Texas Hold'em Odds and Probabilities

Exactly what I wanted. Odds are key to good Texas Hold'em. This book really meets my needs.

Unless you're a math genius or your name is Chris Ferguson, you need this book. Top-to-bottom odds and probabilities for limit and no-limit hold'em. Loaded with charts and explanations. I purchased this book after seeing the charts in the back of the book ... unlike any I've seen elsewhere. You can't go wrong with this book ... it's one of my top favorites.

At least all the players I know do. Matthew Hilger, as both a player and author, has been greatly admired since his very clear and excellently organized, Internet Texas Hold'em, came out in 2003. He also has a website that's very popular with a forum discussing all kinds of issues which arise in poker, gaming, and life. With this book on Odds and Probabilities, he has added to his stature as an advisor because he expands his focus by addressing limit hold'em, no limit hold'em cash games, and no limit hold'em tournaments. He actually fills in nicely for the (very few) areas King Yao does not cover in his book. Hilger's approach is ideal for beginners because he not only explains pot odds, implied pot odds, and effective implied pot odds, but also rudimentary concepts such as adding and multiplying fractions along with probability. These are the types of questions that many newbies swept into games by the poker popularity explosion may be too embarrassed to ask on their own. Hilger made a good decision by sticking with the same type of organization he had in his first book. Every idea is followed up with sections called Test Your Skills and Chapter Review. Most players, I have found, really improve by studying expert hand analysis which is something Hilger performs many times throughout these pages. Although for me, my favorite section was the one concerning probability of winning with particular hands. Overall, Odds and Probabilities was invaluable.

I have been playing for a couple of years, managing small profits in NL cash games and sit-n-gos. I've read several books and understand the basics of pot odds and implied pot odds - but this book takes my understanding to a new level. In sit-n-gos, I found that i was folding way too often when short stacks went all-in. This book explains the process in analyzing these types of situations in detail. It also explains how to go about determining how much to bet to protect your hand - a concept which I really only applied by feel before reading this book. The title of the book makes it sound like you are in for a calculus class, but that is the opposite of what the book is about. Yes, you math guys will get plenty of explanations for how the calculations are done, but the real emphasis is on how odds affect strategy which is really all I was wanting. Finally, the charts rock! One chart showed the probability of a raiser holding a pocket pair which i didn't even know could be calculated. I see the light! excellent book!

Hilger's first book, Internet Texas Hold'em, was a good book because it laid out poker strategy in an easy to read and complete volume. The new book has the same readability but focuses primarily on a largely misunderstood facet of poker, the math. This is not to say Hilger's book is a math textbook, it is not. He simply does an excellent job of explaining how to use the math of poker to get an edge. Probably the most helpful portion of the book (after having read the text thoroughly and multiple times) is the charts section. In this section there are pages and pages of charts that are easily referenced to see what the chances of certain things are. The math of poker is a hole in most people's game and many are intimidated by it. Hilger makes it accessible to all poker players with his easy to read and understand style.