624 pages
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Doyle Brunson's Super System: A Course in Power Poker
by Doyle Brunson
Spotlight Reviews
Still a Super/System, July 27, 2003
Reviewer: Mr. David Welsh (London, UK)
Brunson & Co. wrote this book in the mid 1970s and if your interest in poker as a game with a very rich and colourful history is anything like mine its well worth buying. The chapters where Brunson talks about his past are great background to understanding one of the all-time great champions.
As for the lessons in this post-graduate school of poker, some really are of historical value only. I suppose Caro's lecture on Draw might be of use in home games but Skalansky's on hi-lo has been out-flanked by time - the qualifier did for it. Baldwin's chapter on limit hold'em is also of no value - not only has the game changed (they used to play it with a single blind and antes from every player - to make things easier and quicker in casinos they changed to the big & little blind structure) but there are five or so more books that today to a better job.
Two chapters retain value. Firstly, and often overlooked, is Chip Reese's chapter on Seven Card Stud. Its not particularly profound and I feel Chip gives away less than the others, but its still a very good starting place. Seven Card Stud hasn't changed much since the 1930s so this chapter retains value.
But the the real gem is Brunson's own chapter on no limit Hold'em. Its extremely interesting and given the greater freedom no limit gives the change in the game structure matters less. No limit is not a war of fine percentages like limit, it is a game of great psychological violence. Brunson's system is VERY aggressive. I think very few people would feel so comfortable playing so many connectors out of position in no limit games so they can stage all-in bluffs. You would need to be up against a very timid rock garden to play just as Brunson says. But it remains, undisputedly, the best guide to no limit cash games (but not tournaments - see Cloutier and McEvoy).
Buy it. You'll thank me.
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