Internet Texas Hold'em : Starting Hands ( pg. 73 - 108 )

[rusellmj]

I don't know PB. This has been a great thread. Very informative. 4 authors contributing. I came here looking for information about what my first "serious" poker book should be. As a result of this thread I have decided to purchase both SSHE and ITH. The late position play of AQo (or similar) seems to be a (if not the) major bone of contention. All the authors have given their views and the reasons they hold them. Soft play, newby precaution. Either way, armed with these texts, I think I'll be a winner.
Thanks guys,
Russ

[Billy Zee]

Hiya's,

Don't know why SSH doesn't. I think that SSH is the next book up for discussion.

Regards
Billy Zee

[jeffnc]

[ QUOTE ]
I came here looking for information about what my first "serious" poker book should be. As a result of this thread I have decided to purchase both SSHE and ITH.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it would simplify everything if new students of the game just bought those 2 books and were done with it.

[kevbo]

Just my 2 cents so take it for what it is worth.

I feel any beginning poker player should take it slow and not try to become an expert overnight. Trying to do this will only disappoint and discourage new players. Good poker players are developed over time, not overnight. As with most things in life, getting better takes understanding which generally comes with time and experience. One should always learn the basics and then once they have a solid grasp on those concepts, then move on to more advanced material. Just like when we were in school, we didn't start with trigonometry and skip basic mathematics. It is a gradual learning process.

IMO - Players should probably read WLLH and ITH 1st and then graduate to SSH. Beginning players really need to get their feet wet and learn the basics before taking on the material in SSH. WLLH and ITH are excellent books for the beginner in that they do a good job explaining the game and how to use "basic" strategies to learn and improve one's game. SSH I think takes it a step further and explains how to use aggression to maximize results, but beginning players aren't yet ready for this. Beginners really need to focus on starting hands and why hands are/aren't played in certain positions. They need to understand why a hand will be profitable or not. They also need to learn the basics of things such as pot odds, implied odds, etc.. Many new players will often misread the board completely. In addition, they don't yet fully understand how to profile the other players as loose, tight, tricky, etc.. These folks need to gain more experience before tackling SSH.

I have read SSH a couple of times and think it is an excellent piece of work. I also feel the same about ITH. I just believe that these two books are for players at different points in their knowledge of the game. If I were to advise a new player on which books to read 1st, I would tell them to read WLLH then ITH then SSH. WLLH and ITH will give them a basic understanding of the game and give them the ability to go from a losing to a winning player. They may only win 1BB/100 but they are learning the basics 1st while gaining experience and becoming familiar with many of the different situations that occur in poker. They are learning to read the board better, calculate odds, profile their competition, the importance of position, etc.. Do I think Hilger’s starting hand charts are perfect, of course not, but I believe they are a great reference for a beginning player to use and it gives them the basics of which hands to play in which situations. As they improve, then they can begin adding hands to their arsenal.

Advanced players can debate on specific hands which may or may not be played in particular situations, but Hilger’s charts are the best out there for giving “beginning” and some intermediate players a relatively accurate list of starting hands. While I don’t feel as though all of the recommendations are correct, to paraphrase Hilger “it gives the beginning player the best chance of being put into profitable situations” and this is exactly what a new player needs. Make them a winning player, the show them how to maximize their earnings. Once the folks learn the general principals, then they can begin “fine tuning” their game. I just believe they should learn basic general concepts and have a solid grasp of them before moving on to more advanced material. If they read SSH 1st, there are many situations covered that they would not be familiar enough with to completely grasp the concepts. SSH is a great book, there’s no denying it and I think it is one of the “must haves” for any limit hold’em player’s library. I just believe that new players should work their way up to it. They will become winning players with ITH and once they are ready for it, SSH will show them how to maximize their winnings.

IMHO

- KEVBO -

[Billy Zee]

Hiya's

It's worth a lot more than 2 cents. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Thank you for the input.

Regards
Billy Zee