Doyle Brunson's Super System

Rating:
Summary: A Great Set of Lessons
Review: A few years ago while sitting at home sick, I happened to turn on ESPN and saw a no-limit hold'em game. I believe it was a head's up game between humberto brenes and erik seidel. Nonetheless, after watching the two battle for an hour, I was hooked. I talked to a friend who I knew played poker the next day and he told me to read this book super system by Doyle Brunson. I tried reading through the sections, but couldn't take in much of it simply because I didn't understand all that went into the game. Soon after, I proceeded to start playing 2/4 and 3/6 hold'em at a local casino. I spent the next year losing 90% of the time. It was after that year that I re-read super system and truly began to appreciate all the knowledge it offered. I never once thought about tells, about positioning and how it related to raising and calling, or simply what constituted a playable hand from a horrible hand from a great hand. After I had re-read the book, I had a firm grasp on the game and began to win consistently. Sometimes a mere $40 or $50, sometimes hundreds. Buy this book, play a little on your own for very low stakes and then read whatever section it is that interests you. If you have an interest in poker, my experience with myself and others suggests this is the best way to go about learning the game effectively.

Rating:
Summary: The original
Review: A great book and even more remarkable that it was written 27 years ago. Of course common people can't play like the pro's. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and learn from the best. I can't swing a golf club like Nickalaus but I still read his book.
The first thing he says is "Poker isn't about the cards it is about people".

Rating:
Summary: waste of time & money all common knowledge 672 pages??
Review: All common knowledge. First 100 plus pages is a bio. Who cares. Then teaches about position. (common knowl.)Out of 672 pages maybe ten pages worth looking at. Waste of money. Few tips no tricks couple from Caro, but thats it. Brunson plays any cards at any time. No method to the madness constantly goes all in. I personally learned little. My book is on ebay.

Rating:
Summary: The Poker Bible...Has Stood the Test of Time?
Review: Along with David Sklansky's Hold'em Poker, Doyle Brunson's Super/System, originally titled How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker, heralds the beginning of what I would call the "modern age" of poker. More than anything else, I believe that the rise in poker's popularity over the last 25 years is due to the amount of good information that has been made available about the game, and Super/System is preeminent among the information sources that brought about this surge in popularity. However, it may be asked, how does this classic stand up more than 20 years after its initial publication?

The book begins with some introductory remarks, including an abbreviated history of Brunson's poker career, before the author launches into some general strategies for winning poker. This is all stuff that today's well-read poker player will take for granted: keep emotional control, carefully watch the competition, play patiently, etc., but it's pretty much all good advice. I can't say I completely agree with Brunson's feelings about ESP, but the information he provides isn't damaging.

Then, for the bulk of the book, Brunson has someone he considers to be a true expert in a given poker game lay out their advice on how to be a consistent winner. He assigned draw poker to Mike Caro, 7 card stud to Chip Reese, the various forms of lowball to Joey Hawthorne, 7 card stud high-low split to David Sklansky, and Bobby Baldwin and Brunson himself tackle limit and no-limit Texas hold'em, respectively. This is as solid a lineup of poker players as has ever been assembled. The book concludes with a glossary and a compendium of poker numbers and charts compiled by Mike Caro, explaining the various possibilities of various occurrences in the games covered in the book.

Many of the games considered in Super/System have undergone considerable change since the book was written. When the book was published limit Hold'em structures were quite different than one would typically find today. It would be very difficult to find a draw high game spread in a card room today, and even lowball, once the core of the California poker scene, is rarely spread any more. This limits the applicability of some of the advice given in the book. The section that's probably still most relevant is Brunson's own no-limit advice, and I believe this book is still required reading to play this game at the highest level.

Don't get me wrong, this book is filled with good advice. However, much of it is about games that aren't played any more or are played differently these days. Along with structural changes, the players in these games have changed themselves, and winning strategies have had to adjust to keep up. I believe I can name a better single book on each one of the games covered in Super/System, but by no means does that mean it isn't worth reading. I also don't believe there were any books available that were better references on any of the games covered at the time Super/System was originally published. Moreover, even if the strategies presented in this book were completely outdated, which they're not, the book would still be entertaining to read and have considerable historical value. I still believe that all serious poker players should have this book in their libraries. It's just no longer the bible that it once was.

