the worst poker books

For those players who have not read a lot of poker books, it might be of interest to see what books players think are the worst books. As george carlin once siad "Somewhere in the world is the worst doctor. Process of elimination, someone has to be the worst doctor. And the scary thing is, someone has an appointment with him tomorrow!" Similarly with poker books, as someone is going to read or buy the worst book tomorrow.


Although I have avoided the real stinkers, i.e. Money Poker by Mr. X, the worst one I have read is John Patrick's Poker book. I hate to admit it but I have an autographed copy of his Advanced Craps book (!) but his poker book was awful. It contained virtually no advice except "dont play for straights" which he advises regardless of the size of the pot.


Pat

He must be the best gambler in the WORLD. LMAO!

Ken Warren's "Winner's Guide to Texas Hold'Em" is the worst book I've ever read.


Some of his sage-like points:


*When you are check-raised, you know two things: that you either have the best hand or you don't, and that your opponent may or may not have a better hand than you.


*If low cards such as 26 offsuit start winning pots, you should absolutely play them because low cards come in cycles and can win pots for a certain period of time (he goes on to say that the most important part of this startegy is knowing when the low card "cycle" is over and you will therefore stop playing them)


Honestly, you should pick up this book purely for comical value!


-----Jeff in Mass

Warren's book is truly awful, and probably the worst book I've seen that's actually designed to help your game. I'm not sure whether it or <u>The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle</u> by Stuart Wolpin (I think I have that right) would get my vote as the worst book. I do remember seeing a book dating from the 1970s in which the author said that in Hold'em, which he called "Hold Me" (I think the original name was "Hold Me Darlin'"), there is no significance to your pre-flop holding unless it is AA or KK. I think the local library has that one. I'll have to look it up.

I believe the correct full name is "Hold Them Poker" which got shorten to hold 'em.

I agree with the Warren and Patrick books. I have them both. I do remember the Patrick insistence, of "I never chase straights." And he also commented that "No one in the world knows more about poker than I do."


I think Warren does have some good advice in there along with the bad, for instance, I think he has some good tips on reading tells in there. I think maybe he places a bit too much emphasis on them, but some of them are probably good. I do seem to remember reading comments about "playing your rush," in there, which made me raise my eyebrows a bit. I did laugh when he said that a formula he uses in low limit games when heads up on the river against an old man, is, "estimate his age, and subtract 70 from it. Whatever is left is the chance that he is bluffing." I think this is probably true! -Tim

Andy Nelson rates among the worst as well


jg

"Somewhere in the world is the worst doctor. "


Keep in mind that ALL doctors "PRACTICE" medicine.


John Patrick's books are by far the worst on all gambling subjects. they provide you with a sure fire formula for going broke.


"Winning low limit holdem" is pretty bad too.

"*When you are check-raised, you know two things: that you either have the best hand or you don't, and that your opponent may or may not have a better hand than you. "


Well, who's the moron now! OF COURSE this advice is PERFECTLY ACCURATE, don't you know ANYTHING about poker?


Actually, the comic value of this book does make it "almost" worth picking up. Ironically, there is a small amount of advice on tournament play that actually made some sense in this book, but the rest of it is crapola.


Dave in Cali

"The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle by Stuart Wolpin "


I first picked this book up probably ten years ago, looking for more home game variants for our dealer's choice games. I have to agree, it was pretty bad. After having read this book, I was inspired to write my own book concerning home poker, because there really aren't any particularly good ones out there. This book hardly covered anything that even remotely came close to the things that went on in MY home games. And some of the rules were pretty screwy. I never did write the book, but I still may some day, hell, almost anyone worth half their salt could write a better home poker book than this.


Dave in Cali

"he also commented that "No one in the world knows more about poker than I do." "


Patrick also claims to be the foremost expert on every casino game, just read his books. I had a friend who worked at a book factory, and I got literally hundreds of books on all topics that were slightly less than good enough to sell to the public (slightly off center print, cover on backwards, etc...). Anyway, I got virtually every book Patrick ever wrote. They all say the same thing, and they are all CRAPOLA. Most of his books have betting systems which can supposedly beat any game. My favorite line was one in his roulette book where he claims that the floor person offered him 100$ NOT to play, because they were so sure he would leave a winner due to his "systems". He then turned it down and left a 600$ winner a little while later.


Laughable.


Dave in Cali

<u>Thursday Night Poker</u> by Peter O. Steiner is a pretty good book aimed at the semi-serious home game player. It only deals with "real" poker games: stud, hi/lo stud, hold'em, Omaha, etc. Overall, the strategic advice is pretty sound, although the hold'em advice is a bit shaky. Of course, the advice is designed to make you a winning player but not necessarily to bleed your friends for every nickel you can. My one quarrel is that there is nothing on Omaha hi/lo, which was the game that gave me trouble in my home game, at least for a while, before the local card room opened and I became (more or less) strictly a casino player. I've had a look at this book since I got more serious about the game, and I'm less impressed with it than I used to be, but it's still pretty good for what it is. I think I read somewhere that Steiner plans to come out with another edition which will include Omaha/8. Maybe it will leave out the part about playing any ace in seven-handed hold'em.

I have seen it referred to as "Hold Me" in a couple of places. One is in A.D. Livingston's <u>Poker Strategy</u>. I haven't read it, but I've looked at parts at the local B&N. In there, he talks about some hands of Hold Me Darling that he played against The Old Pro. Later, while in Colorado or someplace like that, he asks if anyone is spreading Hold Me Darling. His friend says he's never heard of it, and proceeds to tell him about Hold'em.


I'm sure that one is a corruption of the other. Which is which, I can't say. I'm sure that "hold'em" won out because it sounds much cooler.

I haven't read all the posts but I'll put in a vote anyway for a book called "Computer Holdem" (or was it Computer Poker") by I forget who. It was one of those self published books that you see at Gambler's Book Club. It is in deep storage now but I remember that it advised playing hands such as A7 offsuit since it plays well in computer sims.


Regards,


Rick

I heard it called "Hold Me" in Texas in the late 60's, but I always thought it was said as a jokingly deliberate misnomer.


Livingston's book was OK for its time, but the hold 'em section will get you broke.

Just from glancing at it, the Livingston book looked seriously dated, but the copyright date on it was 1991. Was it published earlier than that? The back cover had a quote from Business Week or some similar poker authority saying that this book would make you a winner. :^)

I haven't read Warren's books, and only have browsed the books by John Patrick in stores. The only positive thing I have to say about John Patrick was that once, I nearly bumped into him in a Las Vegas casino, so at least he's probably out there practicing what he preaches.


However, not having really read these other books, I still couldn't emphasize how wrong all of you are. The WORST book out there is "Low Limit Holdem the 20-4-50 way" or something like that, by Bob Turgeon.


- Numerous errors in grammar and spelling make reading painful.


- Turgeon suggests that some cards run in "cycles", so if 5's have been pairing the board recently, you should be playing hands with a 5 until the 5's have cycled through.


- The main premise behind the book is that you see 20 flops an hour to win 50 BB. Right.


Of course, I've never played Hold'em with him, but if I ever did, I'd be happy if I just won back the $10 I spent on his book. Plain awful.