5 comments about The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold'em, 2nd Edition (The Pocket Idiot's Guide).

1. The Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold 'Em, while thoughtfully written and chock full of very useful information is certainly NOT for the novice player. While I've been a fan of the "Idiot" series and their chief competitor, this particular pocket guide is, unfortunately, written well over the Idiot's head. Although it covers a weath of topics, it is unfortunately brief on far too many of them and tried to cover too much territory in too short a span. As a result the passages are often overly complicated, tangential and confusing. If this was the first book I had read on Texas Hold 'Em, I'd be more confused than before I started it!
   
   I would recommend this short work for anyone who is a fairly experienced amature player with a few hundred online hands under their belt and another book or two prior to this one. In that event, Randy Burgess' thoughts and strategies - although as with any single author's opinion are to be taken with a grain of salt and not gospal - are useful and insightful.



2. Before I read this I just tried to wait for good cards and hope for the best. The strategies in this book have finally made me a winning player -- and helped me understand exactly what it takes to make money in this game and move up from the low limits I currently play. As long as you aren't at my table, I recommend it!



3. After watching hold'em on TV and holding my own in games with friends, I decided to give playing online a try. I found the games alot harder and was frustrated that I not only couldn't win, but I was actually losing. I picked up this book, thinking I wouldn't learn much and found out that I knew almost nothing about how to win -- and some of what I did know was wrong.
   
   From starting hands to odds, counting pots to understanding other players this book got me to break even within a week of finishing it. Since then (in about 4 months), I've won over $750 playing .50 - $1 and have just moved up to playing $1-2 online.
   
   Strongly recommended.



4. scrivo in italiano cosi' mi capite ITALIANI.
   Onestamente posso dire che e' un OTTIMO libro,tutte le tattiche del gioco PRE FLOP,FLOP,TURN,RIVER e molto altro.
   Molto facile da capire(linguaggio semplice).
   CONSIGLIATO per i principianti e NON



5. This book showed me how to play serious hold'em -- I've still got a long way to go, but at least now I know what I don't know. Like most Idiot's guides, it's great at giving you the nuts and bolts basics on the topic. I'm sure more experienced players have the odds nailed and know what "outs" are, but I didn't before I read this book. It's also useful for learning where to play, whether on the Internet and even for types of players to look out for. I've already reread it twice, and I'm sure I'll refer back lots more times.

5 comments about No-Limit Texas Hold'em: The New Player's Guide to Winning Poker's Biggest Game (The New Players Series).

1. If you are anywhere beyond beginner, this book will be of very little use to you. I am by no means an expert, but I found most of the information contained in the book to be very basic.
   
   I also think some of the advice is terrible. Example (p. 182): it's fairly early in the tournament and you have plenty of chips; you call a small raise from a very loose and aggressive player preflop with AKs; flop brings 66Q, two of your suit and the aggressive player bets roughly the size of the pot. The book's advice in this spot? "With the nut flush draw and two over cards you have a very big hand." Go all in! Or, as an alternative "smooth call" to try to keep another player in the pot.
   
   I have nowhere near the qualifications of the authors, but I can not fathom why anyone would want to put a ton of chips at risk at this point in a tourney with a hand that is, at best, a little behind and, at worst, completely dominated.
   
   I know there aren't a lot of no limit books out there, but there must be some better than this.



2. This book was extremely basic, buy the Championship Series version. I consider myself a mid-level to advanced limit player just starting to explore the world of No Limit and I already knew most of the stuff this book contained. It was really a waste of time.



3. I do confess I am a novice NL hold 'em player. I mean really -- what do I know about poker books? Still I have found this book an excellent source for laying down fundamental and basic NL strategy as well as answering a lot of the questions I had about the NL game (like, "how the heck do I know how much to bet??"). The negative reviews here seem to harp on the fact that this book is too basic. Well , let's see.....Wow, how about that?!?! It says "NEW PLAYER SERIES" on the cover.
   
   Seriously, if you are a NL new player, I think this is a great place to start and build upon. I can't speak for more advanced players, but I imagine this book would be a good source for all levels. The book has a friendly, easy to read style and is filled with plenty of scenarios you might find yourself in at the table. You'll find all of the key concepts are pretty much covered -- starting hands, position, reading players, tournament strategies, All-in situations, etc.
   
   The book is not without flaws: no serious discussion of pot odds and outs, virtually nothing on playing the turn and river [although you must realize must pro's want to win a pot pre-flop and/or on the flop. The whole point of NL is to make it too expensive for your opponent to see the next card(s).]
   
   But overall this book provides the foundation for solid play. If you are new to the NL game -- START HERE!