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Good Luck and Play Well,

PokerNurse

Rating:
Summary: Still Very Good
Review: As a player who can play all 3 major games, Omaha, Holdem and Stud I think I can give a bettter perspective than most. Also as a succesful Tourney player I believe I can better comment than most. Firstly I agree a lot of chapters and stats are obsolete. However the chapters on stud and Holdem are as good as any currently out there (Overall). Yes not as good as specialised books on low limit (lee Jones)or Advanced play (Caveman Sklansky)but all round they are very good. If you go on to other books you will see recurring themes from Super system. I disagree with most writers on the No Limit Section. Pounding away these days does not work as well. Also pro bluffing fails as you would have seen in the 2004 WSOP. I believe knowledge of the odds and better tournament strategy has rendered this chapter necessary reading but obsolete. Look how Men the Master was knocked out of the WSOP. AA v a flush draw, the internet player realised If I catch the flush I can can get to a certain chip level (Also outs mentality). Its probably better to take chances and finish 80th than blind off at 240th.
Rather I prefer the TJ method of tight and Agressive play (Perhaps Howard is a prime example). I belive today that TJ is a more succesful tourney player than Doyle. However there is a new breed of player, they accept the Agressive play of Doyle but also gear their play so that at the appropriate time they are tight almost passive. Probably Action Dan Harrington is this type of Player Danial and JJ too. Please buy the book but understand its good for beginners in stud and Holdem and a good historical read.Hopefully Supersystm 2 will be available soon at Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: hammering hold 'em, spectacular stud, and honorable history
Review: as you have probably picked up from other readers here, this is *the* seminal poker work of the 20th century. a book so powerful and far reaching that mr. doyle himself later said he wished he'd never written it and believes the book has cost him more on the poker tables than he's made in author payments.

the hold `em information is certainly what this book is known for and it's not worth me covering the same ground that others have except to say that the style recommended here is *so* aggressive that mr. doyle has actually had to modify his play and no longer plays in the manner he describes here himself.

but what might be interesting are some of the other (mostly unmentioned) aspects of the book:

chip reese continually gets overlooked by internet wags (mostly because they only parrot the names of people they see on the "world poker tour," but ignore all others) although it's very possible (if not likely) that he's the best practical poker player found in these pages (he's certainly the biggest stakes player). his 7-card stud section remains the definitive piece on the topic and i've never read anything that has come close to what he has here. my only wish is that his section was about 60% longer.

this book tapped mike caro for 5-card draw and in doing so started the long trail that eventually made him a poker-household name. if you're a fan of mr. caro, you'll find his chapter interesting because you get to see the "mad genius" in his larval (not to mention, hirsute) form.

also of note is david sklansky's 7-card stud high/low split writing. mr. sklansky was more interested in stud in his early days, but the up-sweep of hold `em has caused his attention to be drawn away. you could read his advice, learn it verbatim, and chew people alive on h/l `net games, even today.

so it's true that some of the information is more historically interesting than applicable today (e.g. the blind structure of hold `em having changed), but the history of poker - even theoretical history - is worth knowing and learning. the vast majority of serious players, especially older ones, have read this text and most probably still use it ... if you're going to beat your opponent, you need to know how they think, and howEVER they think almost certainly starts somewhere in this tome.

as i write this, if you buy "super system" (formerly called "super/system," but they dropped the "/"), you can get my book ("winning at internet poker for dummies") bundled for $11 more - that's an astoundingly good price for my text and just a few cents above my author discount rate from wiley. w.a.i.p.f.d. has almost no overlap with "super system," and what you learn in s.s. you could apply directly to the w.a.i.p.f.d.'s world. it's a great pairing and one we're very fortunate to have. my advice would be to jump on it, and although you'd expect me to say that, it doesn't make it any less of a spectacular deal.

thanks for reading.

