Gary Carson on Small Stakes Hold 'Em

[pshabi]

From RGP:

On Jul 16 2005 1:42 PM, BenDawkins wrote:

> I agree with Will...It's postflop work is very good, and complemented
> by other important books on SSHE, I think it can really improve a
> player's small-stakes game.

GARY SAYS: I finially got around to reading it. It covers some stuff about postflop play
that was missing in the literature, it's worth reading, and it's a huge stretch
to use the phrase "very good". Basicaly he repeated a bunch of stuff from my
book, threw in some stuff about thinning the field to please David and Mason,
and talked about the positive aspect of waiting until you're beat to raise It's
okay, but I wasn't really impressed and expected much better based on comments
I've seen like the above.



But, to start with, I would definitely
> recommend "Winning Low-Limit Hold 'Em" by Lee Jones and "Hold 'Em
> Excellence" by Lou Krieger.

GARY AGAIN: They are both certainly better written then the Miller book and I'd recommend
either of them to a beginner -- I havn't read Jones since the 1st edition, but
of the two above I'd lean towards Jones.

Gary Carson
author of undoubtably the best book on limit holdem.

[imported_CaseClosed326]

Personaly, I have never heard of this guy....

[pshabi]

http://www.pokermagazine.com/Writers/garycarson.html

[Paxosmotic]

[ QUOTE ]
Personaly, I have never heard of this guy....

[/ QUOTE ]
Well then.

I think SSHE is probably my 'favorite' low limit book because of the post flop section. I've never read Carson's but I'd be interested to compare the two. I don't think SSHE is the poker bible so if someone else has better ideas then I'm certainly listening.

[shant]

More people reading WLLH and not SSHE is nice.

[Bascule]

[ QUOTE ]

I think SSHE is probably my 'favorite' low limit book because of the post flop section. I've never read Carson's but I'd be interested to compare the two. I don't think SSHE is the poker bible so if someone else has better ideas then I'm certainly listening.

[/ QUOTE ]

I rate Carson's work highly; his book helped me immensely when I was a beginner. He is a very clear thinker, and his book has a lot of original work in it that is well worth reading. I also recommend searching the RGP archives for Carson's posts.

[wildwood]

I've read Lee Jones, Gary Carson, and Ed Miller. I thought SSHE was best of the three. But I did get an idea or two out of the other books. If you get one idea from a book that improves your play, that more than pays for the book. My first year of play, I kept plowing 10% of any winnings back into books, dvd, videos, etc. and it helps.

[belloc]

[ QUOTE ]
I rate Carson's work highly; his book helped me immensely when I was a beginner. He is a very clear thinker, and his book has a lot of original work in it that is well worth reading. I also recommend searching the RGP archives for Carson's posts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, though it's been a long time since I read Carson's book on LHE. This will give me a chance to go back and read it.

The criticism of it (IIRC) is that its treatment of play on the big bet streets is almost nonexistent. It really is shocking to see a HE book that barely mentions how to play the end of a hand. But it is chock full of other stuff: he spends tons of space talking about poker theories and models (and the difference between the two), cardroom etiquette, table selection, types of games, starting hand requirements for the different types, etc. I remember it as being a bit schitzophrenic: lots of these topics seem to be written for poker virgins, but the stuff on theory/model is pretty inaccessible to someone who hasn't spent any time thinking about the game. I remember it being very helpful to me a few years back; maybe a reread will do some good.

That said, his criticism of SSH seems way off.

[sthief09]

gary carson hates 2+2 so much, that the fact that he didn't completely rip it apart means it must be a good book. he's just bitter that Mason's raking in the money with 2+2

[steamboatin]

I own it, had a hard time finding it a year or two ago but it is probably more available now due ot the poker boom. I wasn't impressed but it has been quite a long time since I read it.