4. I am astounded to read the reviews below giving this book one star because it is "for beginners" or "very basic". Across the top of the front cover of this book is a banner that reads: "The NEW PLAYER Series". Below the title it reads: "The new player's guide to winning poker's biggest game". You would think people would rate a book high if it lives up to its premise. This book is SUPPOSED to be for beginners.
   
   The first 25-30 pages are aimed at people new to hold'em, to bring them up to speed. After that, it is the basics of no-limit hold'em play, pretty much everything you need to know to get started.
   
   Judging by how the majority of players out there (on the internet and in brick-and-mortar casinos) play, most people would benefit from a good fundamental understanding of the basics.
   
   This book teaches you these basics. The only problem with some of the other literature out there on no-limit is that it assumes you are an experienced player. We needed a good basic text, and here it is.
   
   Highly recommended advice from two great poker players, for the beginner and those experienced hold'em players making the move to no-limit.



5. In my opinion, the authors and those who wrote the advertisements I saw for this book have advertised falsely. The authors and advertisers say the book is for learning no-limit cash-game and tournament strategies and techniques. There is virtually no information on cash-game techniques and strategies, however, and no information on how to adapt the given tournament strategies to cash-games. Therefore the book only does half or less of what it is supposed to do.

5 comments about How To Win The Championship: Hold'em Strategies for The Final Table.

1. I have almost 30 books on Hold'em. Other than Harrington's books which are excellent, almost none put you really, and I mean REALLY inside the mind of the author/player (Erick Lindgren's book does a good job of this though). I've had the good fortune to have met TJ a couple of times, and ask him some questions. But in How To Win The Championship he brings you into his thought process, to the point where he even says that some more mathematical players may not agree, but he does it so-and-so way and here's why. The information is non-stop, with essentially no fluff. But be warned, if you are just a beginning player who hasn't played in a tournament before, he doesn't go into basics and it doesn't tell you what to do at the beginning or middle stages of a tournament. This is really for a bit more experienced player. His book essentially starts off at the point where you are 1 table before getting into the money and goes on from there to heads up. Being a tournament player myself (I don't play cash games much at all), this book is perfect. I better understand why I've hit walls in the past and how I need to adjust my play to win or at least get into the top 3. I get in the money a reasonable number of times in live tournaments but have real trouble breaking into that upper pay echelon. He gives great advice on how not to flame out when you just make it into the money but not into the bigger money. Really key points that I haven't seen in other books. I realize that at some point we all need to stop buying all these books (yeah, learning never stops but 30 books? I must be a junkie!), but I really can say if you want to improve your tournament play, TJ's book is a must. His writing style is like he's talking to you about exactly what he does and why (also what he doesn't do and why you shouldn't either).
   
   Chapters include:
   * When you're one table away from the money
   * When you've made it to the first money table
   * When you've made it to the second money table
   * When you've made it to the final table
   * Six-handed at the final table
   * Playing three-handed and heads up at the final table
   * Several chapters on tournament strategies and some other thoughts.
   
   As you can see, this book's content is pretty specific and I haven't seen this in other books. In fact, in many of those chapters, he further breaks them down into if you are a short, medium or big stack, because the size of your chip stack greatly influences the types of situations that you should get involved in. It's like you've got a coach you can talk to as you continue to advance in the tournament...especially useful for those who haven't been into the money or final table before or keep seeming to make mistakes and missing the big money.
   
   Overall, highly recommended and it absolutely will pay for itself, whether you play in live or online tournaments.



2. Like most of Cloutier's books, this reads like a transcript of conversations with him. It is not that well organized, and more specific examples would be helpful. BUT, you learn about the thought process of one of the best. It is hard to imagine too many serious players, who would not benefit from reading this book and thinking about the ideas. I probably won't re-read this book as often as Harrington or Gordon's, but it will be on the active part of my poker bookshelf.



3. Don't believe the positive reviews, this book is awful. It's rambling, imprecise, and purely anecdotal, the worst example of the unhelpful "play the player" style of the lesser poker books. Over and over again TJ's grand sum total of advice in all kinds of different situations is to "learn your opponents" so you can "make moves" and "then you can really play poker". And that is it, the entire enumeration of the "strategy". Nothing about how to go about actually -learning- your opponents, nothing about -moves- to make, nothing about his way of -really playing poker-.
   
   The scenarios he sets up are the same thing you have heard a hundred times elsewhere. Anyone who has read other books (or played tournaments) will already have a firm grasp on basic beginner logic like, "if you're seriously short stacked, you've got to gamble". Just compare that to the in-depth examination of M and Q done by Harrington in his series.
   
   Anyone who hasn't read other books (and doesn't have much experience) will not find advice in this book that will improve their game.
   
   There is ONE actual concrete move described in this book, and that's the fact that when there's a preflop raise, TJ likes to reraise to steal the blinds + the original raise, which allows him to keep even for a few orbits. The rest of this book is at the level of advising you to "get your money in with the best hand".
   
