The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em: Making Winners Out of Beginners and Advanced Players!

Read Sklansky and Harrington last month. Very good books and a must read for anyone interested in playing poker well. Have been playing dealer's choice poker variations for about fifteen years. Have been playing Hold'em, specifically, for about four months now. The Sklansky and Harrington books give you a lot of theory. They teach you how to think about poker. This book gives you all practicum, which is especially great for the beginner and intermediate player. The author provides very straight forward explanations for his decisions, and in the process reinforces proper play, while also discouraging improper play. This book is a great complement to the other two books mentioned. Will help reinforce the basics -- plays that we take for granted, forget about, and therefore get wrong under pressure. Highly recommended for anyone interested in learning solid basic game play, or for reinforcing the basics as well.

I'm a big fan of this book, as it has helped me make the jump from beginner to skilled player. Therefore I was surprised to see a negative review of Purdy's odds calculation. As I use his system when I play, I of course went back to the book to see look at it closely. And guess what? It turns out that the reviewer was actually wrong, and this book is correct. The confusion lies in the difference between odds and probability, and understanding the difference is crucial if you attempt to use either at the poker table. Let's go back to the example the review used. You have pocket cards of 6-8, and the flop is 2-3-8. What are the odds that an 8 will come on the turn? Purdy claims 45 to 2, and the reviewer claims 2 in 47. Who's right? Purdy is. You see, Purdy is calculating the odds, whereas the reviewer is calculating the probability. Let's make this much simpler. Pretend you have a situation where there are fifteen cards left, out of which 5 cards will give you the result you desire. (I know you'll never have this few cards left in Hold 'Em, but it's easier to understand this way). Your instinct would be to say that your odds are 15 to 5, and then reduce that to 3 to 1. But that's not calculating odds, it's calculating probability. Odds are formed by this setup: [Number of cards that are not what you desire] to [number of cards that give you the desired results]. So out of 15 cards left, 10 give you the undesired result, whereas 5 give you the desired result. Therefore, the odds are 10 to 5, or 2 to 1. Much different, right? If you want to get more complicated, you can use this formula, which translates probability to odds: where x = probability, 0.x/(1-0.x) = odds. Try it yourself. If something has a 20% chance of happening, the odds of it happening are .25, or 4 to 1. Weird, but true. So why all this high-level discussion for what's supposed to be a beginner book? It's about learning to use odds quickly. The whole point is: compare the odds of getting the card you want to how much money you're going to get back for the bet. You can get the same answer by calculating the probability, but that's much harder to do while sitting a poker table. Using odds, if you're playing against 9 other people, after the flop there will always be 47 unseen cards. All you need to do is subtract the number of out cards you have, then put the result on the left, the number of out cards on the right, and you have your odds. Do the same with the amount in the pot vs. what bet you need to call, and you have your pot odds. If you try to use probability, you're going to be doing a lot of division in your head, and under pressure you risk messing it up. The math wizards can do this, most of us can't. So, overall this is a fantastic book for beginners, and one that I highly recommend. Trust that the author has this right. And if you're still unsure, check it out yourself.

If you have been playing poker for less than a year and are looking to improve your game (or if you have been playing for longer and still lose!) then this is the book for you. Taking an entirely different approach to teaching the game than most books this is an illustrated guide. Each page graphically presents a scenario including table position, pot size, cards held, board cards already out (if any), and action prior to your turn. Based on this information the reader is asked, check, fold, call or raise: The fundamental decision for every player at every betting round. After you have answered the question in your head the next page then details what you should have said and why. The book then walks you through the thought process that you should have based on the facts and explains in simple and clear terms what the correct course of action is and why. This unique method of teaching the game shows the importance of correct starting hands, pot odds, implied odds, position, pot size, and many other factors. In many other books these fairly advanced concepts are pretty difficult to grasp, however the illustrated format of this book makes learning a breeze. Highly recommended.

It's one thing to read all the poker strategy and statistical charts and it is another to actually try to apply all of the learning. This book can help you to apply the strategies In an actual game you don't really get feedback on how you played a hand. However, with this book you are put on the spot and asked what you would do? Do you fold, check, or raise? After you figure out how you would have played in the situation, you can read how you should have played and why. This feedback helps you learn. Also, it's easy and fun so you can go through the situations over and over. This book is great and fun for a newbie who understands how to play but wants to learn some techniques or for someone who wants a chance to apply some techniques before a game. This book covers the positional aspect of Hold'em; which is nice. However, this book does not cover No-Limit Hold'em or small group (<6) Hold'em.