The Illustrated Guide to No-Limit Texas Hold'em: Making Winners Out of Beginners and Advanced Players Alike!

If No Limit Texas Hold'em could be a classroom elective, then this would be the textbook that you bring to class. Your homework assignment is situation #1 which you will study carefully first thing in the morning, highlight as needed, make notations on the poker "table" and then spend the rest of the day just thinking about the play of this hand. This is a great "workbook" and as such makes for an excellent supplement while reading another author of your liking to impart their poker wisdom by way of prose. (My favorite is Lou Krieger). While this text is geared toward Tournament play, I would love to see Dennis Purdy team up with Lou Krieger to produce a similar situation text on the No-Limit Cash game that I am most likely to play at the Hard Rock casino here in South Florida. Five Stars for this excellent workbook.

This is a 5 star book- especially for beginners. But it really isn't a guide to no-limit Texas Hold 'Em. It simply isn't comprehensive enough to rate such a title. The reason is this: The first 31 pages are the acknowledgment, introduction,and brief discussions of the starting hands, pot odds, and some probabilities. Then it is 300 pages of example hands, with information about the odds involved, and a detailed explanation of the most appropriate action in the given situation and why. There are 150 such example hands. As such, it is a WONDERFUL book. I only recently got involved in playing poker (strictly for fun) and have read previous books including "Texas Hold 'Em for Dummies" and a couple of specialized books on odds, probabilities, and betting strategies. By far, this book advanced my knowledge the most, but it is NOT a good starting point for novices. For utter neophytes I think that the combination of this book with a very basic overview such as the "'Dummies" book is probably ideal. Thus, I think that the title is a little bit presumptuous. If you are a Texas Hold 'Em amateur but already beyond the "'Dummies" book stage then it is outstanding, especially in the realm of strategy for "buy-in" style no-limit tournaments, which combined with limit ring games in casinos covers the vast majority of Hold 'Em games. It does an excellent job of teaching you to pay attention to things other than the hand being played- things like how close you are to being in the money, stack size, and should you fold an otherwise excellent hand so that you can sit back and watch an opposing player be eliminated without risk, etc. GREAT book. It only loses a point for the too-expansive title. This book is not comprehensive, so if you need to learn the basic rules of Hold 'Em, you need a more fundamental book.

There are lots of books out there that are just too much work for the beginner. Sklansky is brilliant but I can't wade through his books or most of the 2+2 library just yet. That's a criticism of me not them. Lots of other books attempt to describe hands in prose or through some kind of diagram. These books by Purdy provide a very clear way of illustrating and narrating a poker scenario so that it has the feel of being at the table. The situations can be read one at a time. Each stuation and analysis taking perhaps five minutes or so to read through. Since 95% of the book consists of the 150 situations, don't buy this book unless you are willing to actively engage in thinking them through as presented. This is not a book to just sit back and read on autopilot. You have to "play" the hands. You might think of it as 5 hours of play at the casino poker room. The books by Purdy have helped me the most in starting out. And who knows, after reading them, I may just be ready for some Sklansky.

I'm between Beginner and Intermediate, and this book works great for me. Illustrations help reders to understand situations very clearly. With this book I feel as if I were at a card table with a great mentor.

Following the success of the limit version of this book the author has moved into the arena of the very popular no limit Hold'em game. Unlike most of the books out there this one breaks everything down into illustrated scenarios which include the important factors of position, pot size, action, and other useful information upon which decisions should be based. The reader can visualize the exact scenario and then read the correct course of action. By providing over 150 scenarios some of which are multiple parts of the same hand the reader is guided through a number of thought processes that are essential for any winning poker player. A beginner is exposed to ideas they may never have considered such as the importance of position, how to figure pot odds, the consideration of prior action in the hand, theoretical hand strength, maximizing profit from a winning hand, and much more. Some of the concepts will be old news to an advanced player, but to new and intermediate players it drives home some very important advice covering real life and internet games. By using illustrations with every hand the concepts are easy to grasp and remember. It is a book that can be read a little at a time and is very easily absorbed.