This is a review of The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold'em by Randy Burgess and Carl Baldassarre.
Some background: Recently, one of the authors of this book posted a request for reviews
in this thread. As I frequently walk across the street to hang out at the Barnes and Noble, I picked the book up off the shelf tonight and took a few notes. I wanted to do this partly because I felt a little guilty that I was first to pile on in this old thread on
Randy's previous book. Randy seems like a nice guy and as I recall he was always helpful and civil when discussing hands on these forums. (Randy's co-author Carl (MRBAA) also posts here but I'm not that familiar with his posts.)
This book is for very new players, of the sort we see only occasionally on these boards. Few 2+2ers would have much to gain from such a book, even if it was great for its intended audience. Of course many may have friends (as MRBAA pointed out) who may want to learn to play and who could benefit from such a book.
If it matters, I'm a recreational micro-stakes Hold'em player-- far from an expert. However, I have read most of the major books on Hold'em. I spent about an hour looking through the book while taking notes.
The good:
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] It's written in a friendly, conversational tone. The authors are experienced, skilled writers (I believe one of the biographical blurbs mentioned Carl is a journalist).
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] It dispels many potential misconceptions that a new player might have. (E.G. that poker is all about bluffing.)
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] It covers the basics: the mechanics and rules of play, hand selection, evaluating hand strength, position, odds and outs, play on each street, recognizing and adjusting to opponent styles, bluffs, semibluffs, variance, bankrolls, expectation, etc.
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] It includes a resource section that recommends TOP, HPFAP, SSH, and the 2+2 website.
In going through the book so quickly, I didn't expect to find many specific problems, but I did find a few (some of this may be nitpicking):
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] The dreaded "fitting the flop" phrase. I didn't read this section in detail, so it may just be an unfortunate choice of words from a 2+2 point of view.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Odds charts: The odds of flopping a set w/ AA are listed as 8.3:1. The odds of flopping a pair with AK are listed as 2.5:1. I believe these are correct if in the 2nd case you count the times the flop comes with an A or K and a pair of another rank, but it might be more useful to give the odds of flopping a set or better (7.5:1) and a pair or better (2.1:1).
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] On the back of the book one of the claims is that this book will teach you something about "The stakes and strategies of the 3 kinds of betting." But I couldn't find this information in my quick look-through. I thought it might refer to betting structure, but the book actually mentions four structures: PL, NL, spread limit, and structured limit.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] In the chapter on tournaments, one subsection mentions the importance of knocking people out. Though I'm no tourney expert, this struck me as an odd point to emphasize.
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] In the resources section it mentions Roy Cooke's "Real Poker: The Cooke Collection" but this book is hard to find. Perhaps they intended to recommend "Real Poker II: The Play of Hands."
Based on my quick look, I think this book would give a very new player a decent start in Hold'em. It covers much of what a newbie will eventually need to know. Though depth is missing and I doubt that any player could become a winner solely on the basis of the information in this book, it does a lot within the confines of a "pocket guide." Since I didn't read it thoroughly, some of my first impressions may be wrong, so at the moment I'd give it an overall rating of around 6-8 out of 10 given its intended audience and purpose.
Having gone through this little exercise, I'll be interested to see how Ed Miller's next book addresses the same audience.