World Poker Tour(tm): Making the Final Table

Some people complain this book is a lot of fluff and not much substance. But I disagree. Where this book really shines is as a component in your knowledge of tournament tactics. Combine this with "kill Phil", and the three volumes by Dan Harrington, and what you have are the gears you need to win. You always hear about the need to shift gears in order to win a tournament. Well these three books are definitely first second and third. Harrington on holdem gives a rock solid foundation, Phil's book takes that up a notch and exploits the slightest advantage of each hand. His tactics will win hands that otherwise would most likely lose at the river or be folded preflop. "Kill Phil" is the book that explains the only defense against people like phil. So by reading all three you get a great understanding of just exactly what is going on at the table on any given hand. Also, I think anyone who keeps making the money but never wins can benefit by having read this material. It reiterates over and over the strategy and necessity to win, not just survive. Distinguishing between the two is subtle yet monumental.

This book is named appropriately. I played TJ Cloutier tight for a long time. I made the money a lot but I was always short stacked once I made the money. I still play tight-aggressive in the early levels of tournaments but this book really changes my image of the middle levels and bubble play. A week after I bought this book I won two events with over 2000 entrants each (only $20 entries and I made over $15,000). I credit this book. If you a beginning player, this book is not for you. But if you are a solid tournament player looking to improve your game, this book is a good place to start.

Not the book for you if you are a beginner. It does not cover anything basic. I like that. Was tired of reading everyone's version of learning the basics of Texas Hold'em. However, if you've been playing for a while and have mastered the basics and have been thinking about jumping into bigger Multi-table tournaments then this book is all that it claims. Be careful not to mis-interpret what Eric says - I've seen a lot of players turn into radical loose canons after reading it. Perhaps they need to re-read the book. It's theme - play to win not survive makes perfect sense. While his strategies pertain to World Poker Tour events - it has it's place in normal bricks and mortar settings as well with on line Multi-table games. Good poker math and bluffing info bonus by Matt Matros at the end.

This book is not a beginners book. If you're looking for a list of which hands to play, basic odds or old war stories from the likes of Doyle & Co, go find other books that are closer to your level of interest in the game. Eric's book is indeed a manual that's very deep in its content. Most of the folks who read it won't really even understand what he's trying to say. That's not to say he's not a great writer (cuz he is); it's more that he's simply speaking to you as if you're already a great player. A lot of books have quotes about them that say something like, "this will take your game to the next level" and then end up rehashing the same basic tools that all their competition books explain. But this book truly does notch up your game, helping you think of hands and the players behind them in a much more complete fashion. Eric's style of solid poker playing is much more than mere agression. It's understanding when agression is correct, and when it's not. A number of the ideas in this book are brand new, including tips on how to size people up before even sitting down, why and how to keep the pots small (he suggests not overbetting), and so much more. I give this book 5 stars, with the caviate that you'll need a fairly high understanding of the game before it's truly approachable as a text.

This book is solid and I have learned a lot from it. Some I already knew, but great ideas can always bear repetition: 1. Be aggressive, not passive. 2. Play to win, not to finish in the money. Etc. Lindgren is personable, though his egotism does show through in many passages. I don't hold this against him, as he has won a lot of money and it would be stupid to be too modest about that fact. And at least he hasn't let his ego totally overcome him, as Mike Matisow and Phil Helmuth have. Like Doyle Brunson, Lindgren believes you should see a lot of flops. That makes his starting hand selection much looser than the guidelines provided by many books. He also puts a lot of emphasis on "taking control of the table." I would quibble a bit with the importance of always having the lead. I have often found the rope-a-dope to be very effective. I especially liked his discussion of newbies overbetting or underbetting a pot and how to take advantage of them. That being said, this book is also an infomercial for the World Poker Tour. WPTE should give it to their shareholders as a dividend. I found the emphasis on the WPT and the PPT, combined with the scarcity of mentions of the World Series of Poker, to be a bit irritating. It reminds me of the days when The National Football League tried to pretend there was no American Football League. Any time I read such a biased approach, it makes me more skeptical of the other information in the book But the book is excellent overall and you have to just grit your teeth while you are shilled about the WPT.