|
Poker
Tips
The Theory of Poker
Phil Hellmuth has
enjoyed a truly meteoric rise to poker fame. Not only is he the youngest
player ever to win "The Big One", the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em
championship at the World Series of Poker in 1989, but he has won almost
innumerable titles since then. Most folks who'd know consider Hellmuth
to be among the finest tournament players in the world, and when he's
not playing tournaments he can be found playing either in some of the
highest limit money games around, or online at UltimateBet.com. With the
veritable explosion in poker popularity in recent years and with
Hellmuth's success, it's only natural that this attention-grabbing poker
star share his knowledge of the game he loves.
Play Poker Like the Pros jumps right in by explaining Texas Hold'em at
an introductory level. This primer on the mechanics of the game does a
pretty thorough job of covering the basics with an economy of words, and
we progress to Hellmuth's strategic advice almost immediately. Limit
Hold'em isn't the only game covered, the author also discusses No-Limit
and Pot-Limit Hold'em, Limit and Pot-Limit Omaha High, Omaha High-Low,
Seven-card Stud, Razz, and Seven-card Stud High-Low. The last chapter in
the book covers playing poker online. The book concludes with some
appendices covering the rank of poker hands, a description of Hellmuth's
Champion of the Year award, a list of the most prestigious poker
tournaments, and some brief information on what it's like to play in the
World Series of Poker.
Overall, Hellmuth's explanations on game strategy are a enigma to me.
While there is a great deal of worthwhile advice, there are also places
where I was left dumbfounded by some of the suggestions he makes. Does
he really believe that a pair of sevens to be one of the top ten hands
in low-limit Limit Hold'em? Should you really raise with it on the flop
if you haven't made a set or you don't have an over pair to the board?
His advice seems most applicable to games where folks play tight and
passive, where they can be run over by sheer aggression. This just isn't
the case in the 3-6 games I've seen, even if you name is Phil Hellmuth,
Jr.. Heck, I'd expect that his advice on Limit Hold'em probably works
better in a No-limit tournament than it would in a 3-6 game at the
Commerce.
Another thing that bothers me is that in almost all his examples
Hellmuth tacitly assumes you're up against only one other player when
it's time to bet (or not bet) on the end. While this is often true, I
would prefer if he had spent the extra effort to lay out each situation
he discusses more precisely, although once you understand the situation,
his advice usually makes a great deal of sense. In fact, some of the
plays and strategies he espouses are downright inspired. In my opinion,
the problem is that a great deal of this book doesn't maintain that
level of excellence.
Each of the games Hellmuth discusses obviously warrants its own book, if
not several. Consequently, there is much that is left unsaid on each
particular game. While the strategies printed in this book are not the
most complete in print, that doesn't mean they don't contain useful
information. Sometimes, though, crucial information is left out. In
order from best to worst, I'd rank his strategies as follows: Omaha
High, Omaha High-Low, No-limit Hold'em, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Limit
Hold'em. Even after a significant amount of reflection, I still can't
easily categorize his chapter on Seven-card Stud High-Low. Others may
certainly disagree, and I don't consider myself to be an expert in all
these games.
Play Poker Like the Pros seems to be targeted at a relatively
inexperienced audience, which makes me of two minds about this book.
Those true beginners who read, digest, understand, and follow Hellmuth's
advice will almost certainly become much better poker players as a
consequence. However, I believe that as the reader grows in experience,
they will probably need to unlearn a great deal of what they read in
this book, and they will have to understand a great deal that isn't
covered. I fear that this might be a painful process. On the other hand,
despite the descriptions of games that are oriented toward beginners,
there are enough good tricks in here that an experienced poker player
will likely have enough to think about to make reading the book
worthwhile, if for no other reason than to glean how some of the biggest
names in poker approach certain games.
So, do I recommend this book or not? After some soul searching, I would
have to say, "Yes, with some reservations." Play Poker Like the Pros can
certainly make weak players better, but I don't believe all of the
advice on all games is good. In places, this book provides some
thought-provoking ideas for more advanced players, but there are a lot
of gaps in its coverage. Even the places where I think Hellmuth's
strategies are flawed, though, they can often be useful as an extra
"gear" to have available under certain circumstances, even if the reader
wouldn't want to play that way all the time.
More Books |
