There are A LOF of poker books on the market! 95% of them all cover the same basic tight agressive strategy, and for the most part, you read one, you read them all. There are a handful of poker books that go beyond the basic poker strategy and really get into poker on a dynamic and exciting level. Here they are.
| The Theory of Poker - Author: David Sklansky |
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Book Review: -- BEST OVERALL POKER BOOK
The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky discusses theories and concepts applicable to nearly every variation of the game, including five-card draw (high), seven-card stud, hold ’em, lowball draw, and razz (seven-card lowball stud). This book introduces you to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, its implications, and how it should affect your play. Other chapters discuss the value of deception, bluffing, raising, the slow-play, the value of position, psychology, heads-up play, game theory, implied odds, the free card, and semibluffing.
Many of today’s top poker players will tell you that this is the book that really made a difference in their play. That is, these are the ideas that separate the experts from the typical players. Those who read and study this book will literally leave behind those who don’t, and most serious players wear the covers off their copies. This is the best book ever written on poker.
In The Theory of Poker, Sklansky explains early that poker is a game of skill. He talks about good players suffering bad beats because they put lesser skilled players at the mercy of luck.
"However, it is more likely for a good player like Baldwin to suffer these bad beats, as they are called, than for an average player or a weak player to suffer them. 'I've heard good players complain to me about how they get drawn out on all the time,' Baldwin said after the 1981 tournament. 'But if they want to better their game and better their emotional state while playing, they should realize it's a mirage. If you are an excellent player, people are going to draw out on you a lot more than you're going to draw out on them because they're simply going to have the worst hand against you a lot more times than you have the worst hand against them. There's no way you're going to draw out on anybody if you don't get all your money in there on the worst hand.' As Baldwin implies, expert players do not rely on luck." [1-2]
Sklansky points out a common mistakes among poker players. Assuming that winning a lot of pots at all costs equates to winning a lot of money can be dangerous.
"You may occasionally be in a game where the best strategy is to win as many pots as possible, but such games are exceptions. In most games the bets you save are as important as the bets you win, because your real goal is to maximize your wins and minimize your losses. Ideally you want the pots you win to be as big as possible and the pots you lose to contain nothing more than your ante. You must remember that reducing losses - by not making the calls, for example, that a weaker player would make - adds that much more to your win when the game is over." [6] The author takes this concept even further later on in the book. "You should even derive satisfaction from a losing session when you know that other players would have lost much more with your cards." [13]
The fundamental theory of poker is outlined early in the book.
"Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose." [17-18]
Calculating pot odds is an important part of poker. Sklanksy explains that it does not matter who put in what percentage of the pot.
"The fact that $1 or one-eigth of the ante money was originally yours is of no consequence. In truth, it is no longer yours. The moment you place your $1 ante in the pot, it belongs to the pot, not to you ... However, it is absolutely irrelevent whether you put the money in there or someone else did. It is the total amount, no part of which belongs to you any longer, that should determine how you play your hand." [28-29]
An important adjustment is being able to change the style of play based on the size of the ante.
"The general rule is that as the ante decreases, you must tighten up." [33]
Implies odds are another important part of poker. Implied odds are based on the possibility of winning money in later betting rounds over and above what is in the pot already, and calculating these implied odds can be difficult.
"In adding the possibility of future bets to the present pot to get your implied odds, you should take into account whether the strength of your hand is hidden." [58]
Like most things with poker, the timing and importance of deception are constantly changing.
"The general rule is: the better the players and the smaller the pot, the more you disguise your hand when there are more cards to come. The worse the players and the larger the pot, the more you play your hand normally, without regard to giving anything away." [68]
| Super System - Author: Doyle Brunson |
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Book Review:
When this was first published in the seventies it caused a sensation. Immediately recognized as the most ambitious poker book ever written, it nonetheless was received with irritation by some professionals because it was believed that Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and his collaborators gave away too much, thereby allowing the amateurs to catch up, thereby cutting into the professional player's take. There is more than a little truth to this accusation. Poker is an ever-evolving superset of games with the individual games changing over time as the players learn how one game and then another should be played. Write a revealing book and the old games disappear more quickly and the "rocks" have to learn the new game in order to continue to make a living. Today's most important games are hold'em and seven card stud. Both are covered in this book, hold'em quite extensively.