   The final insult in the book is to recite the action of ESPN-televised knockout hands from the 2005 WSOP $5000 NL event. Great. But there's barely any _analysis_ of the hands, what was done right and wrong, what Cloutier might do differently or emphasize. Just a flat recitation of what was shown on TV. (I can't say there was _no_ analysis. Cloutier does at one point add the insight that "sometimes you just have to make the decision to go for it.") Again, compare to Harrington's deep analysis of D'Agostino vs Ivey.
   
   Just an awful book from an otherwise great player, a cheap attempt to cash in on the televised NL tournament poker craze, can't hold a candle to Cloutier's earlier (highly regarded) works with Tom McEvoy or the absolutely brilliant new standard for NL tourneys defined by Harrington or the very crisp and insightful ring game advice from Phil Gordon.



4. I love watching T. J. Cloutier play, so I jumped on this book with anticipation. Basically, it's a long discourse in which he takes every opportunity to tell you to play good hands and do your best to get paid off for them, and never stop studying your opponents.
   
   Although the author uses tournament theory throughout, he never particularly explains it, or ties it in to his exposition, except in the discussion of when to go all in in the big blind.
   
   He breaks down the exposition by number of players left and stack sizes, but his advice for playing the big and medium stacks is almost indistinguishable. He does give some good advice on which players to attack and which to stay away from, but it's slightly spoiled by the
   superstitious injunction, repeated two or three times, to stay out of the way of players "on a rush." If you always do that, you'll miss your chances to stop someone's "rush," now, won't you?
   
   There's a chapter where he goes over the critical hands from the 2005 WSOP $5000 No-Limit Hold'em event. This is the high point of the book, but if you compare the commentary here with the kind of analysis Harrington gets into in Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook (Harrington on Hold'em), it's pretty airy.
   
   What one does get out of this book is a sense of how much patience one has to apply, and (at least vaguely) what standards to use on one's hands. For some players, this will be a needed tonic.
   
   In many places throughout, the author admits he's just pointing to something he can't teach directly; he can give you an idea just how well-developed a top player's intuition and sense of timing are, but give only a couple of hints on how to get to that point: paraphrasing, they would be "study your opponents" and "remember your mistakes."
   
   The advice in this book is tailored for big tournaments with relatively deep stacks. In the tournaments most of us play, we'll bubble out if we try to follow T.J.'s advice without adjustment, which is exactly the problem the book sets out to solve.
   
   I do wish all my opponents would read this book, though, especially the ones who keep overplaying KJ and drawing out on me.



5. Don't agree with the others who didn't like this book. It's my favorite out of 12 or so that I've bought on poker. Ok, so it doesn't get into specifics so much, but the strategy is very sound and the best for me.
   
   This and Harrington's books are my favorites, but this one gets me farther in tournaments without having to analyze numbers to death. I truly believe this is the philosophy that got TJ all the wins he has and he's one of the best ever.
   
   You can review a million hands and how they were played, what the pot odds were etc, and still not get to the final table as surely as this book will get you there.

5 comments about 52 Tips for Texas Hold 'em Poker.

1. I got this book to learn how to play poker because I never have anything to do when my friends get together for a game. There are a lot of simple tips and basic strategies that were really easy for me to remember and follow. Now I am a regular in my friends poker game and I do really well thanks to the advice that Shulman gives. It is definitely worth getting if you want to learn.



2. So I've really gotten into Texas Hold'em lately, I play a lot with my friends and sometimes on Party Poker Net. My game was pretty good before, but this book really helped me tighten up my skills and taught me a few tricks I hadn't thought of before. My favorite tip is number 17, where he says to bet on the flop if no one else has yet. You wouldn't believe how much this pushes people to fold and gives you the pot! If you want to win every time, grab this book and carry it around like your best friend.



3. I play poker with the boys on Monday nights, and when we first started playing I wasn't doing as well as I wanted. In fact, I kept losing all my money to them! So I decided that I would take matters into my own hands. A friend recommended this book to me, so I picked it up here on Amazon. I wasn't very interested at first because I didn't think a book could tell me what I really needed to know about how to play poker. But boy it proved me wrong! I learned how to read my friends a lot better, and I also learned how to keep my own cool when I had a good hand (or I was bluffing big time). I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to improve their A game, or knows they aren't that good across the board. Trust me, you need this book no matter what your level of playing is at.



4. Mostly tips for limit texas holdem, very little on no limit. Very basic level tips, not as good as i thought it would be



5. This book is for beginners, and even then you would be much better off getting another book. I started out with an Internet Poker guide, and moved onto Harrington on Holdem I and II.
   
   Pass on this book unless you have never played poker in your life.

