3 comments about Poker: The Ultimate Book.

1. At last !! I was looking for something else than text books on how to improve one's poker. I could not find anything until I discovered this great illustrated books on the poker history, its legends and its myths.



2. This book is amazing. First off the box itself is very clever; mimicking a pack of cards. The book discusses the begining of Poker, where it is now, and where it's headed. It's a great, compact compilation of history and rules for all types of poker games. I'm sure there are other more complete and bigger books out there but this book is perfect for what it is. Hands down a good buy.



3. I have read this book cover to cover and still find myself picking it up from time to time just for the facts, reminders, and history it shares. This is a great book and one which every poker player must have if not read.

2 comments about Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player.

1. This book falls in the category of poker memoirs. Unlike most such books, usually ghostwritten for a pro with name recognition, Holden writes about his own year-long stint as a pseudo-pro.
   
   I say pseudo-pro because for most of the year Holden is a pro in name only - a professional writer visiting his subject matter. His skills are initially not particularly good, "honed" in a home game played mostly over various wildcard-dense forms of mickey mouse poker. Over the course of the year, he travels to numerous tournaments, loses money in them, gets lucky at blackjack (which he doesn't seem to realize is a long-run losing game the way he plays it), gets lucky playing over his bankroll in one big pot limit game, and eventually develops enough poker skill to beat satellites and mid-stakes limit games which is a reasonable accomplishment. Using this newfound poker expertise, he recoups his tournament losses & expenses, makes a few bucks, and calls it quits after a disappointing showing in the world series of poker marks the end of his year-long experiment.
   
   Along the way, he collects the usual set of gambling stories, and those are told in entertaining fashion. This book is really a glimpse into professional poker as it existed before the poker boom, and as such is of historic value. It has little to nothing to offer in terms of poker strategy, and similarly little to offer someone considering "going pro" today since the boom changed everything. The book is well written and fun, but for poker players looking for additional depth or useful material, there's nothing to find.
   
   If you want a real life gambling tale, my review is 4 stars - get it. If you want a memoir with some more useful poker material on the side (and written by a far better player), I suggest you get "Ace on the River" instead.



2. I'm rereading this after a few years. While his sequel Bigger Deal, caused me to think he may be an average player, this first poker book of his proves otherwise. He beats both Johnny Moss and Stuey Ungar. Hello!?
   
   There's lots of great stories here -- even a history of poker in the U.S. -- and he's more confident in his game here. Maybe it's due to his being in love here, unlike the later volume.
   
   One of the two most famous poker memoirs since Yardley. The other is his poker crony A. Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town. (Alvarez's is more famous.)
   
   Put down your Harrington and read about some legendary 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 Hold'em on the Come: Limit Hold'em Strategy for Drawing Hands.

1. If the reader is anything like me then they probably play a lot of no limit hold `em, and probably, at some point, have come to the realization that no limit ring games aren't going to last forever. This is particularly true if the reader happens to be a fellow American whose government recently declared war on our perfectly civilized habit of playing online poker. The long and the short of it is that we may well find ourselves in a brick and mortar casino playing whatever game is available with a reasonable buy in, which often, is a limit game (unless you're in Vegas where they have NL 100 and 200 live--by me it's NL 300 only). Therefore, brushing up on, or learning limit for the first time is advisable. With Hold' Em on the Come, Slotboom and Mason only do one thing, but they do it well which is to analyze and proscribe when draws should be played after the flop. The book issues lengthy discussion on this subject, but it is more diverse than you think as it includes low pairs, two pairs, and overcards along with the obvious mix of straights and flushes. From what I can gather, most of the text is really Dew Mason's with additional insight provided by Rolf "Ace" Slotboom. His sections are boxed off and titled "Ace Speaks." The great Ace's commentary enriches the work tremendously, and, personally, I'll buy anything he puts out because I loved his DVDs and still watch them. Overall, I found this offering invaluable.



2. if you are into poker like me.. invest in this book is worth it...
   this is comming from a poker head that has over 15 books.....
   If you think you know how to play yours draws....Raad this book... n you wil learn thing or two..... I did.! ! special when to foldem...lol
   Good luck on the tables.
   
