313 pages
List Price: $14.95
Buy new: $10.17
Save: $4.78 (32%) |
The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker: A Comprehensive Guide to Playing and Winning
by Gary Carson
Spotlight Reviews
Insights Rather Than Directions, February 15, 2002
Reviewer: Curmudgeon (The Boondocks)
Gary Carson offers ways to change your thinking about the game of Hold 'Em. I think the book a great buy for beginning and intermediate players.
Firstly, while he does provide a chart of suggested starting-hands as do other Hold 'Em book authors, Carson also provides an entire chapter on the the theory of starting-hand values. It gave me an entirely new view of hand values and position.
Secondly, he gives more new perspectives in the chapter on the theory of flop play. Again, not just directives but insight into defining your hand. His ideas on adjusting your thinking about poker hands from their poker ranking to their money-winning potential gave me a new way to evaluate my holdings.
Finally, I thought his chapter on betting theory alone worth more than the cost of the book in itself. I've certainly more than recouped my money on what I consider to be the clearest and most consise explantions of bet, pot and implied odds. Before this book, I had only bet to get more money into the pot. Carson's list of reasons to bet immediately changed me into a more flexible player.
You won't find a template of play in this book as you do in many others; you'll discover here ways to clarify your thinking that will allow you to make better playing decisions.
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624 pages
List Price: $34.95
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Doyle Brunson's Super System II
by Doyle Brunson
Spotlight Reviews
Caveat Emptor. , February 10, 2005
Reviewer: Bernard Chapin "Ora Et Labora!" (Blue Island, Illinois United States)
I love Doyle Brunson, I love "Super System," and I love poker, but I cannot figure out why he chose to make this book as scattered in focus as he did. In 1978, it was easy to understand why a manual that covered numerous forms of poker would be released, but nowadays, all you see on TV (with a few WSOP exceptions) is Texas Hold 'Em. So why did Doyle make a book that wastes the talent of Daniel Negreanu on "Triple Draw?" I concede that the reader may be a far more in depth player than I am, but most of us play Hold'Em and little else. "Seven-Card Stud High-Low-Eight-or Better" also seems rather pointless to me. Who cares? I was further deflated to see that he reprinted his life story and original No Limit advice in these pages. I know all of that stuff from "Super System." If it's not new, don't waste our time. The best parts of this book are Doyle on internet poker, the tips from Mike Caro, and Jennifer Harman's section on Limit Hold'Em. These sections are why I give it three stars, but honestly, I looked
forward to getting it and am dissatisfied with its quality.
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298 pages
List Price: $16.99
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Poker for Dummies
by Richard D. Harroch, Lou Krieger
Spotlight Reviews
Great for all skill levels!, June 26, 2000
Reviewer: Jason S. Giardino (Arvada, CO United States)
At first, I felt a little sheepish putting this title between my copies of David Sklansky's "Theory of Poker" and Mike Caro's "Fundamentals of Winning Poker," but this is a very serious and very excellent poker title.
There are individual chapters on strategy for the most popular casino games (Texas Hold 'Em, Seven Stud, Seven Stud/8, Omaha/8), all of which were very clear and helpful. However, unlike any title I've seen before, this book is a COMPLETE reference, including chapters on poker tournaments, becoming a pro, Internet poker, and even video poker (which my mother found excessively useful).
Like all "Dummies" books, there are entertaining sidebars about great gambling games, poker legends, etc. All in all, this is an entertaining book filled with invaulable information for all levels of play. Highly reccomended!
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245 pages
List Price: $29.95
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Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
by David Sklansky
Spotlight Reviews
A very decent book with a confusing name, March 27, 2003
Reviewer: "drhoenikker" (East Setauket, NY United States)
The ambiguity in the name of this book is something that confuses a lot of people, including some reviewers. The target audience of this book is ADVANCED poker players who have NOT played much in tournaments. Experienced tournament players might get something out of it too, or use it as reference, but they are NOT who the author had in mind. So, if you are looking for advanced tournament tips, skip this one, save some money and aggravation, and drop me a "thank you" note. :-)
This said, the book accomplishes what it is set to do rather well. There is a large number of very solid poker players who almost never play in tournaments simply because the price of learning tournament basics through first-hand experience is rather high. On the other hand, explaining tournament basics to an advanced player is easy, or at least Sklansky makes it seem this way. If you are a good player thinking of playing tournaments, read this book -- it has answers to most of your questions.
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