What sets Brunson's Super/System apart from other poker books is first the prestige and celebrity of the writers, especially Doyle himself, but also Bobby Baldwin (also a World Champion); David "Chip" Reese, Doyle's expert on seven-card stud; Joey Hawthorne on Low-Ball; David Sklanski on Hi-Low; and Mike Caro (MJC) on draw poker. I used to play with Sklanski and MJC back in the sixties in Gardena when the only legal game in the California clubs was draw poker, both lowball and jacks or better. Sklanski has gone on to be one of the game's great theoreticians and the author of several excellent books on poker. Caro, known as "the Mad Genius of Poker," has formed his own "Poker University" and is partly responsible for this book's republication, and has become quite a poker entrepreneur.
Second, there is the comprehensive coverage of the games from five card draw to no limit hold'em. Not everything is explained and some of the tricks are held back. Reese in particular, in his chapter on seven-card stud is somewhat reticent. He presents a tight strategy that is sound but withholds more aggressive strategies that, in the proper hands, would make more money.
By the way, "no limit" really means table stakes since you are NOT, as is sometimes seen in the movies, allowed to go to the bank and get some money when you hold a killer hand! In fact, no limit is really no different than pot limit expect that instead of being restricted to the amount of the pot when betting, one can, if one so chooses, push in one's entire stack. THAT does make for some interesting psychological situations! One of Doyle Brunson's main points in this book is the huge difference between set limit poker as played in the clubs and indeed as played for the so-called world championship, and no limit poker as played by the rich and the top professionals. The latter game is much more of a psychological game in that you can lose pot after small pot and yet come out ahead by winning one great big monster, and also because it takes a lot of nerve to either call a huge bet or to make a huge bet. Furthermore as you're playing along you have to be aware that at any moment the pot can suddenly mushroom to gigantic proportions. Because of these psychological factors, some of the top players at limit have never been able to make a satisfactory jump to the no limit game. In Brunson's case, he actually was adept at no limit long before he became a top limit player.
Third, there are the brilliant caricatures of the players by Stan Hunt. Just to see those again in print is worth the price of the book.
Fourth are the poker odds and statistics by Mike Caro. Believe me they are completely accurate. I and a number of others players checked and rechecked them, hoping to catch MJC in an error. No such luck! I was a little disappointed that Mike chose to recall an odds story that showed him in the right, because I, among a very small number of people, actually did beat him out of a twenty dollar bet in the sixties on some odds we were discussing. Of course Mike would "give away" money just to support his carefully cultivated image as a "madman." One of his most notorious "plays" at draw was to pretend to have a pat hand, raise the opener, and then not bet after the draw and just show down his nothing hand, thereby giving away the pot. I mean eyebrows raised and heads shook incomprehensibly at this totally "irrational" play. Yet it worked because people then would call him when he really had something.
Caro was also an expert on poker tells. He wrote a book on the subject. He would, when playing, do parodies of the other players by betting and acting as they would in an exaggerated way. Sometimes he actually did unconscious parodies of himself.
Doyle Brunson on the other hand loved the psychological struggle and just being in action. In his prime he was arguably the world's best player at both limit and no limit hold'em. He had nerves of steel and an intensely competitive nature and a deep obsessive love of the game. He overpowered his opponents with a constant energy that was always, always pushing. He had a few tricks and his knowledge of the game was among the best, but perhaps his greatest gift was his ability to bet when he knew the other guy would toss in.
What you can learn from this book about poker is really almost priceless. Even though this book is definitely dated (and today's stars are a different breed) nonetheless there is wealth of information here for the casual as well as the professional player. This is, in my opinion, still the best how-to book on poker ever written.
| Harrington on Holdem - Volume 1 and 2 - Author: Dan Harrington |
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Book Review: -- Best NL Holdem tournament book
No limit hold'em, obviously, is a complex game. So complex that there has never been a good comprehensive treatment in a book form; I had thought that this was because it involves more "table feel", experience and intuition that can't be easily taught or expressed in a useful format.
Harrington and Robertie have done just that. Harrington is the 1995 world champion, and the only player to make the final table in both 2003 and 2004, overcoming the two biggest fields in World Series history (839 and 2,576 players, respectively). Robertie is a top backgammon player and author of several excellent books on that game.
Among the top players, there are drastically different styles of play, from conservative to super-aggressive. One problem I expected was that given Harrington's solid, fairly conservative style, he wouldn't be able to give much useful information on playing at the other end of the end of the spectrum, styles such as those employed by Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen.
I was wrong. The book does a fine job addressing the relative merits of various styles, playing against each type of opponent, and even choosing one for yourself. This makes sense; no matter his own style, to be successful he has to have spent a lot of time thinking about, observing, and combatting all different types of players. Further, a playing style isn't cast in stone; even the most conservative players have to switch gears and become much more aggressive at times, and vice versa.
A few more notes on this idea: first, Harrington's own play as described isn't as conservative and cautious as many think. Second, a fairly conservative approach is demonstrably the more sound one for the student, and anyone without many years of experience. Hyper-aggressive play would be much harder to teach well, and also much harder to pull off successfully. The players who thrive playing these aggressive, gambling styles have exceptional talent as well as lots of experience and a great feel for the game and their opponents, and are faced with difficult decisions under lots of pressure much more often. For those who insist on trying, it probably still makes more sense to learn a fundamentally sounder style first and then proceed from there.
The book is laid out well for learning. Each chapter starts with a discussion of the topic, touching on the theory. There are several example situations with the authors' answers and detailed reasoning, as well as the merits of alternative plays. Following each chapter there are problems, mostly from real hands. It provides a diagram of the table, the chip counts for each player, your knowledge of the opponents, etc... all the relevant information. The problems usually provide all this information even when some of it is irrelevant to the problem, which is a strength. A big part of the decision-making process in poker (as well as lots of other things) is recognizing and eliminating extraneous details to make analysis more managable.
This is the first in a two volume set. I thought this was odd, as this is first for 2+2 poker books, but the first volume is bigger than most of their others already. The book is self-contained; there are no partial answers or information that tell you to buy the second volume for the details. I don't think there has been an official announcement on when Volume 2 will be released, but I've heard sometime this spring.
The book is geared specifically toward tournaments, and especially toward those with well-defined formats, such as major casino/cardroom events and those on the Internet. For cash game players, a solid understanding of tournament and poker theory would be necessary to make the appropriate adjustments to cash play. Most of the book would still apply, but some situations would change drastically in a side game, where simply getting your money in with an advantage, rather than survival, is the main goal.
For those newer to poker, to get the most out of this book, I would recommend a few others be read either first or at the same time: "The Theory of Poker" by David Sklansky, "Small Stakes Hold'em" by Miller, Sklansky and Malmuth, and "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones, especially for the newest players.
Harrington on Hold ’em: Volume II: The Endgame shows you how to play in the later phases of a tournament, when the field has been cut down, the blinds and antes are growing, and the big prize money is within sight. Harrington shows you how to make moves, handle tricky inflection point plays, and maneuver when the tournament is down to its last few players and the end is in sight. He’s also included a whole chapter on heads-up play, whose strategies up to now have been a closely-guarded secret of the game’s top masters.
| Holdem Poker for Advanced Players - Author: David Sklansky |
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Book Review: -- Best Limit Holdem book
Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth is one of the best hold'em books I've read. The authors assume that the reader understands the basics behind general poker strategy and Texas Hold'em specifics. Before reading the book I read Sklansky's The Theory of Poker (also reviewed on this site) which is referenced many times throughout the book. The book is like a Bible for Texas Hold'em. I have gone back to it several times and used it as a reference. Even though complex concepts are explained in plain English, the book is not something that should be read too quickly the first time.
The book breaks starting hands into 8 different groups. The reader is told how each group of hands should be played in different situations. David Sklansky was the first to organize and group these starting holdem hands.
Early in the book Sklansky does a good job of telling the reader when to play certain hands before the flop. He makes a special point of giving specific instructions for playing AQ, "beware of AQ. Even in a loose game, this hand does not play well against an early-position raiser if many players remain to act behind you. (Of course, if the AQ is suited, you definitely would play the hand.)" [21]
The author makes the point that big hands should not be slow played before the flop. "If no one has yet called, almost always raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK, and AQ. Part of the reason to raise with these hands is that they lose value as the pot gets more multiway (especially if your oponents see the flop for one bet rather than two). " [22]
Raising
The theme that raising if often better than calling is made throughout the book. "One strategy that begins to come into play in the middle positions is that you should almost always raise rather than call when:
- No one has yet entered the pot.
- You have a playable hand (generally Group 1-6).
- You think there is a reasonable chance (perhaps as small as 25 percent), that all players behind you (including the blinds) will fold.
However, if criterion one or three is not met you should usually just call except with your best hands, and actually fold some of the weaker hands (basically Group 6) that you would have otherwise raised with." [31]
Late position offers many advantages. "Another reason to raise is if you think it may 'buy you the button.' Being able to act last on succeeding betting rounds is a major advantage. Thus with marginal hands it may be worth raising if you think it will take that raise to get the button to fold." [33]
Blinds
The blinds often make players throw good money away after bad. "Over their careers, many players lose quite a bit of money from the blind positions. This is because they frequently overestimate the value of their hand in comparison to the partial bet that they are required to make to continue playing. Even though you can play looser in some situations, you still must play fairly tight if the pot has been raised and the raiser is not in a steal position." [40]
When you are in the big blind it is important not to let the small blind steal your blind. "Generally, if you are in the big blind, everyone passes to the small blind, and he raises, you normally need to make sure that you call enough so that the player in the little blind does not show an automatic profit. (Remember, this will be the case if you fold as little as 30 percent of the time.) On the other hand, if you know that this player has high raising standards, you should fold your weaker hands." [47]
Througout the book, Sklansky and Malmuth make the point that it is often better to raise or to fold than to call. "We would also like to stress again that unless you are in the blind, you should not be calling many raises, particularly if the pot is short-handed. you should usually reraise or fold, with folding being much more prevelent. To do otherwise is the classic 'weak player' mistake, and it is the easiest way to tell if an opponent does not understand the game as well as he should." [49]
Memorizing the correct starting hands is not enough to make the game profitable. Playing correctly after the flop is essential. "Most of the profit in hold'em comes from knowing how to play after the first round." [52] Topics like semi-bluffing and free cards are discussed after the flop.
Semi-Bluffing and Bluffing
Using semi-bluffing has several advantages. "If your hand is worth a call or even almost worth a call if you check, then it is better to bet it if there is some chance you can win the pot right there." [57-58] It is important to understand this first advantage and realizing that pots can be won without having the best hand in a showdown. A second advantage to semi-bluffing is that it can confuse your opponents. "A secondary advantage to semi-bluffing is that when you do make your hand, your opponents often will misread it." [59] Finally, the semi-bluff is key because it makes you seem unpredictable. "A third advantage to semi-bluffing is that it keeps your opponents guessing. If you never bluff, you are simply giving away too much information. Players in this category are referred to as 'weak tight.' They are easy to make money against since you virtually always know exactly where they are, but they have a great deal of trouble figuring out what your hand is. Semi-bluffing is a good way to mix up your play so you can't be 'read' as easily." [59] Given all the above advantages in making the semi-bluff play, it is strange to see some players not using it.
The free card concept involves making bets or raises in early rounds so that players will check to you later on. In discussing the concept, Sklansky states how not to play poker. "Checking and calling is rarely a correct strategy in hold'em, yet this is precisely the way that many weak opponents will play." [63] Failing to bet early can not only keep the pot too small, it can lead to your downfall, "if you check and allow someone who would not have called your bet to outdraw you, then you have allowed a 'mathematical catastrophe' to happen." [63] This philosphy is consistent throughout the book where Sklansky and Malmuth show that it is often better to raise or bet than to call or check.
Stone cold bluffing on the river is different from semi-bluffing because with a stone cold bluff there are no more cards to help your hand improve. Bluffing on the river often boils down to pot odds, "if there is $50 in the pot and the bet is $10, you are getting 5-to-1 odds on your bluff. In this situation, if you think your opponent will fold more than one time in six, bluffing would be correct." [84] In calculating the odds that your opponent will fold it is important to factor in whether you have been the bettor or the caller up until the river. Also, it is crucial to know whether or not your opponent is advanced enough to know how to get away from hands.
