, your ready to read this book. It teaches you about bluffing and semi-bluffing, the value of deception, the free card, slowplaying, position, reading hands, pot odds, implied odds and much more.
There are hundreds of books being written every year on book but for me The Theory of Poker should still be considered the standard for taking your game to the next level.
| | Play Poker Like the Pros | | | Book : Play Poker Like the Pros
Author : Phil Hellmuth
Opinion by n1vek :
Phil Hellmuth is one of the most respected players on the pro circuit and has finally published a book covering Hold’em, Omaha, and Stud. Each chapter covers many different and important points. The games covered in Hellmuth’s are Limit Holdem, Pot-Limit/No-Limit Holdem, Omaha, Omaha 8OB, Stud, Stud 8OB, and Razz. About half of the book is spent on Holdem, as that is quickly becoming the most popular game in card rooms and online sites. Phil begins the book with a brief discussion on Skill vs. Luck in poker. If you have been playing for a decent amount of time, you can skip this section (as with much of the rest of this book). He then moves on to Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Strategy for Limit Holdem.
Some of the more important points and tips he covers are the different types of players you will encounter, his top ten hands, the power of the raise, stealing the blinds, and trapping. He covers all of these in pretty good detail and I cannot argue that what he covers is necessary. Now comes where I feel this book comes up very short, the Pot-Limit / No-Limit Holdem chapter. He touches briefly on different strategies, but a majority of the reading spent in this chapter is done on the different stories from his No-Limit tournament success. If you want to improve your NL Holdem game, do not count on this book to do it. Phil should have realized that NL Holdem is becoming the game of choice for many of the readers and covered it more in depth. Now onto the Omaha and Stud chapters, which Phil just lightly touches on. He begins with Omaha 8OB (eight or better) and Pot-Limit Omaha strategies. Phil’s strategies cover how to qualify a low hand in Omaha, have A2 in your hand, and a list of the best starting hands for Omaha. Again, he advises tight play preflop for beginners and using only his “premium” hands.
In Pot-Limit, he reminds you to try and make the best hand (this point made my laugh) and how to protect your hand with a Pot-sized bet. For the beginner Omaha player, this book does its job. The final four chapters of the book (not counting the Internet Poker chapter) cover Stud, Razz, and Stud 8OB. One of the first differences you might see is that Stud is an ante game, and not blinds. Also, there are no community cards and the player with the best board begins each round of betting. Like always, he covers his top hands for Stud and preaches about playing tightly. In Razz he covers the best low starting hands, how to know when to steal the antes, what exactly is a “board lock” in Stud. In Stud 8OB, he covers (like he did in Omaha) what qualifies as a low hand and when it is time to throw away a big pair.
Everything covered here does a good job in preparing you for your first night playing Stud but it will not develop your game once you reach that level. With all this being said, my final thoughts on the book are that it is a rental at best. It falls short on the Holdem sections (which Phil is best known for) and really teaches you some techniques that may hurt you in the long run. In my opinion, you should save your money and buy Doyle Brunson’s “Super System” which can be found in many stores for $30.00 or less. It is slightly more expensive than Hellmuth’s book, but the content more than makes up for the price.
| | Doyle Brunsons Super System 2 | | | Book : Doyle Brunsons Super System 2
Author : Doyle Brunson
Opinion by Scottishben :
Super System 1 along with Texas Holdem for the Advanced Poker/ the theory of poker were just about the only poker books out of the massive number of poker books out there to actually influence the way poker is played today. They can claim to have led to a marked improvement to the quality of many amateur\'s game.
As a result the sequel to one of these books was keenly anticipated.
Now SS2 like SS1 is not all written by Doyle but rather by a dozen or so authors of different chapters. This means that there is no consistent writting style or structure for the chapters but also that you are getting several proffesionals strategies for the price of one.
The no-limit section is just an update of the previous edition. It is written by Doyle and he advocates a very aggressive style that will not suit many players. The first time i read it I picked up a few key ideas but largely thought that I would never play that style at the limits I play so it wasnt all that useful to me. However as I re-read it i saw that his hyper aggressive strategy was only to be employed against expert players. This sort of player I rarely encounter and by the time I realise I am against one it is normally too late. Much of the hand specific advice is excellent and it is well worth reading. That being said it is not the best book on NL by any stretch of the imagination unless you are playing against pros at very high stakes.
Of the other chapters several are just really fillers. The On-line poker chapter tells little that anyone who has played on-line for a while wouldn\'t have deduced for themselves. I personally was not interested in the autobiographical chapter and found the chapters on tourney play too insubstantial to be informative. The specialise or generalise chapter was really just a filler.
As for the other chapters. the Todd Brunson chapter on Stud high low contains some good advice but is badly written and peversly structured. Given that there is little quality advice on the game published then it does provide enough info to play and make a profit but it way too short to do much more. I doubt if this chapter would have been written by tod if it wasnt for the family connection.
The Draw low chapter is written by Daniel Neagranu and whilst it contains some good advice it is badly written. Some players like doyle can write quite well and play well - he isnt really one of them. The chapter is quite short and really tries to do too much in a limited space (explain the rules in detail and strategy) as a result the chapter - useful though it is will mainly be of use to the beginner player.