   Nutty Rabbit



3. this book was a very good read to familiarize yourself with counting outs.
   the only thimg that was really surprising, was the fact that with all the explantions of outs and draws, i cant believe the author did not include any thourough discussion comparing your outs to the odds against making your hand. ie. u have 9 outs, therefore you ars 4 to 1 against making your hand, now compare that to size of pot, and you see to call a $10 bet you need the pot to contain at least $40. none of this was in the book.
   if i hadnt known how to calculate my odds,(4 to 1) etc. i would have never understood how the author came to a conclusion that he needed 4 outs to stay in a hand.
   really strange.



4. For less experienced players, this is a thorough exploration of drawing hands in limit hold'em. However, the play system he advocates is very intricate and unwieldy, in my view. To take into consideration all the factors that can weaken a draw, the author uses fractions of outs. Count 'em up, let's see, we've got 4 1/2 outs, but need 5 to draw, that's a fold.
   
   I'm sure Slotboom is a math head who does this effortlessly, but for most of us, I think the return is not worth all the effort. Most decisions are clearcut -- you have 8 outs, that's always a call, even if it really is 7.5 outs. Certainly figuring by tenths of outs would give only an illusion of precision, and I really doubt that 1/2 outs provide better resolution. It is a rare hand that might be decided by 1/2 an out. In such close situations, you are almost always going to decide according to how the opponent has been playing, what your image is, what happened last hand, etc.
   
   You will understand draws after this book. The system of discounting outs will help you understand the complexity that effects the quality of a draw, but I doubt many people retain the scoring system. Discounting outs is important, but can be simplified. If you've got a pair and an inside draw, that's six outs to improve, but since two of those cards (that make trips) could give him a full house, you only count one of them, for a total of five outs. Slotboom will figure 'there are only 3.5 clean outs to a straight, because you might tie, and the villain might make a runner-runner flush, so that discounts another half, plus the two halves discounted for a fullhouse, which adds up to 4.5 outs, but he's a bad player who will keep raising the river, so add a half, for a total of five, so call.' Or something like that.
   
   Bill Haywood
   HoldemTight



5. I found it difficult to understand and found myself reading the same paragraph over 3 times on many occasions. I had to stop reading it half way through because It seemed to become tedious to read. The advice about counting outs is ok, but often it assumes you are up against a top hand, hardly taking into account a bluff which is very common on online limit poker.
   Also the mathematical difference you can make to your bankroll is of little significance unless your playing very high limit poker. Even if you perfected what the author is trying to teach, you probably wont have the time or energy to apply it to online poker.

5 comments about Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em (Championship Series).

1. there is some good stuff in this book and written in simple terms



2. As the title implies, the authors discuss every hand that [they] think is playable in a tourney and describe how to play them in limit, no-limit and pot-limit events. There's also a discussion of some important hands that were played in past WSOP championship events. However, I found the information and discussion to be a bit shallow.
   
   McEvoy and Cloutier seem to take a cookie cutter approach when describing how to play the hands. When you have hand X you do action Y. While they [somtimes] modify the action to be taken based on position, there is almost no discussion of the changes that your stack size would dictate. Nor is there much discussion of how hands play differently early in the tournament at full tables vs. late at short tables.
   
   Discussion of how to play various hands on the flop and later are seldom given much in-depth discussion.
   
   Anyone following the advice would be fairly predictable.
   
   Lastly it should be noted that the authors are two long-time successful players. While overall I was disappointed, there were a few points that struck me as very useful. Hence the two stars instead of one.



3. I must admit this is one essential poker book that should be in every poker player's library. Tj and Tom give you expert analysis on the proper way to play particular hands. I really value their experience given all the bracelets and tournaments they've both won. Tj Cloutier gives great advice on knowing your opponents and tendencies to make your decisions at the poker table. Even though much of the advice in this book at first look can be interpreted as conservative, its really the best book on tournament poker strategy. Tj stresses no limit holdem is all about survival and making smart decisions where you don't have to take too many chances will ensure you do survive. For example Tj states "In the first round of the World Series, as well as in the first round of the smaller buy-in events at the WSOP, a pair of kings is not a big enough hand to get broke with. The only hand that is big enough to get broke with before the flop is two aces." Who'd a thought that at first glance!



4. This book contains many stories and not that much poker-tips.
   
   The tips are pretty basic and many of them are told repeatedly throughout the book. The result of that is a book with 304 pages that contains a net total of maybe 100 pages of poker-lessons. Not good. Sure, the stories are very entertaining to read and the authors both have a LOT of experience, but I got this book to get better at tournaments. Not for entertainment reading.
   
