Poker Books and Reviews

Vince Burgio is one of poker's most popular champions, not only because he is a great competitor but also because he represents the poker community with dignity and decorum. In this book, a compilation of his many columns, he often comments on the current crop of poker pros who look and act foolish for the camera and who, in his opinion, give the game a negative feeling. While that's the focus of many chapters, others cover a wide path of poker information. He talks about the people he's met, the games he's played, the fun side of poker that makes it his favorite pastime (next to playing with his grandchildren). Each segment appears to be light reading but the true poker fan will find nuggets of great interest between the lines.
Read Full Review of 'Inside Poker: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'

Playing Internet poker in real time against real opponents has become a popular pasttime. Whether for play money or real money, the game offers an environment of virtual tables, player icons, specialized computer alogorighms that randomly shuffle the cards so it seems as if you are in a real poker room. It's a world where you can find a game day or night, but it's poker with a dofference. This book tackles the differences between live action and Internet action and includes a CD with poker software plus 125 interactive hands to help prepare you for plaing Internet games.
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Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro is a comprehensive overview of Texas Hold'em including general poker concepts such as probability and odds, bluffing, raising and check-raising. Various deceptive tactics are also discussed such as free cards, slowplaying, and inducing bluffs and calls. You'll learn the correct strategies for starting hand play as well as playing on the flop, turn, and river. You'll learn the intricacies of playing on the Internet and the differences in strategies between Internet and live play. Finally, you'll be able to practice all of these strategies on over 200 actual Internet hands.
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In a follow-up to the best-selling Kill Phil this book blends real-time experience, poker math, and computational horsepower to create new concepts and advanced strategies never before seen in print for multi-table tournaments, sit-n-go’s, and satellites. Explains how to choose the right strategy for the right game, provides the proper tactics, and introduces new weapons into a tournament-poker-player’s arsenal. These include: fear and fold equity; equilibrium plays; bubble factors; endgame strategies; optimal heads-up play and more While Kill Phil, is 90% pre-flop strategy, this book goes all the way to clearly show know how to accumulate chips early, navigate through the middle stages, and perfect your play on the bubble and at the final table.
Read Full Review of 'Kill Everyone'

The Kill Phil strategy is designed to take advantage many feel is a weakness in no-limit hold'em tournaments -- the over-emphasis on the all-in move in the later stages. It's both instructive overall, by analyzing players and their styles and covers much territory often neglected or skimmed over by other books and theorists.
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In this book, a long-awaited follow-up to The Pro Poker Playbook, he explains the difference between being a good, effective poker player and being a great poker player. He follows that explanation with lessons on how to leave your inhibitions at the door, analyze and fix your own flaws honestly and gain confidence and then play some of the best poker of your life by completely changing your state of mind. High points include how to turn marginal hands into big winners, how to use other players' powerful images against them, how to read minds at the table, how to energize your game with self-awareness that winning poker requires
Read Full Review of 'Killer Poker'

This new book by an exciting new author, CalTech graduate Tony Guerrera, introduces mathematical analysis as a vital tool in winning at no-limit hold'em. Seven major sections offer understandable material on probability, permutations, and combinations. Tony shows how to conduct solid analysis of hands, hand distribution, expected value, and how to apply these findings. Another section looks at unpaired & paired flops, followed by winning with pocket pairs (including flopping a set or better, and playing a set against made known hands). One chapter discusses drawing hands includes playing draws from early and late positions. Shorthanded play is discussed. Packed with charts & explanation, Killer Poker by the Numbers is a goldmine of mathematical ideas for gaining an edge, without intimidating formulas. The 8-page index makes it easy to locate a specific topic.
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It's time to take your game to the next level! Texas Hold'em, the most popular form of poker in casinos and tournaments today, has been said to take five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. Not anymore. In this revolutionary workbook, renowned poker journalist John Vorhaus shows you how to play smart, fearless hold'em, read other players' tells, exploit their flaws, and turn every hold'em session into a winning one. Vorhaus explores the specific strategies and tactics used by such hold'em archetypes as the Newbie, the Weakling, the Maniac, and the Rager, and includes an innovative diary system that reveals each type's thought processes, including his own.

Vorhaus has contributed much to poker via the written word, much of it dealing with the mental part of the game. In this book he continues that slant, bringing a perspective to the online poker game not yet researched by others. His initial advice is to scrap your live-game strategy, which he follows with advice on how to develop a killer Internet game. He includes information on the common pitfalls an dbankroll cripplers, online tells, your margins of error and the intensity of the accelerated pace. In two chapters (The Dark Side and Pitfalls) he discusses cheating, collusion--how to detect it and what to do about it--and the problems with random number generators. However, even though he deals with these subjects, most of the book deals with learning how to play and beat online poker.

Vorhaus, author of a slew of well-respected titles, brings you the latest in his Killer Poker series. teaches you how to analyze and improve your own play in a variety of situations. Included are discussions on developing a "style of play" while teaching you how to identify your opponent's style. Included is solid advice on playing suited aces, "problem flops", and how to avoid underbetting in specific situations. The book includes an examination of "orphan flops" (the types of cards sensible players are unlikely to hold). In Killer Poker No-Limit, Vorhaus will expand your terminology with a glossary and chapters about little-talked-about scenarios. This is a general book, dealing with cash & tournament games, that will help players find holes in their playing, and their foe's playing. Table image, 'shifting' your style, managing your bankroll are included. A notebook area is provided at the end of the book.
Read Full Review of 'Killer Poker: No Limit'

This is the next step after Apostolico's Lesson's From the Pro Poker Tour. Here he takes those lessons and turns them into action. He shows you how to apply the advanced techniques to an array of no limit hold 'em tournaments. This book is designed to help you win in every level of the arena. Provided is in depth analysis of real-life hands that the author has encountered. You can learn how to make the best decision possible regardless of your cards, or the circumstances. This book is designed to help you improve your skill, your odds, and your enjoyment.

The invitation-only Professional Poker Tour is limited to the top 200 players in the world. David Apostolico is one of the elite, and he found that going up against other poker masters every day was like attending an incomparable seminar. He takes you through specific hands that he either played or observed, giving detailed analyses that will teach you how to think like a pro. Assessment and adaptability are key factors for survival and success in fast-moving games with experienced players. Smart strategy is your greatest asset, and by studying the extensive hands in this book, you’ll learn the tactics and approaches of legendary winners.

Limit hold’em games featuring 9 or 10 players sometimes frustrate skilled players because they don't present many opportunities to exploit weak play and because good hands often don’t stand up. Short-handed limit hold’em games feature a maximum of six players and are becoming increasingly popular because: you get to play a lot more hands, you have more chances to exploit opponents’ weaknesses and you get more opportunities to use all of your poker skills.But short-handed play differs from full ring play. Here, three expert short-handed players analyze the skills needed to succeed in short-handed play, discussing such topics as:Attacking and defending blinds, watching and reading the opposition, being aware of your own image, playing with controlled aggression.
Read Full Review of 'Limit Hold'em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies'