Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments; Volume II: the Endgame

There is an old adage that says sequels are never as good as the original. For the most part this saying holds true but then there is the exception. Back in 1974 a sequel came out that broke the mold of how a second movie was expected to turn out. There will be endless discussions regarding which of the 2 films was superior, but there was no denying that when the second film was made, it not only was a success, but one of the greatest movies ever made. That film was The Godfather, Part II With 'Harrington on Hold'em Volume II: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Endgame', Action Dan has managed to make the impossible possible. He (along with Bill Roberte) have written a sequel so good that it is hard to distinguish the two books and easily point to a reason why the first book is better than the sequel. With the focus being how to play the middle to end stages of a tournament, Harrington has written a book that even the most experienced of players will be able to profit from. My favorite 2 points made in this book are as follows: 1. The concept of M and why it is so important to always know where your stack is in relation to the antes and blinds. 2. When heads up, nearly any 2 cards are worth playing and you are never that far behind. I really hope that Dan Harrington doesn't sell a lot of these books, because anyone that reads, learns, and follows the advice within is going to become a much better poker player. Employing a writing style that makes even the most difficult concepts easy to understand and follow, the end result is incredible. I said it when I reviewed the first book, these are the most important poker books written since Doyle Brunson's Super/System which came out in the 1970s, and it is REQUIRED reading for ALL Hold 'Em players. Wonderful, wonderful poker book by one of the best players in the world. ***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

Everyone else has pretty much summed this book up, for players with a solid game that want to take that next step, these books are the bibles of poker, specifically tournament poker. As was already mentioned, Harrington has a reputation of being a tight, conservative player but his advice on playing when short stacked is far from conservative. He explains why it is so necessary to avoid being blinded down to the point where at least the big blind has pot odds to call with virtually any two cards. The chapter on calculating the ratio of your chip stack to the size of the pot at the start of the hand (defined as your "M") is the single most important chapter of a poker book I have ever read. He explains why hands that are playable with a big stack are unplayable with a small one, and just as importantly how hands that are playable with a small stack are not with a bigger stack! I consider myself a pretty good hold 'em player, but as another reviewer also said, I would so often make the money but without many chips to advance to where the real money is. Since reading this three book trilogy and Volume II in particular, my play late in tourneys when the bubble is approaching has improved immensely. The way Harrington explains things just makes so much sense. My natural style is to play fairly tight so Harrington's style is one I try to emulate. I was stunned reading the sections on short stack play, to see how many "weak" hands he recommended playing, but the way he explains why just makes sense. And unlike so many pros that have authored books (particularly Phil Hellmuth), there is little mention of reading opponents based on physical tells, but more along the lines of being able to determine an opponent's holding based on what style they play. The truly great pros rely a lot on reading their opponents based on mannerisms along with betting patterns, but for the rest of us, smart analytical play is the best way for us to be successful. In addition, the book has several problem hands taken from online play rather than from live tournaments. In far too many too many poker instruction books, the author assumes that your opponents are always excellent players. Online however, there are many players that are average or worse and Harrington shows how those players can be exploited. He also explains the big difference in strategy as the bubble is near in tournaments and sit-and-go one table online games, one of the few poker books I have ever seen to do this. If you are a primarily a tournament player, whether online, live or both, you simply must read these books. Volume I is more of a book that covers the basics, Volume II is really simply the rest of Volume I and covers end game play and includes an extensive section on heads-up play. I have paid for these books many, many times over, I cannot recommend these books too highly!

I had been anxiously awaiting this book since reading Harrington's "Volume One Strategic Play." Well, I wasn't disapointed. There are many things revealed that have never been revealed before in poker books. The section on heads up is especially educational and eye-opening. This book is not for beginners and you should definitely read volume one before cracking this one. Both books are well worth the investment believe me. They are by far the best!

Harrington and Robertie have surely done it again -- even more powerfully than in their first volume. They have presented the authoritative text about how to think about and how to play a final table in a no limit hold em tournament. And in so doing they have redefined the game. Harrington and Robertie introduce a whole new lexicon (at least it was new to me) about no limit poker: inflection points, red zones, dead zones, green zones, probe bets, continuation bets. Some of these phrases I had heard -- maybe even dropped to impress people from time to time. But they explain them clearly and tie them all together in a vivid strategic picture of the game. But even if you were familiar with all of these terms and phrases that help clarify the many otherwise intuitive concepts of no limit tournament play, you've never read a simpler, clearer or more powerful explanation of them -- and all of the different stages players enter as their stack size grows and diminishes at the final table in a tournament. Similarly so with other vital concepts to no limit play like continuation and probe bets and final table play. Harrington and Robertie take the ideas that excellent players have intuitively known but until now have not fully expressed and put them into clear, simple language that any moderately experienced player can readily grasp and absorb. The hand examples, which the authors think us through further drive home the key points of this masterwork. To say that this is a must read for every serious hold em player doesn't do it justice. It is a book that has set a new standard for poker literature. Even if you are a very experienced winning no limit tournament player, this book will help you think and play. And I don't think that it is overstating it to say that it will significantly change the way players talk and write about the game in the future. Bravo Harrington and Robertie. Your two volumes are by far the best I have ever read -- and I've read just about everything that's out there.