The Mike Caro chapter is probably geared more to the beginner than the advanced player. I have a suspision that Doyle and Mike couldnt really agree on what Mike was to write about so we are left with a chapter about.... everything. That being said it contains a lot of excellent advice, is interestingly written and is a definite asset to the book
Jennifer H- writes the limit holdem section and does a fantastic job. Where as Doyle is great at making what he says interesting she isnt but the quality of the advice is excellent and it is one of the best structured chapters in the book. It is large enough to cover a wide range of aspects of the game and has advice that will help most limit players.
The omaha sections are not as well structured as jennifers chapter but do contain a lot of excellent advise. Given the complexities of these games it would have been preferable to have more room for these chapters. Also only limit high low is dealt with (no pot limit etc). These chapters contain some excellent advice although I had the feeling that they were not sure what level to pitch their advice at- better for the player who has played a reasonable amount but is no expert.
My two main critisisms is that whilst they have changed the games that they talk about to reflect the modern game that they have not made as much changes as would have been needed for this to be as key a work as the previous volumn. They do not deal enough with strategies for on-line play or for tourney play.
Tourneys are so different from normal ring games that much of the advice that applies for one doesnt apply for the other. Also there is a lot of game theory that applies for tourneys that could have been considered and wasnt.
All these famous names make their living in the \"real world\" so it is undestandable that they might not be the best people at online strategies but... why with all those famous faces one or two writers who don\'t have that kind of crowd pull wouldnt have done any harm.
In short this is the best general book on multiple types of poker game. Far superiour to Helmuths Play poker like the pros and contains all the key games. Several chapters are worth the cost of the book in themselves. That being said if you only play holdem or omaha there are better game specific books out there. The fullness of the oppertunity were not grasped and whilst this is one of the best books on poker on the market it will not have anything like the impact of the original book.
Opinion by gobluejrm :
SuperSystem 2 is the sequel to doyle brunsons first book supersystem, which is considered by many to be the bible of poker. Many thought that supersystem 2, would be a duplicate of the original, however, after reading both, it appears that it is a totally different book.
Supersystem 2 is divided into about 12 different section and below is an overview of each :
Section 1: Introduction/My Story by Doyle Brunson: This section is pretty straight forward, as doyle goes into a lot of talk about the early days of poker. This wont improve your game, but gives a solid appreciation for the game of poker
Section 2: History of No-Limit hold e by Crandell Addington: I thought a lot of this stuff was repeated from doyle\'s section, but this did provide some interesting tidbits into the start of the WSOP main event
Section 3: Online Poker by Doyle Brunson: In this section doyle goes into a lot about what he likes about online poker. However, i found this disappointing because although he endorses it, he doesnt give any advice about how to play online as opposed to when he plays live, which i thought would have helped.
Section 4: 43 Exclusive supersysterm 2 tips from mike caro university: This section was in my opinion one of the top 3 sections easily. Mike Caro gives a multitude of tips, all of them helpful, on how any player can improve their poker game. Most people only get this info in one of his seminars, however by buying the book, you get helpful tips from one of the poker greats
Section 5: Limit Holdem by Jennifer Harman: I thought jennifer harman did a great job of explaining the nuances of limit hold\'em and how to play it differently than no limit. Also, this section is very easy to follow and gives you advide for a wide variety of hands, from all positions, and at all points of the game (flop, turn, river).
Section 6: Omaha 8 or better by Bobby Baldwin: The omaha sections i thought were the weaker of the two sections. However, although they were the weak sections, they were rife with information for poker players. Baldwin does a good job of emphasizing the key points of the game, although, id like to get a little more in detail here
Section 7: Stud hi-low 8 or better by Todd Brunson: This section was in my opinion the best of the book. Todd brunson goes into a list of tips (23 total) which will help improve your poker game. Goign into the book, i had no clue about anything about this game, and coming out of just reading and never practicing, i won $30 in .25/.50 in about a 30 min. session
Section 8: Pot Limit Omaha High by Lyle Berman: This section was pretty good, in the fact that Lyle was able to explain the differences in hand strength in Omaha and No Limit. Also, unlike other sections, he had a lot more advanced work in his section, and a lot of what to look for in how opponents play, in accordance with your play.
Section 9: Triple Draw by Daniel Negranu: This section is about a game i had never heard of before reading. I thought this was probably the worst section of the book. Negranu does a good job of explaining the concepts to the game, as it is not a very well known one, but with it being a draw game, he didnt go into great depth about reading your opponent and his hand, bluffing yoru bad hands, etc. in his section. However, that being said, i think there\'s so much to know about this game, that you could write a book about it alone
Section 10: Tournament Overview by Doyle Brunson; I thought Texas Dolly did a great job of showing some of his tournament strategy. He talks about live tournaments, but if you just adjust the day/hour time tables, to the level time tables in online, you can use the infomration here
SEction 11: No Limit Holdem by Doyle Brunson: A great section to read for anyone who wants to improve their no limit game. Doyle goes into detail about how he plays, but also shows ways to change your style of play depending on situation. He also goes into a lot of reasoning about playing hands that you wouldnt normally play, and why you should do it at times. Even the most advanced player would benefit from reading this section
Section 12: World Poker Tour by Steve Lipscomb: This was a dull section just about the beginning of the world poker tour, i read it by wasnt too into the section.
Final Overview: This was a great book for every reader, while some sections arent as superb as others, this book is definately worth the $35. Also included is a card for doyle\'s online poker website, which is a pretty good site (that review will occur later). This book will improve your game in all games, and will benefit players at every level. A definately must read, and to use the bible analogy, this becomes the \"New Testament\" while supersystem 1 is the \"old testament\" int hat they both go together
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