I have had interesting flops where I flop an open ended straight draw but there are 2 cards of the same suit on the flop as well. It is interesting to decide how to play the hand because you could be betting into someone who has a flush draw. If the flush player gets his card and you get your straight card then you could be in big trouble if you don't recognize that your hand is beat. Sklansky reveals that it is ok to bet the straight draw on the flop because there will be six cards that can make your straight without helping the flush, "suppose you flop an open-end straight draw and two flush cards are also on board. Is it correct to bet? Some 'authorities' claim that this hand should be thrown away. They argue that you can make your hand and still lose the pot. However, they fail to understand that you can bet as a semi-bluff." [114]
Another interesting flop is when there is a pair on board. Ironically, Sklansky says this can be a good situation to bet when you are not holding one of these cards. "Although it's a little-known fact, it is often profitable to bluff when a pair flops, especially if the flop does not include a straight or flush draw." [123]
I have lost a lot of pots while holding pairs in the hole. When holding a pair you usually will not flop a set and from that point on you can be in trouble. Sklansky has some words on this topic. "Incorrectly playing pairs in the hole is a major error that causes many players to lose thier money. You must keep in mind that if you do not make trips when an overcard flops--particuliarly if the overcard is an ace -- you are in trouble. This is especially true in a multiway pot." He goes on to address specific hands. "If your pair is JJ, TT, or smaller, it is extremely important to bet into most flops, since there are many overcards that can beat you. However, if an overcard is present on the flop and you are check-raised, you ususally should give it up." [125] In no-limit tournaments players will sometimes move all-in before the flop when they are holding a pair. This is partially because a pair will be a slight to large favorite over any other 2 card combination in a showdown unless the other 2 cards are a higher pair.
Maniacs, Loose Play
Not everyone plays poker the same way. Sometimes a table will have one or more players who are reckless. Sklansky explains that if the other players get involved when you play against a maniac, then it might be best to be on the right of the maniac, so that you can act after these other players. If the other players let you go up against the maniac one on one then it might be better to be on the left of the maniac so you can isolate him. Sklansky explains what hands to add to your aresenal in this situation. "So let's assume that a maniac is in your game, he's raising almost every hand, and you are seated to his left. What hands do you play? The answer is that you should play those hands that can win showdowns without improving. This includes hands like A9 and KT, and you'll reraise with them providing that your reraise will almost always get you heads-up. If you do, you should see most of these hands to the end unless it 'comes down real bad'" [131-132] One not of caution is in tournaments where the same player can play like a maniac until comfortable with his chip stack where he may shift gears and tighten up considerably. It is important to recognize if a player is good enough to switch up his game within a single session.
Making the correct play on fourth street is important for many reasons, one of which is that the bets are bigger than those on the flop. "There are two important concepts that will aid you when playing on fourth street. The first of these is that you should tend to check hands with outs and to bet hands that, if already beaten, have no outs." [139] Sklansky uses an example of holding Ace of Clubs and Ace of Spades against a non-club, non-space three-suited board on fourth street. He says you can usually bet the Aces but fold them if re-raised. He goes on to explain another important aspect of fourth street. "The second important concept concerning fourth-street play is that you should be betting good hands on the flop, but then frequently check-raising with them on the turn. In fact, this should be routine strategy since you will be giving up on many hands on fourth street." [141] Sklansky goes on to clarify that this is important because it helps to balance out the semi-bluff flop bets that don't pan out.
Sklansky and Malmuth make sure to cover different situations throughout the book. He addresses how to handle bad players in a general way. "Here's just one example of what we are talking about that doesn't involve specific strategy. When you are against bad players it is probably detrimental to mull over your decisions. When you sit there and think, you encourage bad players to play better against you." [153] It is significant to note that the book was written for limit hold'em where players tend to make decisions in a timely manner. In no-limit tournaments decisions are often made slower and the above advice may not apply in the same fashion.
Sometimes games are too loose and passive. In other words too many players call the blinds to see the flop but there is hardly any pre-flop raising. Sklansky and Malmuth discuss how to handle this situation. "So how do you apply the previous concepts to a very good hold'em game? That is, in a loose, passive game where many people see the flop and then play poorly after that. you should:
- Play more hands than you would if the players were better, especially if you can get in for a single bet.
