Play Poker Like Johnny Chan: Book One Casino Poker

This a beautifully produced, pricey paperback covering the poker games that Chan plays. Of course, he doesn't just play, he wins big. By my count, he's won ten WSOP events. The book is something of a scrapbook of poker photos, with strategies on many poker games: basically stud, omaha, both high and high low, as well as limit and no-limit Texas hold'em. He describes his thinking as a hold'em hand progresses -- very useful. By the way, there is little math in book, so if you're looking for the clearest expression of pot odds, implied odds, look elswhere. (For a book that leads you safely through the odds jungle, see Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker by King Yao.) Remember the list price is $30. The qualiy paper and color photos cost more. In fact, even the hands are shown in color photographs. This is a worthwhile book with insights from a successful player, covering too many kinds of poker to be the ultimate in-depth guide to any one of them. Yet it scores in readability way above the serious classics by Sklansky, Malmuth and others. It's not the best first book on poker as it's too advanced for a beginner, but it may well be the best second one.

A solid "how-to" guide co-written by the highly-regarded poker player Johnny Chan, whose titles include 2002 WSOP Match Play NLH Champion and 2003 WSOP No Limit Hold-em Champion among many others, Play Poker Like Johnny Chan: Book One Casino Poker is a simple guide to poker basics for players who are out to win. Chapters discuss general poker concepts for the uninitiated, and the rules and favorable versus unfavorable situations for many poker variants including Limit Hold-em, Seven Card Stud, Eight Or Better Stud, Omaha High, Omaha Hi-Low, and No-Limit Hold-em. Some background information on tournaments and internet poker is included, as is general (and very sound) strategy advice for the would-be career poker player, as well as a mentions of famous and skilled individuals Chan has played with. Notably absent from Play Poker Like Johnny Chan is any in-depth discussion of card-counting or related mathematical methodology; it is primarily an introductory guide to give the reader a hands-on understanding of game mechanics as well as the importance of the professional mindset. Chan's key rules - keep playing when you are winning, stop when you are losing, stay to an environment where you feel comfortable, take a vacation from poker when you need it (never try to win the money needed for a vacation from poker when you need one, that's a certain way to burnout), and discipline yourself to move back down to smaller tables when you're losing at big tables - are vital and should be taken to heart by all prospective professional poker players. Full-color photographs illustrate this handy primer, which is printed on glossy paper.

I've been playing poker for a while and I think that this is an excellent book. One thing I liked in particular is that it was very enjoyable to read and I learned a lot at the same time. A lot of books that teach aren't all that fun to read, but this one is an exception. Another thing I was impressed with was the quality of the book. As mentioned by some other reviewers, it is produced on very high quality paper in full color and has great graphics. Maybe it will raise the bar for poker books in the future. It also seemed to have something for everyone in it. The first part should be very helpful for players that have little or no experience because it explains all about what to expect in the casino. If you have a friend or spouse that hasn't played a lot and is interested in poker, the first few chapters alone would make this an excellent gift for them. The other chapters start out simply but continue into some pretty involved stuff. I've read the No-Limit section a few times and picked up something new each time. Johnny really explains his philosophy about No-Limit, which is that you need to play the players instead of the cards. He talks a lot about his style and explains why it works for him. I especially liked his explanation of how he decides how much to bet against various hands he determines his opponents have. He talks about what percentage of his opponents chips he would bet in various situations and also how he might make the same bets if he were bluffing and thought his opponent had either a weak hand or an unmade draw. He also mentions why his bets put the other player in a difficult situation. The limit Hold-em section covers similar stuff to what is in some of the better poker books and perhaps could have included a bit more material. It does discuss things like what hands to play in what positions, how to alter that strategy when someone has raised the pot in front of you, and how to play unmade hands that are actually the favorite to win the pot. It talks about free cards and how dangerous they are to give and when to try to get them. There are a bunch of examples of good and bad flops to various hands and it explains why they are good or bad. The book also mentions in a few different places how important it is to get maximum value on your hands. It tells you to be aggressive in getting value because in limit play that is one of the most important things. There are a few spots where I was missing bets and what I read should help me in that area. The Seven Stud section is excellent and to the point. It explains how to select your starting hands well and stay out of trouble. It does a good job of distinguishing how the selection of what hands to play changes according to cards shown in other players hands. It then goes on to talk about how to play each of the streets and how to get the most value out of your hands. The Seven Stud Eight or Better and the Omaha Eight or Better chapters have a ton of information. I have the lea

The quality of this work is evident, from the high quality paper used in the book itself and the excellent photos, to the most important part of the book, the poker information contained within. This book seems to be geared towards those new to poker, however, even advanced players will be able to pick up useful concepts from this book. I personally found Chan's thoughts on recognizing and minimizing tilt to be extremely well layed out. Another area this book excels in is laying out how to examine the texture of the flop. This is similar to the "flops you want" section of Sklansky's work, but I believe this book does a better job of it. This book attempts to be many things, and suprisingly pulls it off, being both informative and entertaining. This book is well worth rereading and I am looking forward to the next volume in the series.