Poker players are lazy – it’s why we like to make money by fiddling with cards and chips rather than working in an office. That’s why we’ll always prefer a DVD to a book, and that in turn is why Phil Gordon’s Final Table Poker is a success.

This DVD is a fantastic learning tool for a beginning to intermediate player, although more advanced players will not gain much from it. It discusses several techniques that seem advanced to a beginning player, such as folding easily-dominated aces pre-flop and not falling in love with a pocket pair.
Gordon accurately captures the atmosphere of a final table, and the cast of characters are humourous yet accurate. The internet young gun, the aggressive maniac and Chris Ferguson assemble at the table. Also try to spot the Jennifer Harman-based character. Hint: she’s the one with breasts.
My only issue with the DVD is not poker-related: there are adverts throughout the feature which is annoying when you’ve paid for the product, but please – if you are a player who knows how to play and wants to learn slightly more advanced techniques, I urge you to buy this.

Categories: Reviews
No Comments »

The book on tells, this illustrated guide to ticks, twitches and betting patterns is a very good read; especially for a live player.

Caro writes very clearly and explains his concepts well - each tell is illustrated and explained and a scenario in which it might be useful is given. It’s an idiot-proof guide to a very complex thing, i.e. the psychology of reading people.

Online players will get less out of this than live players will, as many of the tells are actions people make - in fact, I would not recommend this for an online player. In all fairness, though, the amusingly anachronistic hairstyles are proof that this book was written far before the age of online play. Also, you will need a grasp of Stud and Draw poker in order to understand all the situations.

All in all a serious live player cannot be without this book, and I would advise any online players who wish to give live play a shot to peruse this text also. Many of these tells are still very common today.

Categories: Poker Books, Reviews
No Comments »

In answer to yesterday’s conundrum, I would say that c, $7,000 is a good amount. It’s 35 buy-ins for NL200 but that amount allows Bob to be aggressive and take shots at NL400 and play some high-variance MTTs.

Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book is aimed for beginning-to-intermediate players and is a very good read for a player of that level. It introduces slightly more advanced concepts than your archetypical low-level book such as pot odds, blind stealing and semi-bluffing.

These concepts are written well, and Phil explains them in a simplified manner without being condescending. I first read this book when I was aware of most of the strategies he explained; I still, however, found it to be worth reading - it’s always good to get a fresh insight on things.

If you know the basics of Texas Hold ‘em and you’d like to advance your game I would reccomend this as the ideal purchase. Phil also has a DVD called Final Table Poker that illustrates some of the same things in this book in a visual format. I’ll review that at some other point.

Categories: Poker Books
No Comments »