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Winner's Guide To Texas Hold'em Poker

Winner's Guide To Texas Hold'em Poker

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.17
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good ideas but poorly written
Review: This book is (in theory) an excellent primer for the beginner, filled with good ideas and simple concepts. That said, I don't recommend it because it is poorly written. Much of the trouble lies in the use of ambiguous pronouns and demonstratives (e.g., "that" and "which") that have no clear referrent. I.e., you can never tell to whose hand the author is referring. Be prepared to read many passages two or three times. Cardoza publishing aspires to produce a readable book that uses layman's terms. A good editor would have really helped them achieve that goal.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A good introduction to low limit Texas Hold 'em Poker
Review: I play bridge really well. But until my son managed to get the rest of the family to try playing this game, I had no idea what it was all about. All I knew was one of the first things Warren tells us: you can't win by checking and calling. You have to play more aggressively.

Well, this book teaches one to play low limit, especially against, um, other beginners. And the book expands on some fundamental principles:

1) Play only really high hands in early positions.
2) Avoid playing low cards.
3) Rarely bluff, especially against unsophisticated opponents.
4) Play very solidly before the flop.
5) Fold against a raise pre-flop unless you think can beat the raiser head-up at that point.
6) See the flop as cheaply as possible.

The last of these points surprised me. I would have guessed that it would be better to raise with A-K and maybe check-raise with a pair of Kings or a pair of Aces. But it seems that computer analyses have shown that the author's policy is better: while he virtually always raises with the Aces, he's much more cautious with other hands.

By the way, the author does discuss how one ought to behave if one runs into a streak of good luck or bad luck. While such streaks can affect one's attitude, they also may say something about the caliber of one's opposition, so don't assume there's nothing to such advice.

The author recommends that one keep trying to improve one's game. After I play a few more times, I'll try reading a more advanced book!


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great book for intermediate players -- live and online!
Review: Ken Waren covers the intermediate strategies in this book to easily beat the low limit game and build a winning game at intermediate limits! Some prefer Waren vs. Sklansky due to simplicity of strategies. If you've put in a few hundred hours online in low limits but are eying the online game, then you can't go wrong. This is a very thorough book and covers all the basic and intermediate strategies at every stage of the game. At $10.17 for this book, you can't go wrong!


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: VERY basic, OK for beginners
Review: I've been playing poker seriously (ie., every day) for only about 6 months or so, and I had been surviving on instinct and from personal experience gained. So I decided to pick up a book to elevate my game, and let me tell you, THIS WASN'T THE ONE.

There are some basic concepts that were helpful and added slightly to my game, like pot odds, when to draw to certain hands, and the charts and percentages really are great, I appreciate that part of the book. Things such as the % someone else will have an ace in a short handed (6 players or less) game are great.

I say overall, this is a decent book for someone who is pretty lost when it comes to Hold 'Em, and just needs a basic run-down. It will teach you basic strategies to help you minimize your losses and play tight, but offers very litlte to ELEVATE your game. It is sorely lacking in detailed strategy and left me very disappointed. The vast majority of it I already knew from instinct and experience.

As others pointed out some of his suggestions are kind of funny. My favorite is to fold top pair with low-medium kicker, "because you'll lose money in the long run". He makes no mention of knowing the table and knowing your competition, that is much more important than mechanically folding certain hands. His methods are very very mechanical, and frankly I think he is WAY too tight and conservative.


In summation if you're looking for a simple basic guide to up your understanding of the game, this is a decent book. If you're looking for something to take it to another level, look elsewhere.


Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Auther should take a 3rd grade probability course
Review: I thought this book was a very sound book, untill I read the section about how if low cards have won a lot of pots in a row, start playing the low cards.

After reading this, I didnt know weather to laugh or cry.

I am a high school student, and I am currently taking AP stat. This statement made by the author is so horribly wrong that my teacher would undoubtably slap him.

The deck doesn't "remember" what hands have won previously, and just as the odds of getting a heads when you flip a coin is ALWAYS 50%, even if you got a heads last time, the probability of high cards winning is ALWAYS greater than the probability of low cards winning.

Having seen this passage, I no longer can trust anything else he said, and I am therefore buying Brunson's Super/System instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Book
Review: Ken Warren is quite humorous. Unintentionally so.

Here are some of my favorite quotes.

- -

Cards can and do run in cycles. The theory of large numbers says so. If you experience a period where it seems like nothing but the low cards are winning the pots, then start playing the low cards! (The trick is knowing when the cycle ends and low cards should not be played anymore.)

- - -

It's unlikely that you can hit perfect-perfect to make a great hand, so those times when you do, your hand will usually be very well disguised. The other players know this also and they will discount the possibility that it happened. Keep in mind that if you have to hit perfect-perfect to make a hand, it's because you probably had absolutely nothing on the flop. The fact that you would call on the flop with nothing is really what disguises your hand. The other players will put you on several different hands on the flop and try to narrow it own from there, but one hand that they will never put you on is NOTHING. This makes a check-raise attempt more successful than usual.

- - -

With AA in the pocket, after the flop you still have at least a pairof aces to continue playing with. That's not true with AK and that's what makes it easier to lose less money with it. That is why AK is more valuable. The same line of reasoning applies to hands like 54s and 54 off. You can make your flush and lose a lot of money but the hand is easier to throw away if it's not suited.

- - -

The Science of Tells

Players in Wheelchairs and Walkers.

They may not be that good but they tend to stay put once at the table. This makes them more patient.

* * *

The only reason I gave this book a 5 star was because I couldn't give it ten stars. I notice that usually the novice poker players that buy Doyles Super System as their first poker book also buy this Ken Warren book and I always smile knowing that any chance they will learn something from Texas Dolly will be totally wiped out by Ken Warren, and when we meet across the poker table, I'll just be raking in the monies.

My advice is buy this book now, and follow his advice please. And I want to be at your table.


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