Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This book is a must for anyone who wants to be able to play Hold 'em and win. In this new edition, Sklansky and Malmuth add over 100 pages of new material which deals with playing in loose and short handed games. Hold 'em will be the number one poker game in the 21st century, and anyone who plays it without owning this book will simply be left behind.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: This book is definitely the deepest reflexion on poker strategy, tactics and techniques. Anyone playing in 10-20 and over should study this book with attention. In lower games some of the tactics presented are yet too much sophisticated. I highly recommand it for any serious player !
Rating: 
Summary: Not great.
Review: This book is just okay. It's boring and has repeated information that's better said in other books that I have read on the matter. Look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This book is of course the classic work on the game. Well written and complete. I read this book and then went to Binion's on vacation and came out a winner. The only recomendation I have is if don't buy it if you don't know the game fairly well. The authors use quite a lot of jargon so a book like poker for dummies or low limit hold em by Jones is better because they have good glossaries.
Rating:
Summary: This is a textbook!
Review: This book is weighty and technical. I could imagine Malmuth and Sklansky discussing the exact way to play a hand before writing it down (along with all the variations). Play descriptions will be provided in one sentence and take a lot of thought to understand, especially for beginners like me. You will have to go to the tables and come back to the book to fully understand all the aspects of their discussion. This means that those with more experience will gain more from it. This book is for those who play higher limit games, perhaps 10-20 and up because poorer players predominate in the lower games. Poorer players don't respond to betting action like they should, partly because they are ignorant and partly because the cost of mistakes, or staying in lousy hands, are so low. Your education will hindered in those games, therefore this book is for serious hold'em players who wish higher study of a structured Casino game. Interestingly, despite the advice by so many books to be tight-aggressive (including this one), there is a good use of examples with poorer hands that might be played from late position. I hope I added something to earlier reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the investment
Review: This has full coverage, while the intro Hold 'Em Poker book has a better intro to the game (and is probably required reading before this book because it kinda just jumps into the details). The ideas will certainly improve your results (nearly every time I play I make a profit instead of the hit-or-miss before reading these two books).
Rating:
Summary: Everything they say about this book is true
Review: This is an excelent book, but take the title to heart. It's for advanced play. Perhaps a better way to put it is to say that this boook contains information you'll need to properly play mid and high limit hold 'em. If you're playing low limit hold 'em then you should be studying Lee Jone's book "Winning Low Limit Hold 'em" and Sklansky's first Hold 'em book.Some of the plays in this book will still work in low limit games. But remember, in low limit games people will play just about any cards and they rarely fold. So the extensive coverage of bluffing, semi-bluffing, reading cards, and so on won't be of much use in a low limit game. But once you're ready to "tighten up" and play in the larger money games this information becomes very important.
Rating:
Summary: Dave in Cali on HPFAP21
Review: This is one of the books on the "required reading" list for the Poker Discussion Group in San Diego. It is really absolute must reading for anyone who intends to play Texas Hold'em in a casino and wants to be a winner. One notable thing regarding this book is that if you have not read "Hold'em Poker" by David Sklansky, this book may not make much sense to you. It really is for advanced players, and describes many plays that are sophisticated and beyond the scope of a beginning book on poker. The hand rankings are critical for beginners learning the difficult art of pre-flop play. The advanced plays described in some of the later chapters become the basis for winning play after the flop, particularly at the middle limits. Some of the plays are not all that useful in the small limit games, but the section on "loose games" is critical for beginning players learning how to navigate large multiway pots. Overall, this book is must reading, and anyone who hasn't read it is probably not going to be playing anywhere near optimally, no matter what limit of Texas hold'em they play.
Rating:
Summary: Dave in Cali on HPFAP21
Review: This is one of the books on the "required reading" list for the Poker Discussion Group in San Diego. It is really absolute must reading for anyone who intends to play Texas Hold'em in a casino and wants to be a winner. One notable thing regarding this book is that if you have not read "Hold'em Poker" by David Sklansky, this book may not make much sense to you. It really is for advanced players, and describes many plays that are sophisticated and beyond the scope of a beginning book on poker. The hand rankings are critical for beginners learning the difficult art of pre-flop play. The advanced plays described in some of the later chapters become the basis for winning play after the flop, particularly at the middle limits. Some of the plays are not all that useful in the small limit games, but the section on "loose games" is critical for beginning players learning how to navigate large multiway pots. Overall, this book is must reading, and anyone who hasn't read it is probably not going to be playing anywhere near optimally, no matter what limit of Texas hold'em they play.
Rating:
Summary: Wear this book out
Review: This is simply the best Hold'em book ever written. The first half of the book follows a traditional style. The authors cover opening hands, position, the "if you're checking a lot, you're a [bad] player" philosophy, calculating basic pot odds, and a variety of other topics essential to your game. This half of the book should be memorized. Don't kid yourself; if you don't know how to play a suited jack/nine from the fifth position, you will not win consistently playing Hold'em. Calculating pot odds separates the men from the boys, but you will need to get a copy of the Theory of Poker to truly cover that topic. The second half of the book is a wealth of short essays covering topics ranging from how to play especially difficult hands to more general topics such a slow-play and the semi-bluff. I can't tell you how helpful this part of the book is. For a newbie, there is too much information here to absorb, but just reading the text will help you recognize when players are using these techniques against you. With time, you will learn how to use these techniques yourself. The second part of the book also is an excellent reference for those times in a game when you just were not sure what the correct play was. Make a mental note when that happens and bust out this book when you get home. More than likely, you will find the information you need to make the correct play the next time. Keep in mind that when you're not sure how to play out a hand, your opponent likely has the same problems. If you learn from these difficult, often misplayed hands, you can gain a significant advantage over your fellow-players. Bottom line: Read this book over and over again until you can recall it line by line while sitting at the table. There is not a better way to spend your time than reading this book if you want to increase your hourly take at the Hold'em table. Five Enthusiastic Stars - HawkeyeGK
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