Hold'em Poker

For Advanced Players

By David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth (Joint Author)

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Average Rating: (See all reviews) Format: Paperback, 332 pages Published In: United States, October 1999 Other Editions: Paperback, USA $85.99 $74.96 View Quantity Available: 155 Ships within 6-10 days Texas Hold 'em is not an easy game to play well. To become an expert you must balance many concepts, some of which occasionally contradict each other. In 1988, the first edition appeared. Many ideas, which were only known to a small, select group of players, were made available to anyone who was striving to become an expert, and the hold 'em explosion had begun. It is now a new century, and the authors have again moved the state of the art forward by adding over 100 pages of new material, including extensive sections on "loose games," and "short-handed games." Anyone who studies this text, is well disciplined, and gets the proper experience should become a significant winner. Some of the other ideas discussed include play on the first two cards, semibluffing, the free card, inducing bluffs, staying with a draw, playing when a pair flops, playing trash hands, desperation bets, playing in wild games, reading hands, and psychology. Publisher: Two Plus Two Pub. ISBN: 1880685221 EAN: 9781880685228 Dimensions: 22.07 x 13.87 x 2.29 centimeters (0.54 kg)

The definitive guide for hold’em players!

This is more or less considered the ‘bible’ for texas hold’em players, and for good reason: Sklansky and Malmuth are recognized as the leading authorities on poker strategy. While HPFAP is a difficult read, nearly every single aspect of proper hold’em strategy is covered in excruciating detail. While I would suggest picking up less complex books to start out with (look for Lee Jones’), this is a must read for all serious hold’em players.

Now for some constructive criticism: this is by no means a beginner’s book – a lot of novices have heard the authors praised and figure they should run out and buy this book. I’ll warn you now that unless you’ve got 6 to 12 months of hold’em experience, the writing in this book will be WAY over your head. It’s not just the terminology, but the authors assume that readers are already well-versed in all basic hold’em strategies. The first time I read the book, it seemed utterly nonsensical. Only now that I go back and re-read it do I truly understand what the authors are talking about in many places.

Where to apply the poker tools this book gives you? Anywhere, really – I used to play at my local casino 4 times / wk, but now play almost exclusively online, since play goes so much faster – I go out of my mind with boredom when I try and sit at a casino nowadays. Any of the major online poker sites are more or less as good as each other – another post here led me to POKERCROAKER.COM which has site reviews for all of them to help you pick, and even has signup bonus codes that will get you free bonus money when you open an account. A lot of people have said that Sklansky & Malmuth’s advice doesn’t translate well to the sometimes wild online games, but I disagree: the tight-aggressive strategy they promote is in fact perfect for these games, although you should expect your variance to be higher.

Once you master the basics of Poker, specifically Texas Hold Em, you need to get to where the pros are at, and this is the book for it. Specially written and dealing with texas hold em, it tells you hints and tricks to being better at poker, if you are serious about your game, this is the book to buy.