May 19th, 2005 |
Published in
Books, No Limit Holdem, Online Poker, Poker Theory
I’m not sure how, but a few days ago I ended up at a site offering something called the “Power Poker System”. The site was full of outlandish claims about how it would instantly transform your game and how they strictly limit the amount of copies that they can sell because it’s so explosively good. It all had the feel of a get-rich-quick scheme or an infomercial for a miraculous kitchen gadget, and with a ludicrous price tag of over £100 I was about to dismiss it – until I noticed some of the names involved.
The guide had been written by esteemed poker writer and commentator Jesse May. Also involved where players of the calibre of Padraig Parkinson and Julian Gardner. Parkinson and May had featured quite heavily as commentators on the recent Party Poker World Open that was show here in the UK on channel five. I was surprised to learn that although Padraig was often keen to play down his own playing abilities while commentating, he had in fact come very close to winning the WSOP main event a few years ago.
The fact that these guys were involved at least made it worth investigating. So I had a look around for reviews. I found a post on the 2+2 forums which mentioned it. Many people were critical – both of the contents and the price – although I felt that most of the critics hadn’t seen the thing anyway.
January 17th, 2005 |
Published in
Books, Online Poker
I’ve been interested in zen philosophy for a few years now and I could see how some of the ideas could be applied to playing poker. Then I came across this book by Larry W. Phillips.
My copy arrived from Amazon a couple of days ago and since then I’ve been spending my lunch breaks sitting somewhere quiet and reading it. The author is quite realistic about how zen principles and poker are incompatible in many ways, then gives a hundred rules to play by. There is a lot of good advice in this book. There’s nothing about which starting hands you should play or discussion about odds and probabilities – it’s more about controlling your play and your emotions. Lots of emphasis is placed in concentration and being “in the moment” and aware of what is happening at every stage. One of my favourite sections states how you should go to the table expecting nothing. Others talk about the need to take your ego out of the game and not take things personally.
November 24th, 2004 |
Published in
Books, Limit Holdem, Online Poker
My copy of “Internet Texas Holdem: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro” by Matthew Hilger arrived yesterday.
The book looks even more dense than Lee Jones’ book. The layout is a little bit strange. There are questions on real hands, but the answer is right below the question, so you can see it straight away.
I’ll have to go into more detail once I’ve read more of the book. I don’t think there’s a great deal in here that isn’t covered in Lee Jones’ book though. But I could be wrong.
October 30th, 2004 |
Published in
Books, Limit Holdem, Online Poker
I’ve been spending some time reading this in my lunch hours and it’s really interesting stuff.
I thought my dabbling with with games on my PC had me prepared to play against live opponents, but now I’m beginning to see how I can improve my chances of winning. It feels as if there’s a lot of information in here though. I can’t see how I can take it all in. I’ll have to read a chunk at a time and then try to play a little bit, then come back.
October 24th, 2004 |
Published in
Books, Online Poker
I’ve spent some time looking at different books that I could buy to get me started.
Today I ordered “Winning Low Limit Hold ‘em” by Lee Jones and “Play Poker Like the Pros” by Phil Hellmuth.
Lee Jones’ book is supposed to be particularly good for the beginner at low limits.
So it looks like I’ll have plenty of reading to do.