5 comments about Mastering No-Limit Hold'em.

1. Well I think this is a quite good book, but especially for beginners. People can understand the differences between limit and no-limit hold'em, but that's all. You won't master your no-limit skill with this book. Of course there are chapters that are good, for example the Odds and Betting Strategies and the Position. If you are new you should read it, but be ready to buy other better books that can give you the essence of no-limit hold'em. For example the magnificient Little Green Book by Phil Gordon or if you want to play absolutely an expert level and want to take part in tournaments the Harrington's books are waiting for you. All in all this is a good book for beginners, before more serious ones.
   Buy it but be ready to buy another ones!



2. This is a fairly straightforward book for no limit; however it is a niche book. This book discusses the small buy-in no limit cash games found mostly in the LA clubs and Las Vegas casinos. While I think it provides an adequate overview for these specific games it is short on the underelying theory of no limit holdem and almost completely void of the psychology which is the main thrust of no limit holdem. The book is for the casual to intermediate player who wants to play at these smaller games. My main complaints are that there is much basic material that is more common sense than anything and the authors never take you to a place of elevating your game. If you are still learning the basics and don't understand things like position and how to read holdem flops it may be okay but personally I didn't feel I got much value out of it. Do an honest assessment of your own game-if you would consider yourself a beginner or struggling intermediate player you will learn enough to make the read worthwhile otherwise it is very middle of the road and you might find better value in "Super System" or "Harrington on Holdem". While "Harrington on Holdem" is written to be a tournament no limit book most players will find tremendous value learning from a truly great player like Harrington and you will learn underlying theory of no limit holdem that can be applied to cash or tournament games.



3. This book really fits into a void within the poker literature because there are a million books about limit and no limit tournaments but a scare few address no limit cash games. The irony is that NL ring games are the types in which most of us play. What Fox and Harker do in these pages is discuss various elements and strategies necessary for play in the 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 dollar NL games. However, it obviously won't help you deal with Juanda and Matusow at NL 10,000 because the authors' views are fairly conservative. The tactics showcased here are not ones that are going to appeal to loose-aggressive players. Theirs is a tighter game which becomes classically aggressive in moments of strength. Appendix A contains a play-by-play analysis of an 8 hour NL session at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. By offering this, readers get an opportunity to "sweat out" a game with the authors which is an absolutely wonderful idea. It really allows you an opportunity to plug up some of the leaks in your own game by seeing the right and wrong way to do things. Personally, I'd give anything for Dan Harrington to provide us with a 400 pages sweat-now that would be worth about $500. Anyway, the real live play example was helpful and I'd like to see more authors make use of this technique. Overall, this shouldn't be the first book you buy on No Limit, especially since Ed Miller will be coming out with one in a month or so, but Fox and Harker have given us something valuable, so, if you're having any trouble in the small to mid-range NL games, this one's a must read.



4. I play poker for a living and online no-limit cash games between 2/4 and 5/10 are currently my games of choice. I have read probably 15 poker books and this one (MNLHE) is far and away the worst. I think the only reason it ever got decent ratings is that for a long time there were very few books on no-limit on the market. This has changed. No Limit Holdem: Theory And Practice (NLHE:TAP) by Sklansky and Miller is now the Bible on cash no-limit, and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book and Little Blue Book are also very good.
   
   As other reviewers have noted, this book endorses the bizarre idea that a short stack is an inherent disadvantage (as opposed to simply a less profitable choice than a deep stack) in a cash game. This commonly believed idea was debunked once and for all in NLHE:TAP.
   
   MNLHE's problems get much worse than that, though. You only have to reach page 18 before this stunning advice appears. You're sitting in a $2/$3 NL game with $60, having just lost a pot, and:
   
   "You look down at 9d7h in the cut-off position. An early position player raises to $7 and 4 players call. Normally you would fold this hand but in this situation you might elect to call. It is likely your cards are live. If you hit the flop you can win a large pot."
   
   If you haven't played much no-limit you'll have to take my word for it that this is unbelievably bad advice. I feel silly even explaining why, but: with a deep stack of say $300, a call could be justified, but with a stack as small as 20 big blinds, your payoff when you hit the flop in a big way is far too small. You have good position, but that is worth a lot less when you're short stacked. The pot is going to be something like $40 on the flop and you only have $53, so your choices are going to be limited to allin or fold. It's also worth noting that in a loose game there's absolutely no reason to believe that "your cards are probably live".
   
   Wander over to page 21 and we see the authors endorse the idea that having a stack of $400 facing two players with stacks of $70 and $125 is any different than having a stack of $125 in the same situation. See NLHE:TAP if you don't understand why this is wrong.
   