- Frequently keep it to a single bet before the flop more than most people think because you gain a lot when bad players make incorrect calls on the flop and beyond, as long as the pot is kept small." [159]
- Any pair, is 6 percent;
- any ace, is about 15 percent;
- any other two cards that are both nine or higher, is about 12 percent,
- any other straight flush combination with no gaps or just one gap (except for 42s and 32s), is about 4 percent;
- and any king little suited that's not already covered, is about 2 percent.
Suited hole cards while not a great advantage in heads-up play, can be a big advantage in multi-way pots. They can also be key in loose games. "If your hand is suited in these loose games it is a giant advantage. One of the nice things about raising with suited cards before the flop (especially the ace suited), is that when you flop a flush, or for that matter a four-flush, you welcome all the bottom pairs calling. They may be right to call, but it doesn't hurt you. They may be making money by calling on the flop because there are other people involved. But they are not taking money from you. They are making you money." [173] Sklansky goes on to explain that you are making the pot bigger and people now play hands that cannot win if you hit your flush (when holding the ace of the flush, you will have the nut flush if there is no straight-flush on board and no pair on board).
Often the correct play in loose games is counter-intuitive. "The right strategy to beat loose games is very different than what many people think. The idea is not to immediately punish someone because you happen to have an edge. It is often correct to wait till a later round where your edge might be bigger to make your move. On the other hand, you may discover that your advantage has disappeared and you will be happy that you did not put in those extra bets earlier. Bad players who play too many hands and go too far with their hands are ideal opponents." [180] Keep an eye out for players who start to get bored and impatient and then start falling into the pattern of playing too many hands and not getting away from them.
Short-Handed
Most everything in the book is based on a 10 player limit game. There is a special section on playing short-handed. As one might expect, it doesn't always take premium hands to win when there are less players so adjustments need to be made and the correct strategy is to play looser than on a 10 player table. "To prove this point let's look at a heads-up game. Suppose just you and another player were playing and you don't adjust after noticing how he is playing. You play your fairly tight game and he has a strategy of always betting. He must beat you." [185] Stopping players from stealing blinds is not your responsibility alone on a 10 player table. However, if it is just you and one opponent head-up then you have to make adjustments such as taking the sole responsibility of protecting your blinds. When playing head-up in hold'em in the big blind, Sklansky explains that one should play more hands than in 10 player games, "Thus it appears that in a heads-up match in the big blind you need to call(or reraise) at least 40 percent of the time against an aggressive opponent. So what hands should you play?
This comes to approximately 39 percent. That's basically what we are talking about. (You might add in a few more hands such as J8s,98 or 97.) (We do want to caution you about playing hands that contain a deuce or a trey. The trouble with these cards is that if you flop a pair and your hand is best at the moment, virtually any other card that comes can beat you. In addition, if you flop nothing and your opponent flops a pair, you frequently find yourself bluffing or calling with only three outs. This doesn't mean that you can't play a hand if it contains a deuce or a trey. But beware that it has some additional problems and these hands may not be as good as they appear.)" [187]
Sklansky goes on to explain that the betting should continue after the flop, "Assuming you reraised, be prepared to do a lot of betting on the flop. You should bet most every time except for your weakest hands, and perhaps your best hands. Good advice might be to check the weakest 20 percent and the best 20 percent of your hands. And, with your best 20 percent, you should usually check-raise on the flop. Here's an example. If you reraise with J of Hearts, T of Hearts and the flop is 9 of Hearts, 4 of Spades, 2 of Diamonds you go ahead and bet. Only check those hands that have almost no chance to win. Bet anything that has a chance." [190]
Sklansky gives an afterthought on short-handed games that sums things up nicely, "Most successful hold'em players learn to play in a style that can be characterized as tight and aggressive. This is sometimes referred to as solid poker. In fact, it is the way that we usually recomment to play, and in most games it is the way that we play. But short-handed poker is very different. The tight players don't stand a chance against the live ones who seem to bet and call with anything. Unless you are able to make the adjustments that we described, you will be another loser in the short-handed games, and will be forced to avoid some of the most lucrative situations in all of poker. The great advantage of short-handed hold'em, assuming you play it well, is that you get to play many more hands. Thus, if your decisions are better than your opponents, since you will be making many more of these decisions than normal, you can expect to produce a higher win rate in the short-handed games than you would in a regular ring game. This is particularly true if you are against one or more players who only understands how to play at a full table. Most of the best hold'em players will tell you that they would rather play short-handed. This is the reason why. They find it far more profitable and actually enjoy it more than at a full table." [209]
Psychology
The end of the book has a comprehensive section on the psychology of poker. One should not always base decisions purely on mathematics because other players can recognize this and take advantage of your predictability. "At the expert level of hold'em, the 'skill' of trying to outwit your opponent sometimes can extend to so many levels tht your judgment may begin to fail. However, in ordinary play against good players, you should think at least up to the third level. First, think about what your opponent has. Second, think about what your opponent thinks you have. And third, think about what your opponent thinks you think he has. Only when you are playing against weak players, who might not bother to think about what you have and who almost certainly don't think about what you think they have, does it not necessarily pay to go through such thought processes. Against all others, this is crucial to successful play, since deception is a big part of the game." [232] In border line situation it can be valuable to note tells for other players. Caro's Book of Tells (also reviewed on this site) has some useful information on the science of tells.
