Starting hands charts
 

From time to time, people ask about starting hands guidelines on this forum. Personally I never have had any iron-clad starting requirements, but have always been interested in other people's. I just finished Phil Gordon's "Little Green Book" of NL and at the end (to my suprise) there were a few charts for NL starting hands. I certainly don't play exactly like this, but I thought that it was a useful tool for thinking about my own requirements. Also, I think I'll play a session or two just using these guidelines (keeping opponent's tendencies in mind, of course...) and see how it feels.

Phil Gordon's charts

BTW, I highly recommend the book. It's probably the best NL book I've ever read. No kidding.

Re: Starting hands charts
 

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BTW, I highly recommend the book. It's probably the best NL book I've ever read. No kidding.

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Really? I haven't heard much about it. I was considering the greenstein book, maybe I'll buy both now.

Re: Starting hands charts
 

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Really? I haven't heard much about it. I was considering the greenstein book, maybe I'll buy both now.

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I thoroughly enjoyed Barry's book, but it is not a hard-core strategy book. It is an enjoyable read and has some interesting hands posted, but it is not meant to be a strategy guide. Each chapter is a bite-sized 3-5 pages long. Some chapters are more interesting than others. I guess it just depends what type of book you are looking to read.

Re: Starting hands charts
 

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BTW, I highly recommend the book. It's probably the best NL book I've ever read. No kidding.

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Thanks for the tip, always looking to expand my theory/strategy. What does it cover for NLHE ring?

Re: Starting hands charts
 

It's really written for ring with a special section for tournaments. Covers pretty much everything. It's remarkable how much he fits into just a few hundred pages.

I like the book because it has a lot of good info laid out in a good format. It's actually structured to help you learn the material in managable bits. I love Ciaffone and Brunson, but I feel as though I learn from the books DESPITE the structure. And HOH is great, but I don't play tourneys.

Re: Starting hands charts
 

BTW, I highly recommend the book. It's probably the best NL book I've ever read.

Where can you buy it for a good price? Also, have you read Ciaffone's nl book? How does it compare to that? I just ordered that one, maybe I'll pick this one up too. Hadn't heard of any other NL cash game books though besides Ciaffones.