   Turning to the quiz on page 161, the authors ask:
   
   "You hold QQ in the cutoff seat. There are two limpers to you, you raise to $20, and only one of the limpers calls you. The flop doesn't appear threatening: 7h7c3s. However, to your surprise, the preflop limper bets $30 (he has you outchipped). It's your turn to act; what is your action?" (You began the hand with $150 in a $2/$3 game)
   
   This is an utterly trivial hand, but the authors start their answer:
   
   "What does your opponent hold? Is he bluffing? Hands like this are why some of us get grey hair!"
   
   Um, really? You guys must be easily stressed.
   
   "If your opponent is tight and solid, a fold is probably correct; he likely has one of the hands that beats you."
   
   Are you serious? What is a "tight and solid" player doing splashing around preflop for over 1/8th of the effective stacks, out of position, with 33 or a hand that includes a 7? And if he does have one of those hands (or is slowplaying aces or kings) why is he betting straight out at me instead of checking and giving me a chance to put more money in the pot if I have something like AQ? Folding here is just ridiculous. The pot is $48 and your stack is $130 - there's no way you're doing anything on a flop like this except getting the money in. You should either raise or call here depending on the tendencies of the opponent, but in either case your focus is squarely on getting all the money in the middle.
   
   Those are some of the more egregious examples; I could go on, but my point should be made.
   
   The writing is terrible, both in terms of correct use of English and in terms of clarity and readability. There are grade-school grammatical mistakes like "not that great of a situation" (rather than "not that great a situation"). The narrative is tangled and often wanders off on little tangents of questionable relevance. It is frequently anecdotal rather than dealing with underlying theoretical context. This adds up to a very confused presentation of ideas which the authors (given some of the jaw-dropping advice) probably don't have much of a grasp on in the first place.
   
   I felt compelled to write this lengthy review after ordering MNLHE from Amazon on the strength of the reviews. I learnt nothing from this book and its presence on my bookshelf is nothing but an irritation. I'm not one of those people who trawl Amazon looking for things they can give one star to, but I really do think that is what the book deserves. Buy NLHE:TAP instead, or if you already have that, save your money and reread it.



5. Great Book that centers on the Low Blind No Limit Cash Game. I have learned alot. Thanks

3 comments about The Everything Texas Hold 'Em Book: Tips And Tricks You Need to Take the Pot (Everything: Sports and Hobbies).

1. I have two shelves full of of holdem poker books including Super System 2, Hellmuth's book, Sklansky's books, TJ Cloutier's and others. Yet, Wenzel's book, believe it or not, may be the best of the bunch.
   
   His writing is so good, that it makes Sklansky seem like a hack. And while many beginners will pick up this book, I think intermediate players (such as myself) will get the most out of it. This is because Wenzel comments on and refutes many things that have been written in some of the other books. What's more, the book is easy to read, yet packed full of useful info.
   
   I also like that he doesn't just go forward step by step, but interjects all kinds of useful info. throughout. Thus chapter one is just as valuable as the final chapter. And again, the range of material that he covers is mind boggling.
   
   If you want a book that "tells it like it is," rather than just giving you a bunch of theory, "The Everything Texas Hold'em Book" is your baby. And because it's an "Everything" book, it will probably be overlooked by most poker players as being too basic, but this is a good thing, as it will give those of us who do read it a significant advantage over them.



2. I really liked this book and was pleasantly surprised by it. It is not one of those extremely basic beginner type books that does little more than explain the rules of the game and tells you to play tightly. It's quite a bit more advanced than that and I found myself agreeing with most things the author had to say. My only problem with the book and the reason I didn't give it five stars is his treatment of internet poker. He more or less claims it is rigged and is strongly against it. He also makes silly claims like it is impossible to play more than one table at a time well etc. Obviously he is more of a live game type of guy and that is fair enough but he is wrong about internet poker. The hundreds of internet millionaires are proof of that. I myself have made a substantial amount of money playing internet poker.
   
   That gripe aside, this is a very good book and well worth a read.



3. I actually really enjoyed reading this book, it's well written (though it has a few easy-to-spot factual mistakes), and I will no doubt go through and re-read a number of sections over a few times. If anything, this book will help enculturate you as a hold 'em player; the jargon, proper etiquette, common strategies, etc. Even if you're playing no-limit, for the price this is an excellent first book. Once you're firmly hooked on hold 'em, I'd suggest Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play; it's a lot longer, and more expensive, but will definitely do more to improve your game.
   
   I gave this three stars because, for me at least, it fell well below 'Everything'.

1 comments about Calculating Texas Hold'em Poker Odds Made Easy.

1. Steven Roe has done a significant favor for the Texas Hold'em player who wants to learn how to calculate the odds of hitting his hand but is shaky on the math.
   