Rating:
Summary: Still a Super/System
Review: Brunson & Co. wrote this book in the mid 1970s and if your interest in poker as a game with a very rich and colourful history is anything like mine its well worth buying. The chapters where Brunson talks about his past are great background to understanding one of the all-time great champions.

As for the lessons in this post-graduate school of poker, some really are of historical value only. I suppose Caro's lecture on Draw might be of use in home games but Skalansky's on hi-lo has been out-flanked by time - the qualifier did for it. Baldwin's chapter on limit hold'em is also of no value - not only has the game changed (they used to play it with a single blind and antes from every player - to make things easier and quicker in casinos they changed to the big & little blind structure) but there are five or so more books that today to a better job.

Two chapters retain value. Firstly, and often overlooked, is Chip Reese's chapter on Seven Card Stud. Its not particularly profound and I feel Chip gives away less than the others, but its still a very good starting place. Seven Card Stud hasn't changed much since the 1930s so this chapter retains value.

But the the real gem is Brunson's own chapter on no limit Hold'em. Its extremely interesting and given the greater freedom no limit gives the change in the game structure matters less. No limit is not a war of fine percentages like limit, it is a game of great psychological violence. Brunson's system is VERY aggressive. I think very few people would feel so comfortable playing so many connectors out of position in no limit games so they can stage all-in bluffs. You would need to be up against a very timid rock garden to play just as Brunson says. But it remains, undisputedly, the best guide to no limit cash games (but not tournaments - see Cloutier and McEvoy).

Buy it. You'll thank me.

Rating:
Summary: Still a Super/System
Review: Brunson & Co. wrote this book in the mid 1970s and if your interest in poker as a game with a very rich and colourful history is anything like mine its well worth buying. The chapters where Brunson talks about his past are great background to understanding one of the all-time great champions.

As for the lessons in this post-graduate school of poker, some really are of historical value only. I suppose Caro's lecture on Draw might be of use in home games but Skalansky's on hi-lo has been out-flanked by time - the qualifier did for it. Baldwin's chapter on limit hold'em is also of no value - not only has the game changed (they used to play it with a single blind and antes from every player - to make things easier and quicker in casinos they changed to the big & little blind structure) but there are five or so more books that today to a better job.

Two chapters retain value. Firstly, and often overlooked, is Chip Reese's chapter on Seven Card Stud. Its not particularly profound and I feel Chip gives away less than the others, but its still a very good starting place. Seven Card Stud hasn't changed much since the 1930s so this chapter retains value.

But the the real gem is Brunson's own chapter on no limit Hold'em. Its extremely interesting and given the greater freedom no limit gives the change in the game structure matters less. No limit is not a war of fine percentages like limit, it is a game of great psychological violence. Brunson's system is VERY aggressive. I think very few people would feel so comfortable playing so many connectors out of position in no limit games so they can stage all-in bluffs. You would need to be up against a very timid rock garden to play just as Brunson says. But it remains, undisputedly, the best guide to no limit cash games (but not tournaments - see Cloutier and McEvoy).

Buy it. You'll thank me.

Rating:
Summary: Big Slick
Review: Considered by many to be the bible of poker, Doyle Brunson's Super System is filled with great information and strategy for most games of poker. Written by the best in their field-or game-they help give beginners a full view of the game.

This is a great book for the player new to the game who feels they want to take the first steps to developing their game. My suggestion is to select a specific poker game and focus on that one for a length of time. Most of the concepts are universal but there is a difference in some strategies between the games.

If you are serious about advancing your poker skills pick up this book. I feel that it is the best bang for the buck.

On a different note, I am a Hold'em player. This book is good for learning the basics of both Limit and No-Limit. Because of the popularity of Hold'em, I believe there are many other books that focus on Hold'em specifically that are better to advance your skills as a ring game Hold'em player.

Rating:
Summary: a book u would want to keep!
Review: Doyle Brunson's Super System is a valuable book for poker players. It definitely helps a lot on how to read people, how to play your hands at different positions, etc. It may require some playing experience to understand this book.

However, it is really hard to play aggresive like Doyle. For example, Doyle believes to play next hand (no matter what cards) after he won the previous hand. He wants to be on a rush. It takes some serious guts!