Book Details:
Super System - Pub. Date: December 2002; ISBN-13: 9781580420815; 624 pages

Power Poker Course’s Book Review:

These days, practically everyone has heard of Doyle Brunson and his Super System book – after all, it's often referred to as the "bible of poker." It was prominently featured in the famous movie Rounders, a film which, many people believe, was pretty much solely responsible for the Hold 'Em poker explosion in the last decade.

Super System covers quite a few games; however, the meat of the book is the section on No-limit Hold 'Em. Many of the other games, like Deuce - Seven Lowball, just aren't popular enough to warrant the attention that Hold 'Em has gotten. Unfortunately, the strategies in this book have been so over-saturated over the years that such overly aggressive play can be easily exploited by a skilled player with well-thought out counter-strategy. For instance, Doyle repeatedly points out that when a big pot shapes up, he's usually got the worst hand. He is allowed this, he says, by the fact that he wins so many small pots -- his repeated winning of small amounts of chips ultimately pays him back for those big ones he loses.

At the risk of sounding blasphemous though, I'd have to say that consistently getting all-in with the worst hand just isn't the right way to play no-limit against the smarter opponents we see online these days. Not only are there a lot of very good players out there nowadays who will keenly snap off your bluffs, but there are also a lot of new and quite bad players out there also -- which means that you don't have to shove all-in all the time to get paid off on your legitimate hands.

As far as the writing style, it's a little too rambling for me - it's all over the place, and there's a lot of talk about 'feelings." Going with your gut is one thing if your instincts are truly sharp, but telling average players to go with their feelings is dangerous advice. However, I would still say that in the right hands then this book is a true gem. The appendices at the back, with charts and probabilities that cover some common situations, are amongst the best available even today.

There's a lot of good advice in this book, but it should be taken with a grain of salt and therefore shouldn't be read by amateur players - make sure you already know how to think for yourself before delving into this book. This book can be considered quite dangerous for amateur players who have yet to gain the experience and understanding of the game that can only be gained from playing the game for some time. Without this developed background, it is very possible to get yourself into a lot of trouble trying to emulate Doyle Brunson's style without fully understanding the nuances of the game that are the unspoken prerequisites to playing his style. This book is for intermediate and advanced players, although those from the top end of the amateurs group of players should consider looking into it too. But proceed with caution! In summary – a MUST read book. No serious poker player has not read or got a copy of this book.


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