   While there are other books that cover much of the same material, Roe writes in an easy to read style that I think will appeal to the less knowledgeable player. Roe apparently wrote this volume as a tutorial for his own self-education about Texas Hold'em odds calculations, and it's apparent that he is a good teacher. The book appears to be self-published but is excellent in typography as well as content and appears to be uncommonly free of typos, misspellings, etc.
   
   I can recommend this book without reservations for anyone who wants the least painful approach to this essential subject. There are chapters progressing from "Basic" odds calculations through "Beginner", "Intermediate", and "Advanced" levels. Chapter 5 is devoted to shortcuts in making calculations.
   
   Chapter 6 ("Proper Betting") does a creditable job of explaining how one should size his/her bets in order to make an opponent's call a mistake. This important topic is seldom approached in sufficient detail to make sense to the novice but Roe does a very good job. I wish more Internet players had this information so they could replace many all-in bets with bets appropriately sized to accomplish the objective.
   
   I do have one small quibble. On page 14 and again on page 61, his explanation of calculations when there are two cards to come is unnecessarily complex. I'll not try to explain Roe's method; instead I will give a simplified method that is good to about 1% probability. Simply multiply the outs by 4 then if the number of outs is greater than 8 subtract the excess over 8. Thus with two cards to come and 13 outs the probability of making your hand is 4x13-5 = 47%.
   
   Comparison with some other books that cover much of the same material is perhaps in order. King Yao ("Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker") covers very much the same material, but is both more sophisticated and more difficult to read. Readers who learn to enjoy the math after reading Roe would do well to follow up with a dose of sophistication from Yao. Catalin Barboianu ("Texas Hold'em Odds") is a formulaic approach that might appeal to computer programmers but probably not to most readers. Matthew Hilger ("Texas Hold'em Odds and Probabilities") has more tables of probabilities than any of the others, but leaves the reader uncertain of how to proceed in doing his/her own calculations. Mike Petriv ("Hold'em Odds Book") covers the same ground as does Roe though Petriv focuses a bit more heavily on the math whereas Roe provides the "spoonful of sugar" that makes the medicine go down more easily.
   
   For the novice or mathematically uneasy reader I recommend Roe's book over any of those mentioned above or any other that I have seen.

5 comments about Winning Texas Hold'em: Cash Game Poker Strategies for Players of All Skill Levels.

1. An aweful book from an arrogant, obnoxious 'professional' poker player. Expect to see it at the buck a book store soon. Personally, mine works well to balance my coffee table.



2. While alot of this book is about the basics it still have alot of good information. The Short-Handed section is worth the $10 all by itself.



3. I have only gotten to page 26 and like the other reviews have noticed many errors in the hand rankings. The hands are in order but the cards shown as an example are completely off and do not even match the text. A quick visit to mattmaroon.com will clear up the problem as the first thing you will see on the website is a link to "Book Errata" where he adresses all the errors mentioned by myself and the other posters. He cites publisher's errors as the reason and it is understandable as the pictures (put in by the publisher) do not correspond to what Matt actually wrote. He corrects the errors including the lack of formatting in the odds chart on page 245. You would expect thigns like this to be noticed prior to printing, but mistakes do happen. Other than that, everything has been excellent. His introdcutions have been clear and his examples completely illustrate what he is talking about.
   One thing I have particularly liked thus far is the table of contents. He is appropriately divided up the book into Poker Conepts, Limit Hold'Em Concepts and Advanced Concepts. He also touches on aspects which I have found underrepresented in other books such as psychology, deception, slowplaying and even things such as guidlines to play poker for a living. Furthermore, it is not dry reading. Some books of this genre tend to be really hard to get into/not count cracks in the wall while you are reading it, this book is holding my impatient attention well. (Aesthetically, the book looks great. It's sleek, modern and just nice to look at.)
   I will post final review when I finish the book, I just wanted to comment on some of the errors.



4. This author is an arrogant, cocky, jackass who runs one of the best, most informative poker websites out there - yes, he is a dick, but his site is good! He is an above-average player and fairly knowledgable about the game. However his book is really nothing more than regurgitated material that can be found in every other poker book out on the market. Don't waste your money (unless you feel that it is a reasonable donation for the material that you get from his site). Some, including the author, have boasted about the section on shorthanded play being the "most advanced section ever written on the subject". This is ludicrous. It is indeed "short" (in length, that is), but not of good qualilty. It does NOT provide examples. It is general and watered-down.
   
   There you have it: The "good" (the website), the "bad" (the book), and the "ugly" (the author).



5. This is an extremely underrated book. I concede there may have been some errors in the hand ranking chart, odds charts and some pretty bad typos throughout the earlier printings of this book but in the edition I purchased these errors have been corrected. Anyway, if you can get past those (I know I don't need to be re-taught the hand rankings etc) then you will discover that this really is a gem of a book.
   
