quick review of Harrington on Holdem

[PokerHorse]

I have just completed the book for the first time. Being a 15-30 limit player for 17 years, i want to start playing some of these NL tourneys.
I found the book to be very helpful, in that it gives a solid foundation from which to operate.
Some of the advice is directed at complete novices, which is to be expected, but i found the book to be very instructive as too how you need to think about the game, and the various situations that come up over and over again.
He gives the framework , and the rest is up to us, as it should be.
Rather than just tell you basically what to do, he tells you how to think about these situations, which is way more valuable.
when i first started playing limit holdem, i learned to make plays, but i really didnt fully understand why i was making them. Get this book and your poker will improve.

good luck

[snowlarbear]

ty, keep telling myself i'll pick this book up but i'm a bit backed up with reading material right now.

one question i haven't seen asked yet: how much of the book content is anectodes? I personally am a fan of them and would love to hear some of DH's tales from the tables.

[Beavis68]

[ QUOTE ]
ty, keep telling myself i'll pick this book up but i'm a bit backed up with reading material right now.

one question i haven't seen asked yet: how much of the book content is anectodes? I personally am a fan of them and would love to hear some of DH's tales from the tables.

[/ QUOTE ]

Typical of 2+2 books, not many anecdotes. He does examine a few 2003 WSOP ME hands.

[Beavis68]

[ QUOTE ]
I have just completed the book for the first time. Being a 15-30 limit player for 17 years, i want to start playing some of these NL tourneys.
I found the book to be very helpful, in that it gives a solid foundation from which to operate.
Some of the advice is directed at complete novices, which is to be expected, but i found the book to be very instructive as too how you need to think about the game, and the various situations that come up over and over again.
He gives the framework , and the rest is up to us, as it should be.
Rather than just tell you basically what to do, he tells you how to think about these situations, which is way more valuable.
when i first started playing limit holdem, i learned to make plays, but i really didnt fully understand why i was making them. Get this book and your poker will improve.

good luck

[/ QUOTE ]

Book 1 seems like it will be applicable to ring play too.

[tek]

If you like anecdotes, pick up Helmuth's books. After thumbing through them for a few minutes at B & N, I heard a loud thumping sound. Phil beating his chest.

I'll take solid content over anecdotes.

[niin]

[ QUOTE ]
If you like anecdotes, pick up Helmuth's books.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or any book by TJ Cloutier. He likes to tell his stories.

[snowlarbear]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you like anecdotes, pick up Helmuth's books.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or any book by TJ Cloutier. He likes to tell his stories.

[/ QUOTE ]

haha yeah, obviously if you want real poker content then 2+2 books are the thing to have, but sometimes I just want to kick back and read something lighter. I guess I'll just have to keep reading professional poker players' blogs.

[masterblaker]

HOH, is the best "how to think book" that I have read. He really grinds it into you about what you need to be thinking about on every play. Ton of hand examples that really teaches you the material. I always use pot-odds when playing, but he relies heavily on them.

Only part I haven't liked so far is in the first 150 pages or so he will say "before the flop you need to bet around 300." He doesn't give a reasoning behind it, same way after the flop...he will just throw a number out there to bet with no reasoning. After you read the next 150 pages you learn this information. But since I'll study this book like it was life and death, it is not a problem at all with me.

[MaqEvil]

I just finished my initial read through of HOH after getting it for christmas a couple days early (also recieved and read Inside the Poker Mind, andother excellent book about how to think poker). I think that it was an excellent book for someone who has atleast some experience with NL holdem tourneys. I'm torn on whether to reccommend it to my father, whom I've been tutoring for a while now and who is essentially a break-even player. I think that a bulk of the book would really improve his thinking about the game, and bring to his attention the important things to consider in any given hand. However, I also think that players (like my father) without strong discipline or solid fundamentals will misapply many concepts in order to support their natural tendancy towards bad play. This is not a knock of the book, without these concepts, the book would not be as good.

I personally hate min-raises preflop and would use them less than he reccommends. As well, he had people min-raising in his examples far more than I see in my tournament play. There was nothing on blind defense, a very important area in which I consider myself weak (although I'm sure that there will be a thorough discussion of this in vol 2). Also, the book could use a final proofreading, there are some grammar errors and a couple spots with bold font where there shouldnt be. Nitpicky things, but I noticed them.

All in all, great book, I can't wait for the next one, especially since I am primarially a SNG player.