REVIEW: Final Table Poker with Phil Gordon

[meijin]

REVIEW: Final Table Poker with Phil Gordon

OK...before going too far, I have to admit that I am a bit biased with regards to Phil Gordon. I met him at Howard Lederer's poker camp in Vegas this spring (check out one of the photos below). He presented a session called "Pre-flop Play" and alot of the information on the DVD was in that presentation. Plus, I was highly impressed with Phil. Not only was he a really nice guy in person, but he is quite smart and is an excellent presenter. Anyway...off to review.

I found this DVD to be quite unique and I think Phil and the rest of the
Tiltboys (http://www.tiltboys.com) that were working on this with him have come up with an excellent teaching method. In this DVD, the setting is a NLH tournament (6 man...just like the final tables you are use to seeing on the WPT). It is obviously a staged tournament, but each "hand" or section is designed to teach a specific idea or concept. So, as it plays out, Phil is giving second hand commentary as to why he is doing what he is doing and what is going through his mind as he is doing it. I have a ton of poker instructional DVDs (Hellmuth, Lederer, Hanson/Bloch/Laak/Esfandari, etc.) and this one beats them all hands down.

The chapter layout is as follows:

#1. Player Profiles
#2. Domination
#3. Starting Hands
#4. The Gap Concept
#5. Position
#6. Selective Aggression
#7. Reasons to Raise
#8. Odds and Outs (one of the best explanations I have seen!)
#9. The Texture of the Board
#10. Time to Think
#11. Time Out
#12. When Someone Checks, Bet!
#13. Don't Give Free Cards
#14. River Betting
#15. Acting on Your Reads
#16. Don't Go Broke With One Pair
#17. Common Mistakes
#18. Checking It Down
#19. Steal the Blinds!
#20. Short Handed Play
#21. Bluffs
#22. First to the Pot Wins
#23. Semi-Bluffs
#24. Making the Big Laydown
#25. Exploiting Your Table Image
#26. Tells
#27. Short Stack Strategy
#28. How Could You Play That Hand?!?
#29. All-in or Fold
#30. What to Jam With
#31. Blinded to Death
#32. The Benefit of Aggression
#33. Playing Your Opponent

As you can see from the list above, just about all of the major concepts to get your game on track are covered here. And done in a unique way. And, this is not the only unique thing about the DVD. Another interesting feature is that there are two different learning modes. It defaults to "advanced". In this case, advanced meaning you can get around a NLH table. You can change this to "Beginner" and get different information that is geared to your level. Very smart for the new players as you are essentially getting two DVDs for the price of one!

Is there totally new, ground breaking information on this DVD? No. Not at all. Hey...there is nothing new under the sun, right? No, this DVD covers basic, solid foundational material. But, I believe that it is done in such a unique way that it drives the point home differently and forces you to process the information differently. Several times through the numerous viewings I caught myself catching and keying into small aspects of my game that I needed to concentrate more on and/or polish a bit more.

If you are new to poker, then this DVD is for you! You cannot go wrong with it. If you are an intermediate player, I also highly recommend it. Short of being a pro, then you will walk away with something from DVD. And even if you are a pro, you will enjoy watching the DVD. My rating of the DVD? 9 out of 10 stars. Why only 9? Because I don't think anything is ever perfect...but this DVD sure gets close.

One thing I need to mention here as a side note is really funny...at least it was to me.

As the DVD starts out, Phil is going through the individual players and discussing their individual strengths and weaknesses and their current situation at the table. One of the first players is a young guy by the name of Butch (he calls himself) "Dude" of the Cool Guy Crew who is not any where near as good as he thinks he is. LOL! Sound like anyone we might know? And then there is the good looking blonde Haromny Jensen...identified by Phil as being one of the top players in the world with virtually no holes in her game...again...sound like anyone we might know. Also on the video is Chris "Jesus" Ferguson...playing himself (I thought it would have been really funny to have someone play him since he obviously has some actors playing other know players!).

Anyway, you should check out this DVD. Here is the information to go get it. At the site, you can view some clips and get an idea as to the quality of the DVD.

Expert Insight (http://www.expertinsight.com)
Price: $24.95 (and damn well worth it!)

If you get it, let me know what you think of it. If you have any questions about it or want clarification on anything, just let me know.

Hopefully we will be seeing more DVDs from Phil in this format.

Michael