   Maroon is a very articulate thinker and covers a lot of ground in this book. He explains some complex and subtle ideas in very clear, simple language. The section on short handed play is EXCELLENT and is worth the price of the book alone- especially for someone like me who only plays 6 max tables on the internet. His sections on expectation, pot odds, standard deviation, bankroll requirements, playing after the flop, moving up in limits, playing for a living, plugging leaks etc are all excellent as well and all this information is communicated in a very conversational, easily understandable way. The book is also presented in a unique way with colored diagrams and an aesthetically pleasant layout.
   
   There are very few hand examples in this book but I think that's a good thing. I find sample hands really boring to read and would much rather get to work on understanding the conceptual ideas and considerations behind a given play than read hand examples. Maroon seems to me to be a great poker strategist and his recommendations seem well thought out and I imagine they would be very effective. I'm not surprised he has enjoyed the level of success that he has given that he obviously possesses such a deep understanding of the game of limit hold 'em.
   
   This is probably not the ideal choice for a beginning poker player (although they would be far better off reading something like this than say, Phil Hellmuth's lunacy), I would say intermediate and advanced players will benefit more from this book. I highly recommend it and consider it a shame that the publishers were so careless in the printing of this book because in doing so they have really tarnished a great piece of work.
   
   If this book didn't contain the mistakes it does I suspect it would be on the "must read" list of most players.

5 comments about Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold 'em and General Poker Concepts.

1. I'm a fairly serious poker player. As such, I have a lot of the books everyone talks about; Super System I, most of Sklansky and Malmuth, even Phil Helmuth. (I'm not a fan of Phil, but he makes some good points, especially on Omaha) I debated getting Inside the Poker Mind for a while. Wish I had gotten it a long while ago! It's not the "greatest" poker book I've read...hey, I only gave it 4 stars. It is, however, very useful in that it does illustrate some real issues with thinking at the table. While I found that I knew much of what he had to say, I still enjoyed the book and feel it improved my game somewhat. However, as other reviewers have noted, NOTHING takes the place of LOTS of hands played. As an aside from the review, my personal recommendation is as follows:
   
   1) Get the books and study. Re-read as your game improves.
   2) Play on-line cheaply and move up in limit as your game improves.
   3) Buy the Wilson software...it's not impressive looking, but it lets you play millions of hands without going into your wallet.
   4) Get into or start a home game and play as often as possible. Playing with friends isn't as scary as with strangers at a casino.
   5) When you've done the first 4 things, visit a local casino or cardroom and try an inexpensive game.
   
   If you're still losing money after that, I suggest you switch to checkers or tiddlywinks.



2. This is one of my favorite poker books. It is not for beginners; it is filled with interesting and advanced topics in limit Hold'em. This is a good book for any reader who is looking to read more advanced material. The section titled "Do You Pass the Ace-Queen Test?" was controversial when the book first came out, but Feeney's thoughts has proven to be correct. The Short-Handed essays are illuminating as well. Definitely a great addition to any hold'em library.



3. I find the title of this book to be slightly misleading: "Inside the Poker Mind" is a collection of essays on what NOT to do as a poker player (e.g. do not get smug and play weak cards, do not go on tilt, do not overestimate your odds, do not play beyond your means, do not take bad beats personally, etc.). From the title one might expect the text to relate in some way to getting "into the mind" of one's opponent (i.e. the text may have some strategic advice); this is simply not the case. There are a handful of strategic plays involved in this book, and some consideration of reading hands. However, these are addressed from the perspective of how not to make a mistake in either overusing certain strategies, or being too rigid in the face of changing conditions in the hand.
   
   Essentially, this book assumes you already know everything there is to know about being a good poker player, and merely need some cautionary advice on avoiding common mistakes. While not valueless, I do not believe this focus serves the prospective readers of the book; the author frequently references "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" and "The Theory of Poker" to flesh out ideas he mentions in passing, and probably the reader would do better to explore those books IN PLACE of this one (although I have a very low opinion of "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players"). The warnings this book contains are well-advised, however, and on the whole I'd probably give this book 2 1/2 stars if I could.
   
   HITS: Cautions against overplaying marginal hands; good essays exploring the tilt phenomenon; the author's "by the numbers" pure analytical mindset becomes infectious, and could influence your play for the better
   
   MISSES: The author is so vehemently anti-no limit and pot limit hold 'em that he refuses to address these games at all (absolutely do not attempt to use the author's strategic limit plays in a no limit or pot limit game); tournaments are denigrated as a drain on the poker economy (demonstrably false, in my opinion); no basic strategy advice; references other texts (particularly "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" - a terrible book in my opinion - and "The Theory of Poker", which is truly great) excessively to fill in basic ideas that more properly could be explained in the text.



