Book Reviews

Tournament Poker for Advanced Players

Tournament Poker' is one of the best reference books that a tournament player can own. While it does not go into as much detail as books like The Theory of Poker, it contains tons of information on a broad range of tournament topics. It also provides a very good "jumping off" place for every tournament player to begin or continue their thought process about the game.

Tournament Poker For Advanced Players by David Sklansky is geared towards good ring-game players, who are looking to add tournaments to their repertoire. Advanced tournament players can glean enough information from this book to warrant buying it, but the book is of invaluable importance to the poker player who simply haven't given tournament poker much thought before.

The biggest and most important concept in Sklansky's book is the "gap concept". Basically, he says that you need a better hand to call a bet than you need to make a bet. This rings so true, as it plays into an aggressive player's style. Many aggressive players just take for granted that their style of play works, and don't think about the rationalization behind their aggressive style. It is always important to understand why something works, and not just be content to do what you perceive works for you. By gaining a deeper understanding of poker in general, you will become a much more efficient tournament poker player.

Another solid section of the book is one that addresses game theory, especially as it relates to bluffing. Basically, Sklansky shows the mathematical formula behind maximizing your EV with bluffs. By putting your opponent on a hand, and by finding the odds that the pot is laying your opponent to call a bet, and then by only bluffing that exact percentage of the time, you are maximizing the EV of making that bet. Sklansky shows a very easy way to do this, by picking a range of cards (equal to the odds that the pot is laying the opponent) and then bluffing only when one of those pre-determined cards falls. This is a great tool for all tournament players, and works especially well in all limit tournaments.

This book, along with a multitude of others (Theory of Poker, Tao of Poker, etc.) are must haves. This brings up a very interesting point-one of the major things that separates the winning tournament poker players from the dominating tournament poker players. You must use poker books as a stepping off point, NOT as a final destination. If you only read these books, and then repeat the knowledge in route memorization, you aren't increasing your knowledge of tournament poker, and any advanced player will be able to crush you.

You must play tournaments consistently with an open mind, thinking proactively about the game and about your opponents. The concepts in this book are very important, but you shouldn't simply take them as fact and move on. You should learn them and try to apply them to your own game! Each individual has a different playing style that suits him/her. Some are more aggressive, some are tight. Use the tips, and adapt them to your personal game winning style.

Review by Aaron Bartley

Caro's Book of Tells

Mike Caro, the 'Mad Genius' of poker, is probably most well known for his Book Of Tells he put out more than 20 years ago. This 300-plus page book covers most of the common physical 'tells' players give off at the table. For the serious player, I feel this is another must-read.

The book covers the following sections of tells as broken down by Caro: tells from those who are unaware, tells from actors, some general tells, as well as a few other sections about this difficult-to-grasp art. The book is full of black-and-white images, all of which are telling of the age of the book. I wouldn't be surprised if someone wearing a 'Member's Only' jacket would have been considered fashionable at this time. While it's stood the test of time very well, I would sort of like to see an update to this classic (although it has nothing to do with the style of clothing-I feel that it's a little dated because so many people know this book so well).

That aside, there's much to be learned from this book. While a lot of these gestures and odd tells people give off will almost never be seen, the logic he has behind each tell is what you must acquire. You won't hardly ever see someone give off tells as obvious as the actors in these pictures, but again, all Caro is doing is getting you on the right track looking for oddities and strange things at the table.

If you can successfully decipher what each of these tells really means and remember it, then you will be much better off than those who haven't read it. Some people will intentionally give off false tells to those they believe have read this, so the counter-tells will have to be learned as well.

If you get one thing from this book, it should be the poker phrase that will never, ever be untrue: generally speaking, weak means strong, and strong means weak. If you can figure that much out, you're on your way to reading players like you can read this book.

Review by Jon Eaton

High Low Split

High-Low Split Poker For Advanced Players by Ray Zee is the classic book on hi-lo split. An important read for beginners and anyone preparing to play either online or live. The two games are very similar in approach and the insights and strategies into one game can often be applied to the other. Understanding the winning principles will also give your overall poker game a boost, especially in holdem, lowball, Omaha high, and seven card stud.

Both of the sections are especially well structured and organized. The keys to these games are in two areas that Zee addresses quite well. The first concept being the relative hand strengths. This reading provides the basics for playing split games in ring games and shorthanded tables.

Understanding starting hand strength relative to that of your opponents is extremely important, especially when trying to raise for value in a multi-way pot and when trying to isolate another player. Ray Zee offers solid strategy approaches to playing low style drawing hands and big pairs, key hands in these games.

He also clearly defines the hands in which you should avoid, since their win rate is negative. He also discusses hands that will separate you from your competition.

