Supersystem

I'm a beginner, should I get this book?

Theory of Poker, yes...


I started out a few years ago and saw Mike McD grab his copy of S/S in the beginning of Rounders, so I wanted to get my hands on a copy. Finally got one off of ebay and read, well, maybe half of it. It was just too much for me to take in without much experience. I'd say read Theory, Lee Jones, Feeny...lots of 2+2 stuff. Get some experience and then go on to the advanced series /images/smile.gif

I like Super/System, and I think it's worth having, but the 2+2 books are cheaper and more useful, and therefore much more cost-effective. I have about fifteen 2+2 books, and I've gotten more out of most of them than I have out of S/S. I would recommend that you get Theory of Poker and read it a few times. If your game is going to be hold'em, I'd recommend Hold'em Poker by Sklansky first, followed by Hold'em for Advanced Players. If your game is going to be stud, get Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players. In both cases, make sure you get the 21st Century Edition. I haven't read West or Othmer, but some people recommend those. If you're going to play split games, and I'm not suggesting for a minute that you should, /images/smile.gif get Ray Zee's book. I'd also recommend Mason's Essays books and Feeney's book once you've digested TOP and the Advanced Players book of your choice.


The problem with S/S is that it's obsolete. The high-low section by Sklansky is outstanding, some of the best material ever written on poker, but it covers a game that is no longer played. Every public high-low game I'm aware of has an eight-or-better qualifier. This was not in use when S/S was written. The limit hold'em section was written for a game that only used one blind--and that equivalent to today's small blind. In today's game, the pot can get very big before the flop, which necessitates some peculiar strategies. Doyle says he almost never check-raises. I guarantee you that if he found himself playing in a modern $15/30 game on a regular basis, he'd start check-raising a fair amount, as that's the best way to protect your hand a lot of the time. The seven stud section is very good, and is still a good guide to that game, although I question the wisdom of routinely calling with a pair of Tens when someone raises with a face card in the door. The rest of the book is devoted to games you may never see--draw, lowball, and no-limit hold'em. The NLHE section goes on forever. It's unbelievable. One of these days, someone's going to write a poker book and hire a real editor. Well, Peter Steiner did. Anyway, S/S is worth having, but there are probably several other books you should read first. Hope this helps.

I recently bought Super/System and have to say I'm pretty disappointed in it.


For starters, it's simply not laid out in a professional way. The typesetter uses italics and boldface all the time for the wrong reasons, and it gets in the way of reading and enjoying the book. (You never think about this sort of thing until you see it done poorly, and then, wow. Names are boldfaced for no reason. Sentences will have all the words bold except for two in italics. Words that aren't that important will be boldfaced. It'll give you a headache. They charge a lot of money for this book--couldn't they have hired a professional typesetter?)


Okay, but, truth be told, that'd be worth muddling through if the substance was gold. But I don't know if it is. I think you'll get a good sense of Doyle's attitude towards poker, which I suspect is partly to credit for his success.


As others have pointed out, several of the sections are dated, and others apply to games you're very unlikely to play. Since each section was written independently, there's a lot of duplication on basic topics. But since you'll never play a lot of these games, you're buying a lot of book you won't use. I mean, if Hold 'em is your game, you're almost certainly better served by Jones' WLLHE and Mason and Sklansky's HEPFAP. 7-Card Stud? West's book and 7CSFAP. Hi-Low? Zee's book on Hi-Low split. Not only are you getting modern, up-to-date information, but you're getting a professional typesetting and organization job, more specifics, less redundancy, a more enjoyable read, and... well, need I go on?


I'm going to come back to S/S in a year or two to see if my current opinions of it hold up. It's possible that there's a wealth of information in it that's simply going over my head. Nevertheless, if I had that money back to spend again, I'd certainly spend it elsewhere.


The Theory of Poker, on the other hand, is indispensible information, although I do think there is some redundancy between it and the other 2+2 books, which put some of the same information in a game-specific context. It's important to remember, however, that it really is a /theoretical/ book--it's going to be up to you to figure out how to apply those theories to the game you play. (Not that this is bad, just, it may be a bit much for the inexperienced player).

I am a relative beginner, and I think that S/S has been well worth my time, though I admit that there are probably more useful books for beginners.


First of all, whether or not you can find a draw game anywhere, I think Caro's section was extremely helpful. I think he does a great job of teaching you how to think like a poker player, and draw is probably the best way to learn how to read hands (at least IMHO). Plus, Caro is hilarious.


The 7-stud section gets better every time I reread it, as does the Limit Hold'em section. The general strategies (when to play, when to raise on 3rd street and pre-flop) are not all that useful, but the concentration on little tricks you can use (getting free cards, calling as a bluff, etc) have paid for the book already in my play (even in low-limit games) and again do a great job of teaching how to think like a poker player.


Sklansky's section is excellent, and I think is well worth reading even though the material is dated.


Lowball is a little weak IMO and NLHE is a little out of my league for the time being, but I think the book has overall been very helpful.


Focus really hard on the material and read and reread it and you will get a lot out of it.