Book Details:
Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em - Pub. Date: March 2004; ISBN-13: 9781580421270; 304 pages

Power Poker Course’s Book Review:

I've heard some good things about this book, Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em, so I decided to give it a shot. However, I have to say that although it's one of the better books I've ever read on this subject, reading it gave me some problems.

It's not just that I disagree with some of what I'm reading -- it's that, from a readability perspective, it's one of the worst written books I've ever had to put up with. It's tough to put my finger on exactly what it is; the grammar isn't as bad as it seems at first glance, but the flow of the text is poor enough that it might as well be. Sometimes the thoughts appear to be all over the place, with personal opinion inserted helter-skelter throughout often badly-structured sentences and confusing, unexplained lingo. But then I have to remind myself that the authors are very serious poker players, so I can't really expect them to be professional writers as well (although that would help).

That being said, the advice offered isn't bad – in fact it is generally very good. There are bits of it that I don't agree with, for instance, the authors state that they don't play small suited-connectors in tournaments, or when heads-up. This is just narrow-minded and poor advice given the way the game is playing today, at least that is my opinion given my decade of experience of playing this game both offline and online hold'em poker. What if your sole opponent makes a minimum raise? What if he's a poor player? In a tournament, what if the entire table limps to you on the button? There are just too many variables in pot-limit (or especially no-limit) that you just can't quantify situations with simple statements - never is a terrible word to use in poker, and these guys sometimes use it too much. But I guess it all depends on what angle you're looking at it from. For example, for a beginner that might actually be great advice as these people may not yet understand how to play these hands in different scenarios. For an intermediate or advanced player, this idea needs to be skipped over.

Overall the advice given in the book, with a few exceptions, is absolutely solid and is similar to (and not necessarily the same as) what you'll find in most good poker books. They stress positional play, and talk about being careful with "trouble hands" such as KJ or KT. Personally though, I think they advocate playing too tight - and since this book isn't geared for the amateur player (for whom tight play should be bread-and-butter), I think they're wrong unless you're playing at an overly loose table.

My honest view is that it never hurts anyone to read whatever they can, because there's always something to pick up from knowing someone's personal opinion. However, the blasé, routine advice and (more importantly) the quality of the writing both help to move this book away from the top of my "must-read poker books" list. I'd recommend reading this book, but do suggest that other books be read first and do caution against the overly tight playing style advocated in this book if you really want to develop your game further along the intermediate and advanced poker levels.


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