This book has a tremendous amount of information to digest. It is a handy reference to keep around and I have gone back to it many, many times. It is assumes the reader already has a firm grip of the strategy behind Hold'em. FTR highly recommends Sklanky's Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players to develop your limit Texas Holdem game. We also highly recommend Miller's Small Stakes Hold'em for limit Holdem. These two books will cover it all and make you a great limit player.
| Caro's Book of Poker Tells - Author: Mike Caro |
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Book Review: -- Best Live Game Book
Cardoza publishing has recently reprinted another poker classic, Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells. Few poker books have been as widely read as this one, in it's third major revision since it's original publication by Gambling Times, Inc.. I own a copy of one of the printings of the Gambling Times edition and the Cardoza edition. Besides reviewing the book, I can compare these two versions of this material. In between the release of these was an edition published by the Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy which I don't own.
Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells begins with introductory material that explains what this book is about, an explanation of the nomenclature used, an explanation of the author's MCU Poker Charts, and a prologue about "Caro's Law of Loose Wiring". These last two weren't present in the Gambling Times edition. The introduction sets up the book well. The reader receives a good idea of the direction in which this book is headed.
The next four sections cover various situations where players might exhibit "tells". That is, players give away information about the strength of their hands via their actions. These sections are titled, "Tells From Those Who Are Unaware", "Tells From Actors", "Some General Tells", and "The Sounds of Tells". Each tell is discussed separately. Each explanation includes one or more photographs depicting the behavior in question, a categorization of the tell, an explanation of what it means, a discussion of what motivates this behavior, an estimate of the tell's reliability, and an estimate of its value to an alert player. The tells the author discusses have not changed since the original edition, except that the pictures are a little smaller and most of the attire and hair styles of the actors exhibiting the tells have been abandoned.
Two criticisms I have of this book are that I don't believe the tell reliability percentages are accurate, and I don't think the value per hour of each tell is realistic. Of course, a great number of poker players have read this book, and it has undoubtedly influenced the way people play. Nonetheless, the reliability numbers are probably still somewhat worthwhile if they are considered in relative terms. That is, in the absence of other information it may be reasonable to assume that a tell that Caro assigns a 97% reliability factor is more reliable than one that has been assigned a 60% reliability factor. Still, this information must be compiled on a player-by-player basis. Frankly, I can't figure out how the value per hour statistics were generated, and my advice would be to ignore these numbers altogether.
The book wraps things up with a some summary information, a quiz on the material the book covers, and some final thoughts by the author. The overall flow to the book is well thought out, and the material is presented in a clear and logical manner. Sometimes it is not immediately obvious what behavior is on display in a given picture, but this can be very hard to capture well in still photography. Even in those cases where the photograph can be hard to decipher, the text accompanying the picture is usually sufficient to understand what the author has in mind.
Despite some minor flaws and the age of the book (20 years as of this review), Caro's Book of Poker Tells is still one of the most important poker books ever written, and it's great that this book is still in print. While this book will certainly be more relevant to live players than it will to the online game, its principles are timeless and are likely to be of benefit for any alert poker player in any poker game. There are multiple poker books available on every aspect of poker except for tells. One reason for this is because there is still little room for improvement on Caro's landmark work. Largely as a consequence of this, too little has been changed or added to make it necessary for someone who owns the original edition of this book to need to upgrade. However, no poker library would be complete without a copy of this book.
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