The other key to success Zee stresses in both this game and Omaha high-low split is the importance of playing tight. The tighter you play in choosing both the hands you play and in deciding the course of action to take after the flop in Omaha high-low (and on fourth street in 7 card stud hi-lo) are essential to understanding the poor expectation of chasing in these games.

For the most part this book can clearly get you headed in the right direction in these very profitable forms of poker. However, to master these games you may have to supplement your reading after this book on these games to get a more complete understanding of aggressive plays and tournament strategy.

Review by Bo Jungblut

Harrington on Holdem 2

The second installment of Dan Harrington's Harrington on Hold 'Em series, published by Two Plus Two publishing, was just recently released. For those who are familiar with Dan Harrington and read his first book, you probably know what to expect out of the book. For those who read Two Plus Two books regularly, you probably know what to expect out of the editing job.

The contents of the book are of great value to a no-limit tournament player. The topics cover how to make moves in the later goings of a no-limit tournament, and the guidelines you need to follow on how to adjust gears as you progress towards the end. Some of them might not be new to the reader, but for those who have never discussed no-limit strategy at great length, it should greatly improve your game. It's loaded with real-life examples to help you grasp the ideas clearly.

I mentioned the editing job for one reason-it's atrociously bad. I can't even begin to tell you how terrible Mason Malmuth's editing job is in this book. I literally stopped reading at one point, because the page was so full of errors I had honestly lost track of what the passage was trying to say.

Normally I don't care about minor errors and little details that are messed up. But the problem is, there's so many in this book, that there's probably going to be a book published just as long as this one is with all the corrections in it! Two Plus Two is known for not caring in the least about these things, and it hurts this book greatly.

If you can get over the numerous grammatical and context errors (numerous times, examples have bad math and incorrect references to their diagrams), then the actual lessons learned in this book are invaluable to the reader. I had a tough time separating myself from the writer in me and the interest I had in finishing the book.

One of the best sections for beginners is Harrington's heads-up play section. If you've never played heads-up poker or haven't given it much thought, you can learn a lot from this. I've never seen anyone discuss how to play no-limit poker heads up, and he gives it a thorough write up. Everything from what hands rank well against a random hand, to how to play your hands. The best part is, he takes real-life examples (one from the Turning Stone tournament Phil Ivey won on live TV), and simplifies them so you understand why each player is doing what they are doing.

Overall, if you're looking to add to your collection of poker books, and you've read the first volume, then this is a must have. I would recommend waiting until they release a later print of this book, with less errors in it. If they decide that it's important enough to do so.

Review by Jon Eaton

Harrington on Holdem

Dan Harrington has finally written a definitive book on the basics of no-limit hold 'em tournament poker. For the first time in print are many of the techniques that pros today use to their advantage to win major poker tournaments.

Many of you are familiar with Dan, but for those who don't know who he is' his list of accolades start with the 1995 World Series main event championship, and most recently he reached the final table in the 2003 and 2004 world championship events. He's won numerous tournaments in his lifetime and has two total World Series bracelets.

In Harrington on Hold 'Em: Volume 1, Dan teaches basic fundamental pre-flop and post-flop play as well as how to change it up and how to bet your hands. Dan also goes through some basic bluffs and reads on hands. It's not for the novice-you really must know how to play poker fairly efficiently first.

However, if you are like many other poker players and are new to no-limit tournaments, this is an excellent foundation for you to have underneath you. For those of you who already know most of this material, it never hurts to have a little refresher.

Knowing your own game inside and out is a key thing, and Dan teaches that to you. He teaches you to know your own table image and how to play off of it. You can see this in action-watch Dan bluff in tight spots at the 2004 World Series final table on ESPN! Dan gets respect for his image at the table, and he can make bluffs as such.

I highly recommend this book. I was so highly convinced this one book took my tournament game to the next level of steady cashing, I told my friend if he didn't cash in his next tournament after finishing the book I'd pay his entry fee back. He made the final table and was convinced of it himself.

The one thing he told me was the book made him in control of his play throughout the tournament, and he was more observant of everything that went on around him. One thing I notice is the book has me looking at every detail going on around me at the table-noting every time someone bets and raises and noting the amounts and when and where in my mind.

Two Plus Two publishing have been innovators for years in the field of poker publishing. This book follows their last hit in the poker world, Small Stakes Hold 'Em. That book was one of the first ever produced for play against loose, low-limit games. Others have touched on the topic, but they dominated the category with that book.

Likewise, Harrington On Hold 'Em is a very good read that will teach some fundamentals of play in no-limit tournaments never available elsewhere. If you're a tournament player, you must read this book-your opponents will be.

Review by Jon Eaton