4. I heard about Inside the Poker Mind from a few players who post at a forum I frequent, and I finally got around to purchasing it. Frankly, I have difficulty believing anybody gave this one less than 5 stars because it is a rare and excellent work. I will admit that it is not a book for beginners or even those who have yet to read Ed Miller's Small Stakes Hold `Em, but it offers extensive benefits for the intermediate player on up. Inside... is basically a collection of essays concerning topics seldom discussed, or not addressed in detail, within the typical "how to" manual. Feeney, despite having a PhD and being an accomplished high stakes player, is not broadcasting to readers from Phil Ivey-ian heights. Feeney ground out poker at the lowest levels before becoming the player he is today. His experiences in the small limits ring true for those of us dwelling in them today. My favorite essay in here, "How am I doing? Who Cares?", warns readers not to be results oriented in regards to sessions. Variance is sometimes mind-boggling, but what we must do is concentrate on playing correctly despite our aces being snapped or getting cold-decked. Really, the entire Part IV section on poker and emotion is sensational. His definition of tilt is much more subtle than the ones generally offered, and, I believe, it is much more accurate. Overall, with brilliant analysis and clear style, Inside... is far better than most of its competitors. It's for the thinking man which is what everyone should aspire to be if they want to make any money out of the game.



5. there are lotsa other books on profiling players.... this one really makes you take a look at yourself as well

5 comments about Poker 6-7-8 Hold'Em Strategy Cards.

1. At first I thought of giving this product one star and trashing it using elegant prose. Why? Because from a selfish point of view I don't want anyone else to use these strategy cards, at least not when they're competing against me. Although I'll concede that with about 80 million poker players, it may be a while before I'll be playing against many players using these reference cards.
   
   Before buying these strategy cards I read a number of books on Texas Hold'em to try to formulate a strategy for playing. The problem was that many combinations of hands would be discussed, and all too often the "experts" disagreed as to what is the best strategy. Maybe this means that there is no best strategy and that one should vary one's play in general, as well as further varying your play depending on whether you're playing against tight or loose opponents. But it did seem to me that it was very important to get off to a good start, that is, to know which hands to see a flop with, in which position, and do I call or raise? Poker books cover this, but they often discuss hands in terms of ranges and then tell you to fold everything not mentioned. I much prefer seeing a table that lists all of the 169 possible, 2-card starting hands. The Poker 6-7-8 strategy cards do this in table form - it's quick and easy to find your starting hand and know whether to fold, bet or raise. The four tables used for the "pre-flop" on card one, combined with the pithy paragraphs the strategy cards use to guide you through the flop, the turn and the river on card two, provide for variation in play to reflect how loose the players at your table are and also to change your play to help you fool your opponents.
   
   I like the definitions and the explanation of pot odds, and I especially like how the strategy tables on card one distinguish between early, middle and late position. Some books are confusing in this regard. There is also a table called Late Position - Aggressive. As part of my play variation when I'm in late position, I vary between using this late - aggressive table with the "regular" late position table.
   
   The second card of this 2-card set covers the flop, turn and river by discussing different scenarios, such as flopping a set or trips. No book can cover all the possible combinations, but it's amazing how much IS covered in just 4 easy-to-read panels. I used to have a lot trouble on the flop with pairs and draws. Strategy card number two clarifies these situations by telling you under what circumstances you should continue on to the turn.
   
   The panels on the cards are designed to fold in both directions, allowing you to keep any panel laying flat in front of you. The strategy cards also easily slip in and out of virtually any pocket. Before playing I like to review the strategies for the flop, the turn and the river, and then I keep the pre-flop card right in front of me to refer to as I play on the internet. And no one can even rag me about it because, of course, nobody knows!



2. Understang the importance av startinghands in poker is of huge importance and this cards give you a very good insight in the matter.
   Together with Skalanskys ratingspoint for startingshands are these cards a big step against good pokerplaying.
   You are going to get your invested money back just after a short time using them.



3. This is a great idea to discipline yourself in the beginning stages of hold-em poker. The card that I did receive was very helpful when it came to some of the "middle of the road" hands that may seem good but in reality are not likely to pay off. As you play you can broaden your strategy and play some of the lower ranked hands but for playing by the book this is a good reference.
   
   I rated the item a 2 because I only received 1 of the 2 cards that were promoted at Amazon. Amazon did send another shipment but it only had 1 card as well so I assume there was a problem with the "shipping and handling".



4. my husband loves poker so I thought based on reviews he might like these...well he never looks at them and I believe they are lost now and were sorta a dud.



5. The concept is good but the feasibility of being able to use the card is useless since it doesn't take into account the card combinations with multiple opponents in different positions. I found the the POKER WHIZ WHEEL is a much more powerful tool to use at any level, against multiple opponents in different positions.