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Old March 22nd, 2008, 10:04 AM   #1 (permalink)
PoWdA PoWdA is offline
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Default Play Poker Like the Pros - Phil Hellmuth (Review)

I read a lot of poker books and for the past few months I have been writing little "mini reviews" on them. Hopefully these will give you a broad idea of what each book has to offer and can help you choose which book to buy.
I have also created a little ratings system to simplify things as between this site and others I have many many mini reviews floating around.

The level is the level of player I believe will get the most out of the book. The Reading Difficulty suggests wether a particular writing style was an easy read for me or if I felt that I was constantly reading thing 2 or more times to fully grasp the concept. Organization has to do with how the book is organized, mainly will the book be easy to reference or will you have to re-read it to find what you are looking for. Usefullness is pretty obvious but there are a few factors. Mainly: is the information right and can it be applied at the table or in simulation and make an impact on your game.

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Level: Beginner
Reading Difficulty: 2
Organization: 8
Usefullness: 7 (for the beginner looking to branch into other games.)

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I don't care for Phil Hellmuth, his attitude annoys me, but the book would definetly be a good read for a beginner looking to get into other games. I never considered Hellmuth a mixed games guy but his advice on Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud in his book was pretty spot on. The Pot-Limit Omaha Hi section and Stud Hi/Lo sections aren't too bad either. As far as his Limit Hold Em section is concerned I think Phil gives way to aggressive of a strategy. I think if you played Limit Hold Em like Phil suggests you may find yourself in some bad spots and you could lose some money. It isn't all bad, but it is definetly a highly aggressive strategy he portrays in the book. I would definetly read the section, but I would never play Limit Hold Em by this book. I personally am bored by NL sections and since it has been a few weeks since I have even read the book, I can honestly say that I cannot remember anything particularly exciting or new in the NL section. Nothing bad, but nothing shocking.

One thing I should mention which Phil introduces in this book are his animal types. The Jackal (loose aggressive), the Elepahnt (calling station), the Mouse (tight, conservative) and the Lion (the pros, rare). He uses them througout the book to explain how different players react in different situations. It is a good system. So for example he may say "you are in late position when a jackal raises and a mouse re-raises, what do you do?" It really helps that by labeling the players so simply he in a sense "gives you a read" on that player and you can then act accordingly. I like the way he incorporates the animal types.

So basically I was very suprised! Simple but effective. His book is no Theory of Poker, there is nothing super ground breaking or shocking, and that is why I suggest this book for the beginner. He gives a very simple glance at the basic aspects of the strategies for these games which I think can be very valuable to the beginner. Simple strategy without being overwhelming, I was very suprised with Phils book to say the least as I was expecting another NL Hold Em book and ended up with a back to basics lesson in other games.

I reccomend this book to the new player. To be more precise, I reccomend this book to the NL player who is trying to branch out to other games. While there is very little "highly advanced" strategy in the book the basics he puts forth on the Stud and Omaha games are great for the player looking to expand thier game knowledge. I see this book as a good jump off point for that player. With a little basic knowledge on all of the most popular games, I am suprised to say that Phil did a good job here.

Last edited by PoWdA; March 22nd, 2008 at 01:22 PM.

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