Sorry, Phil Helmuth's book just does not make the grade IMHO ... It was a book given to me for a birthday, and I dutifully read it. Half way through the book I was glancing around for a fire to toss this book into. Sure there are some good concepts in the book, but I found the entire direction of the poker instruction egotistical and patronizing. Instead of communicating poker play, we are treated to the egotistical animal descriptions of the poker pro as an eagle flying above the common people, swooping down at will. Please ... ... give me a break. I forced myself to read the rest of the book and swore I would never open it again. It made a dandy greenish yellow flame when I tossed in into a fireplace a few years ago on Chistmas and frankly, as it burned it was - at that point - useful. Compared to other books for beginners, Phil's tome does not measure up and I *never* recommend it because I feel it encourages people to think of players as immutable animal types, forever frozen into a playing type, and worse ... seems to suggest you have to fit a type. Virtually every poker book spends time talking about the necessity of 'switching gears' and moving from tight to loose depending on your play to date, stack sizes, etc. etc.

So ... with all due respect to Mr. Phil Hellmuth ... his book gets a failing grade in my opinion.