   I regret that I bought this book. Recently I threw myself into Dan Harrington's vol.1 and vol.2 and they're great. I highly recommend them. Actually I can't even think of a single bad thing to say about them.
   
   Sorry T.J.!



5. I'm not sure who this book is intended for. The down home, folksy style of writing makes it easy and accessible, like a good beginners book. But some topics that beginners absolutely need to learn, like pot odds and implied odds, are skimmed over and barely touched on. Other times, they'll simply repeat the same thing over and over again, with different ways of phrasing it. I get that you need "iron balls" to play hold 'em; no need to word it 5 different ways in the span of two pages.
   
   The authors also like to make grand pronouncements and hold fast rules, as if they're reading from a stone tablet or something (this is not a direct quote from the book, but they do mention this "concept"): "Thou shalt not draw to a flush unless ye have the nut flush draw AND two overcards!" Ignore, for a second, the absurdity of that statement; I just hate it when poker players say things like that as if they're the gospel truth. There are going to be times where you should put money into the pot with a non-nut flush draw or even simply two overcards, let alone both of them. The overall strategy described in this book is uber-tight, to say the least. They're much more concerned with protecting their own chips then they are with taking them from others. That's not a bad strategy for a beginner to start with, but if that's as far as your poker skills get, you're going to leave a lot of money on the table.
   
   This book is not without it's highlights. The discussion on how to play small pocket pairs is refreshing, if only because two dissenting viewpoints are discussed. T.J. doesn't really like them, Tom will play any pair. Personally, I agree with Tom, especially if the stacks are deep. The implied odds you get from hitting a set make it a very profitable hand to play, as long as you can get some action when you hit it. If you're at a table full of nits who don't pay off (players like T.J., for example), you probably shouldn't waste your money with the small pairs unless you're simply trying to steal the pot pre-flop (basically playing it like a semi-bluff.)
   
   Overall, I was very disappointed with this book. I think the main problem is it's target audience. It seems like the authors wrote this with serious poker players in mind, but a lot of it reads more like a beginners book. If I had found this a few years back when I played ATC (any two cards) this would have been exactly what I needed. Now that I know how to play the good kind of loose, this book does nothing for me.
   
   If you're a real tight player, you may find this book comforting. Everyone else should move along, there's nothing to see here. If this is "the bible of poker", as the back cover claims, then call me an atheist, cause I ain't buying it.

3 comments about According to Doyle.

1. This book unlike his other work, SuperSystem a Course in Power Poker, is not going to do much or your poker game. It is a group of articles he wrote for an out of print gambling magazine. They are recollections of playing on the underground trail of big-poker games in the 50's through the 70's and then playing for vast sums of money in Vegas. Some of the stories are quite good but not all are exactly gripping. If you didn't already know many of the points these stories make, e.g. pay attention to your opponents, know yourself, no limit is a different kettle of fish than limit poker, etc. then you might want to reconsider playing for anything more than nickels. This book is pretty much for hardcore poker fans only.



2. This book has shown me that poker is beyond the table, beyond the cards, beyond the chips. It is a part of my life and everything I do in it. Doyle combines his life experience with art of poker, because both meet at a point and defines what kind of player you are.



3. The adventures of an old poker world champion - a look into the old days. "According to Doyle" is the story of Doyle Brunson, a 16-time World Series of Poker Champion. While providing excellent Poker throughout, "According to Doyle" focuses on Doyle's travels through the world of professional poker playing - a world filled with strange and interesting people, questionable adventures, his climb to the top of the world, and so much more. A deftly written memoir and guide for poker fans, "According to Doyle" deserves a place in any gaming or memoir collection.

5 comments about Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker.

1. A clear guide to the differences in situational strategies between Pot Limit and No Limit. A definate must for the serious poker player.



2. I have read alot of poker books and this is in the bottom (of the ones I have read). It is to shallow and doesn't give you much of the practical information that other books do better. My two favorite authors on limit hold'em are Bob Ciaffone and David Sklansky (You should read the most of their material if you want to improve your limit poker, especially Ciaffones "Middle limit holdem poker" and Sklanskys "Theory of poker", "Hold'em for advanced players".). In the No Limit area I would rather recommend Doyle Brunson "Super system" and Dan Harrington books on tournaments. In the end Bob Ciaffones book "Improve your poker" is better then this one (cover the same thing but deeper), atleast if your intressted in Holdem only.



