Poker for Dummies
by Lou Krieger, Richard D. Harroch
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Book Reviews of Poker for Dummies
Book Review: I can actually win poker now!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ah poker....America's favorite card game! I've played the game since I was a child but have only recently become interested in learning the many strategies involved. I never played enough to increase my skills so I was a casual player for years. I played only when the urge bit me or when I was invited to a game.
Lately, I have been spending more time in Casinos and my love for poker has been rekindled. I'm a little too intimidated to play at the tables, so for the mean time, I've stuck to video poker. I'm a decent player and usually break even on the game. (I can make $20 last for hours on the quarter machines.) I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book offers a small section on video poker! Specifically on Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild. Well, curious to see if this strategy worked, I practiced on the video game called High Rollers Casino for PlayStation 2(IMO best casino game for PS2). Low and behold, the strategy seemed to work. My hands seemed to be better. However, the mechanics of a PlayStation game and an actual Video Poker machine differ in many ways! So, within a couple of weeks, I took this new strategy to a local Casino and won over $200 on the quarter machines! I played for about 3 hours and nothing could wipe the grin off of my face!
Curious as to whether the rest of the book was just as good, I took the Texas Hold'em and basic poker strategies to the internet. Once again, the advice I received proved to be useful and once again, I came out ahead. Of course, I still lost a few hands BUT the winnings more than made up for it!
I will eventually step up to a table game and play for all I'm worth - but for now, I feel as if I've gone from a novice to a decent intermediate player in very little time! I've never played poker to win before. I simply played poker for the sake of playing poker and merely HOPED to win. Now, I can walk up to any (internet) table or video poker machine with confidence, knowing that I'll either walk away with extra cash, or at the very least - breaking even!
I won't recommend this book to anyone who's already intermediate or expert, as I'm sure there is nothing in this book they wouldn't already know. But for beginners or casual players who wish to increase their odds and brush up their skills - this is the perfect book to do just that.
My many thanks to the authors of this fabulous book! I never knew that playing to win could be so much fun and profitable!
Book Review: Poker Books, the next best thing to being there . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
America has given the world Freedom, Bourbon, Hollywood, Baseball and Poker.Unfortunately we've also given the world "How To" books. And their most recent obnoxious incarnations, the "Zen in the Art of---" and the "---For Dummies" series.
However this one's not bad at all. I wish some of the reviewers who disliked it could name a better beginner's book--though I concede that if you play for money against some pros following the instructions given you might conclude you should have bought "Poker for Morons" instead.
(Do not despair. The real morons are playing Baccarat following amazing systems that enable them to count to 9 )
If, after reading Lou, you decide to keep on and take the plunge might I also suggest Lee Jones 'Winning Low Limit Hold 'Em '--a book which gives strict advice on the most popular form of Poker nowdays and which cannot possibly work because everyone has read it and feels obliged to deviate from it because they know everyone else has read it too, consequently, it does work. (did you folow that?)
Also consider buying Slansky's 'The Theory of Poker' regarded as 'The Bible' especially if you're a math-geek who can already discourse on the difference between probability and odds.
Otherwise just consider it but don't buy it. Carson's 'The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker' should also keep you busy for a few months, as well as anything written by Ciaffone, and by then you should be ready to enter the World Series of Poker.
Well, soon enough, anyway.
Seriously, if you can break even after playing cardroom poker in your first year, you're doing great. (If you can get a bunch of rich dolts to come over to your place on Friday nights and play Anaconda or a sillier variation you're doing even better but don't count on it.)
Lou's book is a good overview and he does list up to date internet groups which provide links to discussions and articles which will keep you addicted forever.
Just remember that over the long run, it's all about skill, not hunches. Besides, it's bad luck to be superstitious.
Book Review: A Fresh Perspective On An Old Game
Summary: 5 Stars
To give you an idea how much I like this book, I checked it out of the library first. Then, after I had read it -- and renewed it the maximum number of times allowed -- I bought it for myself as a Christmas present.In keeping with the For Dummies format and emerging tradition, this book will provide meaningful assistance to all levels of Poker enthusiasts, from beginners (like myself) on up. It debunks a multitude of myths and gives extensive details one could not reasonably expect to find anywhere else (except perhaps the IRC Website, but PFD's materials are much better organized!).
More important than the poker details are the covert efforts at values clarification -- willingness to study, cultivation of patience and regulation of one's ego are just a few examples -- and the noble effort to portray members of Planet Earth's poker elite as both positive people and as talents deserving wider recognition.
Thanks to all the authors who participated in the writing of this book. Thanks to you, I have a new perspective on an old game and have plunged into my newest hobby. Once I am back on the West Coast in 3 or 4 years, I'll have plenty of ammunition with which to tackle Reno and Tahoe. Meanwhile, I have small but enthusiastic Council Bluffs, Iowa on which to cut my novice's teeth.
Book Review: Highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I read this great book, I had been playing poker a few times a week for about a year. I was pretty much gambling with little to no strategy. Like most beginners, I thought I knew what I was doing. After a few months of playing, poker quite honestly frustrated me. I would have some really lucky nights, and then a long streak of bad nights. I certainly lost more money than I put in. At this point, it was either give up, or get better.
I then found Poker for Dummies. Contrary to the opinions of others, I found this book to be the perfect beginners poker book. Much of the book shows how to play the most popular poker games, like stud, hold'em, Omaha, etc. There are also some sections for advanced strategies. I think any player can benefit from reading this. Was this book effective? Absolutely! After reading a few chapters, my game improved dramatically. Because of the easy reference format, I could find the specific areas I needed improving in. For example, if I needed some more info on starting hands, all I have to do is flip to the hold'em chapter and find the starting hands page. Since I have read this book, I have stopped gambling and started playing my odds. If you are tired of losing and want a good place to start improving your game, look no further.
Book Review: good info, but not good teaching
Summary: 3 Stars
This book has its strengths, and I'm not sorry I bought it, but a few days later I had to buy another, more straightforward one to clear up some basic questions. That is not a strong selling point for a "Dummies" book.I have two main criticisms (aside from the fact that it barely mentions draw poker at all): First, a complete and easy to find glossary is a must in a book for beginners, and the one in this book is neither (you'll need it for chapter 2, where you are unexectedly thrown into the deep end of the jargon pool). Second, the examples were few and somewhat hard for me to follow. I need to be led by the hand for a few games, so I can apply that slowly but thoroughly acquired knowledge at my own pace. I don't feel that "Poker For Dummies" offers me that opportunity.
A very useful thing I did get from this book was their recommendation of wilsonsw.com, whose software (with free demos) allows you to participate in thousands of hands of certain variants of the game in a pretty realistic manner...not tutorial exactly, but very helpful.