3. Stewart Reuben presents an expert's analysis of a series of about 50 omaha hands that he was involved over the past few years mostly in London poker rooms. He is clearly an expert's expert and I got much useful information. The author is clearly very aggressive in terms of his starting hands and players new to the game might do well not to emulate this tendency and just rely on better starting hands. My only qualm about the book is the layout of the problems/answers as I had to page back and forth more than I would have liked. All in all, I liked the book and found it somewhat more useful the McEvoy/Cloutier book which basically teaches, 'Only play great starting hands and wait for the nuts'.
   
   Whoops, even though I have the Reuben/Ciaffone book on Omaha , the above review applies to Stewart Reuben's, 'How Good is Your Pot Limit Omaha ?" Sorry



4. There's a lot of good, practical advice in this book. It's true that some of the sections cover games that you're unlikely to play today, but there's still solid thinking that you can apply to other poker formats. Moreover, the information density of this book is very high. If they expanded it with graphical depictions of cards and tables and repetitive bits of algebra (e.g., No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice), then the no-limit hold'em section would easily fill two volumes.
   
   The discussion of position (absolute and relative to the raiser) is top notch. They introduce the 5/10 rule for implied odds decisions, which again is excellent, practical stuff.
   
   This is the book to take an intermediate player to the next level.



5. Since I am giving this book such a high rating, I will start out with the criticisms that I think are somewhat justified. After each criticism, I will explain why I think the book is still extremely worthwhile.
   
   1: The book does not concentrate on NLHE. This is very true and it would seem to be a cogent criticism. When I started to play in casinos, the only big-bet game at Foxwoods was an occasional five-dollar blnds pot-limit HE game. Now the lists are long for NLHE at four different levels and there is no pot-limit anything. So the sections of the book on other games and on pot-limit would seem to be wasted.
   
   The bare fact here cannot be denied but there are good reasons to understand the other games and the other betting structures. Poker games have continually gone in and out of fashion. While I think NLHE will be a very important game for a long time, I don't think people are well-advised to be so narrow in focus that they cannot adapt. Pot-limit Holdem is a useful game to understand but you probably won't get much opportunity to play it. Pot-Limit Omaha is an extremely popular game. Some think it is the wave of the future. Even if you don't agree, and I don't, there will probably BE a wave of the future and it is good to be adaptable. The sections on NL Draw and Lowball, PL stud and, shudder, London Lowball all have worthwhile analysis of poker situations that can come up in any game. I won a lot of money in NL Draw and Lowball at one time and any reader of this book will have a major advantage if someone decides to call one of these variations in a dealer's choice game. In fact, given the massive dealer advantage of draw games, there is no reason to call anything else when you deal.
   
   And it is fun to read about London Lowball, even if you would never want to play it. For the same reason that horror movies can be fun, even if you never want to be IN one.
   
   2:The sections on NL are somewhat dated. This is mainly true because Reuben and Ciaffone have probably never played in game where there was a one hundred big-blind limit on the buyin. Such games are very common on the internet and were very common in casinos until recently. The do require somewhat different strategies. In fact, they require very restricted and unimaginative play.
   
   Fortunately, most casinos have raised the buy-in limits somewhat.In deep buy-in games or in games where you and some of the other players have won enough to play deep-stack all streets poker, the advice from this book will aid you well.
   
   3: They advise getting all your chips in on a draw.
   
   Well, they do, under certain conditions. In fact, this is going to be right under those conditions and profitable in two ways. If you push your twelve out (flush and a gutshot or similar) draws very hard, you will win about half the time when there is a showdown. Because your opponent will fold sometimes under the pressure, you make money playing this hand that way. When you have fifteen outs or more, you are a favorite when it goes to a showdown.
   
   Also, once you have been seen to play a hand this way, you never have to slowplay a flopped set or even a straight or flush. You get paid every time.
   
   4: Some peole don't like the style and organization.
   
   This one I can't refute. I don't agree with it but that is a matter of taste and of what helps you learn. I even agree that it is not laid out in the style of a textbook. I just don't find it that important.

No comments about Texas Hold'em No-Limit Poker ... The Next Level.

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.

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